“And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth new; for he saith, The old is better.” (Luke 5:36-39).

In Jesus’ day people stored wine in wineskins — goatskins sewn into a watertight bag. New wine had to be put into a new wineskin so that the skin could expand as the new wine fermented and expanded. An old or used skin would break if it contained new wine. The lesson behind our Lord’s parable is this — the Pharisees were like old wineskins; they could not expand their traditions, rules, and understanding to accommodate the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

Some Christians today are like the Pharisees of old – resistant to change and terrified of anything new. To them, “the old is better.” And let’s face it — the word “change” or “new” is a powerful word. It can create feelings of fear, apprehension, anxiety, excitement, anticipation, resistance, and caution, depending on the circumstances and context in which the thought of change occurs.

A quote attributed to Mark Twain says, “The only one who likes change is a wet baby.” Another said, “No one is against change, unless they are the one who must change.” Yet change is the only constant these days and the rate of change is increasing.

Think about your own body, which is constantly changing. While you are reading this, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of cells in your body are going to die and be replaced with new cells. Our skin replaces itself every month. Your stomach lining undergoes a complete change in five days. Other organs and structures in our bodies are constantly changing, mostly due to the fact of the aging process where we are gradually getting older and hopefully wiser.

Just think of the changes within the past few decades. Many of the things we take for granted every day, like compact discs, tablets, cell phones, and personal computers, didn’t even exist. Computers used to be the size of refrigerators, software wasn’t even a word, and the web was the home for a spider. You can probably think of many “new” things in just the past year!

Now, to all those who have their defenses up before you’ve even finished reading this, please be assured that we are not changing our mission or our message at Grace Bible Baptist Church. We are committed to the Book, the Blood, and the Blessed Hope! However, we are rolling out a few “new” things, and we want to tell you what they are and why we’re doing them.

First, our ROUTE 252 (Kid’s Church) will begin at 10:30 AM, the same time as our worship service. We will NOT be dismissing children twenty minutes into the worship service to follow someone to the Fellowship Hall. One important reason for this is so parents can check their kids in, know where their kids will be and with whom, and know where to pick them up after the service. The workers in our children’s ministry will also get to meet the parents and know who they are. This will greatly enhance the safety and security of all involved.

Second, we have moved the Library, which was seldom if ever used, to the room next to the missionary apartment in “A” Building. People may check books and materials out on the honor system, since we have not had a librarian in a very long time. Also, being next to the missionary apartment, missionaries will be able to easily access the library as a place to study and read, whereas in the past they have had very little access to the library except during service times.

Third, the space that used to be occupied by the library will be converted into a Welcome & Hospitality Room to receive and interact with our church guests, as well as members. It will move the greeting of guests out of the busy foyer and open up that small space considerably for the movement of people both before and after services.

Fourth, and finally, we will be changing somewhat the order of the service to foster a stronger atmosphere of worship (focusing on God), rather than fellowship (focusing on ourselves). This was the main topic of discussion at our deacon’s meeting a few months ago and one which we all agreed needs to take place.

There are some people who are threatened by change, regardless of what it is. They prefer things to stay the same. They like the status quo. But change is not something to be afraid of if it enhances the mission, and that is to reach people for Jesus. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We want to see more men and women, boys and girls, come to know Jesus Christ and learn how to live for Him. Come to think of it, that’s the greatest “change” of all!