
What is the purpose of a Sunday morning church gathering? How is the service to be structured for worship and Biblical content? These questions have provoked endless questions, debates and discussions since the church began in Acts. In 1975 Howard Snyder wrote a book called, “The Problem of Wineskins”. In Luke 5:38 Jesus said, “new wine must be poured in new wineskins”. Change was in the air for Judaism. Change is hard for all of us. We like the predictable. It gives less cause for fear. The Pharisees were critical of Jesus and his disciples. He took an illustration from the wine fermentation process to speak of what was coming. Flexible containers were needed for wine that was fermenting. Rigid, dry or cracked wineskins would burst during the fermentation process. Snyder contended that churches weren’t very flexible. Churches got stuck in traditional routines and forgot the organic life giving process of the Holy Spirit flowing in spiritual growth. As a pastor I have pondered questions such as these for many years. What are the essentials that Jesus asked for amongst his followers? What essentials do we see modeled in Acts? These are big questions. Different church denominations answer them in different ways. No doubt our mission centers upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, “Christ crucified”. The work of the Holy Spirit is central to our proclamation of the message. The Holy Spirit strengthens us and convicts the hearts of unbelievers. The heart of Snyder’s challenge focuses on how church structures can be flexible and not restrictive. Snyder would probably say that some structure is needed. He would probably say that some churches take it too far. The notion of having a “New Testament church” is unrealistic. Churches have buildings and staff that hopefully support, propel the mission and “equip the saints for ministry”. (Eph.4) God is always doing something new. Growth and change are vital to growth. Babies become toddlers. Toddlers start to walk. Walking kids eventually go to school. Walking kids sometimes fall and skin their knees. Spiritual growth is messy. It doesn’t always happen in perfectly prescribed units. We will look at this topic of “new wine and new wineskins” on Sunday. God is always doing something new and fresh. Let’s welcome new things that God is doing.
God Bless You
Pastor Drew