I weekly look forward to the Lord’s Day–the Sabbath, the day God set aside for worship and rest. I don’t know about the rest thing, although God ordained it as a day of rest from His creative efforts. Today’s service at Covenant Church in Palm Bay was bittersweet: we had our final worship time in the building where our congregation has worshipped for many years. While we wait for our new worship center to be built on the south end of the property, we will once again be in temporary quarters. Today was a time to look back and look forward. A liminal time. We are between the old and the new, as is all of life, when we think of it…the already and the not yet of life’s journal on our way to heaven.
In the life of our congregation, it means a time of cooperation, a time of waiting, a time of lots of work in set up and take down each week, a time of limited outreach and accomplishment, and a time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. There will be little rest between sabbaths, and very little on the actual day of worship. We will be working on the sabbath–not quite what the commandment calls for. Fortunately, each member of the staff does take a day a week as sabbath. Not so much the rest of us who will help carry the load over the next nine months or so.
We will take our sabbath rest in spurts of Bible study, prayer time, small group meetings, and time of reflection on how God continues to bless us. We will look with favor on the revival movement sweeping our college campuses. We will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and we will continue to be amazed by God’s continued blessings. May My Psalm 305 bless your sabbath, whenever you may celebrate this time.
MY PSALM 305 SABBATH
With rejoicing we come, Dear Lord,
To Your Sabbath, a day set aside to worship
And to rest in Your Presence.
For at Your creation of the world
You accomplished magnificence and order,
And pronounced it good and rested on the seventh day.
We honor and bless Your Holy Name.
As Your people come together to worship,
Let us put aside all that would distract or detract,
Let us confess our sin, find Your cleansing power,
And know with assurance that You have made us
Righteous through the sacrifice of Your Son
Who redeemed creation from Satan’s snare.
Bless those who are persecuted for Your Name’s sake.
Bless those who serve You wherever they are,
Bringing Your message and love to the world,
To every tribe, every nation, every people, every tongue.
Make their sanctuaries places of praise and honor
Whether home, storefront, church, or cathedral,
Blessed places where two or many
Join to pray and worship Your Holy Name.
Where there is injustice, call Your church
To champion those who serve You mightily.
Where there is prejudice,
Cleanse tongues and attitudes that all may live in peace. Where there is tarnishing of Your message,
Guide through the Holy Spirit to set the record straight.
Where there is sin, convict
And bring repentance where there is no hope,
Let Your Son’s words and actions reign supreme. Amen.
About the Author
