Word of the Week: Thanksgiving
I’m very, very thankful. Sunday, January 27th was as wonderful a last Sunday at Grace as I could have ever imagined. Every possible kind and gracious thing was said and done for our family. The blessings were very obvious to our whole family. In addition to my daughters and son-in-law, my nephew and his family joined us to celebrate. It’s hard to single out just one moment, but the officers and deacon assistants praying for me was unforgettable.
All praise and glory go to God our Father in heaven. He has been so kind to me to grant me this privilege of serving Grace Community Church. The presence of so many current and former members helped me remember God’s grace to us in so many specific moments through the years. Like every great story that our Father writes, there have been moments of incredible highs, and equally dramatic low spots. Some of the low spots I wish I could go back and redo with the wisdom of experience. We aren’t granted those opportunities. The lessons learned have been passed on to others and will be a central piece of my next calling. Through the highs and lows, the hero of the story is Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the Church. Where he has used Caron and I well, the Spirit of Jesus has been triumphant. There are plenty of stories that weren’t told Sunday that would have proven the existence of many frailties and weaknesses in my life. Those serve to show the work of the Holy Spirit in that God has done great things through a very weak and needy servant.
I leave with high hopes for Grace Community Church. You must know that Caron and I will pray for you often, both as a church and individually. We are thankful that you will still see us fairly often as well. We are asking God to do great things among you - even greater things than before! We will pray in faith and expectation of God’s gracious work among our beloved friends in the future.
You can hear my sermon and my parting thoughts here. It is the sermon titled, “Great Things Ahead.”
The Known and Loved devotional is available here.
I’m packing up and finishing up a few tasks this week. One of those is to write a love letter to the next pastor of Grace to leave for him. So, I’ll finish up with these words:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 2:2)