Hebrews 1:8a; 10-13 and Hebrews 13:8
IF THERE IS ONE NEVER-ENDING HUMAN TRUTH THAT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME IT IS THIS: THE ONE THING THAT SEEMS TO NEVER CHANGE IS CHANGE ITSELF.
WE ARE ALWAYS CHANGING. WE ARE ALWAYS FACING CHANGE. OUR WORLD CHANGES. TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES CHANGES. HEALTH CHANGES. MEDICINE CHANGES. CHURCHES CHANGE. YES, EVEN STYLES OF WORSHIP CHANGE!
CHANGE IS CONSTANT. CHANGE IS UNAVOIDABLE. CHANGE OFFERS GROWTH AND MATURITY. CHANGE WHICH AT FIRST APPEARS MASKED IN UNCERTAINTY REVEALS A BEAUTY WHEN THE DISGUISE IS ALLOWED TO BE LIFTED IN ORDER TO SHOW US THAT THE CHANGE WAS NECESSARY AND WHAT WAS NEEDED ALL ALONG.
FROM THE FIRST FLIGHT AT KITTY HAWK WHERE THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FLEW THEIR AIRCRAFT FOR 12 SECONDS, AT 120 FEET JUST A MERE 20 FEET OFF THE GROUND TO THE AWE-INSPIRING MACH-2 SPEED OF THE LOCKHEED-MARTIN F-22 RAPTOR, WE HAVE WELCOMED CHANGE IN AERONAUTICS.
FROM THE 1908 MODEL-T FORD WITH A TOP SPEED OF 40-45 MILES-PER-HOUR TO THE DODGE VIPER THAT CAN GO FROM 0-60 IN 4.3 SECONDS AT A TOP SPEED OF NEARLY 200 MILES-PER-HOUR, WE’VE ENJOYED THE CHANGES IN AUTOMOTIVES.
WE’VE OPENLY WELCOMED THE CHANGING ADVANCEMENTS OF OTHER TECHNOLOGIES AS WELL: FROM THE PRIMITIVE MANUAL TYPEWRITER OF RIBBONS AND CARBON PAPER TO THE INTRICATE WORLD OF COMPUTERS THAT CONTAIN MEGA-BYTES AND GIGABYTES OF CYBERSPACE, WE’VE ACCEPTED THE CHANGE.
WE HAVE SEEN THE CHANGES OF COMMUNICATION FROM THE GALLIANT HORSES THAT GALLOPED ACROSS THE PONY EXPRESS TO THE “SPLIT-SECOND” DELIVERY OF OUR INTERNET E-MAIL.
WE GLADLY EMBRACE THE ADVANCEMENTS OF TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS THAT MAKES OUR LIFE ALMOST EFFORTLESS. WE HAVE DRY CLEANERS TO DO OUR LAUNDRY. WE HAVE CONTRACTED LANDSCAPERS TO MOW OUR LAWN, WE HAVE RESTAURANTS THAT HAVE 24-HOUR MENUS TO PROVIDE ALL OUR DAILY MEALS. WE HAVE DAY-CARE CENTERS TO WATCH OUR CHILDREN. WE HAVE “WEB-MD” TO DIAGNOSE OUR SYMPTOMS AND “WIKIPEDIA” TO EXPLAIN THINGS FOR US WHEN WE DON’T UNDERSTAND. YET, IN ALL OF THE ACCEPTED FORMS OF CHANGE AND ADVANCEMENT, THERE IS STILL ONE THING THAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT WHEN IT COMES TO ITS HISTORICAL JOURNEY OF CHANGE.
THERE HAS BEEN ONE ORGANIZATION THAT I HAVEN’T MENTIONED YET THAT, FOR THE MOST PART, IS STILL STRUGGLING WITH MOVING AWAY FROM THE COMFORTS OF THE “ROUTINE” AND THE “FAMILIAR” TO STEP OUT IN FAITH INTO THE UNCHARTED RISKS OF THE “UNKNOWNS” OF CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION.
THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN HESITATION AND RESISTANCE OF TAKING WHAT WE’RE FAMILIAR WITH TO VENTURE OUT INTO DEEPER WATERS OF A “WHOLE NEW ROUTINE.”
FOR A NATION THAT HAS EMBRACED THE ADVANCEMENT OF CHANGES IN SUCH THINGS AS TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE, AND MEDICINE, I WONDER WHY IT HAS BEEN RESISTENT AND SLOW TO ADAPT THE CHANGING WORLD TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
YES, I AM TALKING ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. IT MAY BE THE “AGE-OLD GOSPEL” BUT IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE REPEATED AND CONTINUALLY PACKAGED IN AN “AGE-OLD” WAY.
AS WITH ANY OTHER ASPECT OF OUR CULTURE, THE METHODS WE USE TO PRESENT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST SHOULD CHANGE AS SOCIETY, CULTURE AND THE GENERATIONS CHANGE. THE GOSPEL WILL NEVER CHANGE, BUT WE MUST EMBRACE THE FACT THAT THE GOSPEL’S PRESENTATION CHANGES.
ISAIAH 43:18-19, “FORGET THE FORMER THINGS; DO NOT DWELL ON THE PAST. SEE, I AM DOING A NEW THING! NOW IT SPRINGS UP; DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT?”
EVEN THE APOSTLE PAUL REALIZED HE NEEDED TO ADAPT IF HE WAS GOING TO “RELATE” THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TO DIFFERING GENERATIONS AND CULTURES. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:20-23, “WHEN I WAS WITH THE JEWS, I LIVED LIKE A JEW TO BRING THE JEWS TO CHRIST. WHEN I WAS WITH THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE JEWISH LAW, I TOO LIVED UNDER THAT LAW. EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT SUBJECT TO THE LAW, I DID THIS SO I COULD BRING TO CHRIST THOSE WHO ARE UNDER THE LAW. WHEN I AM WITH THE GENTILES WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THE JEWISH LAW, I TOO LIVE APART FROM THAT LAW SO I CAN BRING THEM TO CHRIST. BUT I DO NOT IGNORE THE LAW OF GOD; I OBEY THE LAW OF CHRIST. WHEN I AM WITH THOSE WHO ARE WEAK, I SHARE THEIR WEAKNESS, FOR I WANT TO BRING THE WEAK TO CHRIST. YES, I TRY TO FIND COMMON GROUND WITH EVERYONE, DOING EVERYTHING I CAN TO SAVE SOME. I DO EVERYTHING TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS AND SHARE IN ITS BLESSINGS.” ADAPTING THE STYLE AND APPROACH OF PRESENTING THE GOSPEL IS EXPECTED AND TO BE EXPECTED!
THE QUESTIONS I MAY ASK IS THIS: FOR THE MOST PART, HAS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH BEEN MORE COMMITED TO A “CONCEPT” RATHER THAN HER CHRIST? HAS THE CHURCH BEEN MORE KEEN AT TAKING HOLD TO PARTICULAR STYLES AND FORMATS RATHER THAN TAKING UP THEIR CROSSES TO FOLLOW AFTER JESUS CHRIST?
IT IS EASY TO GET DISTRACTED WITH THE “MINORS” AND FAIL TO SEEK AFTER THE “MAJORS.” WE BECOME SO BUSY WITH “DOING” THAT WE GET DISTRACTED FROM “BEING.”
SO, WHEN A CALL COMES OUT TO “ARISE FROM OUR SLUMBER” AND TO AWAKEN TO A WHOLE NEW WAY OF REACHING A NEW GENERATION WITH THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS SALVATION, WE CANNOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BECOME BITTER, CONFUSED, OR RESENTFUL SIMPLY BECAUSE “WHAT IS FAMILIAR” IS CHALLENGED, SHIFTED, OR GUIDED IN A DIFFERENT WAY OR STYLE.
OUR TIME HAS COME! TODAY MARKS OUR TRANSITION POINT AS THE 1100 TRADITIONAL SERVICE. OUR NAME CHANGES NEXT WEEK TO “THE PRAISE SERVICE.”BUT ASK YOURSELF: WILL ANYTHING ELSE DRAMATICALLY CHANGE OTHER THAN THE TITLE? WE WILL STILL COME TO THE SAME CHAPEL AT THE SAME TIME AND WORSHIP WITH MOST OF THE SAME PEOPLE.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO SING FAMILIAR SONGS, HEAR A BIBLICALY-BASED, CHRIST-CENTERED MESSAGE, AND CONTINUE TO INTERCEED ON BEHALF OF OTHERS THROUGH PRAYER. BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORSHIP THE SAME GOD.
WE COME TOGETHER TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP A NEVER-CHANGING, ETERNAL, LOVING GOD. HEBREWS 1:11-12, SAYS THAT OUR GOD “REMAINS FOREVER...AND IS “ALWAYS THE SAME” AND “NEVER GROWS OLD.”
WE WILL STILL COME TOGETHER EACH WEEK IN THE NAME OF THE SAME SON OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST, WHO, AS HEBREWS 13:8, SAYS, “…IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER.”
LET US NOT GET TOO WRAPPED AROUND THE AXEL OF “CONCEPTS, PROCEDURES, AND STYLES” BUT REMIND OURSELVES OF WHAT ALL THESE THINGS ARE HELPING US TO DO: WORSHIPPING OUR EVERLASTING, ETERAL GOD WHO NEVER CHANGES.
THE STYLE, VOLUME AND PACE OF MUSIC MAY CHANGE. THE FLOW OF OUR WORSHIP SERVICES MAY CHANGE FROM BULLETINS TO POWERPOINT SLIDES…FROM PIANO AND ORGAN TO BASS AND GUITAR…FROM 30 MINUTE SERMONS TO DRAMA AND DANCE. BUT, WHATEVER…WHENEVER…HOWEVER…THEY ARE ALL STILL STYLES AND FORMATS THAT LEAD US BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF GRACE AS WE SEEK THE FACE OF GOD THROUGH WORSHIP.
THIS IS WHY REVELATION 7:9-12 IS SO POWERFUL BECAUSE IT SAYS, “AFTER THIS I LOOKED AND THERE BEFORE ME WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE THAT NO ONE COULD COUNT, FROM EVERY NATION, TRIBE, PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE, STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE AND IN FRONT OF THE LAMB. THEY WERE WEARING WHITE ROBES AND WERE HOLDING PALM BRANCHES IN THEIR HANDS. AND THEY CRIED OUT IN A LOUD VOICE: "SALVATION BELONGS TO OUR GOD, WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, AND TO THE LAMB…." THEY FELL DOWN ON THEIR FACES BEFORE THE THRONE AND WORSHIPED GOD, SAYING: ‘AMEN! PRAISE AND GLORY AND WISDOM AND THANKS AND HONOR AND POWER AND STRENGTH BE TO OUR GOD FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN!’"
I ENCOURAGE ALL OF US TO RETURN HERE NEXT SUNDAY WITH THE MINDSET THAT IT IS NOT SO MUCH “HOW” WE WORSHIP, BUT “WHO” WE WORSHIP AND "THAT” WE ARE WORSHIPPING. WE’RE NOT “GETTING A NEW GOD” NEXT WEEK. GOD IS NOT CHANGING…JUST SOME OF THE WAYS WE WILL WORSHIP HIM.
HEBREWS 12:1-3, “THEREFORE, SINCE WE ARE SURROUNDED BY SUCH A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES, LET US THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS AND THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES, AND LET US RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE MARKED OUT FOR US. LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH, WHO FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, SCORNING ITS SHAME, AND SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. CONSIDER HIM WHO ENDURED SUCH OPPOSITION FROM SINFUL MEN, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART.LET US NOT GROW WEARY OR LOSE HEART WITH THE CHANGES THAT ARE COMING FORTH IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS FOR THIS WORSHIP SERVICE.
LET US NOT HAVE PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF DISTASTE FOR WHAT “WE THINK” IS COMING. LET US EMBRACE THE CHANGES, PRAYING FOR THOSE WHO LEAD, AND THROUGH MATURE RESOLVE “AT LEAST GIVE IT A CHANCE” TO WORK BY SUPPORTING, PARTICIPATING, AND INTERCEDING FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE THAT GOD WILL RECEIVE THE HONOR HE IS DUE, THAT OTHERS WHO COME ALONG WITH US WILL HEAR THE GOSPEL MESSAGE, REPENT OF THEIR SINS AND FIND THEIR SALVATION IN JESUS CHRIST. AMEN??? AMEN! WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT SUNDAY!
