New Wine In Old Skins Series

OLD VERSES NEW

Why do we resist ? Well for many; its because we feel safer when things have been tried and tested Ecc 1:9-10 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. New is not necessarily better, and is always suspect. Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.’ "

Jesus tells us in Luke 5:37-38 that the old and the new don’t mix-and shouldn’t but what He was giving us was something totally new; something fresh and exciting Roman. 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

CONCLUSION

If we are to meet the needs of the lost, the unaware and those that are searching; both individually and collectively we must be open to newness. How many times I wonder have you heard the saying "we tried it and it didn’t work". I believe its time we asked ourselves; when was it tried and why didn’t it work?

Jesus did not come into the world to repair the broken down religion of the day. He showed no concern for preserving or conserving their traditions or practices. Instead He was concerned about making people new from the inside out.

As Christians we all face the questions of whom and what God wants us to be in this world. Consider the account of the Salvation Army sending out officers in 1860 to become missionaries in America. Just before departure from England, one of the officers prayed for them saying, "Lord, these leaders are going to America to preach the Gospel. If they are fully given up to Thee, be with them and bless them and grant them success. But if they are not faithful, drown them, Lord; drown them.

HOW TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE

A number of conservative people do not trust new innovations as there conservative orientations makes them less willing to change. They gain security from their traditions. They are generally comfortable in "that old time religion". For this reason, many of their movements eventually wax and wane with the passing ages. Without an ability to remain relevant, con-temporary, and adaptive to the changing needs of the people, some conservatives miss opportunities to impact society. The following list is useful in helping security-obsessed people to see how Jesus Christ made major changes. We need to reflect on how some could modify their views to conform more to the motivations and methods of Jesus our Lord. The following are several ways through which Jesus tried to bring about change.

1. Jesus prayed and relied on the Holy Spirit for every change. Luke 5:15-16 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

2. Jesus made declarative statements of His purposes, processes and motives to all that would listen. John 6:38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.