“GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN”
Dec. 30. 2007 Sunday AM
Southside Assembly of God
Introduction:
I love play Golf. I’m going to take my truck to south Houston soon and get some new seats put in, as part of my purchase deal, and a friend of mine told me he would come and get me and we would go play 18 holes of Golf.
My mom called me the other day and told me something Rick Warren had said on TV that she thought was funny! She told me Rick Warren said, “GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN!” It is funny! To a non Golfer is sounds silly and stupid and funny but to a “Golfer” it is a “lifesaver in a tough game!”
Now I know that there are few Golfers in this crowd this morning. Bro. Rob golfs and I, well I wouldn’t call it golfing but I do like to get out and swing my sticks at a little ball once in a while.
While I served as Assistant District Youth Director we used to put together Golf Tournaments. One of the things we did was to incorporate in the game a “MULLIGAN” on the front nine and one on the back nine.
One year we got the idea to add to the Tournament a few extra “MULLIGANS” except we didn’t call them “MULLIGANS” we called them a “HOOLIGAN” a "DO-AGAIN" "ONE MORE TIME AGAIN" & a “GILLIGAN!” So everybody was happy to be able to have a few of them.
For those of you who don’t know what a “MULLIGAN” or a “HOOLIGAN” or even a “GILLIGAN” is, it is very simple. It is a “DO-OVER!” You get a “DO-OVER” in the game of golf once in a while.
Rich Warren said, “GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN!” That is in essence what we do every year at this time when we make New Year’s Resolutions. Every year I talk about New Year Resolutions that we all make and you know as well as I do that we hardly ever keep them! We start out well and with good intentions but we don’t follow through the New Year Resolutions and they fall by the wayside.
The same thing happens with God! “GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN OR A DO-OVER!” A chance for Change! That’s what a Resolution is! It is a Resolution for Change! But without follow through it doesn’t happen!
One of the most important things about Golf is the “FOLLOW THROUGH!” I have with me up here my set of clubs. They are a motley looking set but they serve me well when I play, which is seldom because of time restraints! But one of my resolutions this year is to PLAY SOME GOLF!
The “FOLLOW THROUGH” in Golf is critical! When I take this club and swing it, if I only swing half way, or even 2/3’s the way, my game suffers because I didn’t follow through and then I have to take a “MULLIGAN, HOOLIGAN or a GILLIGAN!” I GET A “DO-OVER!”
Rich Warren said, “GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN!” God even says that in His Holy Scripture as well! Read with in me in...
Isaiah 43:19 (one of my favorite passages as well)
“Behold I do a new thing!”
As we enter 2008 God’s desire is to do a “NEW THING” in our hearts, in our spirits, in our families and in our Church! We start revival next week! I felt the God leading me in this direction! It’s like a NEW START for a NEW YEAR! We need a NEW START as we START A NEW YEAR!
FOLK, GOD WANTS TO DO SOMETHING “WONDERFUL & MIRACULOUS” TO US AND THROUGH US! WE START THIS NEW YEAR ON A NOTE OF REVIVAL! BUT THERE IS A COST ON OUR PART!
WHENEVER YOU TAKE A MULLIGAN IN A TOURNAMENT THERE IS A COST! WE CHARGED $10 FOR A “MULLIGAN”, $15 FOR A “HOOLIGAN” AND $20 FOR A “GILLIGAN!” THERE IS ALWAYS A “COST” FOR NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH! (SWING THE CLUB!)
A NEW START AT SOUTHSIDE ASSEMBLY WILL COST YOU! IT WILL COST YOU “PRAYER” IT WILL COST YOU “COMMITMENT” IT WILL COST YOU “DEDICATION” BUT THE QUESTION IS HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME! THE MORE YOU PLAY GOLF THE BETTER YOU GET! BUT IT COSTS!
I. PRAYER!
“PRAYER” is the game plan! “PRAYER” IS YOUR FOLLOW THROUGH! Without “PRAYER” your “GOD’S MULLIGAN” will be ineffective in your life and in your church!
Luke 21:36
“...PRAY always that you may be accounted worthy...”
Why do you suppose Luke’s Gospel speak of “PRAYER” in the manner it does? BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT “PRAYER” IS THE ONE OF THE KEYS TO OUR SUCCESS IN CHRIST, IN OUR LIVES, IN THE WORLD AND IN THE CHURCH!
FOLK, WITHOUT “PRAYER” YOU’RE “INEFFECTIVE” AS A WARRIOR! You may be in the army but you are not “FRONT LINE MATERIAL!” “FRONT LINE MATERIAL” IS IMPORTANT FOR THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF ANY ARMY’S CAMPAIGN & WE ARE AN ARMY!
“PRAYER” SHOULD BE YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY WHEN IT COMES TO A RESOLUTION! IT IS YOUR “GOD’S MULLIGAN!”
II. COMMITMENT!
“COMMITMENT” IS THE PLAYING OF THE GAME! The word “COMMIT” or forms of the word are found #170 times in the King James version of God’s Word!
I Peter 4:19 tells us;
“So then those who suffer according to the will
of God, should COMMIT themselves to their
faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
Folk, a NEW YEAR without “COMMITMENT” will not work! Again, YOU ARE “INEFFECTIVE” AS A WARRIOR! WE HAVE TO GET PAST THIS IDEA OF CHURCH AS A PLACE OF LAZY DO NOTHING TYPE OF CHRISTIANITY! SOME MUCH OF THE TIME WE ARE BUSY AT BUSY-NESS LOSING THE “COMMITMENT” OF WHAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO!
HE HAS CALLED US TO WIN SOULS, KEEP THE FAITH, BE WARRIORS, BE COMMITTED TO HIM, TO PRAYER TO HIS WILL, TO HIS BRIDE!
AS WE COMMIT THIS NEW YEAR UNTO HIM WE WILL REALIZE HIS PROMISE FROM OUR TEXT
Isaiah 43:19
“Behold I do a new thing!”
IT IS HIS DESIRE TO DO A NEW THING IN YOUR LIFE AND IN THIS CHURCH BUT IT COSTS! JUST LIKE A “MULLIGAN” IT IS A “DO-OVER” BUT IT HAS A COST, JUST LIKE EVERYTHING! THAT COST IS FOUND IN “PRAYER & COMMITMENT!”
III. DEDICATION!
When we get married we “DEDICATE” ourselves to one another! That what Marriage is! It is holding out yourself to another! Give of yourself to another! Keeping yourself unto another! In other words: “DEDICATING” yourself to them! The same thing when we have children! I told Kaci’s parents, “It’s all different now! It’s all about her not yourselves!”
In Chronicles 2:4 Solomon builds the Temple and he says...
“Behold, I build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to “DEDICATE” it to him, and burn before Him sweet incense, and
for the continual shewbred, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel”
The indication is “DEDICATION!” Solomon “DEDICATED” the temple to the Lord. He said to “...to burn before Him sweet incense...” FOLK, ARE WE NOT A TEMPLE UNTO THE LORD? SHOULD NOT WE ALSO “DEDICATE” OUR TEMPLES TO THE LORD OUR GOD?
If you are going to a be “GOOD GOLFER” you have to be somewhat “DEDICATED” to the Game as well! If you want to be a “MEDIOCRE” golfer that is a whole lot easier! And if you want to be a GOLFER like me then that’s EVEN "MORE" EASIER!
EVERY GOLFER WANTS TO PLAY LIKE TIGER WOODS! BUT FEW, VERY FEW WANT TO “PAY THE COST” TO BE THAT TYPE OF GOLFER! HE HAS BEEN “PERFECTING HIS GAME” HIS WHOLE LIFE! AND HE STILL MAKES MISTAKES BUT HE IS “DEDICATED” TO THE GAME, HE IS “DEDICATED” TO MAKE HIMSELF BETTER!
WE HAVE TO BE “DEDICATED” TO MAKE OUR LIVES BETTER, TO “PERFECTING OUR GAME” IF YOU WILL, TO MAKE OUR GAME BETTER, TO MAKE OUR CHURCH BETTER! THAT IS "OUR" OR "YOUR" COST!
Your “NEW RESOLUTIONS” have to be grounded and based on these three principles for the New Year or THEY WILL NEVER WORK! THEY WILL MEAN NOTHING, LIKE MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD MAKES AND NEVER FOLLOWS THROUGH!
FOLK, IT IS HE, HIM, WHO DESIRES TO DO A NEW THING IN YOU!
“BEHOLD, I DO A NEW THING...”
THIS WHOLE REVIVAL WE START NEXT WEEK IS HIS DESIRE TO GIVE YOU A “MULLIGAN!” A “DO-OVER!” A “NEW START” FOR A NEW YEAR!
FOLK, THIS NEW YEAR WE HAVE TO “REALIGN OUR FOCUS!” OUR FOCUS HAS TO BE ON WHAT “GOD WANTS” FOR OUR LIVES AND THIS CHURCH AND HOW TO GET WHAT HE WANTS! THAT IS OUR COST! HE IS TRYING TO “DO A NEW THING IN YOU,” HE IS TRYING TO “GIVE YOU A MULLIGAN!”
BUT THERE IS A COST! “YOUR COST” MAKES IT IMPORTANT TO AND FOR YOU! “YOUR COST” MAKES IT YOURS! “YOUR COST” MAKES IT PRICELESS! YOUR COST IS ...“PRAYER, COMMITMENT, & DEDICATION!”
CONCLUSION::
Revelation 21:5
“And He that sat upon the throne said,
‘Behold, I make all things new...”
