New Beginnings - By Brenda Lampman

This is what the Lord says… “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
Sunday, September 9 was a momentous day in the life of this church. We had the amazing opportunity to celebrate a new beginning as we welcomed our new pastor, Rev. Tim Campbell and his family on their first day at Cedar Road Assembly of God. This celebration was the culmination of a transition process that has been orchestrated by God in every way. We have seen God’s hand at work and we are amazed. God is doing a new thing among us. He is taking us from the past into the future He has for us. He is moving us into a new season. Are we ready?
Jesus said, “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 (NIV)
What was Jesus talking about? Wineskins stretch as the wine ages and they get to a point where they can’t stretch anymore. They become inflexible and useless and can’t be filled with new wine or they will burst. New wineskins are flexible and can stretch as the new wine ages. God wants us to become flexible new wineskins again so He can fill us with His new wine — new power, new fire, fresh anointing. As we walk into this new season God has for us, let us seek to become new wineskins that God can fill with his spirit and use for His glory. Instead of dwelling on the past, let us come with a moldable heart and a teachable spirit. And as He fills us with new wine, let us be willing to give, to serve and to pour it out again so that many others may come to know Him. Is your wineskin ready for new wine?