The Rebirth of the Church. William Powell Tuck

Tall skyscrapers and high bridges are constructed to give a little in the wind. It is tragic indeed when life itself has built into it the whole process of change and growth and we choose instead the way of death-­inflexibility.

      When the great leader of Israel Moses died, God chose a new leader, Joshua. God confronted Joshua down by the River Jordan and said to him: “Moses, my servant is dead. Arise go over Jordan.” Moses did a great work as a leader of Israel, but his time was now past. Joshua the new leader was challenged to arise and lead the nation even further. A pastor may serve faithfully a congregation for many years. His dedicated ministry can be affirmed, and the church will continue to build on his or her fine leadership. But, when that pastor leaves, the church will look to the coming of a new leader to guide them into the future.

      Change Is at the Center of the Christian Faith

      The Christian insight is to see that we are committed not just to a dead past and what used to be but to the God who is marching on before us toward tomorrow. Let us seek to follow the God who is leading us into that which is yet to be. God’s Spirit is guiding us forward to realize the potential as his people and his Church that God has for us to be. Change is the nature of the Christian faith. Christianity has at its center an understanding of the newness of life. Repentance is at the very heart of our faith. We are challenged to turn from the old and turn to the Christ who gives us a new direction in life.

      A New Covenant

      When we read the story from the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the great prophet tells the people about the New Covenant that God is making with Israel. They had broken the old covenant, and they had rejected it because they had not remained faithful to God. God declared that He was giving them a new covenant which shall be written on their hearts. Jürgen Moltmann, a contemporary theologian, says that it might be better understood today to say that it was written on “our conscience.” God writes upon our own conscience a sense of the newness that God has come to give us. As Christians we feel that it is in Jesus Christ that we find the new covenant fulfilled. It is a covenant placed in your heart and my heart by a vital relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ.