NorthStar Church Blog

Over a billion people wish they were blessed like Americans. We have more than anyone else in the world so why don’t we have more gratitude? Materialism isn’t the only cause. Guilt contributes. Guilt holds us down. We think if we could only go back and take back what we’ve done wrong. Maybe we feel guilty about what we haven’t done. We can never be grateful people until we deal with the guilt. We can’t get onto this extraordinary life unless we deal with the past. What has God done for us?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 (NIV)

Most people think God is disappointed with them. People think Christianity is condemnation. Guilt is not God’s tool. Guilt is Satan’s tool. With guilt, all of your thoughts and energies are focused on yourself, not on God. If you’re focused on yesterday, Satan knows you’ll be thinking about yourself today and won’t give out a helping hand tomorrow. Conviction is God’s tool. Conviction is specific – you should spend more time with your family, you should give more of your resources, you should help others. Once you deal with conviction, it’s settled. Guilt is never settled.

The world teaches us that getting rid of guilt requires retribution. You will never be able to make it right, though. It’s already happened. It’s not about what to do to fix things. Christ has already paid the price for your sins. He’s already done it. Jesus didn’t just die for everything we did wrong before. He died for everything we do wrong each day and for every thing we will do wrong in the future. God has forgiven us already – we just haven’t felt the flood of his forgiveness.

Because of Jesus, life has a purpose. All things become new once we accept Jesus into our lives. Jesus says ‘I want to come into your heart and I want to change it’. There’s nothing better than to be thankful for Jesus Christ. Guilt is remembering all the pain we’ve caused. Communion is remembering all of the good. God loves us and Jesus Christ proves it. He proves that God is for us and not against us. Don’t be condemned by the past any longer. Instead, let Jesus make you feel brand new again.

We will be partaking of the Lord’s Supper this Sunday during the service. If you have questions regarding communion, check out the podcast online about communion under the Experience Your Faith category and also check out 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Matthew 26:17-30.

Thanksgiving shouldn’t be just one day. It should take place each day of the year. Having an attitude of gratitude begins with realizing that everything comes from God. Gratitude (giving thanks) begins with God. All of our talents, traits, and blessings come from God.

Here are four things to be thankful to God for each day of your life:

1) For the Grace He has shown me. Grace is the unmerited favor God grants to us and gives us in place of the punishment we as sinners deserve. As a result of confessing our sins, being forgiven, believing that Jesus is God’s son and he died, rose and will come again, we have been shown God’s grace. We have been granted eternal life instead of death through Christ Jesus.

2) For the Plans He has for me. God made a plan for our life even before we were born. He knew us in the womb. Sometimes we ask, if God has a perfect plan for us, then why do we have to go through such hurt and sorrow. Because, that time in our lives is when we find God – when the rug has been pulled out from under us and we’re floundering.

3) For the Home He has prepared for me. God’s home cannot be destroyed by fire or flood. When we die, as Christians, we go home to God and get reunited with our loved ones. There will be no more pain and no more fear. Instead, work will be joyful. We will be in the presence of our Lord in a place of peace where we will worship and celebrate forever and ever.

4) For the Changes He’s making in me. As a result of entering into a personal relationship with Jesus, your life gets changed for the better. The power of the Holy Spirit gives us the courage to carry out the plans God has for us. As we grow and mature in our faith, we are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. The transformation takes place from the inside out.

Be grateful for everything God has given to you. How can you show your Thankfulness?

1) By Singing. Make a joyful noise. You don’t have to sing well but just sing out loud. By singing in church, it takes the focus off ourselves and puts it onto God. Singing is a mood lifter.

2) By Serving. Serving God shouldn’t be a chore or duty. If you’re not serving, you’re not thankful. Serving our church and community is a way to give back the abundance that’s been given to you. A thankful heart wants to give back.

3) By Giving. Giving and thanks go together. As yourself why you give and did you really sacrifice to give this to God? Stretch to give more. Be generous. Review your commitment. Renew your commitment. Out-do your commitment.

4) By Telling. Tell others about Jesus Christ. Spread the message to your family and friends. Share your faith. Don’t decide for others what they should believe. Just tell your story. Invite them to come to church with you.

Start a relationship with Jesus Christ today. Ask Him to come live inside you. Count your blessings instead of complaining. Focus on what you have left instead of what you’ve lost. Demonstrate your thankfulness this week.

If you will be alone this Thanksgiving, we want you to join us and several other families from NorthStar for dinner. It has been a tradition since our beginning to hold Thanksgiving Dinner with other NorthStar families in Skeene Manor located in Whitehall, NY. If you and your family would like to join us, please contact us at the church office.

Kristen Burke Nov 9
Farida Roberts Nov 21
Esther Slenker Nov 21
Betty Cross Nov 30

As a Christian, if you complain all the time, you’re being a bad witness to having been saved by Jesus. Christians should respond differently and it all boils down to attitude. We can either respond to events that shape our lives positively or negatively. If Christ lives in your heart, Christ will come out of your mouth. Negative hearts = negative thoughts = negative attitude = negative words. If you continually complain, you will hate your life. God gives us the choice on how to approach life events. It’s all a matter of perspective. If you perceive that your life is horrible and miserable, it will become horrible and miserable. If, instead, you have an encouraging outlook and speak affirmatively, your life will reflect that attitude.

If you make three promises, you are on your way to being a more positive person.

1. I will not hang out with negative people. If you have friends that are negative people, they’re like a poison that can affect your whole life. Limit media intake to allow encouragement into your mind. Try to be a positive person.

2. I will speak words of life. Praise your spouse publicly and privately. Catch your children doing good. Bring in speaking words of life into your home. Try to go a whole day without complaining. Try to only speak words of life and see how your attitude changes.

3. I will be thankful for what I have. Gratitude will change your attitude. Give thanks for every circumstance – the good, the bad, the ugly, the disappointments. Be thankful for what God has given you.

Stop and thank God for all his blessings. What are we really complaining about? Is it really a big deal or is it just a matter of perspective? We are God’s ambassador to the world. How we live our lives affects the world’s opinion of God.

Today, ask Jesus to save you from yourself, forgive you of your sins and to change you. Practice 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Examine what your words reveal about your heart. Do your part to make our church “The Place Where Positive People Go.”

How do you begin loving your spouse again like you did in the beginning of your relationship? To make your romance work, you have to make a conscious, deliberate choice to change. There are five actions that cause love to bloom in the first place and can cause it to rebloom again. Feelings always follow actions.

1) Pay Attention (intellectual intimacy). Give your attention to your spouse. When you give that interest to the other person, it’s the beginning of romance and love. Life is too short to settle for a roommate when you can have the deepest relationship that God ever created – that between husband and wife.

2) Give Affirmation (emotional intimacy). Admire your spouse’s strengths. All of us want our spouse to think we’re the greatest people on earth. Treat your husband like a king and you’ll be treated like a queen. Verbalize your love. Tell your spouse they are the best man or woman that you know. Treat them like they’re precious gold. Act your way into feeling. It doesn’t happen automatically.

3) Show Affection (physical intimacy). There should be tremendous amounts of hugging, kissing, touching and snuggling. We need large doses of non-sexual touching and affection. The Bible says if you’re not being affectionate, you’re sinning. The Bible isn’t encourages touching and isn’t ashamed of it. Appearance effects affection. Take better care of yourself to encourage affection. If you want a romantic life partner, work on yourself to increase the affection.

4) Have Adventure (recreational intimacy). Marriage isn’t supposed to be dull. It’s supposed to be exciting. Enjoy life with your spouse. Do something awesome and different so that life doesn’t become routine or boring. We tend to describe fun as something that happens after the work is finished. Work is never done. It will be there all during your life and long after you’re gone. Invest in fun now and invest in your marriage.

5) Find Accordance (spiritual intimacy). If you’re living in God’s truth, then you’re committed to each other. As you both start going towards Christ, you will start growing towards each other. Pray with each other for each other. God created us and created marriage. Help your spouse with his or her struggles.

You don’t need a new mate, you need a new attitude. Ask Jesus to save your life and marriage. Start paying attention to your spouse the way you used to. Act in a romantic way again. Read Ephesians 5 and 1 Corinthians 7.

Poodle skirts, pink ladies and slicked back hair aside, Sunday, October 28 began as any other Sunday. However, something was amiss. Following worship the congregation waited patiently for Pastor Roscoe to take the stage and begin his sermon. Instead, to everyone’s surprise a stranger appeared. Donned in black & white our visitor kept his back to the audience until suddenly, above the whisperings of “who’s that?” Jailhouse Rock began to play over the speakers. Upon turning around we realized that this stranger looked like Elvis, moved like Elvis and even sounded like Elvis. Everyone was delighted until, to our sheer disappointment, it was revealed that this person was LIP SYNCHING!! Who could it be? No folks, it wasn’t Ashlee Simpson! It was our very own Pastor dressed as the king of rock & roll!

Following Elvis’ performance the Pastor we know and love finally took the stage (o.k. so he just took off the wig). Pastor Roscoe welcomed everyone to 50’s Sunday and explained that the impression kids have of church is the impression they’ll have of God. NorthStar aims to make church a fun, loving experience where all are welcomed. It is because of this philosophy why NorthStar is willing to hold a 50’s Sunday and why we see a Pastor who isn’t afraid to get onstage and shake his hips.

After service everyone gathered in the cafeteria with their families, danced to tunes from the 50’s, enjoyed candy apples, and watched the kids bounce up and down in one of the two bounce houses that were set up.

50’s Sunday was a great opportunity (and tons of fun) to reclaim some of the time with family that we’ve lost over the years.

As we continue our family matters series we looked at how to enjoy the people in our families. Pastor Roscoe discussed four principles or key elements in being able to enjoy our families, no matter how difficult they are.

1) We must be grateful for the good in people. As we look at the people in our families we must choose what we’re going to focus on or emphasize. We can dwell on either the negative or positive experiences we’ve had with that person. Oftentimes we lean towards the negative, adding each offense to the long mental list of wrongs done to us. It is a fact of life that people are going to hurt us, including people in our families. Our families know us the most and have more opportunity to hurt us whether intentionally or unintentionally.

2) We are to practice positive praying. We are to pray positively for those who hurt or challenge us. When we do our attitudes begin to change, we begin to change. In Philippians Paul gives us four specific things to pray for: we pray that they grow in love, grow in wisdom, do what’s right and live for God’s Glory. See Philippians 1:9-11

3) We are to be patient with their progress. Have faith that whatever God starts, He will complete. He will continue the work He’s begun to its completion. We are not the people we used to be, but we’re still not the people we’re meant to be in the future. The same applies to the people in our families. We must enjoy our kids, our spouse, our in-laws while they are in the process. God is working at changing them. Love them for who they are now.

4) We are to love people from the heart. We all give and receive love differently. We are to be understanding and truly grasp what makes others tick. We need to know God, have Him fill us up. Our human love runs out. To be able to enjoy and love one another, we must know God.

Throughout the sermon Pastor Roscoe also gave us additional key points to help us enjoy the people in our families. We were instructed to remember the best and forget the rest, that God is not finished with people, and that the secret to enjoying people is to be filled with God’s love.

Pastor Roscoe suggested we look over the principles discussed and think about an area we need to focus on as well as who in our family we need to have more patience and understanding with. Consider who we need more love for and start enjoying our family today!