Refresh_Renew_Return

This week at our Celebration together, I unveiled our plans for a Sabbatical season that the Lord is leading us into beginning in January. For 10 weeks, Lisa, my family and I will be away from the ministry of the church, while pursuing the ministry of the Lord personally.

It will be, in a very real sense, a time to stop and get refreshed and renewed as we make plans to return revitalized. The last ten years have been so incredibly fruitful for us. Yes, we have seen the church and the Foursquare district we lead grow. But, even more, we have grown personally as God has used us in spite of our weaknesses. It was not an easy decision to come to- this Sabbatical. Only after weeks of prayer and discussion as well as sitting with mentors and co-laborers was I convinced to move ahead with this.

Since I’m given to guilt often- a sensing that I ought to be doing more as both a pastor and a district Supervisor, it was necessary for wise counsel of others to encourage me to rest and let the soil of my heart be quiet for a while. It’s hardest to stop doing what we love to do, isn’t it? Someone who loves working with numbers and figures, can’t pull themselves away from spreadsheets and equations and budgets. Someone who enjoys animals can groom them and walk them and nurture them for hours on end. And for me, one who loves the pastoral ministry because of the life change I see in people who have discovered hope through Jesus Christ, it’s hard to stop and even to say no. A Sabbatical will provide us with an opportunity to realize who we really are without connecting it to what we always do.

It was the Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel that said Sabbath is about realizing that “the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man.” The world, the church, my ministry…all of this has been created by God and it will survive without me for a season. A true observer of the Sabbath will not only rest from that work which is daily for them, but they will rest from the thought of the work. I have had a difficult time doing this, for even when I’m not preaching or meeting with people or planning or doing ministry of some type, I tend to be thinking of it. This is not stopping- this is not Sabbath. Sabbatical will be a good time to defrag and return to the Center.

I think that God knew that if Israel were to be true to the call and purpose He had for them, they needed more than weekly Sabbaths. They would need longer stretches of time to stop and rest, time to be with Him and delight in Him. For this reason God built into them an understanding of seasons of rest- of Sabbatical. So He commanded that all Israel give the land a “Sabbath of rest” one year in every seven (see Leviticus 25:1-7). This is very similar to what we believe God has confirmed we do personally. As we have been providing pastoral leadership in the church these ten years and with the district of Foursquare churches in more recent years, it has been a fulfilling yet demanding task. This will be a season where the soil will be replenished and rich fruit will come as we refresh, renew and return.

I am thankful for each one of you! I am blessed that we have such a wonderful cadre’ of leaders.

• For our church council who carry so much of the weight and responsibility of the practical and financial aspects of the church and for knowing how to give away resources and be a blessing to others.
• For the Elders who pray and seek the Lord and provide the kind of spiritual counsel that no pastor should be without.
• For my fellow pastoral and office staff who are such team players and who are so capable of doing ministry much better than me (and yet they still honor me as their leader).
• For my family. I am incredibly thankful for my wife Lisa and my three awesome children Caleb, Jorden and Gabby. They truly keep me balanced and remind me of what life is all about- not the hours we scrape out in our existence, but the people we love and who love us.

I am humbled by a God who loves me in spite of my shortcomings. Just like the day I began this journey with Him at the age of 13, now at 45, He’s just as Fatherly and intimate and pursuing as ever. So, it’s to Him that I give all the credit for everything I have and I am thankful that He uses me. The last ten here at GCC and NNE4, are especially amazing. But even so, I feel like we are only just beginning and now we are coming to a signpost in the road personally. It’s one that says rest a while, refresh-renew-return.

I pray that you join me. – Pastor Peter

 

 

 

 

“Blessed are those

whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on

pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5