Hope Covenant Church | Unconditional "Love"

This post is written in two parts. The first part is the legal definition of the word Unconditional. The second part speaks about God's love. I hope that these two definitions help strengthen your feeling for God's love. As always, your comments are welcome and we are always looking for guest writers.


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Unconditional

Legal Definition: The word “unconditional” is an adjective that needs an additional word to which the adjective describes. The word “unconditional”, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, modifies six words. They are as follows:

·         Unconditional delivery

·         Unconditional discharge*

·         Unconditional heir

·         Unconditional pardon*

·         Unconditional promise*

·         Unconditional release*

Of the six definitions, only four will be relevant to this post. These four will also have a counterpart in the religious context.

The first of which is unconditional discharge. Unconditional Discharge is defined under two distinct definitions. “1. A release from an obligation without any conditions attached. 2. A release from confinement without parole requirements to fulfill.”

The second of which is unconditional pardon. Unconditional pardon is actually listed under “Absolute Pardon”. Absolute Pardon is defined as, “A pardon that releases the wrongdoer from punishment and restores the offender’s civil rights without qualification.”

The third of which is unconditional promise. Unconditional Promise is defined as, “A promise that either is unqualified or requires nothing but the lapse of time to make the promise presently enforceable. – A party who makes an unconditional promise must perform that promise even though the other party has not performed according to the bargain.” An unconditional promise is also termed as an independent promise.

The fourth and final of which is unconditional release. Unconditional Release is defined as, “The final discharge of a prisoner or inmate from custody.” To best understand the definition of unconditional release, it must be compared to a conditional release. A conditional release is, “A discharge from an obligation based on some condition, the failure of which defeats the release.” 

Of these four definitions, I believe that the Unconditional Promise best reconciles the legal definition with my understanding of God’s unconditional actions. There is nothing required of us as Christians. Although the argument could be made that we must believe in Christ, this act places no burden upon us. We can always refuse the gift that the promise bestows, but the gift must be offered regardless of our actions. This seems especially pertinent to the status of sinner. Although it is impossible for us as humans to be anything but a sinner, God still must offer grace. This concept is extremely one sided. What is amazing is that God made this offer, which He knew was a bad deal from himself. If God had consulted an attorney before making this promise, He would have been strongly advised to not make this promise. With little to no condition placed upon us, there is no motivation for us to act in accordance with God’s wishes. We must choose to live and act according to God’s wishes because we want to follow his direction. That act, to do what is right when no one is holding you to it, is what separates adults from children. It separates the mature choice from the selfish choice. Regardless of our choice, our sins are unconditionally released. In the face of the “Unconditional”, how will you act?

Part 2 - "LOVE"

           Love is an important biblical topic that has been rather unfortunately hijacked in our popular culture.   Devoid of understanding outside the lyrics of a typical country western song, love today is almost always understood as a reference to romantic love.   Not that the bible does not give ample examples of this type of love, read Song of Songs for a sample.  The bible also speaks of what might best be described as brotherly love, such as one might find among family members or close friends.

           Yet the most important category of biblical love is what the New Testament calls Agape.  It is the love most closely associated with the very character of God, and is sometimes described as unconditional love.   This requires a little bit of further investigation, because such love is not common to our human experience.  Even our best relationships rely upon some version of:  “If you...then I”.                     Our relational love is sorely tested anytime this basic contract is violated.  Many problems that arise in the marital bond have roots in one party trying to get the other to act is such a way that is pleasing or beneficial to the other.  When they do not, resentment, anger and brokenness sprout.   It is easy for us to transfer this dynamic which is familiar to all of us onto our relationship with God...”If I...then God...will act favorably on my behalf.”   We think we can heal the sacred relationship through human effort and striving.

          We have been learning in the book of Romans that this is indeed a trap.  Even though the law of God is holy and just, we, because of the depth of sin within us, are never capable of keeping God’s law.  We always fall short.  How can a sinner possibly stand in the presence of a Holy God?      

          The Apostle Paul illuminates his answer throughout his letter.   One great summation of his thought, and a foundation stone of evangelical faith may be found in Romans 5: 8:     (NIV)

          This is the bibles version of unconditional love:  God, acting out of the depth of his character loves us, even and especially in our unrepentant state.  When we deserved it the least, God sent the Son into the world to die in our place, and to receive in his holy body the punishment that all of us deserve.   There was no test to determine our worthiness of such a sacrifice.    God did not say:  “If you...then I”.  No, he acted to save us.

           When we were weak and broken, when there was nothing that we could give in return, God chose to love us.   This is Agape.  The love that calls us into eternal relationship.  Into obedience.  Into deep purpose and passion for the work and kingdom of God.

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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:

Hope Covenant Church

14401 West Avenue

Orland Park, IL 60462

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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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 | Rest as a Form of Worship: My Covenant Feast Experience

by Patricia Smith Adaranijo


   The number of unemployed persons (14.1 million) and the unemployment rate (9.2 percent. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (9.1 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), whites (8.1 percent), blacks (16.2 percent), and Hispanics (11.6 percent) showed little or no change in June. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.8 percent. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (July/2011)

Since my full-time special education teaching position ended in June 2010, due to Illinois state budget cuts, I’ve been looking for work: filed countless applications, provided college transcripts, resumes, and references, gone to interviews, and taken physical exams, photo IDs, background and fingerprints checks. I could not find a full-time teaching positions. So, I filed for unemployment compensation and worked as a substitute teacher when positions became available. Over the past year, I have taught students in ten different schools in four school districts, in both Will and Cook counties. I was grateful to get a six-week temporarily-assigned special education teaching position in a Chicago Public Schools in May 2011. June 21, 2011, the position ended. I felt stressed. But then I remembered: in three days, I would be spending a week in the Mountains, of Estes Park, Colorado. I was going to two events sponsored by the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) – the 2011 Feast event and the ECC Annual Meeting. I wondered, “Will this experience be the spiritual retreat that I so desperately need? Will it be worth the time and effort?” I certainly hoped so.

As a new member of the the Executive Board of the Central Conference, I felt extremely honored when Board selected me to be one of the delegates to attend these events. I had previously attended Annual Meetings and heard about the Feast being a family-oriented retreat, held every three years. I wondered how I would fit in as a single person. I also wondered how I would cope being more than 8000 feet above sea-level, as there had been repeated warnings about high-altitude sickness. Still, it felt so good to have something other than a job to think about.

I also looked forward to this week-long trip because my Spiritual Accountability partner, would be there as well. We had not been able to go on our usual 24-hour spiritual-retreat this year, and I hoped to spend time in prayer, worship and fellowship with her. Once there, we were able to connect on a number of occasions.

The speakers inspired us to apply Scripture to our own circumstances. The themes they presented included: receiving God’s blessings; rejoicing in youthful hope; recreating our minds to help us live in harmony with each other as Christ-followers; and being refreshed in a real love relationship with God.

Additionally, I ate lots of good food, listened to great music, sang worshipful songs, danced, and basked in solitude and the natural beauty of the wilderness. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know fellow-Covenanters from around the world, and joined friends in an  oh-so-scary, car ride to the top of the Rockies Mountains! I also participated in water aerobics, photography, an animal detective class, sight-seeing, and window-shopping.

During this time of rest, I was better able to focus on the unfathomable love God has for God’s people. I was reminded that God cares for creation, and continually provides for me, especially during these times of high unemployment. During that time, I did not even think about my job situation. Instead, I lifted my eyes to the Rockies and was reminded from where my help, my hope, my strength comes. (Psalm 121:1-2)

PSA

If you would like to become closer with God, join us at:

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