Pack Your New You

Pastor Phil McCallum, Evergreen Church Bothell @philipmccallumWhat will you leave behind to make room for the new you?You can choose a rerun of last year or a world premiere.“Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’—Matthew 9:14-15What did Jesus do when he was criticized for not repeating what he did last year?Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.—Matthew 9:17A wineskin is a flexible container that can stretch to hold something new.A wineskin can be used only once because it hardens around the last new thing.Wineskins can’t change, but Jesus can change you.Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins.—Matthew 9:171. Don’t be a better you, let Jesus be himself through you.22 …Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.—Ephesians 4:22-24If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined.—Matthew 9:17‘God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with so many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.’—Jackie Pullinger2. Keep a soft heart and hard feet.No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.—Matthew 9:173. Pour into people with soft hearts.