Dear Friends,
I have been praying together with the Coast staff about the theme of this year's retreat. From the time we began praying together, these words from Isaiah 30:15 (NIV) have been stuck in my head,
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength."
It has been a year of focusing outward at Coast as we talked about the 5 Thresholds of Faith at last year's retreat and then experimented with Alpha. I'm very excited that those who were involved in Alpha want to run it again and invite more friends in the fall. I'm also excited about some conversations I've been having with Doug Schaupp (He's the guy we saw in the 5 Thresholds videos.), Josh Williams (He's Vineyard USA's associate national director for evangelism and justice.), and various Coast members about new ideas for reaching out to our neighbors in the months ahead. At the same time, I'm aware that a number of us are feeling tired and overcommitted and are in need of rest and restoration. With this in mind, as tempting as it is, I don't want to use this year's retreat to talk about what we might do together in the fall. Instead, it seems that the most pressing thing is to heed the call to rest. And, I am coming to believe that rest might be what will most prepare and strengthen us for whatever God has in store for us next.
I want to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to register for the retreat. It is my hope that this retreat will be a time of rest and refreshing, a time for laying down our agendas and quietly putting our trust in God. We will be focusing less on teaching and discussion than usual and more on simply spending time relaxing in God's presence. The registration link can be found below. Do let me know if finances will prevent you or your family from coming so we can work something out.
Another scripture that has been in my mind as I've prayed about the retreat is Psalm 23:1-2 (NIV)
"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul."
May the Lord give you rest and refresh your soul now and always.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
