In our culture the line “new and improved” has worn thin. Many people, conditioned by endless innovation, have a difficult time believing anything “new” can have eternal value. Still, Christian worship uses a “new” testament on the first day of the “new” week to proclaim the “new” life in Christ. Easter is the time when the church reminds itself that what God creates anew remains everlasting.
Eternally NewThe personal computer — the symbol of the early 21st Century — is obsolete six months after it’s purchased. The church must tirelessly proclaim the newness of God’s kingdom despite the novelty of newness in modern culture. The most personal and powerful testimony is the newness of the regenerated converted life.
|
|
Authentically NewObservers of the younger generations report that what impresses fourteen- to thirty-four-year-olds is authenticity. Somehow worship must express an authentic faith that honestly recognizes injustice, doubt, and unbelief, while at the same time it asserts that all things will indeed work out for good under God’s sovereign hand.
|
|
New UndercoverAll who have walked with Christ for a time have experienced the situation Peter and the others faced on the Sea of Tiberias. Peter and the others had returned to their pre-Jesus activities. They were fishermen. Three weeks after our Easter high, many of us have also returned to our ordinary lives. We hit a spiritual plateau. Even worse, some of us have returned to or entered into a long dark night of work without success.
|
|
Maintaining Our New PerspectiveThis series addresses transformation, how God takes what is and makes it what He wills. We observe in Scripture and history that the church is called to endure trials and testify to God’s presence. When she performs these two faithful acts, faith itself is strengthened among believers.
|
|
Living the New LifeWe hear that God is present to us in two ways. One, in creation; another in His promise to return. The parameters of human response to divine presence echo these two: we are to be grateful (for God’s provision) and hopeful (in His promise).
|
|
Listening AnewA particular aspect of our human responsibility in witnessing God’s transforming activity is obedience to the Word of God. Faithful response to God’s Word requires both listening and responding.
|
|
