GBC Community Update: A different way to look at rest

Good morning.  After a couple of days of sun we seem to be back to dreary weather.  It really is interesting how weather can reflect life.  So the question then becomes- how do I navigate this reality.  Just as the sun is there above the clouds, the SON is there within the clouds of our lives.  Look for him!
 
 
Saturday Night Supper Update
Here’s a report from last weekend’s Saturday Night Supper from our coordinator Carroll Chapman:
“It was a very cold night and numbers were a little down from normal, but we were privileged to serve 87 people a meal of chili, caesar salad, dinner rolls, oranges and butter tarts. 3 GBC people stayed to serve alongside Royal City Mission's regular volunteers. A very big thank you to the 15 GBC volunteers who purchased and prepped food, or who donated funds to support this vital ministry partnership.”
Thanks all who were part of this and thanks Carroll for leading this practical, outreach ministry.
 
 
Join us for our next pot luck and evening communion service
On Sunday January 29 we will be having another evening meal and communion service. It’ll be a potluck format beginning at 6:00pm with communion to follow at 7:00. There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer so we know how many are coming.
The theme for this service will be 2 Corinthians 5:21 - For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
May we come together and remember the Lord.
 
 
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 heady goals in 2022 for a variety of reasons 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 2023” 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? 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