“By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.”Genesis 2:2
“You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…” Exodus 20:9-10a
“Sow your land for six years and gather its produce. But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated…” Exodus 23:10-11a
None of these verses (above) are directly about what I am saying (below), and yet all of them are related to it in principle.
The elders of Good News Church realized that there is a balance of work and rest that is modeled in Scripture and is helpful for all kinds of endeavors. They decided (this was years ago now) that the pastors of Good News Church would take a sabbatical once every seven years.
We are soon approaching my fourteenth anniversary at Good News Church (I’m thrilled to have lasted this long!) and therefore sabbatical time is just around the corner. The plan is for me to be absent from Good News Church during this upcoming summer and to return just before the 2025-2026 school year.
The title of this article refers to this as an “announcement” and it may very well be that for some of you. However, it’s more like a reminder, in the sense that we already announced all of this about six months ago.
As noted in the original announcement, we chose to mention this in advance so that it is as obvious as possible that this time away is not in reaction to any kind of crisis, but just part of the way we do things around here.
Another thing that was also announced previously, is that our associate pastor, Doug Davison, will be stepping in and taking on extra preaching and leading while I am away. And to make that task less burdensome for him, we have brought Daniel Gilland on staff as an associate pastor for the summer (and perhaps longer if the situation warrants it.)
This is the last newsletter that we will be sending out before I go so I suppose I ought to mention a few important things at this time:
Good News Church has a great staff, elder board, pastors, and group leaders; You are in good hands.
Also don’t forget that Jesus is the Head of the church and you are His body. Eternally, you are in good hands (in the hands of your Savior; see John 10:28) and as far as practical Christian living goes, you all are the hands (see 1 Corinthians 12:21) and the other body parts, and you are there for one another.
The elders of Good News Church realized that there is a balance of work and rest that is modeled in Scripture and is helpful for all kinds of endeavors. They decided (this was years ago now) that the pastors of Good News Church would take a sabbatical once every seven years.
We are soon approaching my fourteenth anniversary at Good News Church (I’m thrilled to have lasted this long!) and therefore sabbatical time is just around the corner. The plan is for me to be absent from Good News Church during this upcoming summer and to return just before the 2025-2026 school year.
The title of this article refers to this as an “announcement” and it may very well be that for some of you. However, it’s more like a reminder, in the sense that we already announced all of this about six months ago.
As noted in the original announcement, we chose to mention this in advance so that it is as obvious as possible that this time away is not in reaction to any kind of crisis, but just part of the way we do things around here.
Another thing that was also announced previously, is that our associate pastor, Doug Davison, will be stepping in and taking on extra preaching and leading while I am away. And to make that task less burdensome for him, we have brought Daniel Gilland on staff as an associate pastor for the summer (and perhaps longer if the situation warrants it.)
This is the last newsletter that we will be sending out before I go so I suppose I ought to mention a few important things at this time:
Good News Church has a great staff, elder board, pastors, and group leaders; You are in good hands.
Also don’t forget that Jesus is the Head of the church and you are His body. Eternally, you are in good hands (in the hands of your Savior; see John 10:28) and as far as practical Christian living goes, you all are the hands (see 1 Corinthians 12:21) and the other body parts, and you are there for one another.
