From the Pulpit...

After reading Proverbs 25, we studied several related passages having to do with a concept we referred to as "the old and new." The illustrations that Jesus use have to do with new and old fabric, new and old wineskins, and new and old things from a collector's storehouse.

How can we apply this old/new teaching? Each of us should be equally adept at bringing out truth from the Old Covenant as well as from the New Covenant. We should be able to talk about the 10 commandments and the lessons learned in Israelite history, as well as the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. We must recognize that some of the new modifies or replaces the old; that some people will not immediately take to the new; and that the two have to be carefully distinguished lest we create a system that ends up destroying more than it helps. Being able to properly handle both old and new should give us a level of joy like the collector who shows off both kinds of things.