"Building a Church Through Outreach"
A Never Changing God
ELCOG 5//20/05
Text: Heb 13:5-8 (verse 8-text)
This morning I want to share several familiar scripture with you; scripture that will encourage you in your walk with God. Sometimes, in life we are given obstacles that we are not expecting. But this morning I want to stress this one point… God is a never changing God.
Heb. 13:5
5Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb. 13:6
6So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Remember that the word gives us a promise that God will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our helper. That means that he has to be stronger than we are. That means that he will not change with the blowing of the trees. We will go through problems and trials, but God is still there to help us. We live through terrible situations, but God never changes. S I said the other Wednesday night, we may turn old and gray, but God is not affected.
We go to the doctor and receive awful news, but God is still not changed. He stands firm while our world seems to fall apart. Have you ever been devastated? Have you ever been hurt and left to "die"? I am sure that you have. I am sure that you have felt like life has forsaken you, that you have been turned upside down and that you have been used and abused, but that didn’t change God he is still there standing strong and standing steady. He is your helper and your friend. He is unchanging and is there for you.
Let me remind you that your life doesn’t control God, but he still controls your life.
Psa. 37:23
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
God is not ordered by your steps. But he controls yours! Your God never changes!
John 10:27
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28
28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29
29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
John 10:30
30I and my Father are one.
Notice verse 28, no man shall pluck them out of God’s hand. Do you realize this morning that your problems can not change God? Take peace in the fact that God holds you in His hands and that is real security. God is still holding you and he is still working on your behalf. God is unchanging!
I know that you have been strung out on drugs. I know that you have walked away from God. I know that he called you and you didn’t listen, but he is still there. He is right there to bring you back in. He is unchanging. You can trust God; you have every right to rejoice in hope because God is not changed by your mistakes or your failures. He is unchanging.
Prov. 10:30
30The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.
Psa. 55:22
22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
This morning some you have brought great burdens and disappointment to church with you, but the great news for you is that God is unchanging and he is asking you to cast your burden upon him and he will sustain you. He is unchanging.
1 Pet. 5:7
7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Pet. 5:8
8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Pet. 5:9
9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
1 Pet. 5:10
10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
God is unchanging. You hay have to suffer afflictions, but the God of all grace will make you perfect, he will establish you, strengthen you and settle you. God can do that because your problems do not change him!
2 Cor. 4:8
8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2 Cor. 4:9
9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
There is a lot of trouble, I am perplexed, but God is not changed. He is still the same. He is still strong and mighty. He is still awesome and powerful. He is still God!
Rom. 8:35
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom. 8:36
36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom. 8:37
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom. 8:38
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom. 8:39
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God is unchanging. He is faithful to the very end. Take courage in the God that your serve. He is not changed by our problems. He is still strong and secure. You need to understand that God is there for you and he is just as powerful now as he was the day before your problems and before your failures. He still loves you. He is still there for you. He is an unchanging God. You can trust him to be there for you.