Tradtions and Change

     Today, being Sunday,we got up and as we do on Sunday's myself and my family got dressed and headed off to church. Our daughter wanted to go with her Nana to her church's Harvest Festival, and we were off to the church we are sure, as of today, that God is calling us to. Many of you know that my wife and I have been searching for the church that we felt that God had been calling us to find so that we can be of use to him in helping to build his kingdom.We have been searching and praying, knowing that his purpose would be revealed in His time but, we were still nervous about the change, or changes we were going to go through. Well after today's sermon from Brother Riley, we are sure that we are in the place that God wants us. Let me explain.

        he spoke on Matt 16:13-21, where Peter tells Jesus that some say your John the Baptist, some say one of the Prophets and Jesus turns and asks Peter "Whom say ye that I am?", his key verse being Verses 17-18 "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This is a strong statement in that not only is Christ going to build HIS Church, but the "Gates of hell shall not prevail against it" in other words the wolf can come and bring every bit of wind he's got, and it's not going to make a bit of difference. Satan can come at the church with every demon he controls and every trick he has but it won't even scratch the surface. Oh don't get me wrong we are going to go through trials and tribulations, but we know that everything will be alright. We know this this from what we read in John 16:33 " These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." 

       Does this mean that the church will do everything the same way for all eternity. Well I don't believe so. Tradition is a good thing, we have to have traditions, which is nothing more than respect for our past, for we learn from the past . 2 Th 2:15 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. ". Traditions should be taught and upheld, as these traditions are the structure of, or framework of our faith and our church, which helps us to know the message we need to get out, and that is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, that we might have everlasting life in Heaven with him.(Ro 5:8 ) The message never changes but if tradition teaches us anything it's that things change. Our delivery of the Gospel has so many avenues today to get out to the world, that there is no reason why every man, woman and child in this world should not be able to hear the word of God preached to them. Brother Riley said we have to be founded in our past, our traditions, but we have to be flexible enough to realize, that change in how we deliver the message is never going to be the same. He gave the examples of Jesus and Nicodemus, how he ministered to Nicodemus at night, and the example of Jesus and the woman from Samaria, and then Jesus and Zacheus. The one thing they had in common was they were all different, he did not use the same words or actions to minister to these people, but he ministered according to the situation. We as a church, must do the same, if our delivery has gotten old, stagnant and is not reaching the people for Christ, then we labour in vain, we must embrace change, not fear it. We must be diligent in seeking God to be sure we are in His will with what we do. Whether it be on a street corner in Durham, a shopping mall in Raleigh, the steps of the capital building in Washington DC, the message will be the same, to follow Christ, but the delivery shall be different. With all the means of disseminating information today, the Gospel should go forth quicker than ever, but we are afraid of changing our methods. I know this feeling very well, as I was so afraid to start this blog a few weeks ago, for the simple fact that I am no scholar, no professional blogger, but with encouragement from my family, Lot's of praying to the Father about doing this very thing, I knew that I had to step out on faith, and when I did I felt the hands of God as they picked me up and carried me through that first blog. Let us look to the future of the church, by our actions of the present, thanks to the traditions of our past, all of which have been established in Christ by his actions in Building his church.
     Hopefully I have not rambled on to the point of losing you, as I have been thinking of this for so long, and today's message just brought it home for me. We must respect the past, which has led us to the present, and we must take those lessons and focus on the future of God's kingdom. May his blessing's continue to be poured out on you and may your needs be met in Christ. 
      Praying for the lost and the saved, your brother in Christ

                Bill