Coming Home!

I'm so excited to be back in the office later this week and preaching this coming Sunday!  In some ways it seems like we just left and in others, it feels like we've been gone for a very long time.

We can't wait to see everyone and to be worshiping with our own church family.  I've compared it to being on vacation.  It's fun and exciting to be away but we usually can't wait to be back in our own home, sleeping in our own bed, and getting back into the routines that we are used to.  Sabbatical is both refreshing as well as a bit disorienting.

Wendy has said it feels like we're church shopping every week, yet we're not looking for a new church (Praise the Lord for that!).  It's been a blessing to have the privilege of worshiping with other churches but with each passing week, we have longed more and more to be back with our own church family.  There's truly no place like home.

I've preached the last two weekends at HRC but it has been at two different weddings, not at Sunday Worship, so it will be amazing to preach and be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Yesterday was our last church visit as we worshiped at Covenant PCA in Holland.

We have been so grateful for this Sabbatical but look forward to finally seeing everyone this Sunday!

Our Growing Family

 Sorry it's been a while since I posted but it's been a really busy few weeks.  Another Wedding is in the books!  Micah and Abby were married on Friday and it was an amazing day and a great privilege to officiate at their ceremony.  We even had the rehearsal dinner at the farm where my mom grew up! (Woodloft Barn in Burnips).  We are looking forward to how God will use Micah and Abby to accomplish His purposes in the future.  And what a blessing to have both of our married children choose to attend HRC. I keep thinking I'm way too young to have two married children until I look in the mirror.  

And all of a sudden, we'll be back next Sunday and I'll be preaching at HRC.  I can't wait for us to be back with our own church family.

On June 8, we attended my parent's church (Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland) where they showed a professionally developed video summarizing the 40 years of missionary work they did among the Tzotzil indigenous people of Chiapas.  It's a highlight for a church to send a family into the mission field and celebrate with them over 40 years later.  

We've now attended 4 different church plants during my sabbatical.  This past Sunday we visited a good friend's church plant in Kalamazoo and then spent the day with them.  They do an excellent job of welcoming those on the fringes and intentionally serving the underprivileged within their own community.

This weekend I will officiate at another wedding at church and then it's sermon prep time for my first Sunday back on June 29.  We are so excited to no longer feel like we are church shopping each week.  For those who have done that, I now understand the feeling of displacement and inconsistency.

It's also been a rich experience to daily read through "Piercing Heaven" which is a book of Puritan  prayers and also devotionally work my way through the Psalms.

Home Projects and Family

The last few weeks has been marked by some studying, some premarital counseling, family wedding preparations and a lot of work on home improvement projects both at our home and Micah and Abby's new home.  It's hard to believe the wedding is only 11 days away!

Also, we finally decided to tear out our deck and start over since it was becoming a bit of a hazard.  We also spend time working on Micah and Abby's new house (with a serious case of poison ivy mixed in!)

I've also spent time developing a list of podcasts for people who have idle time during the day or have hours of "windshield time".  It started as a project aimed toward the men of the church but has developed into a broader list of resources, sermons and podcasts for men, family, and parenting.

We so miss our church family, yet it has been refreshing to worship with different congregations in the area, including two PCA church plants.

I will say I could get used to sharing a cup of coffee with my wife in the mornings, doing devotions together, going to church with her and actually sitting with her during the whole church service!  What a blessing... husbands, don't take that for granted!

Reconnecting with Wendy, Friends, and Former Church

I'm realizing I front-loaded the first half of sabbatical with a LOT of travel so we are quite ready to be home a little more.  Indiana, Alabama, Ohio and most recently Illinois with a couple days in between each trip makes us thankful to be sleeping in our own beds a little more consistently.

Our two most recent trips were Hocking Hills, Ohio and West Chicago Illinois.

Just Wendy and I were able to travel to Hocking Hills State Park in OH without kids for a few days last week.  We got a cute little Airbnb in the woods and did a lot of hiking.  It's absolutely beautiful and I definitely recommend it if you like hiking and being in God's creation.  What a blessing to have a few days for just me and Wendy to reconnect.

Psalm 95:1–4

[1] Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

[2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

[3] For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

[4] In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

Last Sunday we worshiped at Trinity PCA here in town and celebrated Mother's Day with our whole family.  Then this past long weekend, we returned to West Chicago, IL which is where we did ministry and called home from 2005 to 2017.  We stayed with some close friends, had the god-timed privilege of attending a funeral of the wife of a long-time friend and were blessed to worship with our former small church of about 100 faithful saints. (Faith Community Church, PCA).

"And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." Colossians 1:18

A Week With Family

It's hard to believe one of our kids is married, one is engaged and our other two could be out of the house in 2 years which means empty nesting!  How did this happen so quickly?  I know it's a sign of old age when you start talking about how time flies but I want to be a person that says "Remember when..." much more often than saying, "I wish we would have..."

After a day of reading/study and an opportunity to meet a Pastor/friend for coffee last week, we packed up and drove to Gulf Shores for a week with "the littles" as we've referred to our younger boys. None of us had ever been to Alabama but thanks to one of my cousins, we were able to stay at their condo on the water at Orange Beach Alabama for a week.  We had beautiful weather and were able to enjoy some fun activities together. (Including a visit to see the Blue Angels practice!)

On Sunday we went to a "different" church which does contextual gospel ministry by meeting as a church in a famous bar called the "Flora-Bama" under a tent right on the beach. The bar graciously allows the church to meet there for free on Sundays.  Though it was different, I was able to speak with the pastor who loves the Lord and clearly preached the gospel that morning. They even have a Bible Study on Revelation beginning this week :)  (Normally, they have 300-500 in attendance but on Easter Sunday they had 6,000 people at two services... And HRC thought they had a challenge going to two services!). It's such a gift being able to see the variety of ways the Body of Christ gathers for worship in different places and in different contexts.

We returned home last night and plan to celebrate 4 family birthdays tonight with all 8 of us and hope to catch up on some much needed yard work!

"The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.  For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers."  Psalm 24:1-2

The Small "c" catholic Church

Sabbatical kicked off this past week with a wonderful conference in Indianapolis called "The Gospel Coalition."  We were led in worship by the Gettys, Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, Laura Story and others.  It's a moving experience to have over 7,000 people lifting their voices in praise!  A number of speakers expositionally walked us through the book of Ephesians.  And when there's a bookstore the size of a football field, it's tempting to spend a lot of money on books.

Over the weekend, we spent some time helping out the new homeowners in our family by working on their house, and a few Sterk guys were able to join my Dad for a meal at their place in Holland.

Then this morning we had the opportunity to worship at Christ Church PCA in Grand Rapids reminding us of the gift of the larger church, like we say in the apostle's Creed- "I believe in the holy catholic Church" referring to the universal church.  And in God's providence, there was even a new member transferring into the church from HRC! (They thought I was there just for them :)

I guess it's a good thing that we already miss our church family as we try to find a healthy balance of stepping away from full-time pastoral ministry for a season without isolating ourselves from the body of Christ. (honestly it's kind of a weird dynamic to balance since I am a relational extravert!)  I'm sure I'll have more to report on that in coming weeks.  

This coming week, we will be driving to Gulf Shores for a week of vacation, reading, relaxing and going away with just two of our kids.

I need to resist systematically categorizing every little thing I do during sabbatical into the four different areas of focus I'm targeting, but I will continue to be intentional in the following four areas:

REST- physically

RENEW- spiritually

RECONNECT- relationally

REFOCUS- theologically

SABBATICAL - You're Leaving Us?!?

 PASTOR SHANE’S SABBATICAL

Sabbatical comes from the Biblical concept of Sabbath.  God has woven the need for Sabbath into the fabric of creation.  We benefit from sleep every night, a day of rest every week and hopefully some vacation time every year.  In the Hebrew culture recognized the 7^th day as the sabbath (a day of worship and rest), the 7^th year (as the year of release), and the 50^thyear (known as the year of Jubilee - 7x7).  In Exodus, there were 39 categories of forbidden tasks for the Sabbath day. Likewise, I could come up with 39 tasks in ministry that would be healthy for me to separate myself from for a season, not because I don’t love ministry and my church family, but rather precisely because I absolutely love the church and want to continue to serve with energy and passion for many years to come.

Sabbatical, for a pastor, is a set time away from the church (in this case, nine weeks - April 22-June 25 approved by Session) And just for the record, while I know it’s healthy, I’m honestly not really looking forward to it.  I’m a homebody who would prefer to be with my church family.  So why Sabbatical?  I am describing my time away as having a fourfold purpose:

REST, RENEW, RECONNECT, And REFOCUS.

REST:  (PHYSICALLY) I think if I’m honest with myself, I’m a bit weary and could use some time away.  Some of you may feel the same way and therefore hopefully rejoice with me in this opportunity.  Mental, emotional and physical rest does not come naturally for most of us and is often overlooked.  I’ve told people that as a pastor, I’m always busy but usually flexible.  This is a blessing but also a challenge in that the work of ministry is never complete.
RENEW:  (SPIRITUALLY) When you “renew” a membership to something, your desire is to continue what is already there.  Likewise, I am praying for renewal as a Godly and faithful pastor, husband, father and friend by devoting more time to reading and studying.  Renewal comes in many forms but I am praying for “renewal” as a result of “stepping away from the game.”  I think there’s a reason why you don’t see very many player-coaches in sports.  It’s difficult to be in the game while having an accurate perspective of what’s going on.  As John Piper said, “I need a good reality check from the Holy Spirit.” In other words, Renewal!
 
RECONNECT:  (RELATIONALLY) We’ve seen the call in scripture to cast off some things before we put on other things… or you may sometimes find the need to disconnect your TV, phone or computer in order to get a better WIFI connection.  Similarly, in ministry, it is healthy to purposefully unplug from daily ministry in order to reconnect with what’s really important.  Therefore, (as much as possible), I’m disconnecting from:  Our, e-mails, phone calls, visitation, counseling, office hours, Community Groups, Ministry Teams, Session, and even worship at HRC.  It feels a little like pulling duct tape off my arm but I realize as I do this for 9 short weeks, I can reconnect in an intentional way with the Lord, my wife and family.  I will also be able to explore the diversity of the body of Christ as I WILL worship with different churches each week. 

REFOCUS:  (ACADEMICLY/THEOLOGICALLY) Have you ever tried to take a picture out your side window on the highway?  It can be a big blur which can be true in pastoral ministry as well.  As our church continues to grow and navigate the narrow road of ministry at breakneck speed, things can get a little blurry and I often feel like I’m just hanging on for the ride.  So I’m purposefully “pulling over”  to refocus and gain better clarity as to how God is leading me, my family and his church.