2020 Daily Devotion - Day 98

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Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Throughout the years of my ministry, I have come to realize that churches do not like to change. We like our rituals and routines. We enjoy the culture which has been created. We like it so much that we will keep doing certain things, even if they get to the place where they are no longer effective in the mission. Sometimes we confuse the practices with the mission, and think they are the same thing. We end up, as I like to say, keepers of the museum. 

There is an old joke about us Lutherans. It could apply to many denominations:

How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?  
Three – one to hold the ladder, one to change the bulb and one to talk about how great the old bulb was. 

There is a great deal of truth in that joke. It has been said there is always truth in humor.

So, what are we going to do? God says He is about to do a new thing. He says don’t live in the past. Look to the future and to what God has planned. As we come out of this quarantine, we need to open our hearts and minds to what God wants to do in the future at Mount of Olives Church in Mission Viejo, California. Perhaps, one of the great things which has happened during this season, is we have had time to reflect on our lives, especially our spiritual lives, and realize it is time for something new. What will you do? Will you live in the past? Will you continue in the routine and turn Mount of Olives into a museum, when in truth, it is meant to be a spiritual hospital? 

Aren’t you glad that our doctors, hospitals and researchers are looking for something new? Right now, they are looking for a vaccine and better treatment for COVID-19. Aren’t we grateful they don’t function like the church all too often does? We need to do the same by looking for something new. God is always doing something new, and we need to be a part of it. So maybe it is time to join a small group, or serve, or maybe it is time to go to Cursillo. God is doing something new and we need to be a part of it.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, You captured our attention. It has now taken three months, but we are starting to understand. It has been a time when we have been able to reflect. We can now see You want to do something new in our spiritual lives. Help us to take the next step and allow You to do something new in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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