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Hello world!
5 years ago
Monday, February 2, 2009
A New Day
Good Monday Morning. I hope to make this a regular thing for all Brookview goers and seekers.
Yesterday we were out of service, litterally. But we'll get back in the swing of things tonight with the 7pm Bible Study concluding our Share Jesus Without Fear study. I had also hoped to add in one service/outreach project per month in our normal routine of things. For example, I have a friend who recently got a personal email from Rick Warren who recommended taking the Sunday School Class out to a corner and hand out hot coffee. (I guess he was trying to be sympathetic to how cold it is here compared to Southern California.) But I think it is a great idea. Not to much time spent doing it, after all, Sunday School is just one hour, and if we did it everynow and again for the Monday Night Bible Study, it would still only be an hour and a half. Please, give me some feedback on this if you can.
Energy bills are skyrocketting. Without putting the nubmers up on the web here, I am going to talk to our groups about doing more outside of the basement of the church. I believe it is the single most difficult space we have to heat. (Ex. We have hosted two meals for families following funerals in the last two weeks. Both times, the heat did not shut off all day. This does not happen in the Education facility or the Sanctuary.) So, lets see if we can't do some things in a different place within the church.
Now we have a new question. How do we define ourselves? The reason I ask is that after reading the words of Jesus I must wonder which direction we are to go. In the NIV, Mark 2:21-22 we read Jesus saying, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
Fellow workers of the Kingdom, do we not seek the new wine? I always thought we did. I mean, in this example, the new wine is representative of the new covenent between us and the Lord, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. (Church talk, yes, but true for those who understand it.)
The question of how we define ourselves, must be answered. And as we define ourselves, if we figurativly define ourselves as 'old wineskins,' then we are only fit to be filled with old wine. i.e. those who have been raised in and around the church. To fulfill the great commission, and reach those who have no previous church contact, we will have to find a way to be involved with and support a new church, i.e. a new wineskin.
On the other hand, if we define ourselves as a new wineskin, then we must behave as one. We can not be held back by the slightest bit of tradition, be it preaching style, chairs in a certain place, coathangers in a certain place, music we sing, or instrument used. We can't be held back by the type of building we meet in or worry about whether there is a steaple on top it or not. It doesn't matter.
With that said, I don't think we need to move for the sake of moving (at least not yet, I hope we'll have to as the Lord Blesses, and the Chruch grows.) But I think we have conflicting mindsets within the church, i.e. we are not unified. There is nothing wrong with hymns, and pews, and piano's and organs. But there is alot wrong with the feeling that you or I have more of a right to ANY position or stance within the church than the newest believer in the church. Once a person has joined the church, there voice is as loud and important as any other. And to tell you the truth, when it comes to the true work of the church, often the new Christian is far more faithful than the one who has been with Christ for years. i.e. A new Christian tells others about Jesus. And they care about the other persons faith and well being. Can you say that about your life?
Jesus said Old Wineskins will burst if he pours in the New wine, while the New wineskin will handle the new wine. The wine is God's blessing, and the wineskin is the vessel, i.e. you and/or the church. Are you an old wineskin that will burst if you actually recieved God's blessing? Or are you a New Wineskin, read to recieve as much as he will give? The choice is actually yours. Because Jesus has also said that he will make all things new. You will be made new if you will just recommitt your life to him. EVERYDAY. He is the priority in every situation. Praise Him, that we still have a hope and a future. I am a New wineskin, ready to recieve his blessing. Are you?
Yesterday we were out of service, litterally. But we'll get back in the swing of things tonight with the 7pm Bible Study concluding our Share Jesus Without Fear study. I had also hoped to add in one service/outreach project per month in our normal routine of things. For example, I have a friend who recently got a personal email from Rick Warren who recommended taking the Sunday School Class out to a corner and hand out hot coffee. (I guess he was trying to be sympathetic to how cold it is here compared to Southern California.) But I think it is a great idea. Not to much time spent doing it, after all, Sunday School is just one hour, and if we did it everynow and again for the Monday Night Bible Study, it would still only be an hour and a half. Please, give me some feedback on this if you can.
Energy bills are skyrocketting. Without putting the nubmers up on the web here, I am going to talk to our groups about doing more outside of the basement of the church. I believe it is the single most difficult space we have to heat. (Ex. We have hosted two meals for families following funerals in the last two weeks. Both times, the heat did not shut off all day. This does not happen in the Education facility or the Sanctuary.) So, lets see if we can't do some things in a different place within the church.
Now we have a new question. How do we define ourselves? The reason I ask is that after reading the words of Jesus I must wonder which direction we are to go. In the NIV, Mark 2:21-22 we read Jesus saying, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
Fellow workers of the Kingdom, do we not seek the new wine? I always thought we did. I mean, in this example, the new wine is representative of the new covenent between us and the Lord, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. (Church talk, yes, but true for those who understand it.)
The question of how we define ourselves, must be answered. And as we define ourselves, if we figurativly define ourselves as 'old wineskins,' then we are only fit to be filled with old wine. i.e. those who have been raised in and around the church. To fulfill the great commission, and reach those who have no previous church contact, we will have to find a way to be involved with and support a new church, i.e. a new wineskin.
On the other hand, if we define ourselves as a new wineskin, then we must behave as one. We can not be held back by the slightest bit of tradition, be it preaching style, chairs in a certain place, coathangers in a certain place, music we sing, or instrument used. We can't be held back by the type of building we meet in or worry about whether there is a steaple on top it or not. It doesn't matter.
With that said, I don't think we need to move for the sake of moving (at least not yet, I hope we'll have to as the Lord Blesses, and the Chruch grows.) But I think we have conflicting mindsets within the church, i.e. we are not unified. There is nothing wrong with hymns, and pews, and piano's and organs. But there is alot wrong with the feeling that you or I have more of a right to ANY position or stance within the church than the newest believer in the church. Once a person has joined the church, there voice is as loud and important as any other. And to tell you the truth, when it comes to the true work of the church, often the new Christian is far more faithful than the one who has been with Christ for years. i.e. A new Christian tells others about Jesus. And they care about the other persons faith and well being. Can you say that about your life?
Jesus said Old Wineskins will burst if he pours in the New wine, while the New wineskin will handle the new wine. The wine is God's blessing, and the wineskin is the vessel, i.e. you and/or the church. Are you an old wineskin that will burst if you actually recieved God's blessing? Or are you a New Wineskin, read to recieve as much as he will give? The choice is actually yours. Because Jesus has also said that he will make all things new. You will be made new if you will just recommitt your life to him. EVERYDAY. He is the priority in every situation. Praise Him, that we still have a hope and a future. I am a New wineskin, ready to recieve his blessing. Are you?
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