When the Holiday Season rolls around, I often reflect on the things in my life for which I am most grateful. I have never gotten over the fact that a sinner like me was met by the saving hand of God and confronted by the truth of the Gospel. It is a divine exchange beyond comprehension: the righteous for the unrighteous, the innocent for the guilty, and Jesus’ perfect record for my filthy rags (II Cor. 5:21). Likewise, my Heavenly Father has called me to be a Pastor, and it is an absolute joy that I get to fulfill my calling at Trinity Baptist Church. I have seen hundreds of churches and hundreds of student ministries, but I have never seen a church with more potential to reach the nations through the caliber of teens and families and the resources that God has blessed us with. The potential for student ministry and the possibility of influencing the future leaders of our world with the Word of God wakes me up in the morning. I love preaching. I love counseling. I love discipling. I love building relationships and having fun with students. I love sharing the gospel and building a ministry team. I love seeing the needs of ministry, identifying an individual’s gifts and helping people connect the two. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fulfill all of these passions.
Also, I am continually overwhelmed by the student ministry team that God has raised up here - they are much more talented than the student pastor! My assistant, Emily Beitz, continually serves with her skill and organization. I am grateful that she often covers up my weaknesses and makes what we do more effective. Our mentors, interns, directors, student leaders, and parent leaders are top notch. While much of the work they do goes unseen by people, it is not unseen by the God of the Universe. The backbone of our ministry is the faithfulness of the humble servants on our team. I am also grateful for the fantastic parents that are trying to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I have never been lacking any resource or need in order to fulfill our ministry goals at TBC. What a blessing it is to have the relevant and state of the art facilities in order to minister to students and their families!
I realize that few people on this earth wake up every day excited about their vocation, and I am one that is blessed to have such a job. While there are many challenges, some heartaches, crazy hours and lots of responsibilities of student ministry, we love it! It meets the needs of my family financially and provides me the opportunity to fulfill my calling with joy. This joy is enhanced by the Godly and talented staff team and pastors. The depth of fellowship that we have in the midst of battle is deep and the fun is great. I am also thankful for a senior Pastor that is my pastor, boss and friend. There is no other pastor in the world that I would rather serve with than my Pastor.
Finally, the number of acts of kindness, babysitting, notes of encouragement, cooked meals, and loving gifts for my family are too numerous to mention. Thank you church family for loving me as one of the Pastors of your Church body. Thank you for loving my family and serving us in a way that humbles and edifies us. Thank you for extending grace for my many weaknesses. Thank you for helping us to raise our boys. Thank you for keeping us accountable to God’s Word. Thank you for reminding us often of Jesus Christ and His work. Thank you for being our family. Happy Thanksgiving!
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