First Baptist Church of Huntersville West Virginia
Leaving the Old, Living the New
  • Living For Jesus
  • It Is Well With My Soul
  • Christus Victor (Amen)
  • This morning's message comes from a 2-part series I did in November - I like the series so much I recycled it for this mornings message.
    We will touch on some of the same material so for those of you who heard it before, I will try to put a fresh face on it…
    (Read the 60-now paper) - The world has continued to change and so must we… God is calling us to leave the old and live the new.
    As we enter a new year it is beneficial to look ahead and commit to following where God is leading.
    For over 400 years, Israel was living in the land of Egypt.
    Their life there began as an answer to a need - the whole known world was experiencing a famine and thanks to God maneuvering Joseph into a position of authority the people of Israel were saved (plus most of the world).
    Isreal grew and thrived in Egypt and were considered friends to the Egyptians until a change in ruler took place… they went from partners in the land to slaves at the hands of Egypt.
    The issue was comfort… Israel was never meant to stay in Egypt. God was taking them to a different place. What started out as a good thing, a God thing, slowly turned into a trap.
    God allowed them to stay until the time was right, until the right person was in place to lead them out.
    The signs God performed were not only to convince Pharoah to let the people go but it was also to convince the people God was with them and leading them.
    Now they are free but they are still facing difficulties….
    Exodus 14:10–15 CSB
    10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp.
    When Israel saw Egypt’s army, fear rewrote their memory…
    Suddenly Egypt didn’t seem so bad, slavery felt safer than freedom.
    Even though life wasn’t the best it could be in Egypt it was what they knew, it was routine, it was comfortable to a degree and now with Pharoah chasing them down they were afraid…

    Fear doesn’t just paralyze - it romanticizes the past.

    Israel was in slavery… the were not being treated well - but more importantly they were not where God planned for them to be.
    God was using this moment to move Israel into the promise - God never told them it would be easy or that their wouldn’t be obstacles to overcome…
    He did tell them however, that He would be with them if they would just obey and follow.
    Now here they are in a moment of fear because an obstacle they didn’t count on appeared… Pharoah.
    They longed for the predictability of slavery in Egypt over the uncertainty of freedom
    We do that same when faced with change, especially change that challenges our comfort.
    We often prefer a miserable “known” over a mysterious “new”
    Think about someone who stays in a a job that’s draining the life out of them. They know it’s unhealthy - the environment is toxic, the work is meaningless, and the stress spills over into their home life - but they stay. Why? Because it’s familiar. They know the routines, the faces, even the frustrations. The thought of stepping into something new, even something better, feels terrifying.
    God calls us to move, to grow, to trust Him in new territory - but we cling to what we’ve always known. We stay in spiritual routines that no longer stretch us, avoid new steps of obedience, or resist change in the church because “it’s how we’ve always done it.”
    Comfort is not the same as calling. Faith means stepping forward even when it’s uncomfortable.

    God is calling us to move forward.

    God’s response to Israel was basically, “Stop whining and get moving.”
    There is no such thing as spiritual neutrality… if faith isn’t moving forward then it is usually drifting backwards.
    Much like a shark needs to keep moving or it suffocates so do we… if we rest where we are our faith begins to atrophy like an unused muscle.
    If Israel did not move they would either be killed of sent back into slavery.
    What you refuse to move away from will eventually master you.
    God bless motion, not maintenance…. almost every miracle you see God do (including Jesus’) an action is required on the part of the one receiving the miracle.
    God often reveals the way after we take the step
    The question this morning - are you willing to move forward or are you clinging to the way things have always been?

    The majority is not always who we should listen to.

    God told Moses to send out 12 men to scout the promised land.
    They found a land just as amazing as God promised but it also had many obstacles
    2 men gave a glowing report and said they could take the land because God was with them… but the other 10 gave a not so uplifting report, all they could see was the potential issues.
    The people heard the report of the 10 and turned on the leaders actually looking all the way back to Egypt
    Look at how God responded…
    Numbers 14:30–32 CSB
    30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness.
    Are you one of the 10 or the 2?
    Don’t look at the potential issues, God is in control. Don’t hold on to the past, God is moving forward.
    There are those who can see what God is doing, listen to them and not the nay-sayers.
    Don’t get left wandering in the desert when God is giving us the promised land.
    Luke 5:36–39 CSB
    36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

    Growth demands flexibility.

    Jesus is pretty clear… patching the old is bad, pouring new into old leads to loss
    Old wineskins represent - old mindsets, old fears, old preferences.
    God doesn’t just want to do something new for you - He wants to do something new IN you
    We don’t receive the new by polishing the old. We receive the new by letting go of what no longer fits.
    There are thing that need to adjust in ministry for us to continue to grow and reach people with the gospel.
    For me nothing is off the table.
    Here me - it is not that what we are doing is completely wrong - as a matter of fact some of the we need to adjust are because they are going well…
    See the wineskin will break because what is inside is expanding and growing if the container isn’t flexible enough - we must be flexible enough
    Nothing is too insignificant - sometimes it may seem like being nit-picky but there is a reason… to be better
    Characteristics of Healthy, Growing Churches:
    Willingness to adapt methods while maintaining message
    Regular evaluation and adjustment of programs
    Investment in new technologies and approaches
    Focus on reaching new generations
    Flexibility in worship styles and ministry formats
    Why would we settle for okay when God has laid out the promised land right before us.
    My challenge to you today… spend time with God and decide - are you willing to do whatever is necessary to continue to reach people and share the gospel of Jesus or are you looking back wanting to

      • Exodus 14:10–15CSB

      • Luke 5:36–39CSB

  • I Have Decided To Follow Jesus
First Baptist Church of Huntersville West Virginia
fbchuntersvillewv@gmail.com
304-799-4099
https://fbcohwv.faithlifesites.com
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