Jill and I have certainly enjoyed being back at College Church for the past two weeks and we are looking for to seeing you one more time this Sunday.  We have been looking at questions Jesus asked.  The question this week is, “Do you want to get well?” from John 5:1-8.

Sir Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion states, “An object at rest remains at rest, unless acted upon by an external force." While Newton was describing the physical world, his observation also sheds light on one’s spiritual life.

Most of us can identify areas where we need to change. We long to become more patient, more forgiving, more faithful, and certainly more like Christ. Yet good intentions alone rarely produce lasting transformation. Left to ourselves, we tend to remain as we are. Like an object at rest, we naturally resist change.

The good news of the gospel is that God does not expect us to change by our own strength. He has given us the Holy Spirit who can enable us to be all that he has called us to be.  As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). And “. . . it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).  

The good news is that real change begins when we surrender to God’s transforming work. As we yield to His Word, His Spirit, and His grace, the Lord accomplishes what we cannot do on our own.  Come this Sunday expecting good things.

See you then!

John Bowling