LW Baptist
By Rolland Coburn
Pastor
The Bible makes a promise of new life in Christ: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come,” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“Things are different now, something happened to me/When I gave my heart to Jesus/ Things are different now/ I was changed it must be, when I gave my life to him/Things I loved before have passed away/Things I love far more have come to stay/Things are different now; something happened that day, when I gave my heart to him.”
A volunteer at our church and regular attender named Myrtle came to Christ late in life, and she eagerly helped in the church office every week. One day our two-and-a-half year old daughter saw Myrtle working in the church and asked me, “Daddy, does Myrtle live at the church?” Myrtle laughed hearing the incident and later told me, “I get a thrill from head to toe every time we sing, “When the Lord saved me, something wonderful happened/Old things passed away/ Darkness turned to day, when the Lord saved me.”
Another family friend had a heart for personal evangelism. He loved to quote the promise, but he always quoted it incorrectly, and that bothered me, though respectfully I said nothing. He would say, “Old things will pass away; behold all things will become new.” But the promise does not refer to future spiritual growth. Myrtle was right. When we come to Christ there is a decisive break with the past, and our lives have begun anew in Christ.
As a pianist and composer put it, “Once there was sadness, no ray of gladness/ Dark was the way and so drear/ Then I met Jesus, wonderful Jesus/ He brought me sunlight and cheer/ There’s a melody divine deep within this heart of mine, since Christ has taught me harmony/ There’s music in my soul, since he has gained control/ He gives us perfect peace and victory, constantly/ Though trials may overtake me, he never will forsake me/ I’ll trust him with this life of mine/ For nothing can destroy this harmony of joy, my melody of love divine.” Another hymn writer traces the promise in Jesus’ days on Earth: “One sat alone beside the highway begging/His eyes were blind; the light he could not see/He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows/Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee/When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken/When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away/He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory/And all is changed, when Jesus comes to stay.”
LW Baptist Church meets in the Amphitheater Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:30.
