Change...

2009-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

Change; we all go through it, but we all deal with it differently. Some of us are "agents of change". Some are change followers, yet many of us are change resistant.

Change is a constant in the business world. In many cases, a business must change and adapt to new business environments or paradigms, otherwise, business opportunities could be lost, or worst, the business itself may be lost. So change is an accepted reality in the business world because of the constantly shifting dynamics of that environment. Do the dynamics of the church change? My immediate reaction to that question is, no! The church doesn't change because God's direction for the church doesn't change. However, I believe we must look deeper into the question.

God's law and direction for our lives, for the church, doesn't change. As we all know, He has already seen every event in every one of our lives. But we don't have God's sight. We live in a world bound by time, and in this thing called time, there will be change that we won't know about until it happens, or starts to happen. Therefore, the final answer to the question above is, yes, the dynamics of the church living in the world do change. If you agree with that statement, then the next question is how the church handles change.

We at Cedar Park Northshore are going through change. Our beloved senior pastors are moving on to serve in the missions field, and as such, we will have a new pastor. That's big change. Is this change good or bad? I'm of the opinion that this change is wonderful! Now, don't get me wrong; I am very sad to see the Willis' go. They have been a wonderful breath of revitalization for our local body, and they are much loved. However, they are leaving us because they feel God is leading them to serve in India as missionaries. How can that be a bad thing? Additionally, we are going to see a new pastor come in that has been vetted by the senior leadership of the Cedar Park Cathedral; the same senior leadership that brought us the Willis'. How can that be a bad thing?

I think how the change affects the Northshore body is largely up to us. We can be change resistant and allow it to negatively affect us and how we are serving the Lord locally, or we can embrace it, partner with it, and do our part(s) to make sure we don't get in the Lord's way. I vote for the latter. What are your thoughts? Comment!!!

Opening post

2009-02-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

[Written by Pastor David Willis]

I wanted to thank you for visiting our church website. If you are an attendee, visitor or just someone stumbling upon our site, I trust you will check out what we are about!

The other day I was sitting at a stop light when a business sign caught my attention. It read, “Some people want to change the world, we only want to change your oil.” At first I chuckled, but soon had more reflective thoughts. Although the statement may be commendable for a business that specializes in oil changes, as a Christian personal life strategy I strongly disagree with the statement. As a believer in the One who calls His followers to be agents of transformation, I want to change the world. Although I may never be placed on the world stage as an international leader, I still can be a world changer. Jesus calls all of His followers to change their corner of the world. He calls us to be “the salt of the earth…the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). Both of these are components that alter the arrangement of the environments they touch. As a person of faith, you either change or need to be changed.

His challenge to the church in Corinth is still ours today:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20.

We are called to be ministers of reconciliation, agents of transformation, and catalysts for change. I want to ask you how you plan on living out your calling? Will you rise to the occasion and change the world Jesus Christ calls you to touch? Will you be an instrument of change in your workplace, friendships, family, and social networks?

Jesus is calling for a generation of world changers! I trust you respond like the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who when called to reach his generation declared “Here am I. Send me!”