The Ballestero Blog

The Cracker Barrel New Year’s Sermon

Near the Savannah, Georgia exit 102 on I-95, sits a Cracker Barrel next to our motel. The chalk-written New Year’s message is plain for all to see. It says:

“Cheers to New Beginnings and Old Traditions”

May this New Year be a time for all of us to start afresh. Regardless of past failures or yesterday’s disappointments.

We need to leave our paradigm of failure-thinking and begin again. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve had to begin again. What you have been through was neither your final chapter nor your epitaph.

Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:

It’s not abnormal for good people to make mistakes and have to start over or begin again. Even Paul said he died daily. He started over every day.

 New Beginnings:

 Has your Bible reading been almost nonexistent lately?

Begin again.

How about your prayer life? Been busy? Hard to get to pre-service prayer for some reason or another?

Begin again.

Got out of the habit of responding during the worship service?

Begin again.

Has there been an absence of you saying amen to the preaching lately?

Begin again.

You haven’t taught a Home Bible Study in a long time?

Begin again.

How long since you made it to midweek service?

Begin again.

How about your tithes? If you’ve quit giving tithes and offerings…

Begin again.

Have you resigned or quit participating in your church?

Begin again.

Have you stopped kissing your spouse good morning, good night, and good-bye?

Begin again.

Been awhile since you said, “I love you” to your spouse?

Begin again.

Been awhile since you said I love you to your parents?

Begin again.

Been awhile since you said, “I am proud of you,” and “I love you,” to your children?

 Begin again.

Have you stopped saying, “I love you” to your in-laws?

Begin again.

Begin again In God. Recover yourself.

2 Tim. 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

2 Tim. 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

 

Traditions

Traditions make homes and churches special. When our large family gets together, there are always certain meals everyone can count on.  You just know that there will be gumbo one day and enchiladas and tacos on another. And the morning we all have to leave, there’s s special breakfast restaurant we go to. It’s our custom. It’s just how it is in our family.

Churches have customs and traditions too. It’s a huge disappointment to go back to your ‘home’ church and find out how different it is or that they have changed.

Hold fast to the old Apostolic Pentecostal Traditions.

When backsliders and those who have had to move away, come back to visit… Let them that see your church is still holding on to the old-time ways!

And, as Cracker Barrel would say if it was preaching this sermon,

“Cheers to New Beginnings and Old Traditions!”