Year Of Sabbath-Rest
From Our Pastor | Wesley Tidings December 2020
+ By Rev Stanley Chua, Pastor-in-Charge
One of the most frequent reactions that I receive from first-time visitors to our church is their surprise as well as admiration when they look through Wesley Weekly and read of the various events and activities that are happening in our church on any given week. It is also not uncommon for me to hear from fellow Wesleyans that our church is a beehive of activities that is constantly abuzz with events, and programmes. On the latter comment, while I sense that many Wesleyans take pride in our church for being such an active and ‘happening’ community, at the same time, I am also hearing, particularly from our leaders and active volunteers in our various church ministries, that many are feeling drained and tired because of the constant and many activities and programmes in our church.
I remember that at my first Local Church Executive Committee (LCEC) planning retreat in 2017, I asked our leaders this question — when was the last time that anyone could remember that our church had ever taken a year of Sabbath-Rest? Of course, none could remember. And we have leaders in our midst who have been with the church for more than 50 years.
The response was indeed a revelation to me as well as an irony. An irony because as Christians, we have been taught and know the importance of building a weekly rhythm of having a weekly Sabbath-Rest, and yet, as a church, we have been toiling for the last 50 years without practising the Sabbath-Rest. No wonder so many of us are feeling tired and drained in ministry!
It was during that retreat that I mooted the idea of having a year of Sabbath-Rest for our church. After waiting on the Lord in prayer, our leadership was eventually led by the Holy Spirit and unanimously decided that once we complete our directions 2020, we will designate the year 2021 as a year of Sabbath-Rest before we launch any other plans and directions beyond 2021.
What does this mean? And why do we need rest? Well, basically for the following two reasons:
1. To cease from constant activity and ministry
We need time to worship the one who made us. And so, the Israelites were not just given permission to take a day off — they were commanded to do so by God when God gave them the Ten Commandments. One day in seven when they were to refrain from economic activity, so that they could rest and worship God.
In applying this Sabbath-Rest principle to our church context, it will not be possible for us to cease from all activities in our church for an entire year, as we have essential ministry and work that need to carry on. However, what we are encouraging for our Sabbath-Rest 2021 is to cease from constant labour and activities. Here are two broad guidelines that our church leadership have worked out to achieve our goal of ceasing from constant labour and activities, namely:
- All essential and regular ministry and activities of the Church will still be carried out as usual.
- Meanwhile, there will be no new initiatives, major events, or church-wide programmes for the year 2021.
2. To Rest, Reflect and Renew
With the above-mentioned guidelines in place, we believe we should be able to reduce the number of activities and events in our church so that it will allow all of us to rest from constant ministry and labour. The rest that we are envisaging is not, doing nothing. Rather the purpose of rest is to allow us as a church to spend the year 2021 to reflect on two fronts.
First, on a personal level, we wish to encourage all Wesleyans to reflect on their personal life, namely:
- How are you doing in your relationship with God?
- How are you doing in your family relationships?
- Are there any areas that God wants you to change or work on in terms of the above two questions?
- What is God speaking to you about your future in terms of your work as well as your involvement in His kingdom work?
Second, at the church level, we wish to encourage Wesleyans to reflect on their ministry that they are involved in, particularly for the various church ministry committees. The purpose is to spend time reflecting, reviewing, and evaluating our church ministries with the following questions:
- Are there areas in our ministry that God is calling us to change or review?
- Are there new areas in our ministry that God is calling us to explore or initiate?
- In the light of the post-Covid-19 situation, is God directing us to new ways of doing ministry?
From the pulpit, our pastors will continue to guide all Wesleyans as we enter this year of Sabbath- Rest with sermons that will teach us specifically what this Sabbath-Rest would mean for us. We will also explore and teach five spiritual disciplines to enable all Wesleyans to use these spiritual disciplines to enter into our Sabbath-Rest, to worship and reflect before the Lord.
Finally, we hope to preach through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes to reflect on our life, work, ministry, and our relationship with God.
We invite all Wesleyans to join us and enter this year of Sabbath- Rest with us and prayerfully, as we rest and reflect, we will be renewed for worship and service in preparation for directions 2025.
Praise be to God!
