Sunday, February 26, 2017 - Stand Firm!
By Roger Marcos
Feb.26, 2017
Delivered: On the25th Anniversary of the North York Church of Christ at Toronto Plaza Hotel.
1992 of February 8, “THE FAMILY CHURCH OF CHRIST, was started by the leadership of bro. Joshua De la Cruz, bro. Rene Sevilla, and bro. Avelino Ortiz. What an amazing move was plant the seed in the midst of so many oppositions and God made possible so their labor is not in vain. BE INSPIRED TO INSPIRE!
February28, 1994 when I came to Canada, the CHURCH, was two years old meaning baby church. In my arrival at Toronto International Pearson airport the persons was, bro. Joshua, bro. Rene, sis. Esther, sis. Amelia, Avel, Fhely, and Relia Fe Marcos.
They were gathered each Sunday at Wilson High for a very limited time. Being new, to the country I seen how hard it was carrying their own stuffs for worship with in two hour they need to take it out again and brought it in their car. (Lots of Sacrifice)
May 1994 when the church moved to a new location a place where we move to my wife. Green Brook drive Keele Street/Lawrence, we meet together with enough time. God is so good His church grow in number so we decided to move to a bigger place.
At the end of the year 1995 we never renew our contract instead we moved at Wilson and Bathurst.
The first Pastor of the church was bro. Joshua de la Cruz. Working as a part time pastor in order to provide Spiritual needs of the flocks with the help of bro. Rene Sevilla, and bro. Avel Ortiz.
1996-2002- within this years, the church face a big crisis but in spites of all these God is in control the church stayed only for five years until the church purchased a permanent place of worship on the amount of 228, 000,00 dollars. The 885 Wilson Avenue, a place where people meet together.
2012-2013- another step for the church purchasing a 1, 50, 000.00 dollars building at 38 St. Regis Cres. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Now, is 2017 the church milestone is here February 26, 2017 one of the biggest celebration of the NYCC is the 25th Anniversary of God faithfulness.
The leaders of NYCC, faithful members, friends thank you so much for your support the Kingdom of God in the City of Toronto.
Do You Get Tired? Discouraged? Burned out? Of course. All Christians do sometimes.
Here's our text 1 Cor. 15:58 which helps when you feel overworked and underappreciated. Life on earth is full of disappointments. How many times have you looked forward with great expectation to something that had seemed to be so inviting and so promising, only to be let down when your hopes failed to materialise?
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:58. Therefore, my dear brothers, STAND FIRM. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1. Therefore... the Resurrection.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible, you should ask, “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?
And in this chapter, we find Paul’s great explanation of the event and the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In this chapter, we read---verse 3 “that [Jesus] Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.
CHALLENGE: those who put their trust in Him are also made alive-made to live forever, in new, resurrected bodies which are not subject to sinful passions and sickness and disease and death.
Verse 14-And If Christ, is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
Why should we live a life of righteousness instead of follow our sinful passions? You see, sin leads to death. “The wages of sin is death.” “The sting of death is sin.” But Jesus Christ came that you might have life and have it to the fullest. Why should we stand strong? BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST LIVES.
Verse: 16-19- 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Because Jesus Christ lives and is not in the grave. We also can live in Him by His resurrection power. And this is why the “Therefore” begins our verse. We can, and should live lives committed to the Lord because Jesus Christ lives!
And then we have this command from Paul in verse 58:
II. BE STEADFAST (Stand Firm) IMMOVABLE. 58.-
Paul said, be steadfast, (STAND FIRM) and immoveable. that means stay put and don't quit - 1 Cor 15:58, we see how interpreters can rightly stress the goodness of creation and yet underplay the NT’s teaching on the eschatological priority of God’s work in the world.
The Command Given by Paul in verse 58- “Be steadfast, immovable.” In other words, “Be firmly established. Do not be moved” from where you are in the faith.
These two words, and words like these, are used constantly throughout the New Testament. “Stand firm,” we are told. “Be established.” “Be rooted.” There are multiple images in the Bible of being immovable from the faith.
“.be on the alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9But resist him, firmly established in your faith.1Pet. 5:8-9
Song entitled: DEAR STAY WITH ME!
III. Always abounding in the Work of the Lord.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
“Always” and “Abounding,” or “overflowing” in the work of the Lord. What a difficult command! It’s like when Jesus commands, “Be ye perfect!” I mean, don’t we get a vacation or a break from doing the work of the Lord? And can’t we just do a good deed here and there and get by? No! Always be overflowing with the work of the Lord in your life.
Conclusion:
I want to close with a story. Some of you might be familiar with Christian singer and song-writer Bill Gaither and his wife Gloria.
Bill and Gloria Gaither were trying to be steadfast and immovable, and they saw their music as a work of the Lord. But in the late 1960s, they ran into some difficulties which threatened to discourage them from this very work.
You see, Bill Gaither had gotten sick; his wife had just had a child four months previous and they learned that she was once again pregnant. Bill’s sister was in the middle of a divorce which was a major family crisis and devastated the family. And perhaps to top things off, one of their close friends accused them of using their “work of the Lord” in order to make money. As a result, Bill got very depressed. Maybe he should just give up, he thought.
But, in the midst of these trials, another close friend came to them and prayed over them. And as he prayed, both Bill and Gloria sensed the Holy Spirit come upon them and reassure them.
And out of these trials, and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they wrote a most wonderful song with these words:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives.
There will be times when you will get discouraged. You will at times be wondering if staying with the faith in obedience is worth it. There will be times when you wonder if your life of sin was more pleasant than your life of righteousness. You will at times wonder if the good works that you do are worth it, or if you should just give up. But my beloved brothers, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord”
We are called to stand firm - in the midst of a battle!