Change In The Air

Change in the Air

Ecclessiates 3:1-8

October 26, 2003

Morning Service

Introduction

When I took chemistry in high school my teacher, Mr. Carter, did an experiment with a piece of ice and a simple beaker. The ice was placed inside the beaker and the beaker was placed over heat. We watched as that ice cube slowly became a small amount of water and then that water slowly began to boil. The boiling water began to turn into vapor and disappear from that glass beaker.

Mr. Carter asked a few questions about the process that we just watched and we walked through the process together. I’ll never forget what Mr. Carter told us: Everything is in a constant state of perpetual change.

The change of the seasons

Recently the temperature has turned cooler and there has been a crisp bite to the air. The normal morning dew has turned to a light frost. The tree leaves have gone from a lush green to an array of beautiful colors and now those leaves have fallen to cover the ground. We are making the transition from summer and are being prepared for the coming of winter. I think that it is safe to say that there is change in the air

Change; it’s sometimes a hard word to hear because it means that things will not be as they are right now. Change is not always easy but it is necessary. It is a basic part of life and as time passes things, places and people all go through the sometimes, painful process of change.

This morning I want to share some Biblical basics on the subject of change.

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

I. Change is a simple reality of life

Life is in a constant state of change. Life is like a river continually flowing and never the same twice. Every day is filled with wins and losses, opportunities and misses, hurt and healing. It is just a part of being alive.

Think about your life for just a moment. How much has your life changed in the last ten years?

How many of you have moved to a new home? How many children, grandchildren, great-grand children have joined your family? How many cars have you owned in ten years? How many of you have changed jobs or retired in the past ten years?

Change is a necessary part of life and being alive.

What would happen if babies just stayed the same and never changed? They would never reach maturity, never grow and never become what they were meant to become.

What would happen if the weather never changed? We would have one aspect of the cycle all of the time and lose the cycle and balance that is needed to sustain life.

What would happen if couples got married and then never started their lives together? There wouldn’t be much point in marriage would there?

Change is a part of life but do we truly have an accurate understanding of of what it really is?

What is change?

For some people change is the money that is given back after they buy something or the coins that you carry or have in a dish at the house.

Webster defined change as a period of transition, a type of movement or doing something out of the ordinary.

There are times when the changes of life happen so fast or so radically that we feel overwhelmed and we become completely unsettled. In those times that change seems to overwhelm you remember that the most important things in life never change.

II. The most important things in life never change

Let me ask you some questions: Has the Word of God changed? Have the provisions for salvation changed? Has the promise of heaven changed? Have any of these facts changed in the past ten years, what about the last thirty years, how about the last one hundred years or even in the past one thousand years? Not one has ever changed and when your life swirls with change you can take these promises to the bank!