CREATED ANEW:

       The God of Mulligans

My father-in-law, Don Lovejoy, taught me how to play golf.  In the 90s, Dad Lovejoy was the Pastor of the Chauncey/Benevolence Charge outside of Eastman, Georgia.  And on Fridays, we would meet at the Brickyard for a round of golf and de-briefing.  In those days (and today too), I was a terrible golfer, just learning and Dad was beyond patient.  He allowed me to tell off 2 or 3 times per hole, always saying: “Take a mulligan and try again.”  And I did!  I love do overs!

The New Year offers us the same opportunity, a chance for a do-over.  So, people make New Year’s Resolutions, a list of hopes and dreams, goals and plans for the coming year.  Some are negative (a list of things I will not do) and some are very positive (a list of things I will do).  The funny thing about these plans is: usually they are the same as last year’s!  In life, we take mulligans!!  Aren’t you glad God allows do-overs?  The Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth: “Behold, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation.  The old has passed away and look, everything has become new.”

2020 wasn’t the best of times for most of us!  We started out with great hope and dreams.  We had goals and ambitious plans for the year ahead and then … COVID-19 swept the world.  And our humble community in Southwest Georgia was hit hard.  In the early days of the spread of the virus we were hit hard … by sickness … by death … by fear!!  And we shut down!  All those plans, goals and ambitious dreams came to a screeching halt!  But we’re starting over.  The beginning of 2021 may look very much like most of 2020, but there’s a new day acomin’ and we can start over!

We will begin the new year with a sermon series called Created Anew.  In it, we will celebrate our new life in Christ, but also begin to look beyond Covid-19 and its restrictions and shutdowns.  Church Family: I’m inviting you to celebrate who we are in Christ and anticipate that God wants us to be even better.  So, “take a mulligan and try again.”  Let’s give all that we are and all that we have for the glory of God.  Let’s return to church life as we have known it, but even better.  Let’s worship, but even better!  Let’s study, but even better!  Let’s fellowship, but even better!  Come on, friends, take a mulligan and try again!

Pastor Tucker