This past weekend was one of those weekends when I found myself wanting to stop for a minute and simply take it all in.
Across Good Shepherd, hundreds of people put their faith into action during our All Church Serve Weekend. We packed kits for families in Venezuela. We built 80 beds for kids right here in the Northland who otherwise may not have a bed of their own. We served our unhoused neighbors through A Turning Point KC’s community meals.
And that was just part of the weekend.
On Sunday, we celebrated baptisms, people who recommitted to their baptisms and heard stories of people taking big steps in their faith. If you weren’t able to be there, or just want to relive it, you can see the full Baptism Gallery here. New people gathered at Next Steps to learn more about Good Shepherd and begin finding their place. Then Sunday night, more than 50 middle and high school students showed up for the kickoff of gsYouth.
There was a lot happening.
And my instinct after a weekend like that is usually to immediately start thinking about what’s next. What needs to happen this week? What needs to get better? What are we planning for this fall?
Maybe you know that feeling.
There is always another project, another deadline, another practice, another meeting, another thing that needs to get done. Which is part of why Labor Day arrives at a pretty good time.
At its best, rest gives us more than a break from work. It gives us enough space to notice. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly invites people to stop. Sabbath wasn’t simply about recovering enough energy to become productive again. It was a reminder that our lives are more than what we accomplish. It was a reminder that sometimes we need to stop long enough to recognize what God has already done.
So before we rush into everything coming this fall, I want to celebrate all that God is doing around and in us. I’m grateful for every volunteer who gave part of their weekend to serve someone else. For every student who walked through the doors Sunday night. For every person who was baptized and publicly said, “I want to follow Jesus.” And for every person who is still pretty new to Good Shepherd and is taking the risk of showing up and seeing whether this might become their church home.
God is doing something among us. And it is worth noticing. Maybe that is an invitation for all of us this Labor Day weekend. Before moving on to everything that needs to happen next, take a little time to look back. Where have you seen goodness lately? What are you grateful for? Where has God been working but you almost it missed because you were already focused on the next thing?
And then there’s one more question worth asking: Is all the work I’m doing actually building the life I want to live?
That question leads us directly into our new series beginning next weekend: Living the Dream.
We spend a lot of our lives chasing the things we think will finally make life feel complete—the right job, the right house, the right relationships, enough money, enough success, enough stability. And sometimes we get there and discover it isn’t quite what we imagined.
For four weeks, we’re going to walk through the story of Joseph—a man with dreams for his life went very differently than he expected. Along the way, we’ll explore what it means to discover a life bigger than the one we planned for ourselves.
I’m excited about where we’re headed. But before we get there, I’m grateful for where we’ve just been. Take some time this weekend to rest. And while you’re resting, take a look around. There might be more worth celebrating than you realized.
Peace,
Matt
