3rd in a row

This Sunday was the 3rd Sunday in a row I’ve not attended my home Church at The Salvation Army in Croydon…which at this time of year is something of a record.

On each of the last 3 Sundays I’ve been in a different place:

Sunday # 1:

This was a planned weekend off. Although we had initially planned to travel somewhere away from home for that Sunday, we ended up staying at the house and chillin’. The beauty of it all, was that our next door neighbor(u)rs came ‘round on the off chance, so we were able (unusually for a Sunday morning) invite them in for a coffee and a chat around the kitchen table for about an hour….and it was just bliss. We were so glad to not be rushing around, and have the time available just to be with our good friends.

Sunday # 2:

See this post

Sunday # 3:
Noah had been unwell, so I stayed behind to look after him, while Janet went to Church with Mia.

Hooking myself up with a coupla cups of strong coffee, I managed to catch an episode of Faithworks’ Intelligent Church DVD and a NOOMA vid, in preparation for our Home Group, which I bounced over to after Jan returned home, and we swapped baby-sitting duties. As ever, the Home Group was a really relaxed, encouraging time, when we could eat, pray, study Scripture, and consider how we can apply it to our day-to-day lives.

Increasing, I’m becoming aware of the value of really observing the Shabbat or Sabbath.

It’s quite a time since I posted here, on the subject, but the quote from Southern California Church, Rockharbor’s site bears repeating:

Sabbath is a weekly day of rest in which we cease from our weekly tasks and pressures in order to rest and be refilled. In fact, the term Sabbath comes from the Hebrew term shabbat, which means “to cease or rest.” Exodus 20:11 states “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” God felt so strongly about the need for a weekly day of rest that He called all of Israel to observe a Sabbath rest once a week.

On the Sabbath, we’re called not only to cease from working, but also to empty ourselves of our need to accomplish, produce, and worry about our lives for one day so that we can be refreshed and refilled. It’s a day for us to stop working towards becoming and simply focus on being. One great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us – not by becoming passive and lazy, but by giving up our feeble attempts to control our own lives and simply resting in His provision.