For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19-21).

I was looking at a Reader’s Digest article from 2024 on some recent inventions that have

become part of our lives and couldn’t help but think about the rapid pace of change that many of us

have experienced. From iPads to air fryers to facial recognition software to beds in boxes, there has

been a slue of new ways to do the same old thing of living life. The job market too has swiftly become

something different than what many of us grew up with; namely, digital jobs are no longer just for the

nerds. According to a 2021 survey by YouGov, Youtuber/streamer is considered a top five dream job for both male and female teenagers. It wasn’t too long ago that digital jobs were associated with balding men in their mom’s cramped basements.

As Bob Dylan sang, “the times they are a-changin’”.

With that in mind, let’s think about anxiety. When change is happening all the time people can

become anxious. If you were to take the typical household, for example, and varied the sleep and eating patterns of the inhabitants on a regularly inconsistent bases then you could likely produce a family on edge and full of anxiety. Now think of sleeping and eating as also analogous to our soul’s needs, for we must have daily bread and rest as provided by our Heavenly Father. We need both things for the body and the soul. The changes that our society has gone through in this generation has affected us so deeply that our very souls are malnourished and sleep deprived because we’ve simply become much more secular and much less spiritual.

Pew Research in 2025 reported that about 25% of Americans went to church on a weekly bases.

Gallup had similar numbers in 2024, stating that it was around 21%. It seems then that weekly

attendance has been increasing. Data from Faith Scout (an organization that helps people find

churches) as of this year has church attendance at 30%, higher than Canadians at 15% but lower than

Brazil’s numbers that are at 45%. I’m hoping that this is both true and a good sign that more are

coming back to the faith. Yet, regardless of the exact percentages, it’s plain to see that people are still

more likely to opt out of weekly times to connect with God and the church in favor of secular events

and commitments. It is the malnourished and sleep deprived who sleepwalk through life, and so, miss their God given calling.

What I love about the Biblical passage at the top of this page is the call for us to “Come back to

God!” It’s a simple concept but can be easily complicated or changed or even forgotten. Rooted in this particular God given calling is the fact that God is reconciling us to Him through Jesus. Another way of putting it is that Jesus has exchanged His morally perfect and sinless life for our imperfect and corrupt lives so that we can be with Him now and for eternity. We need only repent and turn to Him. It’s a very simple concept with deep and everlasting consequences, and it need not be complicated. Coming back to God isn’t dependent on cleaning up one’s life. It’s dependent on the work that He has already done on the cross and continues to do in our lives through His Holy Spirit. We are right with God not because we are right. We are right with Him because Jesus is right and we simply place our faith and trust in Jesus.

It is a simple and profound truth that God loves you so much that He gave His life for yours. No

amount of generational change will ever change His love for you. Come back to God! Feast on His

bread and find rest for our soul. The calling is simple. You need only turn to Him and put your faith in

Jesus.

Let us renew!

Pastor Aaron