“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” --Revelations 21:5

Things that are “new” can be very scary and oftentimes, if we are honest, we try to avoid new things as much as we can. We have our favorite cereal, our favorite pillow, and even our favorite pew at church.

And sometimes, sometimes, when we can’t have that old, familiar thing that we want, we get a little… well, grumpy, cranky, cantankerous, obnoxious… You get the picture. And let me be the first to say, there is nothing wrong with the things that we are familiar with— especially in church. That is why we feel so “at home” when we are there. It is the reason why we sing songs like “Give Me that Old Time Religion.” It is why we feel at ease as soon as we enter door… because we know what to expect.

Yet we know that even at church, there will be changes. It is inevitable, but as Christians, we should be prepared for even those. For there are so many scriptures that tell us that God is making ALL things new! (And if you want to check them out, try Isaiah 43:18-19, Isaiah 65:17, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 6:4, Galatians 6:15, Romans 12:2, 2 Peter 3: 10-13… the list goes on…) All things will be made new: our minds, our hearts, our bodies, the earth, the heavens…

And because God is in charge of making all things new, we can trust that when changes come, that “we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…” (Psalm 46:2).

Obviously, the earth is not going to crumble and mountains will not be falling into the sea this summer, but there are changes afoot and I pray that with God’s direction, they will be good. We will move to a new worship time at 11:00 starting in July so that I can preach at Union-Salem at 9:00 and Sycamore at 10:00. This allows me to end my morning with all of you and to stick around for Fellowship time and anything else that might arise.

Another change coming up is that Pastor Charlene and I are going to join forces to put together a “combined” church newsletter. This will allow all of the churches to get an idea of what is going on within the connection AND it will also allow us to offer a newsletter to the churches that currently don’t have one. As an added bonus, the calendar will be chock full of even more events—and with lawn fetes and ice cream socials making a comeback in our area this year, we will all be wanting to watch that calendar.

Lastly, if you haven’t already heard, Nico and I will be moving into the parsonage in Sycamore. This keeps us a little more centrally located between the three “southern” churches in our connection and although we are currently surrounded by boxes (both packed and unpacked), we are looking forward to the change.

Yet, in all of these changes, one thing is always certain and sure: God’s love for us never changes. That is why is so many places, especially in the Psalms, God is described as a rock on which we can stand. So as long as we continue to build our church on that rock, we shall not fail.

Blessings,

Pastor Amy