Love that Renews

[Announce text] Welcome, church members and visitors. Today marks the fifth Sunday in Lent, and we are journeying together through our six-week series called Signs of Covenant Love. Throughout this series, we will select Scriptures from the Old Testament that demonstrate God’s covenant love for his people to prepare our hearts for Easter Sunday.

If you brought a Bible this morning, please turn with me to the Book of Isaiah. We will be reading from Isaiah 43:16-21.

Isaiah is classified as one of the major prophets and is chocked full of visions and prophecies.

[Scripture introduction] As we turn to this Scripture, you will notice the entirety of this passage comes forth from the lips of God himself. The Lord tells his wandering people they should listen to what he is about to do.

[Reannounce and read text] Let’s read the passage together from Isaiah 43:16-21.

Isaiah 43:16–21 ESV

16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

[Prayer for illumination] Heavenly Father, we pray that your Word comes alive to us. Make a way through our sea of sin and bring about the refreshing waters of your salvation. We thank you, O God, for what you are about to do for us today. We pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

[Introduction] A woman kept an old photo album on her coffee table. It was filled with pictures from the “best season of her life”—a mission trip, a revival, a moment when she felt close to God. Whenever life got hard, she’d sit down and flip through those pages, remembering what God used to do.

But she never looked out the window. She never noticed the neighbor who needed encouragement. She never listened to God's voice today.

She spent so much time looking back that she missed what God was doing now.

God hadn't stopped working—she’d just stopped watching.

Isn’t that the truth?!?

[FCF] We can often become stuck in the past and struggle to believe that God is doing something new.

Because sin clouds our hearts to faith in God’s abilities, we often doubt the Lord's willingness to do anything at all.

[Scripture bond] But what we just read from Isaiah speaks about God’s nature as a creative God who delights himself in doing new things! Even when we fail to recognize it. He is at work and is constantly restoring the world because of his covenant love he has given to his people.

If God said it, he meant it! What is God doing? Repeat with me these Scriptures from the lips of the Lord. [Congregation Readings]

What did God say? See verse Isaiah 43:19.

[Proposition] “Behold, I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19).

Exactly, that’s right. He is indeed doing a new thing, and we must begin to embrace it.

[Main point 1] Don’t get stuck in the past—embrace what the Lord is doing now. “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18).

[Explanation] Originally, these Scriptures were written for the Jews living in captivity during the Babylonian exile. Perhaps their struggle was their minds were fixated on how God used to work in their lives in the past.

During the time of Isaiah, the Israelites were living in a state of oppression and disconnection from God’s presence. I imagine many came to believe that if the Lord desired to save them again, it would be like the first time. God would send a servant like Moses to split the sea, vanquishing Pharaoh's army through the crushing waters and rescuing them through the sea crossing.

But God is about new things! He wants his people to understand this truth. How would he save them now? In a new way, not by defeating a king through water but by bringing a new kingdom from afar to overthrow the one that was holding them in bondage.

God did something new; he sent King Cyrus of Persia to release the captive Jews and ordered them to return home to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.

I bet many weren’t thinking that was what God would do.

That’s why he tells them. “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18).

The same goes for us. We should not think God is only going to do what he has already done, like the Exodus for Israel. Rather, the Lord wants us to forget about the old and not be fixated on the past because he wants you and me to embrace what he is doing now.

[Illustration] Sometimes churches and Christians focus too much on the past and miss opportunities to create new things for the kingdom.

What did work yesterday may not be what’s practical now.

Instead of idolizing the past, Wednesday and Sunday evening services, traditional hymn Sundays, weekly bulletins, and door-to-door evangelism.

Perhaps God is inviting us to forget what used to work for our culture and communities for the sake of the Gospel.

[Application] What God wants from you and me is a change of mind and heart to embrace God’s new and exciting plans.

The first place we do to rid ourselves of the old expectations of God’s work and embrace what he is doing now is to seek him in contemplative prayer.

Paul gives us the solution to letting go of the past and embracing God’s work through his words in Romans 12:1-2.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We must be transformed by the mind, and then we can begin embracing God's will, which is good, acceptable, and perfect.

So, when you begin to believe that God only does what he has done in the past, it is time to reconnect with God and seek what he is doing now.

So, what is God doing in our culture, community, and church right now?

According to Isaiah, the Lord is sending waters into the wilderness—not ordinary waters in a vast wasteland, but something much better.

[Main Point 2] God is making a way by refreshing the world with the waters of Christ. “I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people” (Isaiah 43:20).

[Explanation] These renewing waters sent from the fountain of God are flowing forth from the springs of the earth, and they are making their way throughout all creation.

No longer is the Lord splitting the sea; instead, he is bringing forth gushing rivers into desolate places.

See its effects, the mighty works of God! The wild animals taste God’s goodness and honor him, and even the Lord’s people (who do not perceive him) are drinking and being refreshed. Every living being under the sun is being permeated by the grace and blessings of the Lord because the Lord is doing a new thing.

Again, the Lord is sending the waters of healing and restoration to the wilderness to give life to his people.

If we can be honest, we, too, need spiritual refreshing because we are not living in an oasis in this world. Instead, we are like the Israelites, who wandered in the wilderness for forty years and complained about not having enough water and bread.

So, out of the Lord’s covenant love for you and me, he gives us the most incredible drink that quenches our desires and hearts, who is Jesus Christ, our eternal fountain.

[Illustration] How can we be sure about this? We see in John’s gospel when Christ comes to Samaria and approaches Jacob’s well on Noonday. He encounters a woman, and she is drawing water. Jesus asks for a drink, and the conversation progresses, and Jesus declares this truth-claim.

John 4:13–14 ESV

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The water that makes a way in the wilderness of sin and gives eternal life to all who drink of it is Jesus. God’s covenant love that renews is given to us through Christ, and we thirst no more in him.

[Application] So now, when you are spiritually parched because of the dryness of sin. Turn to the life-giving source which the Lord is providing. His grace flows and refreshes the hearts of all who believe in him. God is doing this for his people because he is doing a new thing.

But what about others in the wilderness of sin who need it also?

Christ, as our living water, is not only for us but also for the entire world!

What if you made it your mission this week to bring someone to the ravine of God’s overflowing life?

After you prayed and been taken to the throne of grace, imagine the Lord giving you a cup and the water of eternal life that is flowing from you. You should take it to someone living in the wilderness of sin and pour it on those who need the salvation of the Lord.

How do you pour it on them? Share how the Lord has filled your cup (testimony). Invite them to the church and home where God’s grace flows deep and wide (hospitality). Make it impossible for them not to see what the Lord has done for you by serving them in love (witness).

In this manner, the Lord wants to do something new, even through you.

The new thing happening in you and at this church is because God is active in our midst. He is still in the business of renewing lives and saving souls. When we see the Lord working, it should naturally lead us to one thing: praise!

[Main Point 3] The Lord is actively doing a new thing, so expect His people to keep praising “The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (Isaiah 43:21).

[Explanation] As Isaiah said, we are formed for a purpose. We are in the midst of God working in our world. The Lord is still changing our lives and the people around us. And it is from this spirit of recognition, we, as God’s church, praise the Lord!

We serve a God who is alive and active. We live for Christ, who has restored our souls. We have a Father in heaven who is doing a new thing. We are animated by the Spirit, who is working in us and through us to accomplish God’s will. We have a reason to sing to the Lord.

And because God is working in this place, in you and me. You will hear our voices every Sunday. Our voices give glory and honor to God because we trust in him.

[Illustration] Imagine one day, instead of 50-60 people praising the Lord in this church, we become a congregation of 500-600 people. How much more praise could there be here if we believe he is doing something new?

Indeed, he is.

[Application] So when it comes to our time of singing praise. I encourage you to sing because of your faith. Sing louder. More joyfully with all the more because you know in your heart that what God said is true.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing.”

[Conclusion] A woman kept an old photo album on her coffee table, full of moments when God had moved—revivals, mission trips, answered prayers. But instead of getting stuck in the past, she let those memories fuel her expectations.

Every morning, she opened her curtains and prayed, “Lord, what are You doing today?” She noticed the neighbor who looked lonely. She brought a meal to someone hurting. She shared her story with someone searching.

She didn’t live in the past—she lived in praise of a God who is still moving.