The Long Goodbye

For the  seventh time in our ministry we are saying goodbye to people we have grown to love to follow God to our next ministry.

God used Heritage Baptist Church to rescue my family in some very trying times. We were at a low point and God opened the door for us to minister to a loving and generous congregation. It started with me just filling in their absence of a pastor. Then I became an interim and eventually the pastor.  We met many wonderful people, dug into His word repeatedly and labored to reach out to Parker County in Weatherford, TX. Many memories were made. But now I must say goodbye.

I did not pursue the opportunity God put before us. God has called us to Spring Creek Baptist Church where I served when Brenda and I married 28 years ago as youth pastor. It is a long held dream come true to one day pastor that church. I prayed about it off and on over the years when I would hear they were without a pastor. I determined if they were interested in me they would contact me. They did and after months of praying this through Brenda and I are convinced this is God's will for our family.

This Sunday is our last one at Heritage. Where do I even begin. While, like most churches, we had to work through conflict resolution I can say we truly love those people. We have laughed with them. We have sweat with them. We have prayed with them and worshiped with them. They have loved, supported, and blessed us in so many ways.

Those people really love God's word. When I say that I mean they love all of it. From the prophets to the Gospels to the Epistles and Psalms they eagerly eat it up. It has been my joy to prayerfully share God's truth with them week after week. We have experienced the powerful moving of God on many occasions.

This Sunday will be my last Sunday before transitioning to Spring Creek. It is the long goodbye. Some tears have already fallen. Many hugs have been shared. My desire is to feed them God's word again as I wrap up a sermon series titled "Summer In The Psalms." 

I did not send my resume to Spring Creek. The former pastor did. After receiving over 100 resumes the committee finally felt that I was the man. While sad to leave people we love our hearts rejoice to get to go home. That is the best way I can describe Spring Creek. When we met the search committee there to interview and when I preached in view of a call we felt at home. We saw familiar faces of people we have loved for nearly three decades. We walked into a church facility where memories abounded.

Brenda and I will always treasure Heritage and how God used those people repeatedly to meet needs in our lives. We have been loved. We have also loved. It has been my joy to shepherd those people. Of course I love the teaching and preaching ministry but what has made Heritage so special has been the shepherding ministry visiting people in hospitals and in their times of grief. It was the serving alongside people painting, knocking on doors, cutting trees, packing snack outreach bags and sitting in homes praying together. Memories I treasure.

I don't like this aspect of ministry. The long goodbye is painful. One person asked me this past Sunday after services if I felt sure God called me to Spring Creek. I am certain. It does not mean that I do not love those I leave behind. Seven times we have left people we loved, prayed for, invested in and worked along side. Seven times I have packed up an office to transition to the next place. Leaving is hard. The pain and sorrow are real, not that everybody in those seven churches has not been glad to see me leave.

My hope on my last Sunday is to faithfully feed those precious people God's word one more time. It is how I started with them and how I want to finish with them. Heritage we love you. We thank God for you and how He used you in our lives. You will always be treasured in our hearts.