Articles

Late last year, I went to a 25 year reunion for Youthworks College. Reconnecting with old friends, I was struck by how much has changed. We're all older. There are different lecturers at college now. Hundreds of former students were there — significantly more than the 26 in my class. So much has changed!

But also, the world has changed. Back then, I wondered whether I should get a mobile phone. Whether I should get dial-up internet for the little flat I lived in. Whether I should keep sending letters out to promote youth group, or try out this new email thing. Now, iPhones are a rite of passage for most teenagers, we don't know what to do when the internet's down, and letterboxes are just for junk mail.

That's just the trivial things.

Reading Acts 20 recently, I was struck by how Paul prepared the elders of the Ephesian church for a big change after living with them for 3 years. He recounted the good times: "You know how I lived among you… I've not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you… I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak…" And the hard times: "I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents." And then he announced the change: "none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again."

What did he equip them with, to face this new season? "I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." God and his word of grace. This was important, because false teachers were coming to teach deceitful things, distorting the truth so that people would follow after them. These elders were to keep on teaching and proclaiming the word of God's grace.

Some time later, Paul wrote a letter to the church, reminding them that 'they'd heard about Christ and were taught in him with accordance with the truth that is in Jesus (Eph. 4:21). 'They were to grow up in Christ by listening to the apostles, prophets,  evangelists, pastors  and  teachers that Christ had given them, so they ‘would no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (4:14)’.

Later on, he sent Timothy to Ephesus to go and sort out the false teaching problem. Among other things, Timothy's job was to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching the word of God's grace (1 Tim. 4:13). Because the proclamation of God's word guards and sustains the church in the difficult season they were facing.

Finally, Jesus himself had a message for the Ephesians: "I know your hard work and discipline. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false (Rev. 2:1-7)." The Ephesians had held fast to the word, which had equipped them to reject false teaching.

In so many ways, change is inevitable. Seasons come and go, and with them, we'll feel a lot of emotions: those Ephesian elders wept with grief as they embraced Paul for the last time. What never changes - and what should never change for the church - is our commitment to God and the word of his grace. That word has grown, strengthened, guarded, equipped and sustained churches through good seasons and bad. Through great cultural and historical upheavals, and through times of quiet peace and stability. That word has led the church through persecutions, expansions, reformations, and revivals.

Right now in this first half of 2026, it feels like a great season at St Jude's. Our services are growing. The Life series is running again, and people are coming along to hear about Jesus. On Friday afternoons, the buildings are buzzing as loads of children and youth come along for Arvo Club, Bible study, and youth group. It feels like a really good season that we're in.

Of course, I know that this is not the case for everyone. Some are enduring difficult seasons: hurting as you suffer grief in all kinds of trials, or facing challenges you weren't expecting. Others are worried about the future and what the next season of your life might bring. Whatever this season is like for you, remember to cling to God and the word of his grace. We need to keep proclaiming that word, in season and out of season. And we need to keep trusting God's promises, because his word prepares us for the ultimate season we're all looking forward to in Christ: our inheritance among the saints.

Remember to cling to God and the word of his grace. Keep proclaiming that word, in season and out of season. And keep trusting God's promises, because his word prepares us for the ultimate season we're all looking forward to in Christ: our inheritance among the saints.