Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You know that change is happening
more frequently
faster than ever before in fact if you're a
tech person
I know you're waiting for Wednesday to happen
iOS5 is coming out. The iCloud
the Cloud will be here and instantaneously when the Cloud comes
over
two hundred things
will change
On your phone, on your internet
how
your iPad and your iPhone and your computer all work together it changes
In one day
one symbol, the cloud is coming I can tell you that isn't
if you're in a prophecy don't worry that is not the cloud that Jesus is coming on
I know the Bible says he's coming on the Cloud, it's not this cloud
I know that
Wow, think about that
one day, one
Decision, one implementation
two hundred different changes
hopefully two hundred improvements
That isn't always the case either, is it?
that change
is stressful to us
Psychologists, doctors
they tell us
Yes,change, difficult change that's even more stressful but even
even positive changes stressful, isn't it?
you buy a car lately?
Boy, what
your
car now does is really different than the twenty year old car you finally
parked at junk yard the other day right?
I had a rental car this weekend and
I was really having difficulty trying to figure out
the wipers
the lights
the intercom to the back seat
it was all the same little stick, you know
complex I was a little stressed trying to get the lights turned on, wipers are
going lights are binging, Scott we don't think you have a right
No,I don't have it right
that positive change oh, it's stressful too
the great thing about God is God never changes
never changes
Isn't that what our scripture passage says
God is immutable
Means He is real and He never changes
every good and perfect gift is from above that's a whole sermon in and of
itself
whatever you have this good
or perfect
he really is not of your making
it's of God's making which he is bestowed upon you
it comes down from the father
of the heavenly lights, that's poetic
light is good and darkness is
Bad or evil that's the contrast
who does not change the like
shifting shadows see, he's a beacon he's a light and he's not
shifting sands shadows you don't have to worry about trying to figure it out
it's easy to figure out
It's easy to figure out
if that's not clear enough
how about Micah three six I the Lord do not change
now I think the fact that God doesn't change is very good news to
all of us
let me share three
reasons why I think that's good news if God doesn't change then that
means God's love for us
never changes
Jeremiah thirty one three
Jeremiah speaking for God so when he says I he is not talking about himself
he's talking for God because he's a prophet
Prophets talk for God
I have loved you my people with an everlasting love
with unfailing
love I have drawn you to myself
now there's a lot in that passage
the first thing I wanted to see is that
the reason you can be in a love relationship with God is because God has
chosen you
he has drawn you
to himself it's not the other way around
most people think it is the other way around
Oh no God is my God because I chose Him
Well, you may have chosen him but you can only choose him because he chose you
first
See you really believe in predestination and you don't know it
Yea, God is in charge
and he loved us first
so that we can love him in return
and that love is both unfailing
and it's eternal
It will lasts forever
so his love is good for every aspect every venue of my life
you are the object of God's affection you are the prize James says
you're the price he's been
aspiring to achieve
of all the beautiful things wonderful things that God has created you
are of the utmost, you're the epic creation
you're the object of God's affection which
means we should all have high self-esteem
we should understand just how profound our value is as a human being
because the God of the universe loves us
he has chosen us, we all love to be chosen don't we?
God has chosen us and that love
is an unfailing love that love is an eternal life
that love is not a fickle love
now we understand fickle love, don't we as human beings
we sure do
we understand that whatever were a part of any group we understand that
love can be fickle and if you don't get it
just being with a group then
you really understand fickle love when you are married don't you
you're with somebody kind of twenty four seven
you begin to understand that love is fickle than if you didn't get it when
you're married
you'll really get it when you make the mistake having children I mean the
opportunity to have children
because children have a fickle love that's why it's childlike love
the interesting thing is that happens because we have bad days
and what's true psychologically is when you have a bad day two things happen
number one you become very self-centered
and the second thing you do is you share it with those around you
now I know you do that because you come and share it with me
and when you come and share your bad day with me and when you
leave I'd say
don't bother the next time, just kidding
you can't come and have a bad day in the pastor's office and unload your burden
Where can you do it
but isn't it interesting that we often don't keep our bad day to ourselves
we share it with someone
within earshot
someone within reach
someone would then throwing distance
God is not like that
God never has a bad day
and because he never has a bad day
his love is not fickle
his love is what? unconditional
our conditions may change but
his love is unconditional doesn't change on the basis of our condition
and why is that because he loved us first see, you understand
the love of God is like cantilever bridge it's held up all on his side
his love for us is unchanging
and because his love for us is unchanging we finally say to God ok, Lord save us
David in Psalm one nineteen fifteen
your love never changes so save me
and sometime in our life
oftentimes brought on by the changes that we experience
the negative changes
we experience
we realized that we need God
to not only love us but put that love into action
by saving us
and we are saved
we experience
his power and his presence
because his love
is unchanging
his love for you
is unchanging
second thing that doesn't changes
the word of God
for things to changing but it's not the word of God
Isaiah says the grass withers in the flowers fade
but the word of God stands for, how long, forever
David says I have known from my earliest days when I was a little kid
that your words will last forever and he's writing that as an adult
See, when he was little when he was a kid Going to Sunday school he realized wow
your word last forever but now I'm an adult and I've gone through lots of
changes in my life
but one thing still true your word last forever
your word last forever now
human words or truth or wisdom
have you noticed that it changes a little bit
I could give you a long list I'll give you two simple ones
number one Pluto is out isn't he
now I don't mean the character from Disneyland I'm talking about the planet
right when you are a kid and you are in your
Junior high
science class and they had the solar system hanging from the ceiling
what was the last planet
Pluto, oh Pluto is not in our solar system anymore it's we're not even
sure it really
is a planet
here's another example how about coffee
is coffee good for you or is coffee bad for you
now here's the way it works
coffee scientists a coffee is bad for you when
the orange juice
corporation sponsored the study
but when the coffee growers sponsor the scientific study then coffee is good for
you and it cures everything from an acne to breast cancer right
human knowledge changes doesn't it
God's
word never changes
now we need to understand the world is changing in in you know that the culture
is changing
and so in the church we say we may change the
method by which
we communicate
the unchanging word of God
the method might change
you know audio visual in Acts chapter two
was a big disciple standing up and speaking
you had him visually and you had him auditorily
now what are we doing
now we're put in the Bible up on big screens and we've got moving video
and now the latest thing is not only
screens in the front but screens all the way around
so that when stuff goes on you have it
even in your peripheral vision
and now we're getting new but we're really getting old now we're doing all
five senses so now they're burning incense in worship is that what the
Catholics did in the sixteenth century
Yeah, isn't it interesting
and we're changing
the method of communicating the gospel so that people can actually understand
it
and that's a good thing
but let's not misunderstand what we're doing were not changing the word of God
I know some of you
if it's not the King James version that's not the authentic word of God
I get it
and we've got
I don't know how many translations I just got another new one the other day
You know
it's all good
none of it's bad
the word of God and it's unchanging and that doesn't mean we're not
learning
a few new things about how to understand the word of God you know there's
you know PHd candidates have to do something to get
graduated right
and out of those
taking mole hills and turning them in the mountains
academically we bought a couple of things that clarified
some of the new testament old testament to us
but let me tell you simply you can
get a readable Bible maybe that
became the king jimmy is not the one for you
maybe you need a living translation
you could open it up and you can read it without a seminary education
and I'm amazed at how many when I was working with
junior high school students
could actually open up the Bible read it and understand what it said
now there's a couple places it's really good
have gone the seminary and no Greek in Hebrew and all of that but
you know really ninety-nine point nine percent of what you read you can
understand
however
I know we have a tendency to not want to understand it
in the reason work tempted to not know the word of God is we want to hold
it away
we want to hold it away
because we think if we don't read it and we're not responsible for what we don't
know
have you tried that on the last state patrolman who pulled you over
I'm really sorry I never read that in the book
They didn't teach me that drivers training and you know what he or she says
well that's very good
I know you'll remember it now
everyone who hears these words of mine and
puts them and
puts them into practice
that's the key
you have you have to hear it or read it
or study it
the key is you have to put it into play in your life on a day-to-day basis
everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the
wise and build their houses on a rock
now I've lived in
the east bay when the
big earthquake happened in San Francisco and you probably know that there's
one area of San Francisco, one neighborhood
that was built on sand
now any contractor will tell you sand is a very, very good foundation
on which to build a structure
except under one condition
water
and shaking
and that's exactly what happened to this low-lying area in San Francisco
the water
Seeped in under the sand
the sand shook and that whole neighborhood was
leveled to the ground
everybody thought they were safe
we often think that we're safe
until things begin to shake and fall apart in our life
maybe your life has been
been trembling a little bit quaking a little bit
Well let me suggest if your life is up and down it's changing a little too much
And I'm not talking about your bank account
because it's really not changing
It's only going south
but if your life seems to be a little a erratic it could be the you've not
chosen the wisest foundation for your life
or you're not putting the wisdom that you know into practice in your life
and so when the world shakes when the circumstances change
your life
you have stress and worry
you have concern
you have problems
and everybody's got those but not everybody is shaken to the core
but some people are
and they are because either don't know the word of God or they're not putting
the word of God that they know into practice
you hear it you learn it
you put it into practice
you're here today you're hearing this go home and put it into practice
and if you do that then you'll be like the wise
you'll be building your life on this sure
foundation
of the word of God
his plans
and his purpose endure forever
the almighty has sworn
surely as I have planned that so it will be
and as I have purpose so it will stand
Isaiah is saying for God again because he's a prophet
I said it was going to be that way and you know what it's that way
why should we be surprised
we shouldn't be surprised
what God plans to do
and what God purposes to do in our life
he will do, it will stand
and the image there is really that it will stand the test of time
does it say that but that's that
the Hebrew implication
Of that little phrase
It will stand
not only today but it'll stand for all eternity
now again we know human plans change don't they
humans plans change because we get more information
you look at your bank account that changes your plans doesn't it
OK, it's not the Hilton
it's Motel Six
We get more information
better understanding, better perspective
we see things from a different perspective and now we've got to change our
plans
and then sometimes it's just an issue of
Resources, resources change
and that's
the human condition isn't it
we have to
change our plans and our purpose from time to time
but God's plan and purpose
never changes
God's plan and purpose and our life
never
changes
I know how we are because I'm the same way what I want to say to God
is that I know you have these plans and this purpose for me
but you know the things that are changing around me I'm afraid that
that's going to nullify
or get in the way of your plan and your purpose in my life
sometimes we think it's
what we don't know
sometimes people say
that can't be God's plan for me because I am too
old
i'm old
somehow magically age is going to get in the way of you fulfilling God's plan
and purpose in your life and you've heard me and another sermon list out
although all
old people in the Bible
that did
very
big
things
for God
we think our lack of resources
is somehow going to cancel out God's plan and God's purpose in our life
And His
plan and purpose
is firm
Solid, will last
for eternity and your
age or your lack of a resource or your lack of knowledge is not going to get in
The way
of you fulfilling what God wants to fulfill in your life
because God is unchanging
Yes, you are getting older
Yeah, you're right, right now your bank accounts not as big as it used to
be
and we can make
a great list of
reasons
excuses
for why we think God
somehow has changed
his plan and his purpose for us
and he hasn't
you're here today you're still alive on this planet because God has something
for you to do more than drive the people
right around you crazy
isn't that great to know
in fact God's
plan and purpose for all of humanity has never changed
since
since recorded history God has had two plans
a purpose
for every human being number one is that God wants you to spend eternity
with him
it's John three sixteen
for God so loved you
that he sent his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have what everlasting life have eternal life
God's purpose and plan is very he wants you to spend eternity with him and
everybody else
the names the name of Christ
as the Lord and savior's
and number two it's John ten, ten
he wants you to experience a meaningful
purposeful full life
he doesn't want to just getting by, he doesn't want you to just meander around
and he wants you to grab a hold of life seize the day as Paul
says
and enjoy a fulfillment of life a purpose in life a piece in life that is
What, beyond human understanding
beyond
conditional human love
greater than
the small plans that we might make
from time to time
God is real
And God is unchanging
because he's not changing, his love for us never changes
the word that he gave this written
in the new testament over two thousand years ago and in the old testament just keep
adding thousands of years
it's still very relevant for today it if you don't think it is it's because you
haven't read it lately
I dare you to go home and start reading Philippians
or Colossians
or Romans
and I can tell you what
you'll be reading about you
you'll be reading
an accurate description of the world that we live in it
and I know some people don't read the Bible because it seems to be talking too
much about them
it's true because it's on changing
It has already
lasted
The test of time
and then third God does have a
a plan and a purpose for you
I love the fact that it issues out of a love for you that's where it all starts
and ends really doesn't
and that whatever isn't going on in your life that does not nullify that does not
detract from
the purpose and the plan God has for you
it is wonderful it is good
To come and worship the Lord together
worship of God
who is unchanging
Let us pray
Lord you know the
the stress
the change
just even natural change
brings about in our life
the change of circumstances is even
both complicated and confusing to us at times but
Lord were thankful that you're a God who
will never change
you haven't changed
and you will never change
that your love for us hasn't changed and it will never change
that your word
has never changed and it will never changed
that Lord your plan and your purpose for us it has not changed and it will never
change
and Lord that's because you are at the very center of that love that word
and that plan and purpose
Lord allow that to be a stablizing
A peace giving experience for us today for Lord you know our concern
you know our crisis
Lord thank you for being that kind of a God
and we pray these things in your name Amen
Translate this message into another language. Translating into these different languages is easy. Examples are Africaans Albanian Shqip Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese Han Croatian Hrvatski Czech Danish Dansk Estonian Eesti Filipino Finnish Suomi French Galician Galego German Deutsch Dutch Nederlands Greek Haitian Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Magyar Icelandic Bahasa Indonesia Indonesian Irish Gaeilge Italian Italiano Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Bahasa Melayu Maltese Malti Norwegian Norsk Persian Farsi Polish Polski Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Español Swahili Kiswahili Swedish Svenska Thai Turkish Türkçe Ukranian Vietnamese Welsh Cymraeg Yiddish Gott Gud Isten Bhagawan Boze Bog Deus Allah Dio Dios Dieu Dieus Jumala Khudah Perendise Perendia Yesu Masiha Kami Sama Isa al Maseeh Kristus Jesu