Students of the class of 2009, it is an honor to speak to you today.
The prophet Daniel writes these words,
20 and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:20-22 NIV
I want to talk to you today about change.
Change is something that you and I have in common. We are both preparing for change. I have been preparing for change for a little over a month, not much time to prepare for a move to Bismarck, North Dakota.
You have been preparing for change for 13 years. From the time you started kindergarten to now you have been preparing for high school graduation and the life that lies ahead.
Like it or not, change happens.
Consider all the changes that have taken place in the last 18 years.
18 years ago we didn’t have Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
Cell phones have changed, the Internet has changed, television has changed, automobiles have changed, and Michael Jackson’s face keeps changing.
Now we have PDA’s, DVD’s, Blue Ray, and IPODS.
There have been changes in politics.
There have been changes in the climate.
There have been changes all around.
Even you have changed. You are not the same person you were 10 years ago.
I am not the same person I was 12 years ago when I first came to Winfield.
Your parents have changed.
Your friends have changed.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was at least one thing in our lives that did not change?
Well, I have some good news for you. There is one thing that never changes.
God never changes. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
He is the same as He was when He first created all things.
He is the same now as He was when He created you.
He is the same God who loved Abraham and made a covenant with Him.
He is the same God who loves us and has made a way for us to covenant with Him, that being through Jesus Christ His Son.
God never changes. He tell us this in the last book of the Old Testament.
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:6-7 NIV
Now, you are all smart people. After all you are just finishing high school.
If God never changes then that means His love never changes, His mercy for us never changes, His compassion for us never changes, His promises never change, and His Word never changes.
That means that He still looks at sin the same way He did thousands of years ago. What was detestable in the Old Testament is still detestable today, no matter what the Iowa Supreme Court says.
It means that God still wants us to be saved today.
It means God wants us healed today.
It means God still desires for our final home to be heaven.
Nothing about God ever changes. He is the same yesterday today and forever.
We need this constant in our ever changing lives. We need to understand that God’s love for us will never change and that if we seek Him, we will find Him, if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.
Just as the Apostle Paul said, 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 NIV
My friends as you go through seasons of change, remember that you can always count on God to be the same loving and caring Father He has always been.
May God bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you.
Thank you.
