An animated movie and the baptism of Jesus have something in common. Both are about change. The film "Inside Out" portrays the emotions of a young girl who moves to a new city, and Jesus's baptism was the beginning of a transformation that prepared people for the change of the coming Messiah.

Dealing with change is difficult and uncomfortable. Change can cause some of the emotions portyed by the characters "Inside Out" movies, including sadness, fear, and anger. When we change, we trade the certainty of how things are now for the uncertainty of what will be different.

Change is necessary for long-term survivial. Two businesses, Eastman Kodak and Blockbuster Video, were both worth billions of dollars in the 1990s. However, both filed for bankruptcy years later, because they didn't adapt to the growing use of digital photography and streaming video. Churches need to adapt as well. The COVID pandemic was the catalyst for the widespread adoption of livestreaming Sunday worship.

In addition to businesses and churches, adapting to fulfill the goals of the kingdom of Heaven is necessary for Christians. Those changes include implementing routines of Sunday worhip, daily prayer, community service, and being ready to share your faith story. This week's guest speaker, Patrick Miesen, reminds us that although those practices aren't easy, they're worthwhile. Faith pushes away things that provide short-term gratification in favor of things that are long term and meaningful.

The one constant in the universe is change. This week, Pastor Mia helps us understand how we were made for change. God created us to be moldable, like clay, to be shaped and reshaped. Neuroplasticity, the ability to rework our brains by building new neural connections, makes spiritual growth possible.

Change is constant, and so is God. As God molds and shapes us, we change but God remains the same. This theory is fundamental to understanding how prayer works. When we pray, we don’t convince God to do what we want. Instead, God has given us the gift of repentance which makes change possible.

With repentance, we can turn toward God by changing our hearts, our minds, and our ways. Go allows us to repent again and again and again. This is good news for all of us who mess up. It’s not complicated. When we go astray, we can start over. What matters is that we walk in the right direction, toward God.

On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the beginning of the human community called the church. This journey started when Jesus’s apprentices, the disciples, were filled with the Holy Spirit and became the apostles who went out to preach.

Today, the journey continues with us and the places we will go. Despite the rewards, faith journeys aren’t always without challenges. One of the difficulties is the realization that the destination constantly seems out of reach. The more we learn about God, the more we realize the day we know it all is never going to happen in this life. In this moment, we need to understand that God is found in both the journey and destination. God has been there all along—we need to realize it.

Part of a faith journey is constant change and constant reformation. One of the first changes after Pentecost is described in the Acts of the Apostles when Peter stated, “God shows no partiality.” Peter realized God accepts people who were not of Jewish descent, God accepts the people who worship him, and God accepts the people who do what’s right.

Peter’s realization was big moment in the church’s metamorphosis. Pastor Mia reminds us that there have been more transformational moments since then and more are to come. Every wall we build to separate ourselves, God will bring down.