SEASON OF CHANGE – JOURNEY TO CLARITY, PASTOR LARRY GOODWIN

October 29, 2023

You have to recognize when change is needed.

• 2 Kings 22:8-10: And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

• 2 Kings 22:11-13 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

Change will illuminate your past imperfections.

• 2 Kings 23:1-3: Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

• Psalm 119:105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Change can reveal unknown scars.

• 2 Kings 23:13-15: And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust.

• Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

• 2 Kings 23:21: And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

A godly life requires perpetual change.

SEASON OF CHANGE – CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, PASTOR LARRY GOODWIN

October 22, 2023

Ecclesiastes 10:14b No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them? (NIV)

Why is Change Adversarial?

Why is Change Advantageous?

• Ecclesiastes 7:10 Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. (NLT)

How Do We Accept Change?

• Ecclesiastes 8:7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? (NIV)

 Jesus is the Architect of Change

• John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (NAS)

SEASON OF CHANGE – GOD’S TIMING, PASTOR BENJAMIN LEHEW

October 15, 2023

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

God’s timing is always perfect.

• Psalm 31:15  “My times are in Your hands …” 

Change is inevitable.

God makes changes for our benefit.

Trusting God is imperative. 

• Philippians 3:12-16  I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

ZACCHEUS – PROMISE OF A CHANGED LIFE, PASTOR LARRY GOODWIN

October 8, 2023

Luke 19:1-2 He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.

Hungry for Miracles

• Luke 18:35-43

Pride is Negated

• Luke 19:3-4 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

The Change Brought More than Expected

• Luke 19:5-7 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

A Change of Heart and Values

• Luke 19:8-10 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Zaccheus Embraced Change