Northgate Christian Community

Roy Van Der Westhuizen

Jon & Yolande Hasselbeck

Jon Hasselbeck

Chris Parker

Craig McLeod

Yolande Hasselbeck

Jon Hasselbeck

Chris Parker

Roy Van Der Westhuizen Have you ever wondered, “What is the greatest thing that could happen right now?” Roy has asked this question many times. Although his answer has changed over the years it always comes back to one thing – to experience the presence of God. What a privilege and gift that we sometimes lose track of, to be able to experience God at all. The fact that God is not only willing, but wants to meet with us is something that should blow our minds every time we think about it. If we believe that God is available, accessible, it should move the deepest parts of us. It’s with this attitude and heart posture that we should enter into worship. Instead of going to church with the attitude of receiving, Roy encouraged us all to enter into worship with a posture of giving. As David says in the Psalms bless the Lord oh my soul. In other words, we don’t always feel like worshipping God. It is up to us to lead ourselves into “blessing the Lord”. This is simply all God is after; for people to turn their hear

Jon Hasselbeck

Joel Ruddy Joel Ruddy introduced his message entitled “Work and Worship” by reading Genesis 2:7-8: “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man He had formed.” The importance of this verse is that God doesn’t give us gifts to hoard for ourselves; He gives us gifts to take to other places, just like he did with Adam in Genesis. The original word for “work” in Hebrews (Avodah) is to work and worship God while doing the same thing. As we work, we can worship God and we can serve God as we work.  God has uniquely designed us for work. His intent for us in work is to serve Him. It’s easy to feel God’s delight in a worship setting, but it’s often difficult for us to see that in a corporate workplace. Joel mentioned that we have something inside of us that is completely unique to ourselves. God equips us to handle the issues that we face, e

Jon Hasselbeck

Larry & Ayana Moore Larry started his message by revealing how he came to follow Christ. He started off as a person of the streets using and selling drugs.  Later on, he was transformed by the power of Christ into a new creation. Along his walk he has viewed himself through many different lenses, such as being a pastor. The main point of his message was that we must view ourselves as children of God first. Out of that, our sonship flows to the rest of who we are and what we do. He brought our attention to Matthew 16:24. Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross.” In his old ways if someone crossed him Larry would have showed him who they were messing with. As he is continues to be transformed by Christ, he denies himself that right, and shows them Christ. He shows them love instead of beating them up. Ayana, closes the message with three points. 1) We are all called to conform to image of Christ. 2) Disciples have discipline – it is a choice to deny yourself

Jon Hasselbeck Through life, we may experience moments of pain and hurt – moments that will make us feel like a reed that has been bruised. However, God does not waste any of our hurt. He uses it to reveal His divine light and transform us to what He has already made us. On Sunday, Pastor Jon used a model of a light-bulb to illustrate how God uses broken reeds to be the light. The filament of the first successful incandescent light-bulbs were made of bamboo (broken reed). However, running electricity through bamboo quickly burns it up. By covering bamboo with carbon and creating a vacuum, the filament can burn for long-periods of time. In much the same way, God takes the broken life that we have and covers us with his “carbon”, changes the atmosphere around us, and turns us into lights when we plug into God’s power. Peter’s life is a prime example of this. Throughout the Gospel, we see accounts of mistakes Peter has made interlaced with flashes of brilliance. However, despite his mistakes, God still calls him

Chris Parker

Tom McGreevy  When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge they discovered that they were naked. This lead them to cover themselves and hide. God responded by calling their names (Gen 3). It is the human tendency to hide the things we aren’t proud of. The question to ask is, “should we hide”? Tom offered his honest observations of religion and the culture it creates. Often when we think of what it means to be a Christian we think of our behaviors. If you look, act and behave a certain way, then you are in. Often we put on a smile and that tell others that everything is wonderful to try an live this out. Sadly, this is not always true, yet we regularly hide under a facade of positivity. Faking it with people, especially those of casual acquaintance, is understandable and maybe even appropriate at times. However, Tom believes we need people in our lives to let the real you out. What’s worse is when we take this hiding mentality to our relationship with God. In the story of Job, it is when Job finally gets hon

Jon Hasselbeck Jon shared this week about the trials that we face in life, and God’s faithfulness in the midst of it. He shared a story about his dad when he was serving in the navy during World War II. He was sailing on a battleship that was making its way to the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic through the Panama Canal to join in the Battle of Okinawa. They were stopped when a typhoon hit that nearly capsized the battleship, tearing it apart in the process. Fortunately, the ship and its crew survived, but they had to sail for Pearl Harbor to make repairs. The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest naval battles in World War II. Many ships were sunk and their crew lost. It’s more than likely that Jon’s father, only eighteen at the time, would not have survived the battle and never had Jon. Jon encouraged us to, “thank God for the typhoons in our lives.” He then went on to share how God used Abraham and Moses’s mistakes and trials to shape them into the leaders destined to birth and free Israel. Both didn’

Pastor Alberto Lanzlot God’s love is unrelenting – this is an absolute. Pastor Alberto shared his testimony about being raised in the Bronx, participating in drug trafficking and addiction, and serving time in prison. Ultimately, it was not the criminal system, programs, or rituals that saved him, but the unrelenting love of God. His wife was pivotal to his transformation from a prison inmate to a follower of Jesus Christ. Through her, he was shown the undeserved overwhelming love of God – a God who would consider him part of his “chosen people” despite all of his transgressions. But how do we respond to God’s unrelenting love? Pastor Alberto uses Ephesians 5:1-2 as the framework for his response: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2, ESV)

Pastor Jon elaborated on Chris Parker’s message last week by explaining that serving is a key part of what it means to follow Jesus. He introduced the story of Stephen; a young man who had a heart geared for service and who continually blessed others in his congregation. Stephen intently waited on God’s word, even in the face of extreme opposition. Pastor Jon explained that Stephen used what little he had (a willingness to serve and being available to serve). God blessed him with His Spirit and used him to preach a message that was recorded in Acts 7. A characteristic trait of church plants is for pastors to be the primary cleaners, carpenters, ministers, worship leaders, and resource for their congregations. However, as churches grow, Pastor Jon concluded that they should discover gifts that other people have so everyone can enjoy the gift of service. He also explained that in even the most difficult of situations, God has the power not only to pull us through, but to also use our stories as a testimony for

A balanced approach to living a Christ-centered life requires the continual integration of three critical dimensions of the gospel: word, power, and deed. Holy Spirit week placed an emphasis on “power.” This past Sunday (“Super serve Sunday”), we focus on “deed” as Chris spoke from the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). Chris contends that while the emphasis of this parable is commonly on money, it is in fact about perspective. Specifically, the parable contrasts the perspective of God with the perspective of the “wicked, lazy” servant. While God views the world as a place of opportunity and worthy of investment, the servant views the world (and his master) in fear. This incongruity in perspectives underlies both the servant’s actions (or lack thereof) as well as his master’s disappointment. How we view the world and all God has allotted to us informs both our deeds and actions. Chris challenges us to take on God’s perspective to reinterpret what it means to be a good steward of the “talents” He has