Thursday, July 3, 2008

Change

Listened to a sermon on CD this morning (thanks JR Kish!) from a Pastor preaching his farewell sermon after 15 years at the same church. It was moving! One of the things that he talked about was change. He handled the topic so eloquently as he paved the way for the next Pastor. Here are a few of the things that he shared that I thought were great (with my twist):
  • There will always be change! 2 Corinthians 3:18 reminds of it and that it is God's will! The one constant in all of our lives is change.
  • People react to change most often in one of these 3 ways; resist, resent or run!
  • I mean, just think of small things like what aisle you find items in the grocery store, how you log into your computer, what time a show comes on TV...when those things change, we react. Now imagine the things that really matter....
  • Here is why most people resist change...because our value and/or security are placed on those temporal things that will always change! We react because either our value or security are being threatened.
  • Now, I would add this observation....feel free to disagree. But, I think that for young folks, they find their value in stuff (position, job, church, health, looks, money). For older folks, they find their security (because this is a greater need the older you get) in Stuff (house, family, church, health, position, etc.).
So, what's the point?
  • We need to embrace and accept change! Things will change! At home, at work, at church.....things will be ever changing!
  • If we refuse change, we refuse growth!
  • So...I would suggest that our value and security needs to be placed on our God, the one constant that never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is stable and solid and is the ONLY answer to true value, meaning and security!
  • If we place our value and security on the things of this world, we will spend our lives feeling threatened. If we place our value and security in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will spend our days feeling rooted and protected!
Easier said than done, huh? Well, that is my encouragement for us today!

--Noah

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