Adapting is what we do, even the most reticent to accept change among us, even we have adapted. The question this morning is how to do we adapt to not only a changing society but a changing church. We find answers in how Daniel and his friends adapted to life in Babylon.
We may think that life has taken an unexpected turn, but the reality is God does not do unexpected.
We Presbyterians are typically reserved, ordered, rational people and so overall we struggle with the notion that God would want us to act as the disciples did on that day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Yet if we only focus on what disturbs us in this passage then we lose the impact of what was happening; the message; the meaning, and without the message or meaning behind Pentecost then we will never grasp or be part of what God was and is doing in his church through his Spirit.
There will not be a live service from Moneydig this week. Instead we have a recording from last Sunday nights evening service and the opportunity to watch a service from Templepatrick Presbyterian Church. Our own services will return as normal next Sunday.
Jesus did not institute this sacrament for us to look back, to maintain a sense of tradition or identity to a particular church. This sacrament is about looking forward to that day when Jesus will send his angels to sort the weeds from the wheat.
If God created everything from nothing then he has authority and because he imagined life, designed and brought it into being with all its complexity and wonder then we have incredible value and real meaning.
The catechism answers this question not by getting bogged down in how God’s will impacts specific events such as wars or disease, but by looking at the larger picture. The catechism is asking and answering an eternal question. What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
The nature of the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit tells the story of our relationship with God.