First Baptist Church Of Memphis

Try to forget the fact that those words come from the Bible and that God said them.  And just look at them a moment, and react to them.  Is it a good thing?  Or a bad thing?  Do you hear it as good news?  Or bad news?  Depends on the context, you say, well what about the context of church and faith and spirituality?  In that context, do those words make you feel comfortable and energized or uncomfortable and defensive?
Well regardless of how we feel, in the end, we do have to remember that it was God who said them, and that they are pretty typical of how God has been operating since well…“in the beginning” if you really think about it.  I mean had God not done something new in creation, well. . .we wouldn’t be here today.   And thank God that God has continued to do new things, because the times they are a‑changing.  And that is nothing new, the times are always changing.  Time stands still for no one.  So isn’t it good news that ours is a God who can keep up and go ahead to prepare the way, even if resulting “new things” challenge our comfort with the status quo?
All of this then begs a question, doesn’t it?  What new thing is God doing in my life, in your life?  What new thing is God doing in this church?  Even now, as we face the challenge, along with our culture, of declining financial resources, what new wisdom is God seeking to show us?  What new program, new idea, new format is seeking to burst through?  What new relationship is God calling us to?  What old idea needs to become “new again?” What acquaintance is just a “new” invite away from coming to church?  If God is up to something new, what is that?  Do I have eyes to see and ears to hear?  Am I open to the new thing God is seeking to show/teach me?
Now, its only natural to seek the familiar, the known.  Change of any sort requires a bit of courage because when you change things, all is not known.  (Of course when you remain the same, all is still not known, but we’ll let that point slide for right now.)  But most of the time though, I think, our resistance to change lies in the fact that the status quo is somehow working for us.  We have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are.  And yet, while such an appeal is understandable, I cannot help but take notice that at Jesus’ birth (as at most all times) it is those who are stuck in how things are—the Pharisees, Herod, etc.—that end up missing God’s new thing.
My prayer for you, for me, for all of us this Christmas and New Year is that we will be open and receptive to the new thing that God is seeking to do in our lives, the new life that God is seeking to birth in and through us as individuals, and as First Baptist Church—that we will know what to hold on to, and what to let go, what to build upon and what to leave alone.  As I seek God in prayer and study and fellowship, I’ll be listening and will pass on what I hear.  I trust you will do the same, and that together 2010 might be known as the year of God’s new thing in our midst.

Grace,

David