Hope Covenant Church | Coming together as a community

 It is often that we find ourselves in difficult times. Things challenge our life in many different ways that make the daily grind less pleasant. I frequently find that things weigh heavy on my mind or my health that makes daily life harder than it needs to be. In our times of quick fixes and pills for whatever ails you, we wish that there was always a simple solution. This simple solution is often nothing more than a pipe dream though. Perhaps not so surprisingly, God has offered a solution. For most things that ail the mind or body, God has provided an answer. I will leave out the obvious choice in prayer. For this option is more of the passive nature. Prayer often comforts the mind and through no control of your own, at times brings the solution. My answer is in another gift that God has provided. God has provided the gift of community. 


              Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2


 As a community and as a church community, we have a responsibility to support one another. This support can come in many different forms. From a helping hand in a project to a friend who will listen. This support is what gets us through the difficult times. Dishonest is the person who claims to never have been uplifted by the hand of a friend. Often, it is that very support that put us back in a place of comfort. The sense of community also shows its face in natural law. Since the dawn of man, we have gathered in the collective to provide physical and moral support to one another. It is indeed the weakness of humans that give them their greatest strength. As a community, we can weather the storms of nature in relative comfort. As a community, we can temper the pain that the loss of a loved one brings. As a community, we can build structures that seem to extend to the clouds. No individual can live in relative comfort on their own. 


 If a man were to be stripped to nothing but what he came into this world with, and was told to live, he would be doing what we call surviving. Without the support of others, he would have a lean-to shelter with some leaves to keep the rain out. He would have a fire to keep warm. He may have traps to catch wild game, but mostly would survive on berries. On the other hand, if a man was in a similar situation, but now had a community to support him. He would eventually have tools, and a permanent shelter, and specializations would begin to develop. Each member would have to work less to have the same benefits. It is for this very reason that communities are so successful. God's word supports community as does the natural law. It is often when we need the community most, that it appears least as the answer. 


 When we are depressed, ashamed, and ill, we find ourselves seeking isolation. We attempt to "man up" and pull ourselves up by the boot strap. In fact, the best medicine is to run to the community that can and will ease the burden. God provided this community for a reason. We would all do well to be good supports of the community and, when necessary, good seekers of the communities benefits. 

Hope Covenant Church | Dichotomy and Summarization

For the past few weeks, the message has been in the book of Romans. This week a focus was on chapter eight. This chapter, in my humble opinion, is long winded to get across a very simple message. This message could be communicate in two simple sentences.            

You may live according to God’s will or according to your own will, not both. Although there may be some overlap of the two, only by choosing to live according to God’s will can you find life and peace.

 I am sure that there will be many objections to this explanation of the chapter, but I am confident that the main point of this chapter has been summarized. Why am I focused on summarizing a long chapter into a simple explanation? As you know, I am an attorney. As an attorney I get frustrated that both I and other attorneys use a ton of language to convey a simple concept. Unfortunately, most people either get bored or lost in an extremely long worded passage. Even the best message is worthless if it is not read or not understood because it is long winded. That is why having a concise message is crucial.

One thing that helps explain a message is the explanation by a well versed pastor. In this past week’s service, Pastor Evan did a great job making the chapter clear through his concise interpretation of the message. I am always appreciative when a message is made clear and concise. In fact, I would not be opposed to a Cliff Notes version of the Bible as the standard message. The reason for this is that the main message of the Bible is what needs to be conveyed. If you would like an in depth study, the entire bible is available. Unfortunately, I think many people can see the forest because of the trees. That is why I have chosen to attempt to summarize Chapter 8 of Romans for you. I hope you enjoy the message and can live by it. If you would like to be part of a great Christian community, join us next Sunday at:

HopeCovenant Church

14401 West Avenue

Orland Park, IL 60462

Hope Covenant Church | Justified Defined 3 Ways

This is a unique collaboration blog of three individuals. This blog explains the word justified/justification in three ways. First, it uses the legal definition. Second, a Biblical definition. Finally, a parishioner’s definition. Hopefully you enjoy this project. If so, please comment below.

_________

Justified – Legal Meaning

The word Justified in a legal sense is used to describe someone who had a justification. Justification is an affirmative defense. A defendant in a case uses an affirmative defense in the following manner, “Yes, I did the action that I am accused of, but under the circumstances, I should not be punished for my actions.” A justification is an acceptable excuse or explanation made in court for an act that is otherwise unlawful; showing why the defendant committed the offense for which he is accused that would serve to relieve the defendant of liability. So now that you know the meaning of Justification in the legal sense, let’s look at some examples of where an individual would be Justified.

Criminal Justification – Self Defense:  A defendant has shot and killed another individual. That Defendant would be Justified in that killing if the individual who was killed first tried to kill the Defendant with a reasonable likely means. This means that if someone is actively trying to kill you, and they possess the ability to carry out that action in an immediate fashion, you can justifiably defend yourself. Even if that means you commit a crime in that defense.   

Civil Justification – Trespass: You are boating on a lake when a dangerous storm blows in. You take refuge at the dock of a personal private property owner. You are charged with civil trespass which allows for punitive damages. Because you are taking refuge from a storm which could be life threatening, you will only be liable for the rental cost of using the dock. Your actions would be Justified because the risk to life outweighed the damage done through trespass. Therefore, you would only be liable to the property owner for rental costs, and not punitive damages.

_______

Justified – Biblical Meaning

These two words are easily found in the Apostle Paul’s writings, but are not often easily understood.  They have association with legal language, both in the ancient world and today.  Yet Paul uses them in a specific way that illuminates a couple of important questions:  What did Jesus accomplish on the cross, and how does the work of Christ apply to my life?

To be Justified, in Paul’s essential meaning, is to be found not guilty.  The bible teaches that all of us are sinners, have offended God by our rebellion against his perfect law and will, and are therefore guilty before him.   On the cross Jesus bore both the sin and the punishment that sin affords:  Death.   In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul states it this way:  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us…”  Because Jesus bore our sin and took our punishment, we are declared “not guilty” in the eyes of God.   The legal requirements of the law have been satisfied.

Yet there is more to the biblical idea of Justification.  It is not enough that we be found “not guilty”.  We know that many criminals who receive at trial a verdict of “Not guilty”  have in fact committed crimes that the prosecution simply has not been able to demonstrate according to legal standards.  The person, though declared “not guilty” still bears the ultimate responsibility for their actions.  The work of Jesus on the cross goes farther than a simple legal verdict.  To be Justified also means that the Righteousness of Christ … his pure right relationship with His heavenly Father… is given to us by faith.   When we believe  in the work of Jesus for us on the Cross, the Righteousness of Jesus becomes ours.   Here is the whole of 2^nd Corinthians 5:21:  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us…so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”   Jesus became sin for us, so that we might receive his righteousness. 

There is no greater Reversal of Fortune.  Declared guilty and deserving of death, Jesus took our place and our punishment, and now we are declared “not guilty” and more than that “righteous..pure and holy in the eyes of God.”

______

Justified – A Parishioners Story

God’s help with the unexpected: a salvation story  

            I had just transferred from Illinois State University in Normal, IL to Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. During my first semester at TSU, I enrolled in a heavy 17 credit-hour class schedule.  As an African-American female, born and raised on the west side of Chicago, I was proud of the hard work I had done to beat the odds. As the eldest of six children, I was on my way to being the first in my immediate family to get a college degree.

 Sometimes if you don’t follow God’s way the unexpected may block your way. I had married a fellow ISU student who was now attending graduate school in Nashville. I moved with him to Nashville. I was 20 years old and pregnant with our first child. In addition to morning sickness, mood swings, crying spells, my husband and I argued about money and our car. I began crying out to God “I am trying to do everything right, why are you abandoning me.” Then God reminded me the ways in which he was blessing me and how I was disobeying him.

           

As I prayed for forgiveness and guidance, God answered by sending a woman who took me to her church. I realized it had been seven years since I had been a part of a Christian community. I listened to sermons, mediated on the songs, read the bible, and, of course continued to pray. After reading the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, I realized that as a human, I did not measure up to God's standards. Then, I read John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  So, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

            Through the power of God's grace (justification) and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I became more aware of my sin nature and was able and willing to fight against it. I was no longer at sins “beck and call.”  I had more patience in working through disagreements with my spouse. I reduced my course load and called Mama regularly on the telephone. She came for the birth of our beautiful baby boy in the spring of 1975 and helped care for my baby so, I could finish college. All of this allowed me to keep my sanity and graduate with honors.

________

I would like to send out a special thanks to Patricia Adaranijo and Evan Goranson. Their contributions in the parishioners portion and the biblical meaning is much appreciated. If you would like to contribute to the blog, email us and we will do our best to get your post live on the site. Thanks for reading and we look  forward to seeing you this Sunday at:

HopeCovenant Church

14401 West Avenue

Orland Park, IL 60462

Hope Covenant Church | Frustration

I would love to start off this post with this simple statement, "I love my church". In my personal life, there has been a vast amount of frustration lately. That being said, I have made my mind up to let Hope Covenant Church become my sanctuary. I have made my mind up that while at the the church for worship, I will not be frustrated with my problems. I will simply deal with them and let that small period of time be free of my frustration. Why did I choose Hope as the place to act as my sanctuary. Although it is literally a sanctuary, the place being a church and the home of God has little to do with my reasoning. The reason I have chosen Hope to be my window of time is because the people who come to Hope have been very supportive to me. Most of my fellow congregants do not care what state you are in when you enter Hope, they are supportive always. Every time I enter the door, someone asks me about my week. Someone is truly concerned with your week, every week. These people bring relief to a frustrating time.

 Everyone finds unique ways to deal with frustration. Some people turn to the word of God, some people turn to the bottle, some people exercise. For me, fellowship with those who are caring and supportive brings much needed relief from tough times. This relief brings me to a saying that I have been told since I was a little boy, "God will not give you more than you can handle." I believe that God allows adversity in your life to make you a stronger person. God has a plan, and that plan involves your strength. When adversity is in your path, and you turn to God, you will grow stronger. That strength can then be used by God to further his plan. I take comfort in knowing that I am simply training to fulfill God's plan.

If you would like to become part of my great faith community, I would love to see you this Sunday at:

Hope Covenant Church

14401 West Avenue

Orland Park, IL

(708) 873-3640 ()

Thanks for reading the blog. If you would like to be a part of the blog, email me your posts and I will do my best to get them on the page.

JWC

Hope Covenant Church | Overcoming Adversity

  People have instances in their life where things do not go according to plan. I have recently had one of those instances. I will admit that my first reaction was to be mad and angry. I know this is a common response for adversity. Especially so if you had nothing to do with the reason adversity was placed in your path. Anger is a common first reaction. I am now in the stage where you are either frustrated or depressed with the obstacle. I find that this stage is where your faith community and your family can help the most. It is in this stage where you learn to overcome your obstacle. You will learn to adapt to not have the obstacle run your life. This is where you can determine how long the obstacle will be a barrier to your life. For me, I find I can be one of two ways. The first option is, I can mope and feel sorry for myself. I can say to myself, I am not expected to achieve with this obstacle in my way. The other option is, I can become aggressive with the obstacle and be determined to overcome and conquer. This second option is inevitable. I know that I will eventually come to this option. The question is how soon will this be my choice? This question is where Christ and your faith community come into play.

I have found that the faith community is only supportive. They do not assist with feeling sorry for yourself. This is a fantastic motivator to become aggressive because you now know that people are believing in you. It also makes you want to live up the expectations. This speeds the progress of your recovery and helps you to get on a healthy track. I would like to thank my family and the members of my church for the support they have given me. Most don't even know I am overcoming an adversity, but they always give support. That is the other great advantage of a faith community. People in your church are genuinely concerned about you and want to see you succeed. For me, that means a lot. It means that people are interested in my life and interested in helping me achieve the goals I set for myself. I know that I could use some extra prayers for the next few weeks as I begin to overcome some of my adversity. I hope you find the support you need, when adversity knocks on your door. If you would like to become part of my faith community, visit us on Sunday at:

Hope Covenant Church

14401 West Avenue

Orland Park, IL

(708) 873-3640 ()

Thanks for reading the blog. If you would like to be a part of the blog, email me your posts and I will do my best to get them on the page.

 JWC

Hope Covenant Church | Solitude

         Isiah 55:6-7


Seek the LORD while he may be found; 
   call on him while he is near. 
Let the wicked forsake their ways 
   and the unrighteous their thoughts. 
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, 
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.


        Mark 6:30-32


The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

The message from the sermon this week was about solitude. Pastor Evan explained that solitude is time alone with God. Not necessarily time alone. The key is to quiet your mind, remove the distractions around you and listen to the Lord. This is incredibly hard for me. I struggle to quiet my mind. I struggle to force the thoughts of the day out of my mind. I have a hard time letting go of the tasks I need to do to complete the promises I have made for the day. The struggle that I have is this. 


Do I schedule time to have solitude?


If I schedule time for solitude, I may not need solitude when it is scheduled. I may need solitude now. The problem is when I need solitude, I don't have time for solitude. The challenge was offered that not having the time is only an excuse. I don't necessarily believe that this in entirely true. Like many people, my life is like a roller coaster. I have to hurry, hurry, hurry. Then I have down time. Then I have to hurry again. Life is either crazy or calm. There is no daily grind where each day has the same amount of time critical tasks that need to be completed in a day.


 I would welcome time for solitude, but that would mean that another task would be left uncompleted. A promise unfulfilled. It seems that in the times of "hurry" I need solitude most. This problem is part of a thing called life. I am not blessed in a job where my actions are not time critical. When my average client arrives, they are in a time of crisis. They need help immediately. I would love for comments about how you find solitude with God. 


 I think that you, the readers, can help in this situation. I also ask you to subscribe to this blog and follow it. As always, I welcome your comments on this post and all the others. I also would ask that if you would like to guest blog, email orlandhope@gmail.com with your post and I will do my best to get your post published. If you would like to gain a closer relationship with the Lord, visit us at:


Hope Covenant Church
14401 West Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462-3112
(708) 873-3640


JWC

Hope Covenant Church | God is in Charge, But.....

I happened to run into Pastor Evan today and he thanked me for helping with a project at church this week. I was very appreciative that he noticed my help, but it reminded me of a saying my grandfather told me once. 


God is in charge, but don't expect him to do everything for you. He gave you a brain and muscles for a reason.


I have been very thankful for my fellow parishioners who donate their muscle and brains to the daily goings on of the church. So many of my fellow congregates have unique experience and education that they can put to work for the church. I have recently provided a legal document, which would reduce the liability in the event of an accident. I know that there is a wide variety of talents in the church, and I look forward to utilizing many of them for the church. Having just opened a law practice, I am not making a good deal of money, yet. Unfortunately, that means that my weekly giving is not as high as I would hope it to be. What I can do, is provide my expertise. 


I know this post seems like a rant, and I would love to simply pray for the things that the church needs, and the things I need. I know that is not enough though. I need to put my mind, my muscles, and my faith together and put in some sweat equity. We as a group, need to work hard to bring in more members to the church, make the church a more appealing place for people to come, and strengthen our faith. I would like to call my readers to arms. I mean your own arms, attached to your shoulders. When the church needs a hand, start with your own. When you are down, give yourself a hand with another 20 minutes of work. This all leads to the old saying that, "God helps those who help themselves". 


Congratulations and thank you to those in Hope Covenant Church who have played a role in the vacation bible school. I look forward to future projects with you. Keep up the good work. Hope is a family that I can be proud of. If you would like to join the family, or even catch a glimpse into what a church family can be, visit us on Sunday at 10:00 A.M. at. 


Hope Covenant Church
14401 West Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462-3112
(708) 873-3640


JWC

Hope Covenant Church | You Missed a Great VBS

This blog post will be short because it has been one of the most intense weeks in a long time. This past week at Hope Covenant Church, we have had vacation bible school. The theme of this week was, "Inside Out and Upside Down on Main Street". The church was transformed into a town, and it looked fantastic. The children had a great time and learned a lot about Jesus, the way to treat others, and how important the church can be to your spiritual life. I am going to give you five words. Each of these words will be a future blog post for you to reflect on, but I wanted to give you a preview today.

1. Gratitude

2. Compassion

3. Forgiveness

4. Faithfulness

5. Grace

I would love for you to think about what these words mean. How they apply to your life. And how you can use these words to move closer in your relationship with the Lord. I also want to leave you with the lyrics of the chorus of my favorite VBS song.

Learn to forgive, let the hurt go.

Follow the Lord, let His mercy show.

Learn to forgive, let everyone see.

How good it can be, to share God's forgiveness.

As always with this blog, we love comments and we love guest writers. If you would like to have a post on the blog, email us and we will do our best to get it on the net. If you are interested in a great church family, visit us at:

Hope Covenant Church
14401 West Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462-3112
(708) 873-3640

Jonathan W. Cole

Hope Covenant Church | Structure Makes Room For God

To begin, thank you for reading this blog. I have been blogging for a few weeks here now and I have noticed that when life gets wishy washy, there is no room for God. Structure in your life allows you to complete your tasks and pray. If you structure really well, you can even add time to serve others. When life is unstructured, you spend too much time wandering around and not enough time performing your task. In order to achieve your goals, you need to plan first. Once you have a plan, you can implement your plan. I will give you a small couplet to help you before you start anything. That could be anything from your day, your month, a project, or even your life. That couplet is:

Plan Your Work,

Work Your Plan.

If you can keep this simple couplet in mind before you start anything, I guarantee you that you will have a more successful day and more time to do the things you wanted to do. This applies to everything. I will give you three simple examples.

1. You think to yourself, "I am going to read the bible more often." So you read it one day and then when the urge hits again, you read a little more, and then you have a frustrating day so you read a little more. The problem with this method is that you have no goal in your reading. Instead, I propose that you set up a schedule for your bible reading. You make a covenant with yourself to read X number of pages, X minutes a week on a certain day, or X chapters in a month. When you have this kind of a schedule, you break down the  complex ideas of the bible into manageable parts. You focus on getting something out of the Bible during each session. And most importantly, you read the sections you perhaps would leave out because they are not your favorite. 

2. You want to clean up your yard. So you put on your work clothes and head out there. You begin by picking up the leaves in the yard and fill your first bag...and notice you don't have a second bag. You run to the store for more leaf bags and come back home to finish up cleaning the leaves. Next you want to plant your new flowers, and you begin to plant but you don't have any potting soil. So you run back to the store for soil, and so on and so forth. If you made a list of all the jobs needed in the yard and made one trip to the store for everything, you might have time help the elderly neighbor who can't get to her yard anymore. 

3. You have a project at work, so you figure you will start the project, and as you start, you get a new great idea and so you take the project in a different direction. Then as you work on the project some more, you get yet another great idea and take the project in yet a third new direction. By now, your co-workers are so tired of taking the project in one direction and undoing it to go in your next better direction that the project loses momentum and force. If instead, you sat down at the table with your team and planned the project; every creative idea could come out before the work starts and once the final plan is in place, the staff can each take a step and no step is left undone. No typo is left unedited. No organizational chart un-copied.

I will help you with starting to live your life according to this couplet. Say right now with me, "Until today, I did not structure my life as well as I could. So from this day forward - I will "Plan to Work, and Work My Plan.

If you would like to know Jesus better and have a great time while doing it. Come to Hope Covenant Church and be part of a great church community. Keep in mind our summer schedule. Service is now at 10:00 A.M.

Hope Covenant Church
14401 West Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462-3112
(708) 873-3640

 Jonathan W. Cole

Hope Covenant Church | Saul's Conversion Acts 9:1-18

 The conversion of Saul is one of the more popular stories in the bible. People are drawn to the Hollywood ending. The flash of light, the blindness, the restoration of sight all are exciting to people. Not so different from the summer blockbuster. I could see the preview now. (Cue the deep raspy movie preview guy voice) "In a land where ritual rules, one Pharisee had a miraculous experience. Paul, an everyday worker had his life turned inside out and upside down. While on main street, a miracle happened. With flash of light, his world changed forever. Come see how one man changed the course of history. A Luke Studios production. In theaters on A.D. 63"

 It would not be too hard to imagine the movie trailer. You probably even had the preview guys voice in your head. What the real miracle was though, was Saul's direction. It was two simple orders. 1.) Get Up, 2.) Go. That was all there was to the direction. When someone tells you to Go, what is your first response. I know mine is Why, What for, Why can't you?Who has blind obedience to simply act. Which ironically is the title of the book this story is in, "Acts". To simply act is a blind faith of trust in the one ordering you. The American way of questioning everything is, in my opinion, a great way to live. I, as an attorney, question everything that is said or written. It is not only my job, but it is my passion. I like to find fault in things. It is rewarding to find room for improvement. It is even tempting question everyone's motives because there may be "a better way". When it comes to the Lord though, do you think you can come up with a better way? Do you, John Q. Averageguy, think you can find a better way than the Lord. Of course your answer is no, but I would bet you would question the order. It is simply the nature of an independent society. Much like Ananias does later in this chapter, you would probably ask the Lord, "Are you sure?"  "Do you know what you are asking me?" You are not alone, I am confident that my response would be one of question.

 My plea, for both you and me, is this; Don't waste time looking for the right moment to act. Don't wait for others to open the door for you. Don't let a lack of motivation slow you down. Just Go. I will repeat that...Just Go. The only person who can stop you from following the order...is You.

 If you are in the Orland Park Area and are looking for a church to attend, I would encourage you to visit:

Hope Covenant Church
14401 West Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462-3112
(708) 873-3640

I am a newer congregate at the church and can attest to the warm and welcoming feeling you get from the members at the church. God Bless you and keep you. Good luck on your journey with Christ.

 Jonathan W. Cole

P.S. I know this is unusual, but the church is going to be losing a driving force in the near future. I would like to personally wish Pastor Ryan Cooper the best in his future endeavors and I hope the we keep in touch. The church will be losing a major asset, and the church family will miss him. Thank you for your service to the church, God Bless your family.

Hope Covenant Church | Welcome to the Blog

Welcome,

 I would like to personally welcome all of you to the new blog of Hope Covenant Church. This blog will contain three major types of posts. First, it will have comments on the weekly scripture reading. This may include the scripture itself, a members thoughts on the scripture, or how the scripture has impacted the authors life. The Second type of post will be information in nature. This post will keep both members and visitors of the church up to date on any major events going on in the church or the local community. Finally, the third type of post will be inspirational posts that are meant to pose questions about God in your life. These posts will be the most varied and will probably be the most enjoyable to read because this is where the blog authors will spill their souls into text as inspiration to the joys that God can bring to your life.

 This blog loves comments, and we also love guest blog writers. If you have written a post you would like to see on this blog, email it to me and I will do my best to get it up. I am looking forward to seeing you at our service at Hope Covenant Church, this Sunday at 10:30A.M. God Bless you and keep you safe.

 Jonathan

14401 West Avenue, Orland Park, IL 60462-3112(708) 873-3640 ‎