Dear GFC Community,

I was struck recently by Psalm 116:7, “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” There’s a connection in our lives between recognizing God’s goodness and experiencing rest on a deep, soul level.

Fascinating!

This isn’t how most of us think about the road to rest (or path to peace, to use even more alliteration). We tend to visualize rest as the result of subtraction (taking unnecessary stressors and activities away from our lives). This, though, is rest as the result of reflection….. Consciously recalling and contemplating God’s goodness to me, personally.

According to this Psalm, we can find rest anywhere, even in the midst of a fast-paced, hectic, Christmas vacation (crazy, I know!). How? By remembering God’s goodness and following that thread all the way into a posture of peace and patient trust.

Grace Fellowship Church, the Lord has been so good to us. Not just over the past year, but over the past 44 years! Time and time again, He has provided and proven Himself faithful. He has transformed men, women, and families in this faith community and used us to make a difference in the lives of people in our community and around the world.

Join with me in pausing to reflect on some of the ways God has been at work this past year by viewing this brief, year-end report. God is always up to so much more than we can see or know, but even in this glimpse, may our hearts rejoice and say, “the Lord is good and His love endures forever!” And may we find our rest in Him.

Matt Murphy
Lead Pastor

P.S. We also talked about what the Lord has done over the past year on our most recent podcast episode. Listen here!