Behold, a New Thing!

Alisha Ungs • Pastor of Discipleship
June 1, 2026

4 Minute Read
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NRSVue)

Dear Siblings in Christ, 

Earlier this year, I attended a continuing education event. The final presenter, Dr. Kris Stache, made the point that we very often find ourselves stuck in the past, grieving what was instead of looking towards the future of all that could be. She shared an excellent quote: 

“What God is up to is not stuck in the past, but in a future we have yet to imagine – a future where God is already waiting for us. It is the Spirit that connects our past into a new future through the present. The past shouldn’t be forgotten, but what we build the present and future upon. God has been present, is present, and continues to be present into our future in this place.”

This beautiful idea led me to wonder what God might be up to here, and how we at Advent might continue to listen to God’s calling into a future that we do not yet imagine, but which God has already planned for us. Dr. Stache also shared a great analogy of how churches (and people in general) so often get stuck in the past and in nostalgia; it went something like this: imagine that you had a big apple tree in your backyard which had the most amazing and delicious apples. For many years, you baked award-winning apple pies for your neighborhood. But one day, for some reason or another, the apple tree dies. In its place, a banana tree is planted. And once that banana tree grows up, you decide to try and make an apple pie like before, with your new fruit. And of course, it ends up not working. Why? Because bananas are not apples and nothing you do can change that. But what you can do, is learn to adapt to the new reality around you, and make some delicious banana cream pies. It doesn’t replace the memories of the apple pies; instead, it creates something new and delicious that could not have been made, nor perhaps even imagined, before. 

In the same way, there are places in church and in our lives that we are continually trying our best to bake apple pies from bananas; the church and the world around us have changed, and what used to work might not work anymore. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t create something amazing by adapting and changing to the new reality. 

And let me be clear: that doesn’t take away from the beauty and the memories of all that came before. As Dr. Stache said, the past shouldn’t be forgotten. But if we keep dwelling on the lost apples, we get in the way of our own journey into the future God is calling us towards. As 2 Corinthians says, “look, new things have come into being!”  

I shared in my May article that I have now officially been serving here for three years. And in that time, there has been a lot of change at Advent. But that is not a bad thing. It is the tool that helps us because we are faced with a choice: we can continue to lament all the ways things are different, or we can remember it with grateful hearts while still looking at all that is yet to come. It is up to us to let go of the old which has passed away, and look for the ways that new things are coming into being. Together we continue Walking in Grace towards what God has planned for our future. The future where God is already waiting for us, if only we learn how best to use the “fruit” we are given in the here and now. 


Peace and Blessings, 

PA

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From this Author: Alisha Ungs
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Alisha Ungs

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June 1, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
Behold, a New Thing!
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Alisha Ungs

Pastor of Discipleship

April 1, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
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Alisha Ungs

Pastor of Discipleship

March 1, 2026 • 2 Minute Read
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Alisha Ungs

Pastor of Discipleship