Mountain Rest. That’s actually where Janet and I are going next week on vacation – Chattooga Lake in Mountain Rest, SC (see picture above). It’s located in Oconee County, the northwestern most corner of the state where South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina all meet. We leave this Sunday after church and will be gone a little over a week. Our daughter and her husband are even going to be joining us for a few days. There will be no cell phone coverage and no internet – and we can’t wait! This is actually the first vacation, where we’ve gotten out of town, away from Coastal, in over a year and a half. Now some of that has been because of COVID and the shutdown and Coastal Kidz set-up and the new construction. But it’s definitely been way too long and way overdue. We don’t have a lot of plans other than resting, relaxing, and just having fun. Janet’s bringing her sewing machine, so I’m sure she’ll be in undistracted sewing heaven. We’ll take a few day trips to Highlands NC, various waterfalls, and the Holy City (Clemson). I’ll be fishing, canoeing, and grilling. Again, we can’t wait!
I tell you all of that, to ask you this question: how are you doing at obeying the Sabbath Principle? God’s word, the Bible, is filled with principles for life. It is the owner’s manual for life. You obey it, your life gets blessed. If you ignore it, you do it to your own detriment. When God puts a command in the Bible, He doesn’t do it capriciously. He doesn’t do it because He wants to make your life miserable or limit your fun. God puts a principle in the Bible because He knows what’s best for you. It’ll save you a lot of heartaches and a lot of problems. When you follow the owner’s manual, then life is a whole lot easier and a lot less stressful.
Of all the commands in the Bible, the most famous are God’s Big Ten – the Ten Commandments. One of God’s Ten Commandments is about rest. Exodus 20:9-10, “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.” Rest in your life as a human being is so important, God put it in the Big Ten, right up there with “Don’t steal”, “Don’t murder”, “Don’t commit adultery”. He says every seven days you take a day off. That’s how important He considers rest.
Many of you would say, “I’d never murder anybody; I’d never commit adultery,” but we violate the spirit of the fourth commandment all the time. God says it’s just as important. Six days you’re to work. Every week you take one day off to recharge. That’s the Sabbath principle. Sabbath simply means a day of rest. Sunday is not a Sabbath for me. Sundays are workdays for me. So I have to take my Sabbath some other day. You may too. For most of you, Saturday or Sunday is going to be your day off, your day of rest. Now, what are you supposed to do on your Sabbath? What we usually do is play catch up on all the work we didn’t get done. That’s not taking a day off. You should use your day off, your weekly Sabbath, for three things:
1. Restyour body. You’re not wired to go 24-7, every day, work, work, work, with no break. Your brain, your body is not built for that. You’re wired to rest your body. Have you discovered that if you don’t take time off, your body will make time off? It will shut down.
2. Rechargeyour emotions. You can’t keep charging without recharging. Eventually, you’re going to drain the battery. You need to know what recharges your emotions. And that’s different for different people. For some people, solitude recharges their emotions. When was the last time you were just by yourself without the computer or TV on? For many people just being with people you love is recharging. Different recreational activities can be rejuvenating for different people – a long walk on the beach, being outdoors, a good book, sewing, painting, fishing, hunting – as crazy as this sounds to me, some people are actually recharged by doing yard work.
3. Refocusyour spirit. There’s a word for that in the Bible. It’s called “worship” – refocusing my spirit on God. It’s reconnecting with God. You need that. One of the benefits of worship is it helps give you a bigger perspective on life. You can have a problem and it starts to overwhelm you. Your life becomes smaller and smaller, and it starts caving in. Then you worship and think about how big God is, and all of a sudden the problem isn’t as big anymore. Nothing else in life can give you that kind of perspective like worship.
So, how about you? How are you doing at obeying the Sabbath Principle. Did you know that God wants you to enjoy your rest? Psalm 127:2, “It is useless to rise up early and go to bed late and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know that God enjoys giving rest to those He loves?” Mountain Rest. Moses had to go to a mountain to be reminded just how important it is to rest – I guess I do too.
LIFE & LOVE!
Pastor Chris
Here are this week’s “Friday 5”:
- Attention all Young Adults (college to 30ish)! We’ll be gathering at Frankies Fun Park on Saturday, July 17th at 6pm. Spread the word – invite and bring a friend! Email Pastor Scott scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org with any questions. Also, text @yacoastal to 81010 to receive text updates about this event and other young adult events and opportunities.
- UPCOMING OUTREACH PROJECTS:
PINK House – The PINK House is a community center in the Ardmore subdivision in West Ashley. We are going to be putting on a community Tailgate Party and Clothing Distribution, (TOMORROW) Saturday, July 10th, 10am-1pm.
Soldier’s Angels – We’ll be helping with the Veteran’s Mobile Food Distribution, Tuesday, July 13th, 8am-1pm.
Tricounty Family Ministries – We will be assisting with their Emergency Grocery Distribution, Wednesday, July 21st, 9am-1pm.
If you are interested in serving in any of these projects, you can sign up on your Connect Card this Sunday or sign up now on our website. If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Chris Jones at 843-870-4613. - Our “Summer Reading” series starts Sunday, July 25th. “Summer Reading” is another favorite Summer tradition here at Coastal where we pick a group of books for you to read over the Summer and then the subject matter of each of those books becomes the sermon topic for that particular Sunday. There will be a very small number of the books available for purchase (at a discounted price – $10 each) at the church. Here are all the books and their links. Happy Reading!
Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze
U-Turns by Tony Evans
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel
Uncommon Ground by Timothy Keller
Gentle and Lowly by Dane C. Ortlund
The Praying Life by Paul Miller - Our Annual BEACH BAPTISM out at Folly Beach County Park has been RESCHEDULED to Sunday, August 8th, at 5pm. You can sign up for it on our website. The only requirement for Baptism is that you have personally given your life to Jesus. Baptism is a public profession of your faith. At Coastal we call it “going public,” and it’s a great celebration! It beautifully illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. If you’re unable to participate in our Beach Baptism, remember at Coastal we’re ready for you to get Baptized any service, any Sunday. If you are interested in getting Baptized, simply respond to this email or sign up on our website.
- What are your Next Steps at Coastal? If you’re fairly new to Coastal, a great next step is our Newcomers Reception. Our next Newcomers Reception is Sunday, July 25th, in the Welcome Center immediately following the 11:15am service (at approximately 12:30pm). This is a great way to learn more about Coastal, meet staff and key volunteers, as well as meet some other new people. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday.
Another next step is officially making Coastal your church family by becoming a Member. Our next Membership Class is Monday night, August 9th, 6-8:30pm. You can respond to this email, sign up on our website, or sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday. You can join us either in-person or online through Zoom. - If you haven’t already seen it, make sure you check out our WAVES Student Ministry (6th-12th Grade) Summer Calendar. They have a ton of events, activities, and service projects all summer! Tonight, 8-10pm, they are having a Movie Night (seeing “Black Widow”) at Citadel Mall Theater. This coming week the Middle School Students will be going to Summit Park on Wednesday, July 14th, 10am-12noon. Go to our website, their Instagram page, or reach out to Ryan Spell for all the details. Oh and by the way, all the events are FREE!! Bring your Student and invite a friend!
P.S. I know it seems like a long way off, but we are in the process of thinking through and planning out our Fall Semester of LIFE Groups. If you are interested in possibly leading, assisting, or hosting a LIFE Group (in person or online), please sign up on your Connect Card on Sunday or respond to this email. If you have any questions you can also reach out to Pastor Scott Huff at scotth@coastalcommunitychurch.org.
