New And Improved (May)

4 - 31 May

Open the Resource Pack PDF for all the information on the weekly subthemes and the daily prompts and Bible readings which shape our Daily Worship and live streams.  Each month we have a Connect Bible study PDF that accompanies the theme.

New and improved?

‘New and Improved’ is an ever-present slogan, a promise continually made to us from supermarket shelves, high street windows, and the banner ads we scroll past on our phones. 

‘This thing is like the old thing but better!’ 

It’s a potent combination. A recognisable brand gets a new lease of life and we get to satisfy two deep (and often conflicting) human longings — for familiarity and novelty. On the one hand we want what we know, and on the other hand we want to discover new things — to see what we could be missing out on.

While many things steadily improve over time, often of course these ‘New and improved’ slogans let us down. Perhaps the new thing isn’t especially new or improved, or it is new but is far from improved and in fact the new version is worse. And yet we keep coming back — so deep is the pull for what we know and what we don’t know, the promise of the best of both worlds.

‘Can I just have what I already know… but also have it be loads better?’

And Jesus look at us with love and says, “Yes.”

Because with Jesus, the loving Word at the heart of the universe, we can find — embedded in the old — the seeds of the new. God’s Kingdom is new and improved — it is ever expanding, growing, blossoming, flourishing. 

Those familiar stirrings and longings in our heart — for security, belonging, fulfilment, purpose — find new expression in God’s kingdom. The ‘New and improved’ promise of Christ is not a quick fix, or a sticker slapped over the same old thing. Rather it is Jesus coming alongside us and promising to lead us step by step into a new, richer, deeper life — in all its vivid tapestry of emotion. Jesus does not promise us an easy life but he does promise us love.

And this is not a bolt from the blue — Jesus finds us where we are and takes us from the old into the new. Jesus gives us what we all long for — being cherished. It’s what we already know… but it’s loads better.

Weekly overview:

• Old leaves, new leaves

• Old weariness, new wings

• Old ways, new ways

• Old endings, new starts

Each week of this theme runs Sunday-Saturday and has its own subtheme, which contains daily Bible readings and prompts for thought (see the Resource Pack PDF for more information). Check out our Connect Bible Study Questions PDF that accompanies this month's theme. 

Explore this themes Connect Groups