My Last Sunday

Last Sunday I preached for the last time at First Church. You can listen to the sermon here. It was a wonderful day. At the beginning of the service, the Lead Pastor, Kevin LaGree, invited my family to the front of the church and said the church had a surprise for us. At that moment five people in the congregation stood up and came forward. It was such a cool moment. They brought prayer shawls to each member of my family and placed them around our shoulders. The prayer shawls are an important ministry of First Church. Each shawl is beautifully knitted and crocheted and blessed and given to a person in need of the congregation’s prayers. They symbolism was clear: We are going on to a new place of ministry covered with the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Des Moines.

Following worship the Staff-Parish Relations Committee hosted a farewell reception for my family. It was a great experience to have so many people greet us lovingly, and to see friends who surprised us by showing up. And not only that – there was cake too!

I thank God for the two years we have had with so many wonderful people at First Church. The people have been kind and gracious and generous to me. I have enjoyed getting to know them, hearing their stories, sharing in their lives, working and worshiping together.

The people of First Church have also shown such love and kindness to my family. I have heard more than once that my wife and our three girls will be missed more than me – I can certainly understand that! They are so beautiful!

It has been my privilege to work with a very fine staff, especially Kathy and Adele in the office, Duane, our building manager, and Tin-Shi, directing the music. They are gifted people who work hard and bear much fruit.

I am also grateful for the time I have had in ministry with our Lead Pastor, Kevin LaGree. I cannot adequately express how much I like and respect Kevin. He is a wonderful pastor and preacher. I have learned so much from Kevin and I know I will be a better pastor and preacher in the future because of the time I have had at First Church. I have enjoyed the conversations we have shared, talking about theology and the practice of ministry. Kevin is such a good thinker. But even more importantly, he is a man of prayer.

At the end of the worship service this last Sunday, I blessed the people as God’s people are to be blessed: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Comments

  1. Mike DemastusJune 4, 2008 at 10:53 PM

    Looks like it was an awesome service, bro! I'm praying for your continuing adventure with Jesus!

    ReplyDelete

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