Launch Sermon Player

I see the church almost like a volcano – where the energy and power under the surface erupts with awesome force – lava runs hot and wild and changes the landscape. Then it cools and hardens and everything looks normal. The difference is that volcanoes are abnormal and usually destructive – and what Jesus intended His gathered people to be was a life-giving flow of love, life, grace and hope. It was never intended to cool and harden!  Jesus said that you have to put new wine in new bottles. He also said that the people who have tasted the old wine, don’t want the new. His point, first, was that His Kingdom would change everything. The old categories and containers wouldn’t fit any more. His kingdom isn’t about a set of laws we keep to make God happy and get something from Him. The whole thing is flipped. Life isn’t about preserving and enriching your own life – it’s about loving! It’s about giving your life way. To love others is to love God. You don’t want to worship an old bottle – it’s empty!