Change!

Notice how God is really into changing things? The seasons change. Eras of time reveal dramatic change in climate within a single region. Even within a single day, our bodies and our lives experience constant change. The earth turns, the birds migrate, our bodies age, our children grow, friends move away and others move in. We live with constant change.BUT NOT AT CHURCH!Yes, we are right now experiencing a big change at church. This weekend is the last page in a chapter of our church history, and next weekend is the first page in a new chapter.Every healthy organization moves in a constant state of flux, and for our church to be healthy, we’ve made a lot of changes over the last decade. A lot of you are here today because we were willing to make those changes. Change will be a constant part of our future…it has to be!Consider our favorite Bible characters. All of them were used of God largely because they embraced change. Abraham left Ur. Joseph adapted to multiple unpleasant changes. Daniel served through three world kingdoms. Paul ministered in multiple cultures. Jesus went from King of the Universe to a baby in a barn. And then the early church spread around the world because they embraced and pursued change for the sake of the Great Commission.But in light of all the changes the early church experienced, what things did not change in New Testament churches that ought never to change at The Bridge?The fact that we are a Bible-teaching Gospel oriented church should never change. This church was founded to win people to Christ and teach them the Bible to help them grow in their relationship with God.Our mission should never change. It is today what it was in 1927. Jesus gave the mission before his ascension into heaven 2,000 years ago, we are to go and make disciples.Our doctrine should not change. We hold to the essential doctrines of Christian faith: the infallibility of the Scriptures, the deity of Jesus, his substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and imminent return, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.Our core values should not change. We’ve always believed that ministry is about people. We’ve always viewed our first mission field as our own children and that we are to pass our faith on to the next generation. We have always understood that world missions begin here in our Jerusalem, our own communities. And we have always understood that God expects us to treat one another with love, kindness and forgiveness as siblings in God’s family.So while we navigate into this new season, being one church in multiple locations, we have solid ground to rest on in our church. There is a lot more that will remain the same than those peripheral things that are tentative. I don’t know about you but that assurance gives my heart a sense of stability.