Year of Jubilee!

Jubilee! Last Sunday we learned about God’s gracious plan for restoring his people to the life and legacy he intended. Every 50 years was the Year of Jubilee. Land was allowed to lie fallow and heal itself, slaves were set free, property was restored to its original owners and debts were cancelled. Every 50 years was a chance to press “re-set” and start afresh. Just imagine the sense of hope and future that Jubilee offered to the poor, young, old and those in bondage. Jubilee!

2013 is Chapel Hill’s Year of Jubilee. 50 years ago, on November 17, we were established as a church. And for 50 years, God has been at work through this congregation reaching out into the community, sharing the love of Christ, bringing hope and healing…and a future… to those whom life has beaten down. Just yesterday I had the chance to meet with a local school administrator. As I described the various ministries of healing, counseling, financial assistance and restoration that we offer, he was amazed and left as an advocate for our partnership with the Peninsula School District. Isn’t that great?

The centerpiece of our commitment to Jubilee in the lives of real human beings is our Renewal and Recovery program. This Sunday we will commemorate the ten year anniversary of Celebrate Recovery, the largest such program in the state and the means by which God has transformed the lives of hundreds of people, both in and outside of our church. It is worth celebrating and I know you will leave touched and blessed by what we share together.

By the way, if you missed last Sunday, you might be interested in the news clips that announced the launch of Chapel Hill 50 years ago. You may read it here.

Jubilee! What a wonderful word.

Pastor Mark

By the way, Kevin Williams, Lance Brown and I are just returning from a conference on bringing Christ to the Islamic world which was offered by our friends at Ravi Zacharias Ministries. I’m sure you’ll hear more about it in the weeks to come.