Farewell

by Paul Thomas

This is my last Sunday with you all this summer and I am going to miss you very much! You have become another family to me (1 Timothy 5:1-2). To be treated as a member of this family is a major sign of a growing church. You are all to be commended for this attitude.

To prevent myself from becoming choked-up and also to save time in the pulpit, I’ll list my thanks here:

First, I want to thank Jerry Hall for staying in contact with me while I was at school and awaiting your decision for the summer internship. I want to thank Richard and Glenda for allowing me to be a part of their home and tolerating me coming home late at night for most of the summer. I especially want to thank Larry and Raymond for all of their time and training to help me become a better preacher. I want to thank all of you who have had me in your homes for dinner, taken me out to eat, or made me desserts. Despite all of your great efforts to help make a “preacher” out of me (i.e., gain weight), my genetics have been able to stand the test and keep me thin. Finally, I want to thank all of you for your advice and encouragement. I definitely feel that I’ve grown from my experiences this summer and I hope you all have too.

I hope that during my time here I have been able to stir up your minds and teach some things that you may remember once I am gone (2 Peter 1:13,15). It is a true statement that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl.1:9). The same messages will continue to be preached from various perspectives and by various people, but hopefully, if it is doctrinally sound, every time you receive God’s Word you will be strengthened and become a better Christian as a result.

One thing that I leave with you, as Paul the apostle once said, “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). May God bless this church and continue its growth long into the future.