The Word of Grace Devotion "New Wine!" Mark 2:21-22

Mark 2:21-22, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Beloved, this past week I got the opportunity to attend the annual Calvary Chapel Senior Pastor’s Conference. This year the conference was held at Costa Mesa as opposed to previously being held at Murrieta Hot Springs Conference Center. This move ruffled the feathers of many a senior pastor. Many wanted things to remain the same. Like so many of us, many are resistant to change. Yet change is what Christianity is all about.

When Calvary Chapel begun in the mid 60’s, the nation was at a crossroads. War, civil rights, drug use and such were running through the minds and hearts of many Americans, especially young Americans. They came to be known as “hippies”. Initially, Pastor Chuck opposed ministering to these people. He said, “What they need is a haircut and a bath!” But Pastor’s Chuck’s wife Kay had a soft spot in her heart for these young, lost individuals whom Jesus loved. She wanted Chuck to reach out to them and he did.

Today, our nation is at a similar crossroads. The church is pouring wine into old wineskins and not reaching the young. We are becoming insolated and isolated from the very world that Jesus called us to go out into as Mark 16:15 says, “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

Beloved, we have a decision to make. We can either hide our faces in the sand and pretend that everything is ok or we can change. We need to change both personally and corporally. If we don’t change we may lose an entire generation of young folks that Jesus loves with all of His heart.

In Pastor’s Chuck’s day the church was content to pour wine into old wineskins. They balked at some of the things and people Pastor Chuck allowed in church. To put it simply, Pastor Chuck took chances on people. Beloved, we can either continue to pour wine into old wineskins or we can change and pour new wine into new wineskins. May we not become a relic of the past but may we continually be transformed to reach a lost and dying world!

I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you!

In Christ,

Pastor Joe