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Published: 03 January 2025

With the end of a busy summer comes the beginning of a new church year. With every new church year there is excitement and expectations for our churches to prosper and our pastors to lead their churches to make a difference in the communities they serve. I have been praying that we would not only enter this new church year with excitement and expectation but also with a sense of urgency.

On paper everything looks fine and we have enough freedom to feel comfortable. We have our homes and jobs and we can teach and preach what we want (at least for now). We can share Jesus with others, and I feel fairly comfortable that my kids are safe. So, what is so urgent?

Our nation is more divided than ever. The culture is changing at an unbelievable rate. Everyone is a Christian. There are no absolutes and Christian doesn’t mean the same in the world that it means in the church. Church experts are finding that a great number of people want nothing to do with faith and they question the church. The church is seen as a part of the problem and not the solution. John Mark Comer writes in his book entitled ‘Live No Lies’ that a shocking twist has taken place in that the church goer is no longer the nice middle-class citizen but people from another lifetime. There is a shift from widespread tolerance to rising hostility. The Christian today is not just thought of as weird but as dangerous. It is urgent that we reach this lost world for Christ’s sake.

We are present in this world to proclaim Jesus as Lord to a world that doesn’t know Him. For this task we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is present and moving in the hearts of all mankind. God doesn’t want us to become weary nor tired, but wants us to share the rest of the story to this lost world. The Bible tells us this is true. The disciples went fishing and they toiled all night. They caught nothing. I don’t know about you, but even though I have never fished all night, I have fished plenty of times when I didn’t catch any fish. The disciples were fishing and these professional fishermen didn’t catch a thing. They were in their boats when a voice from the shore asked them how the fishing was going and asked, “Have you caught any fish?” Their answer was, “We have fished all night and we have caught nothing.” Remember the rest of the story? Imagine how tired and frustrated the disciples must have been when Jesus said to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. After some persuasion, the disciples did cast their nets on the other side of the boat and there is the rest of the story. I believe they remembered when Jesus first came to them and said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus is still asking for disciples who will follow Him and He will in turn make us fishers of men. The world may be against us and we feel like we have toiled all night with nothing to show for it, but let us realize there is a “Rest of the Story.” I am excited for another church year and I am expecting God to give us many stories and many “Rest of the Stories.”

May the Lord bless you as we build the Kingdom of God together and fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples.

HAPPY FISHING!