New Wine and Old Wineskins don't mix

Matthew 9:17 "Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Jesus told John the Baptist’s disciples that people don’t put new wine in old wineskins because the skins will burst and the wine will be wasted. But many churches and ministries today insist on pouring their new wine in the old models, again and again. We resist innovation and we fight progress. 90 % of what we are doing in church today needs a total makeover. We are facing the most daunting renovation project in the history of the church.

The task is not impossible, but it will require us to take some very bold initiatives:

- Stay open to His fresh directives and expect Him to stretch your faith. He might lead us to camp in one place for a while, but we should never get too comfortable. His trumpet will eventually blow and the cloud of His presence will shift. Don’t put on the brakes when God is calling you to move forward.

-God is with the courageous few who are willing to blaze a new path into unreached territory and are willing to defy tradition. People who are married to the past will not embrace the future. Sacred cows do not belong in the pulpit, but must be sacrificed on the altar. The crowd chooses the comfort of nostalgia, but the way we’ve always done it will not work in God’s new season.

-We cannot rely on church growth seminars, popular books, or superstar preachers to lead us into genuine change. Copying spiritual trends is just a form of carnality and is a sad substitute for a real move of God. If the work of transforming the church is not totally led by the Holy Ghost, then our changes will be shallow and our impact will be pitiful. The last thing we need is a superficial upgrade. We need a fresh anointing of the Holy Ghost and fire!

The Lord wants to unleash an outpouring of new wine into the church today, but He is calling us to prepare our wineskins. What is old must be renewed by the Spirit, what is outdated must be remodeled, and what is ineffective must be replaced. God wants to do a new thing. Don’t resist it, but accept it and be blessed.