He’s my “Yes and Amen”

The only constant, it has been said, is change. In my lifetime I observed political changes, wide swings in public mood and policy over the years. The economy shifts - interests rates rise and fall, employment rates increase and decrease with the cycles of growth. 

Technology has produced stunning changes in our lives. Who can imagine life without a smartphone in hand, a device that did not even exist just a couple of decades ago?  Steve Jobs, of Apple Tech, introduced the device that we all carry today in 2007. Our whole social structure has shifted as we interact constantly with others in real time.

The Church has radically changed as well. The Gospel remains the same but how we worship, who actually attends our churches, and the way that we integrate our faith (or lack thereof) into everyday life has made Christianity of today almost unrecognizable to those of us who came to Christ a half-century ago!

Change is not an awful thing when it brings progress, improving our quality of life. However, change can be confusing. Human beings generally resist change, at first, often condemning the ‘new.’ Forced out of comfort and into new paradigms, it can feel like we are living on a stormy ocean in a small boat, threatened by oblivion. Much of the anger in America in 2023 is the result of a clash of ideas rooted in deep social changes, in cultural ideals that are in direct opposition to each other.  God, as Creator, Source, and the One to whom we accountable is part of one worldview.  Those who reject a personal God regard themselves as self-directed persons without accountability to a deity. Their highest ideal is personal happiness and satisfaction. The latter view is now the majority in our nation, changing us radically from inside out.

So Christian where can we go for an anchor?
How can we live in the promised peace of God in our time?

We look to Christ Jesus and His gospel. Simply stated this is the Gospel - Christ Has Died, Christ Is Risen, Christ Will Come Again! Jesus brought us the good news that God loves us, that life is available to us through faith. For millenia humans sought to appease their gods, offering sacrifices to try to find favor with remote and unfathomable gods. But, when Jesus came, He offered something radical - a God who offered Himself as a sacrifice, who holds out acceptance to us, and gives us eternal life as a gift of His mercy and grace, not as a reward for our offerings or performance.

The ways we worship our Savior will change. The institutional Church will sometimes get things right and often get them very wrong! Christian leaders will be good and bad. Congregations will grow and falter. Such is the nature of our ever-changing world. But the Gospel remains and  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8, NLT)

Today, put your hope in His love! Pray for renewed faith in the fundamental fact of our Christian faith, the salvation of the Lord.  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:18-19, NIV)

Here is a word from the Word. Spend a few moments prayerfully owning the declaration and give thanks that in this age of rapid change, there is an anchor to be found in Jesus.  “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,  set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:20-22 NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation

Christ is made the sure foundation

Christ the head and cornerstone

Chosen of the Lord and precious

Binding all the Church in one

Holy Zion's help forever

And her confidence alone

 

To this temple where we call Thee

Come O Lord of Hosts today

With Thy wonted lovingkindness

Hear Thy people as they pray

And Thy fullest benediction

Shed within its walls alway

 

Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants

What they ask of Thee to gain

What they gain from Thee forever

With the blessed to retain

And hereafter in Thy glory

Evermore with Thee to reign

Laud and honour to the Father

Laud and honour to the Son

Laud and honour to the Spirit

Ever Three and ever One

One in might and one in glory

While unending ages run

 

Joseph M. Martin

Words: Public Domain