Worship
NCC believes that “man's chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.” ( Westminster Catechism & John Piper). Worship is the essence of glorifying God. Worship, in the broad sense, is living our lives in a way that gives Him worship. “ 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1, NKJV). In a more specific sense, when God's people gather, He calls them to join their hearts and voices to offer Him praise and worship. As we respond to that call, God's desire is to fill His people with His manifest presence.
Psalm 27:4
"One thing have I desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple."
One of the great passions of New Covenant Church is the presence of God!
Consider the following quotes:
"What is the essence, heart, and core of the Spirit's work today? What is the central, focal element in his many-sided ministry? Is there one basic activity to which his work of empowering, enabling, purifying, and presenting must be related in order to be fully understood? Is there a single divine strategy that unites all these facets of his life-giving action as means to one end? I think there is, a view that I focus in terms of the idea of presence. By this I mean that the Spirit makes known the personal presence in and with the Christian and the church of the risen, reigning Savior, the Jesus of history, who is the Christ of faith. And he does it in order that Christ may be known, loved, trusted, honored and praised, which is the Spirit's aim and purpose throughout." (J.I. Packer,)
"I think what people really want is to be in the presence of God. They want to have a deeper personal experience of God as they participate in church life week by week. Christians instinctively long to be in an assembly of God's people where they can focus their attention on God long enough that their eyes and minds and hearts are aware of nothing but his presence, where their voices are singing his praise (or perhaps silent in his presence), and where they are free to feel the intensity of their love for him and to sense in their spirits that God is there, delighting in the praises of his children. That is what Christians today really long for. They long to come to church and be allowed to worship and pray until they sense in their spirits that they are in the manifest presence of God." (Wayne Grudem, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?, 347)
"Across the board, within the context of fundamentalism today - whether it's charismatic, Pentecostal or not - there's been a progression toward church as theater. There's music, drama, pathos - there's theater... Now theater presumes the ability to control audience interest. Therefore it eliminates the exercise of the unknown, taking chances, reaching out for something you're not sure of, listening to the nuance of the Spirit's breathing and speaking to you... The goal has become theater and a good experience, as over against interaction with God, his people, his word, and his Spirit." (John Wimber)
God, our pursuit of God, our eternal, never-ending thanks to God for creating, calling, justifying, sanctifying, glorifying us, our fervent worship and praise of God is the center and focus of all we do together as a church. Worship must never be an add-on or merely a preparation for teaching, but rather stands on its own as the high call we have together as His covenant people.
Psalm 95:6-7
" Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."
Psalm 98:1
"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory."
Psalm 99:5
"Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool - He is holy."
Psalm 100:4-5
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations."
Psalm 146:1-2
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being."
Psalm 147:1
"Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful."
II Corinthians 3:18
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Practical:
Therefore exuberant, Biblical praise and worship will be a priority in our meetings together. We will invest time, energy and money to fulfill this high calling of the church. We will primarily use this time to give God the high place due His name and secondarily expect God to interact with us through the gifts of the Spirit and individually interacting with His people. For this reason - Sunday meetings will be a top functional priority in church life. To better understand the Biblical case for praise and worship, please contact the NCC office to inquire about the tape series on the subject.
Preaching Sound Doctrine
Worship and church life must be founded on and grounded in sound doctrine. God strongly calls His people to know His Word.
• Psalm 1:1-3
“Blessed is the man….whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
• Jeremiah 15:16
“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart…”
• John 8:31-32
“If you continue in My Word , you are my disciple indeed and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Often times, Christians are weak in doctrine and theology. As a result, far too many Christians exhibit shallowness in their walks with God. For example, many excuse sinful behavior by taking on a “victim” mentality or by blame shifting or justifying their actions. Often this results from poor theology. These Christians really believe that they are basically good people who have been treated wrongly. They have a “right” to react. If their theology was correct, they would understand both the reality of their total depravity (Ephesians 2:1-3 & Jeremiah 17:9) and the reality of indwelling sin (Romans 7:18). Right theology would produce right principle which would produce right practice. (See diagram below)
Therefore, NCC purposes to preach, teach, and promote sound doctrine and theology. We will never cease to urge members to pursue God by pursuing His Word.
All church leaders must apply themselves to reading, studying, and pursuing sound doctrine.
II Timothy 4:1-4
"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: PREACH THE WORD! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure SOUND DOCTRINE, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
The Priority of Preaching
Luke 2:9-14
"Think about some of the options available to an omnipotent God for declaring His message. He has tens of thousands of angels. They could be employed full-time throughout the earth declaring the words of God and the story of Jesus, much as they did to the shepherds near Bethlehem the night Jesus was born "
John 12:28-30
"God created and controls the stars; He could make a galactic Bible of them and communicate to nightly. God could write with the calligraphy of the clouds in the tongue of every people-group to reveal Himself each day. He could speak every morning directly from heaven in a voice that thunders from the sky, as He did in ."
"But for reasons known only to Himself, He has chosen none of these means. Instead He has determined that He would reveal Himself to people through His Word by means of preaching. Therefore preaching is always relevant, no matter what a majority of people thinks is any particular culture at a given point in history, because it is God's idea." (Donald Whitney)
"Be aroused to the work of the Lord, and speak to your people as though their very lives were at stake." (Richard Baxter)
"I preach as like never to preach again and as a dying man to dying men." (Richard Baxter, quoted in MacArthur)
Authentic Relationships
God intends Christians to be “joined and knit” together in close, authentic relationships. God calls His people to bear each others burdens, to love unconditionally, to encourage one another daily, and to hold each other accountable toward godly standards. Church is not a club, but a family.
Consider the following scriptures:
Ephesians 2:21-22
"In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Ephesians 4:15-16
"But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up all in things into Him who is the head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
I Peter 2:4-5
"Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
I Peter 4:8
"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins."
Wonderful worship + dynamic teaching + poor relationships= Sick Church
John 13:34-35
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Therefore, we will endeavor to model godly, loving relationships and to urge church members to walk in love and genuine unity.
Practical:
NCC offers weekly Care Group meetings in various locations in A.A. County and on the Eastern Shore. In these small groups, people have the opportunity to fellowship, worship, and study God's Word together. Often times, people receive the personal care they long for in these groups. Care Groups are a reservoir from which relationships are established and strengthened.
Strong Families
Too often, in the hectic nature of the American lifestyle, Christians forget their priorities. For singles, Scripture gives a most positive picture. In 1 st Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul says, “ 32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord--how he may please the Lord.” Therefore, Scripture indicates that the single years are privileged years, where one is free to serve the Lord, His church, and others without distraction.
For families, the important areas of life, like work and church service, should be kept in perspective. God's will is that He is #1 priority and the family is #2.
Consider the following Scripture:
Ephesians 5:21-25, 33
“22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
1 Peter 3:7
“Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”
Titus 2:3-5
“...the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”
Ephesians 6:1-4
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother,' which is the first commandment with promise: 'that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.' And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
1 Timothy 3:4-5
“One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)...”
Practical
NCC purposes to invest time, energy, and finances to encourage strong families. We do this through a variety of ways, including the following:
• Marriage Seminars and events
• Parenting Seminars
• Children's Ministry
• Youth Ministry
• Men's and Women's Retreats
• Leadership Classes which promote strong families
OUTREACH
Sadly, studies show that a very small percentage of Christians are active in sharing their faith. Yet the Lord we worship and serve has, in no uncertain terms, given us a job to do. We are on earth to fulfill His mission.
Consider the following:
Luke 19:10
“...for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
John 20:21
“So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'"
Bible's Mission Statement:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." --Matthew 28:19-20
"Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" --John 4:34-35
"Now all things are of God, who has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation." --II Corinthians 5:18-20
Though we are not where we want to be, NCC has purposed to grow in fulfilling the Lord's commission to us. We desire to – more and more – embrace in our hearts a vision for the area we live and for the entire world, as is stated in our mission statement.
Mission :
To glorify God through the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to Arnold , to Anne Arundel County , to the world.
Currently we are doing a number of things to pursue this mission, including the following:
• Supporting missionaries in various places, including India , Guatemala , Mexico and Central America
• Sending out adults and teens on short-term mission trips
• The Alpha course
• A major evangelistic outreach every year
• Regular tract outreaches
• Continued proclamation of the glorious gospel from our pulpit
SERVICE
Christians are called to be participants, not spectators. It is God's expressed will that EVERY Christian be significantly involved in serving the local church.
Consider Ephesians 4:16:
Ephesians 4:16
“...from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Some people wonder whether they have any God-given gifts with which to serve the church. The Scripture makes it very clear that, in fact, all Christians do.
1 Peter 4:10
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
One of the exciting ministries God has blessed NCC with is our Networking Ministry. Church members attend a “Discovery Class” in which trained personnel walk the members through a series of profiles which help pinpoint gifts, passions, and temperaments. Then the Networking team helps participants discover where there might be a “fit” for them.
Above all, NCC purposes to instill into its members two of the most important qualities mecessary for Christ-centered service:
• A servant's heart
• Humility
Please consider carefully the following scriptures:
John 13:3-5, 12-17
“3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
“12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
1 Peter 5:5
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.'"
Prayer
As time has gone on, we at NCC have become more and more convinced that “unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it….”
(Psalm 127:1a).
Therefore, prayer is not an option; it is a necessity. We are calling out to the Lord to build us into a CHURCH OF PRAYER . We believe that prayer is the outward expression of hearts that are totally dependant on the God of the universe to cause His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is our heart cry here at NCC.
We are so grateful to our heavenly Father who lovingly encourages us to pray often and to pray with faith.
Consider the following:
Jeremiah 33:3
"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Matthew 6:6
"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
Matthew 7:7-8
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Hebrews 11:6
" But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17
“...pray without ceasing...”
Colossians 4:2
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;”
We believe America and the church in America needs revival. Prayer is central to revival. One of our themes in prayer comes from these words by Martyn Lloyd Jones:
"Shall we not with one accord, mind and spirit, during these coming days, wait upon Him and pray that again, He may open the windows of heaven and shower down upon us the Holy Spirit in mighty reviving power?" –Martyn Lloyd Jones