Through Change We Grow!
Pastor Glenn Newton 7-1-01
On July 4th, 1776 there was a Document signed by the brave leaders of the American
Colonies, this document was a Declaration of Independence. It was a day that changed
the lives of those who lived in our country forever, it was a Change that required courage
on thier part and Faith in the Divine for their protection.
I have made copies of this Declaration of Independence for each family to take home and
have and hopefully you can read it and be reminded of the great price that was paid for
our freedoms. Our children especially need to be taught that what they enjoy today didn’t
come to them without a price. As adults, we need to be reminded that all the great things
that we enjoy today, our freedom to worship here this morning, our freedom to pursue
new opportunities, like Next Generation, and so many other things that we do each and
everyday, they all are possible, first. because God has blessed our Nation, second because
we have had men and women for the last 200+ years that have fought for our freedoms.
Friends, we should not take our Freedoms for granted, Our Freedoms are not a guarantee
.. they are rights that we need to defend and be mindful to protect when necessary.
This week we Celebrate Freedom. This Freedom came about because of the people’s
desire for freedom, and these same people were willing to make whatever changes were
necessary to achieve their goal of Freedom.
I’m sure somebody has said this before, I just don’t know who to give the credit too right
now, but the fact is, “Nothing worthwhile is accomplished without sacrifice.”
The men who signed this declaration of Independence, they pledged more than just a
couple of hours a week to the cause of freedom, they pledged more than one Saturday a
month to a meeting for the cause of freedom, in the last words in the Declaration of
Independence this is what they said, “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
These men not only pledged these things, if you know their stories and what happened to
them during the Revolutionary War, most of them died in combat, most of them lost their
fortunes, and many of them were very wealthy, many of them lost there whole families in
the war. But because of their bravery, we are free today. Many of you have stepped into
those same shoes, laying your life and honor on the line for our Freedom, and all of us
who enjoy what you have worked for, We tell you Thank You, Thank You for the
Sacrifice.
The best way we can thank those who have went on before us is to not take it for granted,
and to defend what they fought so hard to secure. Are you aware of the kind of
legislation that is being passed in our Capitol this week? Are you up to date on the issues
that affect our Freedoms? I challegne you to stay informed and stay active, by calling or
writing your representative and voicing your opinion. Your opinion doesn’t have to be
like mine, but the more involved we are, the better off our country is.
Through Change We Grow!
Obviously those Early Americans had to go through drastic changes, and they
sacrificed everything so that our New Nation could grow.
We are learning something about Change these days, arent’ we?
I wanted to share a Scripture that talks about making a Change, and how Jesus is teaching
that this change is necessary to make it into Heaven. Matt. 18: 3-4
.3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself
like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
I’ve been thinking all week about this whole subject of change, and why is it so hard on
us?
And to be honest, I thought that going through these changes in our church building,
moving my office, and so on, would be easy for me, because I’ve been dreaming about this
for a long time. I’ve been trying to figure out why this has been harder than I thought it
would be, and its not so much moving all my stuff to the house, even though that has been
a mess. It’s the whole idea of getting out of my comfort zone, I’ve been pushed from the
nest so to speak.
We are for the most part, people of habit and we are also for the most part people who
like things in their proper place, when anything disrupts this, we get out of sorts, it makes
us uptight.
How many of you have not changed in the last 10 years?
Do you have the same amount of hair?
Do you weigh the same amount as you did 10 years ago?
Is your funiture in your home in the same place it was 10 years ago?
Are you driving the same car or truck you did 10 years ago?
Do you have the same friends that you did 10 years ago?
If you can answer yes to all those questions, (hurry, check your pulse) you probably have
died, and no one has bothered to tell you yet. Why? Because things are in constant states
of change, it’s the way of life.
One question that I thought of this week, maybe it’s passed through your mind before,
“Why should we change, since the Bible tells us that God never changes?”
Doesn’t the Bible say that “He is the same yesterday, today and forever?”
His nature is the same, His love, His Holiness, His characteristics will never change. But
to think that God never changes how he works in our world and through us would be
inconsistent with what we know to be true.
Let’s think this through a little bit this morning - Were talking about how God does
change how he works in our world and through us.
Who instituted in the Old Testament the system of making sacrificial offerings for the
forgiveness of sins? God did. Each year the Israelites were to bring a lamb and make a
sin offering, where that Lamb’s blood would blot out the sin for that man and his family.
This was God’s plan in the Old Testament.
(Where’s your sacrificial lamb at this morning?)
How come we don’t bring a lamb to church once a year anymore for sacrifice?
God instituted another plan, His perfect plan of salvation. He sent his only Son
Jesus, to die for our sins, and now His blood can wash away our sins when we accept
Jesus into our hearts and trust Him and live for Him. God changed his method for the
forgiveness of sin. The first was just a shadow, or a glimpse of what God would bring
about through Jesus.
Do you remember the story of Abraham and Lot, Abraham is pleading with God to save
Lot and his family from this wicked city of Sodom. God is determined to destroy the
whole city and everybody in it. If you remember, Abraham bargains with God and God
changes his plans because of the prayer, and pleading of Abraham. Lot and his family is
saved, except for Lot’s wife who was turned into a pillar of salt for her disobedience, but
God allowed Lot and his family to escape his planned destruction. God did destroy the
whole town with fire because of the wickedness.
The Bible tells us that the Prayer of a Righteous Man are effective and may/could change
what God was going to do or allow to be done. Don’t take your prayers lightly, obviously
God takes your requests seriously.
Many times in the New Testament we see Jesus being moved by the hurting crowds, he is
going one way with the disciples, and before you know it, he changes direction and goes
to someone’s home, or to where someone is to heal them.
What I want you to realize this morning, there is nothing unspritual about change. We
just need to face the fact that it’s just not easy, and we must break out of our comfort
level and accept the challenge that God has put in front of us.
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
Jesus is teaching his disciples about their attitude. We could try and guess why Jesus felt
it necessary to say these words, but obviously the disciples were maybe thinking more of
themselves than they should have.
It’s true. One of the disciples had just come to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven?"
You see in that question the human idea about greatness, we seem to always be in
the process of evaluating who’s the best. We can see it in Sports all the time. Right now
there’s no question who’s the best in Basketball, because they were able to beat everyone
else, so the Lakers are number One. In Sports, the mantra is What have you done for me
lately, people are already saying that someone might be better than Michael Jordan, Why
do you think he’s thinking about a comeback, someone is challenging his place as the
alltime great.
That’s the worlds way of viewing greatness. The most powerful, the most athletic, the
most intellectual, the most daring, the best looking, and on and on. We fall into this
thinking, but Jesus is teaching something different about those who will make it into the
Kingdom of Heaven. We need to hear this teaching.
Jesus says unless we CHANGE, and become like little children, we won’t enter the
kingdom. What is He talking about, what is it about little children that is appealing?
A few ideas that I think Jesus is wanting us to hear.
1. Trusting. - Little children are totally trusting, they don’t ask for 2nd opinions. We are
to be totally trusting in God, not doubting him and his provisions for us. If He promises
to take care of us, then why do we worry so much about whether we are going to make it
or not? Trust is a big issue that we need to get settled for our own good and our own
ability to grow spiritually. Without trust, there won’t be spiritual growth.
2. Obedient. Now you may think, hey, little kids aren’t obedient. Well, if there
disciplined and trained, they are obedient, maybe not all the time, but for the most part
they obey what there told. Obedience is a key to the Christian life. Obedience is a key to
knowing happiness in this life. Without we are outside God’s will, without it we are
outside of God’s blessings. A child that obeys his parents is a blessing to his parents and
to all those who are around him/her.
This is true for us as we get older. When we are obedient to God in our lives,
everyone around us is blessed because of it. I know my family is greatly benefitted when
I’m being totally obedient to what God wants. Because the times when I’ve been
disobedient, I’ve been miserable, theve been miserable. Are you being Obedient to what
God wants for you in your Christian life? It’s a requirement, not a suggestion in Kingdom
living.
3. Humility. Jesus says, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells us how important humility is in the Christian life.
Humility is not demanding recognition, humility is not being concerned with who gets the
credit, humility is being willing to be last. This is one of the greatest characteristics of the
Christian, but to be honest, this is one we all need to work on the most.
Humility has to do with recognizing who we are living for. We are not living for
ourselves. We are not living our lives so other people can see us and think how great we
are. But instead, We are living our Lives to Glorify Jesus in everything we do. When
people do see us, we want them to see Christ in us, his humility, his servant attitude
flowing through us.
I can tell you that these three areas don’t come naturally, they only come as we surrender
ourselves to God and allow Him to make the changes in our lives that he needs to, to
bring about this Holy Life.
Trust, Obedience, Humility. It’s through change that we will grow. It’s as we grow in
grace in all three of these areas that Jesus will be glorified through us, and that’s the
greatest compliment anyone could give me and you as Christians, “I see Jesus in your life,
and in your attitudes.”
What do people see in you this morning? Do they see the world way of thinking? Or do
they see someone who is coming to God as a little child, Trusting, Obedient, and humble?
Closing.
I want to give you the chance to respond this morning. If God has talked to your heart
about where you are, your attitudes, your obedience, your trust or lack of trust, then I
urge you to be obedient to the Spirit’s leading and respond to God and pray. Let God
bring change in your life so that you can grow.
