January 2018
Amazing! When you consider the size of our church, Santa Clara First Baptist has been doing mega things and having a macro impact in our community - and beyond! It has been a great ride. Just last month, we had 17,450-plus people come to our "Bethlehem Live" event. In the midst of this successful ministry year, the word "Being" has been in my heart. In light of this, let me draw your attention to Resurgence, Rest and Renewal.
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Rest And Renewal
Rest is not my idea; it is God's idea.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” Genesis 2:2-3.
- God created rest for the cessation of continuous activity.
- God created rest to counterbalance unceasing work and labor.
- God created Sabbath rest to enforce rest.
The closest to rest is "being," the awareness and consciousness of self and the creation. Cessation of continuous activities prevents us from engaging in activities and fulfilling responsibilities in order to please people and meet their expectations, rather than having a conscious connection, and natural relationship with God.
Let Resting With God Define Your Relationship With Him
We know in theory that resting with God brings us closer to Him. We know God more when we spend time with Him. We hear His direction when we spend time with God. Being with God and spending time with God are better for us. BUT, in practice, we are inclined to define our relationship with God in terms of "doing." That is, we have the tendency to base our relationship on the amount of work we do for God. But excessive activities do not bring us closer to God. They take us away from God, from family, from friends, and from other people.
Rest Is God's Idea
The Creator of your life designed rest for you. He enforced rest and said it was good. We may be inclined to work and have a great urge to be busy. Let us yield to God's desire for us to rest as a church. God created rest not only for human beings, but even for the ground and the fields.
God said to His people "Let the land rest and lie fallow." "Let alone sir for this year" "Neither sow your field nor your vineyard." God created rest, so we can be renewed and experience resurgence.
Rest comes from God so we might Glorify His name. Start the year giving glory to God for all things He has done for you.