Dear Friends,
On Sunday 22nd April, the Moderator of the General Assembly, Noble McNeely preached at Legacurry on John 21. He talked about how seasoned fishermen had caught nothing all night but, in the morning, when a stranger on the shore told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat, they gave it a go and caught 153 fish. (The New Testament specifies the number, anchoring it as an historical event.) The stranger, of course, was Jesus. He told these seasoned fishermen to ‘Try something new; try something different!’ The point the Moderator made was this – if what we are doing as a church is not catching fish for Christ then to keep on doing it and expecting a different result is either just being stuck in tradition, or simply daft.
At Legacurry we have an openness and willingness to try new things. But it is always easy to become complacent; to allow things that were new just a few years ago to become the new untouchable traditions. As a reformed church always reforming, we need to be looking to reach people for Jesus in ways appropriate to 2018, not 1958, 1978 or even 2008.
In the PCI Tides Devotional this morning we read that the Lord asked Abram to embark on a journey; to leave his country, people and family home and go to a new land. The Lord then promised to do amazing things through Abram; to bless and make him into a great nation. This instruction was given to an older man and his wife who had no children! ‘Try a new thing Abram! Go where I will lead you and watch what I do through you!’
Jesus put it even more simply, ‘Follow me!’
What new thing, new idea, new direction might Jesus be leading you in?
Is He saying to you, ‘Try something new!’
Is He saying to us, ‘Try something new!’
Yours in His name,
Bobby Liddle
