Advent
The Never- Changing Gospel in an Every- Changing World
The Never-Changing Gospel in an Ever-Changing World
Change is the one constant we can count on in life. From the introduction of electricity to smartphones that fit in our pockets, from vinyl records to streaming services, from handwritten letters to instant messages—we've witnessed transformations that would have seemed like pure fantasy just decades ago. Yet amid all this flux, there remains something beautifully, gloriously unchanged: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Rhythm of Change
Think about your own life for a moment. How different is your world from the one you knew ten, twenty, or fifty years ago? The shifts aren't just technological. Cultural norms evolve. Fashion trends come and go. What was once considered revolutionary becomes obsolete, relegated to dusty drawers and forgotten corners.
Even within the church, change has been constant. Generations past wrestled with questions about music styles, seating arrangements, dress codes, and worship practices. What seemed like earth-shattering controversies in one era became accepted norms in the next. The introduction of harmony singing, family-style seating instead of segregated rows, guitars alongside pianos—each represented a battleground where tradition met innovation.
Some changes we create ourselves. Others are thrust upon us. Some we embrace with joy; others we resist with everything in us. But whether we like it or not, change keeps coming.
The Anchor That Holds
Here's the beautiful truth that cuts through all the chaos: while people change and cultures shift, the Word of the Lord endures forever.
The Apostle Paul declared in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles." This wasn't just true in the first century—it's just as powerful and relevant today.
The gospel isn't like an outdated gadget sitting unused in a drawer. It's not a trend that had its moment and faded. The gospel is like the very air we breathe—essential, life-giving, and always fresh. Just as no one has invented an alternative to clean air or pure water, there is no substitute for the transforming power of Christ's love.
Jesus, The Revolutionary
When Jesus walked the earth, His message required radical change from His listeners. In a culture where power, education, and social status determined worth, Jesus turned everything upside down. He elevated children, women, and the marginalized. He challenged the religious elite who clung to their authority and traditions.
In Matthew 18:3, Jesus made a stunning declaration: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Imagine the shock waves this sent through a society where children were considered insignificant. Your power doesn't matter. Your education doesn't guarantee you anything. Your prestige means nothing. Unless you humble yourself like a child, you won't make it into God's kingdom.
This was change that cut to the heart.
Old Treasures and New
Yet Jesus didn't dismiss everything that came before. In Matthew 13:52, He described teachers who become disciples of the kingdom as being "like an owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
This is the beautiful balance: honoring wisdom from the past while embracing the fresh work God is doing. Old Testament and New Testament. Prophets and gospel. Law and grace. All part of God's complete revelation.
The Challenge of Change in the Early Church
Even after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the early church struggled with change. Acts 15 records a pivotal moment when believers debated whether Gentile converts needed to follow Jewish customs like circumcision and Mosaic law.
After much discussion, Peter stood and reminded everyone of a crucial truth: "God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith."
By faith. Not by following a specific cultural practice. Not by conforming to a particular tradition. By faith alone.
The message remained constant—salvation through faith in Christ. But the method of reaching people adapted to different contexts and cultures.
The Vital Distinction: Message vs. Method
Here's where many churches—and individual believers—get stuck. We confuse our methods with the message itself. We hold onto traditions, building styles, worship formats, and cultural preferences as if they were the gospel, when in reality, they're simply the vehicles we've used to carry the gospel.
The message never changes: Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers salvation to all who believe. This is the non-negotiable core.
But the methods? Those must change. They must adapt. They must evolve to reach new generations and different cultures. When we refuse to change our methods, we risk making the gospel inaccessible to those who need it most.
Segregated seating isn't the gospel. Dress codes aren't the gospel. Musical preferences aren't the gospel. These are methods, and methods that worked beautifully for one generation may create barriers for the next.
The Call to Uncomfortable Discipleship
Following Jesus was never meant to be easy. When we say yes to Christ, we're not settling into a comfortable recliner for a life of leisure. We're picking up a cross—the instrument of death—and following the One who died and rose again.
Jesus made this crystal clear: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Advancing the gospel requires sacrifice. It demands that we let go of our preferences, our comfort zones, and our insistence that things be done "the way we've always done them." It calls us to deeper engagement in worship, greater commitment to the mission, and fuller surrender to God's will over our own.
A Fresh Chapter Awaits
As we stand on the threshold of a new year, we face a choice. Will we cling to methods that no longer reach the people around us? Or will we have the courage to ask, "God, what is the next chapter You're writing for Your church?"
The fields are still ripe for harvest. People all around us desperately need the life-changing message of Jesus. They need to hear that they're loved with an everlasting love, that they can be adopted from orphans to children of God, that there is hope beyond their current circumstances.
But they may not find their way to us if we insist they must look, sound, and act exactly like we do before they're welcome.
Your Part in the Story
What is your role in advancing this never-changing gospel? How has God equipped you to be part of His mission? These aren't rhetorical questions—they require honest reflection and prayerful discernment.
Perhaps you're called to be a prayer warrior, interceding faithfully for the work of the Spirit in your community. Maybe you're gifted at building relationships with people outside the church walls. Or perhaps God is stirring in you a vision for reaching a specific group of people who've been overlooked.
Whatever your calling, know this: God provides everything you need. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you through the Holy Spirit. You're not advancing the gospel in your own strength—you're partnering with the Almighty God who delights in using ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.
The Joy of the Journey
Yes, following Christ is costly. Yes, it requires change and sacrifice. But there is unspeakable joy in this journey. There's the joy of seeing someone's eyes light up when they first understand God's love for them. The joy of watching a new believer take their first steps of faith. The joy of being part of something far bigger than yourself—God's eternal kingdom breaking into this broken world.
Oh, happy day when Jesus washed our sins away! We'll never be the same. We're forever changed. And now we get to carry that life-changing message to others.
The gospel is fresh. It's powerful. It's exactly what our world needs. Let's hold fast to this never-changing truth while having the courage to change everything else necessary to share it with a world that desperately needs to hear it.
If not now, then when? If not us, then who?
Change is the one constant we can count on in life. From the introduction of electricity to smartphones that fit in our pockets, from vinyl records to streaming services, from handwritten letters to instant messages—we've witnessed transformations that would have seemed like pure fantasy just decades ago. Yet amid all this flux, there remains something beautifully, gloriously unchanged: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Rhythm of Change
Think about your own life for a moment. How different is your world from the one you knew ten, twenty, or fifty years ago? The shifts aren't just technological. Cultural norms evolve. Fashion trends come and go. What was once considered revolutionary becomes obsolete, relegated to dusty drawers and forgotten corners.
Even within the church, change has been constant. Generations past wrestled with questions about music styles, seating arrangements, dress codes, and worship practices. What seemed like earth-shattering controversies in one era became accepted norms in the next. The introduction of harmony singing, family-style seating instead of segregated rows, guitars alongside pianos—each represented a battleground where tradition met innovation.
Some changes we create ourselves. Others are thrust upon us. Some we embrace with joy; others we resist with everything in us. But whether we like it or not, change keeps coming.
The Anchor That Holds
Here's the beautiful truth that cuts through all the chaos: while people change and cultures shift, the Word of the Lord endures forever.
The Apostle Paul declared in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles." This wasn't just true in the first century—it's just as powerful and relevant today.
The gospel isn't like an outdated gadget sitting unused in a drawer. It's not a trend that had its moment and faded. The gospel is like the very air we breathe—essential, life-giving, and always fresh. Just as no one has invented an alternative to clean air or pure water, there is no substitute for the transforming power of Christ's love.
Jesus, The Revolutionary
When Jesus walked the earth, His message required radical change from His listeners. In a culture where power, education, and social status determined worth, Jesus turned everything upside down. He elevated children, women, and the marginalized. He challenged the religious elite who clung to their authority and traditions.
In Matthew 18:3, Jesus made a stunning declaration: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Imagine the shock waves this sent through a society where children were considered insignificant. Your power doesn't matter. Your education doesn't guarantee you anything. Your prestige means nothing. Unless you humble yourself like a child, you won't make it into God's kingdom.
This was change that cut to the heart.
Old Treasures and New
Yet Jesus didn't dismiss everything that came before. In Matthew 13:52, He described teachers who become disciples of the kingdom as being "like an owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
This is the beautiful balance: honoring wisdom from the past while embracing the fresh work God is doing. Old Testament and New Testament. Prophets and gospel. Law and grace. All part of God's complete revelation.
The Challenge of Change in the Early Church
Even after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the early church struggled with change. Acts 15 records a pivotal moment when believers debated whether Gentile converts needed to follow Jewish customs like circumcision and Mosaic law.
After much discussion, Peter stood and reminded everyone of a crucial truth: "God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith."
By faith. Not by following a specific cultural practice. Not by conforming to a particular tradition. By faith alone.
The message remained constant—salvation through faith in Christ. But the method of reaching people adapted to different contexts and cultures.
The Vital Distinction: Message vs. Method
Here's where many churches—and individual believers—get stuck. We confuse our methods with the message itself. We hold onto traditions, building styles, worship formats, and cultural preferences as if they were the gospel, when in reality, they're simply the vehicles we've used to carry the gospel.
The message never changes: Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers salvation to all who believe. This is the non-negotiable core.
But the methods? Those must change. They must adapt. They must evolve to reach new generations and different cultures. When we refuse to change our methods, we risk making the gospel inaccessible to those who need it most.
Segregated seating isn't the gospel. Dress codes aren't the gospel. Musical preferences aren't the gospel. These are methods, and methods that worked beautifully for one generation may create barriers for the next.
The Call to Uncomfortable Discipleship
Following Jesus was never meant to be easy. When we say yes to Christ, we're not settling into a comfortable recliner for a life of leisure. We're picking up a cross—the instrument of death—and following the One who died and rose again.
Jesus made this crystal clear: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Advancing the gospel requires sacrifice. It demands that we let go of our preferences, our comfort zones, and our insistence that things be done "the way we've always done them." It calls us to deeper engagement in worship, greater commitment to the mission, and fuller surrender to God's will over our own.
A Fresh Chapter Awaits
As we stand on the threshold of a new year, we face a choice. Will we cling to methods that no longer reach the people around us? Or will we have the courage to ask, "God, what is the next chapter You're writing for Your church?"
The fields are still ripe for harvest. People all around us desperately need the life-changing message of Jesus. They need to hear that they're loved with an everlasting love, that they can be adopted from orphans to children of God, that there is hope beyond their current circumstances.
But they may not find their way to us if we insist they must look, sound, and act exactly like we do before they're welcome.
Your Part in the Story
What is your role in advancing this never-changing gospel? How has God equipped you to be part of His mission? These aren't rhetorical questions—they require honest reflection and prayerful discernment.
Perhaps you're called to be a prayer warrior, interceding faithfully for the work of the Spirit in your community. Maybe you're gifted at building relationships with people outside the church walls. Or perhaps God is stirring in you a vision for reaching a specific group of people who've been overlooked.
Whatever your calling, know this: God provides everything you need. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you through the Holy Spirit. You're not advancing the gospel in your own strength—you're partnering with the Almighty God who delights in using ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.
The Joy of the Journey
Yes, following Christ is costly. Yes, it requires change and sacrifice. But there is unspeakable joy in this journey. There's the joy of seeing someone's eyes light up when they first understand God's love for them. The joy of watching a new believer take their first steps of faith. The joy of being part of something far bigger than yourself—God's eternal kingdom breaking into this broken world.
Oh, happy day when Jesus washed our sins away! We'll never be the same. We're forever changed. And now we get to carry that life-changing message to others.
The gospel is fresh. It's powerful. It's exactly what our world needs. Let's hold fast to this never-changing truth while having the courage to change everything else necessary to share it with a world that desperately needs to hear it.
If not now, then when? If not us, then who?
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