Welcome friends and family to our Family Retreat. Welcome for the first time to Pine Summit! Yes, it was a longer drive. Yes, the air is thinner and your heart is beating harder. Everything is different…but it is all still good, yes?! Big Bear Lake is just as much God’s country as any place. I pray we will hear from the Lord, experience His presence, and know that we belong to Him as His beloved. It is worth repeating: We are created in His image—male and female—to reflect His glory, created to be fruitful, multiply, rule, subdue and fill the earth with more of His beautiful image. 

“Godspace”: Psalm 24:1 (NASB95)1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. 

One of the marks of maturity and the beginning of success in life is when we each begin to “take ownership” of things. We love seeing young people take ownership of their studies. We rejoice when they take ownership of their health. We celebrate when take ownership of their faith—when Jesus is no longer just their parents’ God, but their own Savior. The same goes for our church. I praise the Lord when I see each of you take ownership of FCBC as your own church—when you see yourselves no longer as “attenders” but as “family members,” serving and building up each other with your gifts. 

But, as in any good thing, there is a danger of taking ownership which the devil would love to exploit: when we literally believe that we own everything. The Psalmist bluntly reminds us that we own nothing but God owns everything. It is all His. Ponder that, be convicted and humbled. Our homes, our time, our financial resources, our church campus, our very lives…they are all the Lord’s. How does that look in our everyday lives? Jesus gives one powerful example: 

Luke 14:12–14 (NASB95)12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 

Would you consider how this might look this weekend? As you slow down and get Sabbath rest, may the Lord use the time, space and gifts He’s entrusted to you to bless others in the name of Jesus. Pine Summit and Big Bear Lake is God’s country that already belong to Him. Now let us take ownership of this retreat so that the Owner of all things may bless us and bless others through us. Make these 30 hours a God-time and Pine Summit a God-space. 

Owned by God, Pastor Godfrey 

欢迎参加2025年家庭退修会！ 

欢迎亲朋好友参加我们的家庭退修会。欢迎大家第一次来到松峰！是的，车程更长了。空气更稀薄，心跳也更剧烈了。一切都变了……但一切依然美好！大熊湖和任何地方一样，都是上帝的国度。我祈祷我们能听到主的声音，体验他的同在，并知道我们属于他，是他所爱的人。值得重申的是：我们是照着他的形象造的——男人和女人——以彰显他的荣耀，生养众多，治理治理，并用他美丽的形象充满这地。 

“神的空间”: 诗篇 24:1地和其中所充满的，世界和住在其间的，都属耶和华。 

人生成熟的标志之一，也是成功的开端，就是我们每个人开始“承担责任”。我们乐见年轻人承担学业的责任。当他们承担健康的责任时，我们欢喜快乐。当他们承担信仰的责任时，我们欢欣雀跃——当耶稣不再只是他们父母的神，而是他们自己的救主时。我们的教会也是如此。当我看到你们每个人将坚信浸信教会视为自己的教会时，当你们不再视自己为“参加者”，而是“家庭成员”，用各自的恩赐彼此服侍、彼此造就时，我赞美主。 

但是，正如任何美好的事物一样，承担责任也存在着魔鬼乐于利用的危险：当我们真的相信自己拥有一切时。诗篇作者直言不讳地提醒我们，我们一无所有，但神拥有一切。一切都是祂的。要深思这一点，认罪悔改，谦卑下来。我们的家，我们的时间，我们的经济资源，我们的教会，我们的生命……它们都是主的。这在我们日常生活中是如何体现的呢？耶稣给出了一个有力的例子： 

路加福音 14:12-14 

12 耶稣又对那请他的人说：“你摆设午宴或晚宴，不要请你的朋友、弟兄、亲属，和富足的邻舍，恐怕他们也请你，这就是你的报答了。13 你摆设宴席，倒要请那贫穷的、残废的、瘸腿的、瞎眼的，14 你就有福了，因为他们无力报答你；到义人复活的时候，你要得着报答。” 

你会考虑这个周末会是什么样子吗？当你放慢脚步，享受安息日的安息时，愿主使用祂托付给你的时间、空间和恩赐，奉耶稣的名祝福他人。松峰和大熊湖是上帝的国度，早已属于祂。现在，让我们掌控这次退修会，让万物的主人祝福我们，并通过我们祝福他人。让这30个小时成为上帝的时间，让松峰成为上帝的空间。 

属于上帝，譚旭光牧師