Sermonette: Nov. 1, 2021

Change, transition, whatever name you wish to put on it, we are experiencing it right now. I've been known to repeat this a number of times so bear with me if you have heard me say this before. When I was young, I would hear grown-ups say that the older they got, the faster time went by. I would think to myself, how dumb is that? It made no sense to me at all. Time did not go fast. It went too slow. The things I wanted to happen took forever to get here. However, now as I get older, I am finding that the grown-ups knew what they were talking about. Time indeed does seem to be going faster. This time of year especially seems to go by so quickly. Seemingly, it wasn't that long ago we were complaining of it being too hot. Now, all of a sudden we need jackets to go outside. The daytime high temperatures now are colder than the overnight low temperatures of just a few weeks ago. All of a sudden, I'm now getting out of bed in the morning when it is still dark outside. When did all of this happen?

The church is in a period of transition also. The current church year is quickly coming to an end as the Season of Advent will soon be here. I am writing this message on October 25th. Thanksgiving will be here in four weeks, Christmas in eight. Christmas commercials are starting to pop up on television and Christmas catalogs are showing up in the mail. How can all this be happening? Isn't it still summer? Nope, it isn't. High school fall sports seasons are drawing to a close, and basketball practice is starting soon. Yep, we are in a season of change.

With time moving on so quickly, for some of us anyway, and as we transition from season to season, we can be assured of one thing, however. Our God, our Creator, remains the same. His love for us is a steadfast love and it never changes regardless of what month our calendar shows, and it never weakens with the passing of time. Our crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ, is still our Savior no matter the season. It makes no difference whether we are in the Advent season of awaiting His birth, or we are celebrating His birth in Christmas, or celebrating the season of Lent as we prepare for Easter. We have that Blessed Assurance that we are loved and can count on there being a place for us in God's mansion when that time comes. Jesus told his disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father's mansion. He has done the same for us.

So, however much we hate change, whatever month our calendar shows, no matter how much we are affected by the current changes of our calendars, school years, weather or what have you, we have a rock to anchor us, a Rock of Ages to steady us. All we have to do is seek Him out, call for Him, and He will welcome us into His arms. And that, my friends, will never change. Blessings to you all.