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Spare Change - January 2022

Toward the end of every year we look expectantly to the new year.  Usually it goes something like this, “This year has been crazy (terrible, frustrating, or whatever your preferred negative adjective is), next year will be amazing (my year, great, or whatever your preferred positive adjective is)”. For some reason we believe that the simple turning of the clock from 11:59 p.m. on December 31st to 12:00 a.m. January 1st will do something.  We put our hope in the changing of the year as if there is magic in the new year. 

I get it, especially after the past couple of years, we have been through the ringer. It is natural to loathe the past and look longingly into the future.  I was recently looking back at some Facebook memories from December of 2019.  I thought sarcastically, “If I only knew what would happen starting in March of 2020.”  We were all ready to leave behind 2020, however 2021 has not been much better. Does that mean that 2022 will finally be our year?  I seriously doubt it.

The reason for my doubt is that even before the mess of 2020 we had the same attitude.  For years, I remember people longing for a new year.  For something different, something to be better in a future time.  The problem is this hope is misplaced.  It is like knocking on wood  superstitiously or believing that full moons affect people's actions.  These are simple hopeless myths that do not mean anything, especially for the believer!  We should not be bound by superstitions, and we should not put our hope in the changing calendar.  

As Christians, we believe God is sovereign over all circumstances in our life and the lives of every living person.  We should not hope in a new year, instead we should hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  First, we need to understand that God has ordained the circumstances of our life.  We understand from scripture that even the perceived bad circumstances are used by God in our lives.  We should look at Romans 8 and James 1 for help with this perspective.  If we had this attitude, then I believe, we would not need to bemoan the past year and we would be ready to face any challenge the new year would bring.  

Second, if we feel we do need change in our lives, as Christians, we need to appeal to our Lord.  The changing calendar can do nothing to affect our circumstances, but the Lord of heaven and earth can!  It amazes me that Christians do not turn to the Lord more often.  We should be appealing to the Lord when we need wisdom, direction, assistance, forgiveness, change, and a myriad of other needs.  The Lord is the one that can affect change in our lives, especially in the areas that seem out of our control.  

Reflect on these verses:

• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
  requests be made known to God.  Philippians 4:6
•  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7
• Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  Romans 8:26

The fact of the matter is that we should be placing our hope in our Lord and nothing else.  Start the new year making your faith stronger by believing that God is sovereign and by faith you can go to Him for help. My encouragement to you is do not look to 2022, you will only be disappointed as you have been so many times before.  Hope in the Lord and you will never be disappointed!  

Student Ministry - January 2022

We live in an amazing time in history. Never before in the existence of the world has there been less poverty, less infant mortality (not counting the atrocity of abortion), less hunger, longer lives, and healthier lives. But what is odd is that simultaneously there has never been more open expressions of depression and anxiety amongst people in the world. We live in the best of times and the worst of times. And I’m afraid that even us in the church can accidentally lose sight of how salvation benefits us and how it rescues us from the darkness of this world. We often either bemoan the fallenness of creation, or we revel in the amazing advances of society that we get to enjoy on a regular basis. 

As we enter the new year, I think it important to focus on the glory of our salvation, which is freely given to us in Christ. We cannot be overwhelmed by the world, for we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37-39). And we cannot succumb to the temptations of the world, nor think that the world’s solutions are ultimate, for we were bought from the world with a great price (1 Cor. 6:18-20). So what do we need to do? We need to look to Christ and the blessing of His salvation that we so easily take for granted. We need to revel in the awesome power of the blood of Christ to rescue us both in the present and future. 

Why do I bring this up? As I consider this world and the upcoming generations, it has become clear to me that many, if not most, people do not feel a need for salvation. If they need something, they buy it on Amazon and have it there the next day. If they feel lonely or bored, they get online, text someone, FaceTime with someone, watch a movie, or play video games with people from all over the world. If we are sick, we go to the doctor, and, for the majority of the time, we are cured of our ailment. Things that would necessarily mean the end of your life a hundred years ago simply require routine out-patient procedures today. All of this amazing advancement in technology and ability to manipulate how we live makes it more understandable for younger generations with limited life experience to simply not see the great need for salvation in Christ. What is there to be saved from when most of the problems in life can be solved through medicine, technology, and next day delivery? 

That is a great question. And anyone reading this can point out many things that medicine, tech, and fast deliveries have not and cannot solve at all. Ultimately these things cannot solve the deepest and most important problems in life. They are mere band aids compared to the reality of hatred, injustice, self-destructive heart motives, and death. From these flow symptoms like anxiety and depression, which are the number one felt-need problems facing the world today. Our biggest problems are practically ignored while we medicate ourselves with the internet, instant-gratification, and literal medicine. 

But salvation! Salvation in Christ is THE solution! Christ is our hero who saves us from loveless lives, wickedness, unholy hearts, and death. He kills the power of all of our problems! How does He do this? Really the question is, how did He do this? It has already been done. All we have to do is trust in what has been done for us. He has already killed the power of sin when He took sin into Himself on the cross and dragged it into the grave (2 Cor. 5:21, Romans 6:1-11). They thought they slayed the Lord of Life that day. But the Lord of Life took sin and death and put them into a tomb and left them there! The power of your hate, wickedness, wrongful suffering, internal sinful desires, and ultimate death is dead (1 Cor. 15:50-56). In Christ, you can overcome these things here and now, and you will overcome death and live eternally. As the writhing serpent of anxiety, depression, anger, jealousy, lust, and greed tries to wrap itself around you as you go about your days, just look to the Savior who has already stomped that serpent to death. You are a conqueror in Christ, so remain in Him, because He has saved you.