Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future
I’ve had a number of conversations with people of all ages who have said something like this: “I wish things could be like they used to be.” For some, they’re looking at the way our society was 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. They look back fondly at the way life was then, how in their mind it was simpler and people were more civil and the moral compass was pointed more closely towards God. Others look back even further to the early church and believe that is really what we need to replicate, that we should become like the first believers and follow everything that they did.
Now please, do not misunderstand the point I’d like to make. I’m not saying there weren’t good things that we can learn from the past, or that in some regards the past is more preferably to our present situation. But if we keep our focus on the past, and are always looking wistfully backwards, we may just miss out on what God has called us to do right now. We can learn from the past, both the successes and the failures, but we need to apply those to what God has called us to in our present situation. And we must remember that anything on earth now is going to fall far short of what God has in store for us in the new heaven and the new earth. Even the best church, or the most pious community is still broken and sinful, and a far cry from what God has planned.
This Sunday we are going to look at the early church (read Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37), how God used them at that time, and see what we can learn from them to apply at The Centre as we look to be a witness to the South End of Lindsay.
Pastor Mike
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