Fresh Start 2011

I enjoy playing golf. I’m not very good at it, mind you, but I enjoy it.  Since I usually only play two or three times a year, my first outing of the season can be ugly.  Really ugly.  The thing that makes it a little easier for me is the golfer’s little gift known as the “mulligan”.

When I tee the ball up and then hit a real dud, I claim a mulligan.  A mulligan just means I get to try again; the previous swing doesn’t count against me.  Receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness is like getting a cosmic mulligan on steroids.  Not only do I get a do over, but my score card gets wiped clean!  That’s what God’s forgiveness and mercy are like.

The Bible says that God’s mercies are new every morning.  Wow, we have the potential for a fresh start every day!  How would you like a new beginning? Or how about breaking a pattern or cycle that continues to wreak havoc in your life? Fresh starts don’t begin with a change of circumstances – a new job, new location, or new relationship – they begin with a change of heart.

We learn on TV how to make over homes, wardrobes, bodies and even faces. Seems we all want a “New Me” at some level. A tuck here, a pinch there, a little less, a little more. Something within us insists “I can do better,” “I can do more,” “I can be a different me.” We try to reinvent ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually.

But trying harder to be better, do more, or live differently doesn’t always create the Fresh Start we hope is possible. Is there really a spiritual plan that can help each of us discover or rediscover a Fresh Start?

This January we begin a journey with God that’s uncluttered from the cycle of “try harder” and the guilt of failure. God offers us each a Fresh Start.  In fact, he offers many of them.  Though there are consequences to our actions, we can still find the grace to experience real change in our lives now that will result in real hope for the future.

It’s a new year, and at Lake Hills Community Church we invite you to join us as we talk about how to make the rest of our lives, the best of our lives.

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