LIVING IN A LEFTOVER WORLD IN 2017

Sitting in a doctor’s office recently I was looking through an old magazine and came across an interesting cartoon. A husband and wife were depicted in a car dealer’s showroom where a year-end sale is in progress. The husband looks grumpy and tired, and he is seated directly beneath a sign that seems to label him. The sign says: “Leftover Model.”

That cartoon says something about us as we approach our tasks in 2017. We are a group of leftovers; who we are and what harassed us last year will continue. We have the same dreams, hopes, problems and responsibilities.

We live in a leftover world bristling with leftover problems. They will not let us go. They are still there—everything from terrorism and starvation in the Third World to mounting poverty and homelessness in our own cities, drug abuse and the ever growing heroin epidemic. There is fear and frustration. There is a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness in the lives of so many. So it was in 2016, and so it will be in 2017, unless we change our perspective.

We witness through a leftover church. Today the winds of change are increasing. Some people resist the visible church so we must take care that our message is relevant to the world in which we live. We must remain faithful to our Lord and obey our unique mandate to preach and teach and baptize throughout the world in his name.

The mission of our church in 2017 remains the same: “To be a Christ-Centered Community Sharing God’s Love with the World.” We must reaffirm the fact that God is at work in the world and in the church. It is our task to call people to join in this mission of reconciliation. To be sure, we do witness through a leftover church—leftover by the grace of God and sustained by the power of Christ, and the spirit of his fellowship.

We may criticize the church, and many people do, but it still remains the most authentic and effective instrument for communicating the Gospel of Christ. The Church was God’s idea! Let us, therefore, strengthen that witness. Won’t you recommit your life to the fulfillment of the mission we share at Grace Baptist? John said, “One man was there who had been ill for 38 years,” yet Jesus sent this leftover soul back into the world rejoicing. He will do as much for us.

Join the gathered church each Sunday morning as we worship and as we study God’s Word together. Be a part of that vast, scattered church serving Christ in the world. And let us grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord. We will look for you on Sunday mornings. Come this Sunday for sure, and then share what you have found with others.

Blessings,

Pastor George Hawthorne