God is Constant
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Week 5
God is… Constant
God is Constant
Good morning and welcome to worship! What a beautiful week we have had, and by beautiful, I mean wet! Amen… rain, glorious rain…
A special welcome to those of you who have chosen to gather together, here in person and online as we gather on a Labor Day weekend!
Just a reminder, after worship today, members of the leadership team will be present after both services to share about their recommendations to join the Global Methodist movement and consider the new, old name of First Methodist Church of Brownwood. So, after communion, take a quick potty break and then gather back in here for a short opportunity to hear a little more about our future as we prepare for September 12ths vote.
Today, we are wrapping up our God Is… series as we consider the fact that God is Constant. We have already learned that God is our hope when we are hurting, God is merciful. We learned that God is trustworthy and we can cast our cares upon him, we can live a life without worry. One of my favorites was remembering that God is loving… and there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. God is loving and because of that God is forgiving! That gives me hope!
Last week, we remembered that God is Holy, and when faced with the holiness of God and the fact that God has already forgiven us… our only right response is, “Here I am Lord, use me… send me… work through me to change your world!
And today, we remember that God is constant. If we were hearing this sermon in the late 1800’s we might hear about the immutability of God. But, we don’t really use words like immutability any more. What does it mean?
Immutability means unchanging over time or unable to be changed.
Let’s be honest. We live in a world that is changing. The only thing that seems to be constant in our lives is change. Our health… the health of our family… our careers… the stock market (and thus our retirement)… the gas prices… I know we could all add to this list and be here all day talking about it, but isn’t it comforting to know that there is something that is constant in an ever changing world!
This is kinda like last week. I could pick from dozens of passages. But to start, turn with me to Psalm 102. I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation today..
Psalm 102:25-27
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands.
They will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
and discard them.
But you are always the same;
you will live forever.
Would you pray with me…
God is Constant
I recently read a book that had all kinds of horror stories about diving with unreputable companies. I’m not trying to scare anyone out of being a SCUBA Diver if you have been thinking about it… so don’t let a story like this run you off.
One of the stories was about a couple of divers in Indonesia. They were on vacation from here in the US and their first clue things weren’t going to go well was when the dive operator forgot one of their SCUBA bags at the hotel, and they had to go back for it. They got on the boat and it wasn’t real clean… the gear was old… but everything was still in the “acceptable” category, but barely. Everything seemed to be going as planned, they made their first dive of the afternoon at a reef out several miles from shore, then worked their way back towards the shore for their last dive. It was a night dive, which means you jump in at dusk and dive as the sun sets and the fish and all the plankton and corals come to life. They got suited up, made it to the dive site just about 2 miles off shore. They could actually see the shore from the boat. They jumped in and the dive was amazing. Everything seemed to go as planned until 40 minutes later when they surfaced… and there was no boat. The seas had gotten a little rough and the boat was running out of gas, so they just went back in… and left divers in the water. (Evidently, it wasn’t uncommon for a couple of the dive operators to do that and let someone else pick them up) but this time it was dark! And 3-5 foot seas.
Think about that for a moment. You are floating around in the water… in the dark… and all you can see around you is water… then as the wave lifts you up you can see across the top of the waves. It would be terrifying. But do you know what gave them hope? As they rose on the swells, they could see the lights of shore, and not just any lights… they could see the large bright light of their hotel. Floating in the midst of an ever changing sea, they saw a light… a constant beacon of hope… a target to guide themselves toward on the 2 mile swim.
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging – they made it back to shore and lived to tell the story.
But I want you to think about that for a moment. In the midst of an everchanging sea, a constant light on a hill is what gave them hope.
God tells us through Malachi
Malachi 3:6
“I the Lord do not change.”
And the writer of Hebrews reminds us
Hebrews 13:8
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Here’s the thing… you can count on God. God is your constant. Our Post-Modern culture tells us there is no absolute truth, it is all relative to the situation and the individual… What a hopeless concept! To float in an everchanging world with out a constant light to guide you!
I want to give you 3 facts… dare I be so bold as to call them absolute truths to hold onto in this everchanging world.
1. God’s Word Never Changes!
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
The seasons change, the leaves change colors, the flowers fade in the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter. But God’s word withstand the seasons, it withstands the changing culture, it withstands the changes in our own lives.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:25, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” You know what, they haven’t. We are still quoting the words of Jesus 2000 years after his death, burial, and resurrection.
God’s word does not change! We change… and God’s word changes us… but God’s word does not change.
And neither does his Character.
2. God’s Character never changes!
As I traveled this week I heard a pastor say,
God didn’t have to study to be wise, God is wisdom.
God didn’t have to receive love to love – God is love
God didn’t have to see mercy to show mercy – God is mercy.
Because of that we know that God is with us! God will never leave us nor forsake us!
The writer of Romans puts it this way.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35, 37-39
God’s attributes, God’s character, God’s characteristics never change.
God is good… God can’t not be good.
God is loving… you can’t make God not love you.
God is who God is… he is never changing!
Isn’t it good to know that even if the world around us changes… God's Word does not.
As our life changes with the seasons of life… isn’t it good to know that God’s Character remains the same!
One more thing though…
God’s Promises Never Change!
How many of you have ever had someone break a promise to you?
They were going to be there and they weren’t.
They were giving you something and they didn’t.
There has never been a promise that God has given that God hasn’t kept.
Paul Reminds us in 2 Corinthians 1:20
For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!”
What does that mean for you? What difference does that make in your life?
Because of Jesus, we can hope in the Lord… Because of Christ, our strength can be renewed, we can mount up on wings like eagles and run and not be weary, and walk and not be faint.
Because of the fulfillment of the promise of Christ, no weapon is fashioned against us.
Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil…. Why? Because God is with us! Emmanuel!
God is with us
God is merciful… and that God is with us!
God is trustworthy… and that God is with us!
God is loving… and that God is with us!
God is holy… and that God is with us!
God is constant – God does not change… God is our anchor when we find ourselves adrift…. We drop the anchor and it holds.
God is the constant light that guides us through the shifting waves of this world.
God is with us… and God is with us at this table!