Over the past couple of years Village Church has changed. It still has the same biblical mandate and focus that existed when we first started – to grow followers of Jesus in inner city Brisbane – and the same DNA that shapes how and why we do things. But Village has changed in size, in make–up, in what we run, who we run it for, how you might be engaged with it and probably a hundred other little ways only you might notice. Some of these changes you might rejoice in. Others you might not. But as with any question we face as Christians, the question worth considering is:
As Christians and a Christian community, how do we grapple with and understand change?
Having done the first half of Acts this year, I want to explore this question from Acts 10–11. What we’ll see is the challenges we’re experiencing, while hard, are nothing new. But the ultimate challenge (as seen in the early church) is working out how the Gospel transforms how we view and react to these changes.
There’s three parts to this discussion.
- The Challenge of Change.
- The Gospel and Change.
- Where Gospel Change has led us.
The first part was already published as a PDF, but if you haven’t read it, you can see it here.