GBC Community Update: A different way at looking at rest

Good morning! Quite the snowstorm, huh?  I’ve not seen this much in a long time. Just a reminder of how unpredictable life can be. I’m glad we have the stability of God in crazy times like this!
 
 
Oasis@Midweek Wednesday
Our popular mid-week kid’s ministry Oasis@Midweek starts tomorrow. We had a delayed start due to some Covid issues but we’re all good now.  We’ll have two in a row to kick the year off then go back to our regular schedule of the 2nd and last Wednesdays of the month in February.
 
 
Thought for the day: A different way of looking at rest
I’ve been looking at the idea of finding resolve in our lives the last couple of updates.  This one is not always evident in something that seems to be action oriented:
 Rest
New Year’s should be a time to rest. First, we rest in the reality of our identity in Jesus. We may have failed to meet our goals in 2021 due to Covid or some other reason but Jesus still loves us, despite our failures, unchecked boxes, and disappointment at the scale. The gospel tells us that he loves us in the midst of these.
It’s not the voice of your Savior, but the whisper of the enemy that says you have less worth because you blew your resolutions. A “more successful 2022” will not make Jesus love you any more. He’s the one, after all, who calls broken sinners and empowers them for his mission. Failed apostles, former persecutors, recovering Pharisees—his church is full of them. 
Second, we should plan to physically rest. We don’t often do this on New Year’s. We plan to work and hustle (I know I do!). But do we schedule time to reflect and acknowledge our need for sleep and leisure? This is a message for me first, and the rest of you second!  Rest isn’t a sign of laziness or weakness; it’s a sign of spiritual strength and confidence that when we close our eyes, our lives are in the grip of a sovereign God. To sleep is to say that we’re not God and that the world can go on without us. This is something I’m trying a lot harder to get better at!
So, as we make our plans, let’s remember that even in our failures, we serve the one who remembers our frame and knows we are dust at is says in Psalm 103. We make plans, but we hold them lightly. We entrust our future, not to our Apple Watch or Google Calendar or a reading list, but to the King who holds the world in his hands.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris