By Miles Layton

Sunday was a rainy, gray day, so I stayed in, but I caught this sermon on social media — inspiring uplifiting advice from Pastor Jerry Langley at Zion Grove Church of Christ.

COLUMBIA — On Sunday morning, the sanctuary of Zion Grove Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, echoed with amens, hallelujahs and a message of transformation as Pastor and Elder Dr. Jerry Langley stood before the congregation with a declaration he said came straight from the Lord.

“Yes, this new thing is something you have never seen before, nor have you ever experienced,” Langley proclaimed. “Things are going to begin to change. You are going to come out of darkness into the marvelous light, and it’s gonna be the Lord’s doing, and all who– all you have to do is receive.”

From the outset, Langley’s message centered on change — not incremental adjustment, but a divine shift.

“I’m not sure who this word is for this morning, but the Lord told me to tell you that your story is going to change,” he said. “And all you need to do is abide in Him and watch Him be God in your life.”

Throughout the sermon, Langley returned to the theme of trust. “You gotta always stay there, no matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like, no matter how much pressure, God has the final say,” he said. “And when God gets ready, God’s gonna change the story, and He is gonna bring you through.”

Drawing on biblical imagery, Langley referenced seasons of hardship. “Some of you have had an Egypt experience or even a captivity experience, but the Lord wants you to forget that and look to the future, where He’s going to take care of you.”

Langley posed a series of questions to the congregation: “Do you trust God? Do you believe in God, and do you know that God is going to change your story?” The method, he said, is not for believers to determine. “It’s not necessary for us to know how God is gonna do it. We just simply know that God gonna do it.”

Langley emphasized God’s provision. “Because He is Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider, and God will supply all of our needs according to His riches and glory,” he said. “We have to understand that His time is not our time.”

He asked, “Has God ever failed you? Has God ever come up short? Isn’t our God an on-time God? Yes, He is. When everybody thinks it’s over with for you, He steps right in on time.”

Langley reminded the church of God’s consistency. “He’s the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. If He did it before, I want you to understand this morning that God is going to do it again.”

No circumstance, he said, is beyond God’s reach. “I don’t care how messed up your finances might be right now. I don’t care if there’s pain and sickness in your body. I don’t care if you feel like you’re about to lose your mind. There is a name that’s above every other name. All you gotta do is call on the name of Jesus, and He’ll do just what needs to be done.”

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Langley described a message delivered during exile. “The prophet Isaiah was speaking to the Israelites during a time of exile and hardship and delivers a message from God, encouraging His people to let go of the past and look forward to new things, to the new things that the Lord is about to do,” he said. “The message is not just for the ancient Israelite, but it also resonates with us today, reminding us of God’s faithfulness, as well as His continuous work in our lives.”

He urged listeners to release the past. “Forget the former things and start looking forward for greater things,” Langley said. “God declared, ‘See, I’m doing a new thing.’ This proclamation signifies His active involvement in bringing about a fresh start, a fresh reality, and a path of transformation for His people.”

Yet the new thing, he warned, may not look like what believers expect. “You want God to bring you out, and you already figured out how He’s gonna bring you out,” he said. “But the news I have for you is, your finite mind cannot comprehend the mind of God. Yes, God is gonna bring you out, but He’s gonna bring you out the way that you need to be brought out.”

True transformation, he said, is spiritual. “When He brings us out, He brings us completely out. We don’t have to worry about dealing with that again, unless you decide to go back from whence He brought you from.”

Langley cautioned against returning to old habits. “In order to receive the new thing, you got to get out of your comfort zone. You got to get out of that same old stuff that you’re always used to doing, and you’ve got to step out on faith. The only way He can do a new thing in your life is you’ve got to have the faith to receive it. It’s not going to just happen. You have got to believe Him.”

He challenged the congregation’s contentment. “Can you be content with the blessings of the Lord?” he asked. “You know, many times we’ll say this thing, ‘Lord, any way you bless me, I’ll be satisfied.’ Do you really mean that? And if you really mean that, then you will accept whatever God allows.”

The path to blessing, he said, often runs through difficulty. “Sometimes before He blesses your life, you got to deal with some stuff. We don’t like the through stuff. We like the other side stuff, but the only way you can get to the other side, you got to go through.”

“Don’t fight the process,” Langley urged. “Just know that you know that you know He is going to bless you. He’s gonna change your story. He’s gonna bring you out, and the blessing is on the other side of through.”

The “new thing,” he said, may require bold obedience. “This new thing God is doing may involve stepping into uncharted territories, embracing new opportunities, and trusting in His guidance. Yes, God’s gonna ask you to go in some areas you’ve never been in your life. He’s gonna ask you to do things that you’ve never, ever considered doing in your life.”

The proper response? “If you trust God, only thing that you’re gonna say, ‘Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, I don’t understand it, but yes, Lord, I’m gonna do it simply because You told me to do it.’”

Langley described a trust that does not demand proof. “God, You don’t need to give me evidence that everything is gonna be all right, because I belong to You and I trust You. You are the center of my life. If You tell me to go, I’m just going to go because I realize that everything is gonna be all right.”

He called God “the God of more than enough,” adding, “He’s more than anything you need in your life. We just need to trust Him.”

In a vivid metaphor, Langley compared spiritual renewal to technological updates. “Just like the world is constantly changing, the technology of this world is constantly changing, it’s constantly updating and innovating. So let us adapt and evolve toward betterment. We will not go back and grab a computer from nineteen seventy-five for we know it is not gonna do us any good. Do not get entangled with the previous version, but instead, update to a new and improved version of yourself.”

Near the close, he urged surrender. “Put it in His hands. Put it all in His hands. I don’t care if you were jacked up when you got up this morning. Put it in His hands. You are the one that can change my story.”

Langley concluded with a promise. “Stop dwelling on the past. Stop even looking at yesterday, last night, or this morning. Look forward. If you keep your eyes focused on that prize and tune your ears, keep your ears to the mouth of God, and stop listening to the naysayers, I guarantee you everything is going to be all right.”

Langley left the congregation with one final assurance: “If you heard the Word, and you received the Word, and you believe the Word, the new thing on the way.”

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