Facing Changes

1
Facing Changes

• Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or
  terrified because of them, for the LORD your God
  goes with you he will never leave you nor
  forsake you.
• Deuteronomy 316

2
Isaiah 42510a (NIV)

• This is what God the LORD says he who created
  the heavens and stretched them out, who spread
  out the earth and all that comes out of it, who
  gives breath to its people, and life to those who
  walk on it
•  I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness
  I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you
  and will make you to be a covenant for the people
  and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that
  are blind, to free captives from prison and to
  release from the dungeon those who sit in
  darkness.  

Call to Worship
3
Isaiah 42510a (NIV)

•  I am the LORD that is my name! I will not give
  my glory to another or my praise to idols.  See,
  the former things have taken place, and new
  things I declare before they spring into being
   I announce them to you.  Sing to the LORD a new
  song, his praise from the ends of the earth

Call to Worship
4
Facing Changes

• What to do when things will never be the same
  again

5
Psalm 10225 - 28 (NIV) Pew Bible
Pg. 595

•  In the beginning you laid the foundations of
  the earth, and the heavens are the work of your
  hands.  They will perish, but you remain they
  will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing
  you will change them and they will be discarded.
  But you remain the same,
• and your years will never end. The children of
  your servants will live in your presence their
  descendants will be established before you.

6
Isaiah 463 - 5 (NIV)
Pew Bible Pg. 723

•     Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who
  remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have
  upheld since you were conceived, an have carried
  since your birth.  Even to your old age and gray
  hairs  I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I
  have made you and I will carry you I will
  sustain you and I will rescue you.  To whom will
  you compare me or count me equal? To whom will
  you liken me that we may be compared?

7
Change

• Change isnt always bad - its normal a
  sign of life
• Change is a given
• But the scope speed of its kicked into warp
  drive

8
The Never-changing

• There are some unchangeables
• God the Father, Son, Spirit are the
  only changeless realities
• But you remain the same, and your years will
  never end. Psalms 102 27
• I the LORD do not change  Malachi 36

9
The Never-changing

• immutability
• Every good and perfect gift is from above,
  coming down from the Father of the heavenly
  lights, who does not change like
  shifting shadows.
• James 1 17

10
The Never-changing

• Change
• The world and its desires pass away, but the man
  who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John
  217
• For what is seen is temporary, but what is
  unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 418

11
The Ever-changing

• This creation
• In the beginning you laid the foundations of the
  earth, and the heavens are the work of your
  hands.  They will perish, but you remain they
  will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing
  you will change them and they will be discarded.
  Psalm 10225,26

12
The Ever-changing

• But in keeping with His promise we are looking
  forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home
  of righteousness. 2 Peter 313
• He who was seated on the throne said, I am
  making everything new! Revelation 215

13
The Ever-changing

• Our character
• When it comes to it, isnt Christianity all about
  becoming something else?
• What is salvation but God making us what we cant
  be on our own?

14
The Ever-changing

• I tell you the truth, unless you change and
  become like little children, you will never enter
  the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 183
• And weare being transformed into his likeness
  with ever increasing glory, which comes from the
  Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians
  318

15
The Ever-changing

• Jesus is committed to changing us to be more
  like Him!
• Change is hard. But the thing worse than the
  pain of change is the pain of staying the same
  when change is needed.

16
The Ever-changing

• For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be
  raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1
  Corinthians 1552
• Do not say, Why were the old days better than
  these? for it is not wisdom to ask such
  questions. Ecclesiastes 710

17
The Ever-changing

• But one thing I do Forgetting what is behind
  and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
  toward the goal to win the prize for which God
  has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
  Philippians 313-14

18
Navigating Changes

• Understanding the adventure-
• embracing a process which isnt as unpredictable
  as it seems

19
Theres a difference

• CHANGE is situational, external often
  immediate.
• TRANSITION is attitudinal, internal, often
  drawn out.

20
William Bridges

• Its not the changes that do you in, but the
  transitionsunless transition occurs the change
  wont work.

21

• Three overlapping phases/stages
• ENDING
• NEUTRAL ZONE
• BEGINNING

22
KEY POINT

• People have transitioned only when theyve gone
  through all three stages.

23
AN ENDING

• Think of all the big changes youve been
  throughthey all began with an end.
• Theres a letting goeven a loss of something

24
AN ENDING

• Suggestions for a healthy process
• 1. Dont be surprised by overreaction
• 2. Acknowledge the loss openly sympathetically
• 3. Expect accept the signs of grieving
• Denial Anger Anxiety
• Sadness Disorientation
  Depression

25
NEUTRAL ZONE

• Its the place between trapezes

26
NEUTRAL ZONE

• Its Linus while his blankets in the dryer

27
NEUTRAL ZONE

• What is normal in this nowhere between two
  somewheres?
• 1. Anxiety rises motivation falls
• 2. Old weaknesses emerge
• 3. People may feel overloaded
• 4. Tension arises between those who want to
  press on those who prefer to go back.
• 5. The group becomes vulnerable to attack

28
NEUTRAL ZONE

• KEY POINT People tend to want to skip this
  stage or hurry through it. But a good transition
  requires you to sojourn in this land
• It took one night to get Israel out of Egypt,
  but 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.

29
NEW BEGINNINGS

• Can only be nurtured not scheduled
• Beginnings follow the timing of heart
  mind

30
NEW BEGINNINGS

31
Navigating Changes

• Making the journey with God
• More important than knowing change principles is
  relying on the presence of the Lord

32
Navigating Changes

• Listen to meyou whom I have upheld since you
  were conceived, an have carried since your birth.
   Even to your old age and gray hairs  I am he, I
  am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I
  will carry you and I will rescue
  you.
  Isaiah 463-4

33
Navigating Changes

• When a pastor departs its a rich time for a
  congregation to update its mission vision
• Things wont remain as isthe system is unfrozen.
  Change can happen, in fact it must.

34
Navigating Changes

• Youre not just in a search process
  but a transformation process
  make the most of it.

35
When this second is past, things cant be as they
werewith the exception that Jesus is still in
the moment. Trust Him.
36
Hebrews 138 (NIV) Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.
Benediction
37

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