February is I love my church month at Trinity. We began this celebration one year ago and while we do not want it to become just another annual event, we do want to have times in which we
focus on our love for this body God has given
us. So, through the next several blogs you will read letters from our staff
as to why we love Trinity. I want to encourage you to get your love
letters in; you can send them to one of our staff by e-mail or you can
hand deliver them to the office or ticket counter during one
of our services. This is a perfect opportunity to work with your children to help them write letters.
Men, don’t let your wife write one for the family; each person needs to write individual letters
because Trinity has blessed each person in different ways. So, take the time and just express what this
bride means to you!
Dear Trinity,
The commitment we have not only to our Lord, but to
one another reminds me so much of a marriage. In a day where commitments
seem to change on a whim, ours has remained. We have had times of
health and times of sickness, we have watched
people move in and out of our lives but years have only seemed to help
us. In some ways it seems like yesterday that we began our journey
together, but in other ways it seems like an eternity. At times I smile
at the memories and other times I can still feel
the ache of an old wound. This is life together in the local family of
God: it is not always easy but it is good, and it glorifies God. If I
had the space and time to share with you all the reasons I love you, you
would grow tired of reading before I grew
tired of writing. But, as I thought through the last year, I realized we are like a
newly married couple in that life changes happen quickly and they are excited as they know their love will become
even deeper and stronger. When I
arrived at Trinity I was in my mid-thirties with
an 9 and 10 year old. I am now a officially in my 40’s with a 13 and 14
year old. Time changes all of us, some for the better and some for the
worse, and I am thrilled to say that time has been kind to this fellowship.
I love you because of your hunger. As a body there
is not simply an expectation for the Word, there is a demand for it.
This has not always been the case, but it has now become the rule. I
know of churches that just want “excitement” and unfortunately, that can be conjured up at any place not just a church. Ball games,
concerts even wrong doctrine can cause excitement, but at Trinity your desire has
become to “know Him.” Sometimes that brings joy and excitement and at other
times it brings brokenness, but it always brings change.
If we have excitement I want it to be based on truth, not simply on
working up our emotion. Thank you for being a people that want the Word
of God delivered consistently and thank you for being people who give me time to
prepare to give you the Word.
I love you because of your grace. You love each other enough
that when a brother or sister stumbles, you won’t let them stay there.
It’s easy to love one another when everything is good, but you have
shown your commitment to truth and the Word by loving
enough to be out of your comfort zone and doing hard things. In most
places this is where love proves to be nothing more than emotion, at
Trinity you have shown that love is a commitment. You have shown that
love doesn’t have anything to do with what your
flesh is feeling at the moment, but what commitment demands that you do.
That is not only refreshing in this world, but it is a blessing to me as your
Pastor. You have not only shown grace by being willing to confront with
truth and kindness, but you have shown grace
by overlooking offenses. There have been mistakes that I have made and
you have loved me through them. There has been truth stated that
I could have stated with more tact, and you have received it and loved
through it. God has used you to sanctify me and
that is just one of the blessings of being part of this body.
I could go on, but I will end by saying that you
have loved this staff. When I first came to Trinity, I knew we needed a Biblically solid staff that would make a commitment to plant their
life. Through all the changes that took place with
a new staff and "new everything" the first three years, you have loved these
men and their families. I love these guys but constant discord and
discouragement can cause the best of men to go elsewhere; you have loved and encouraged them. I walk
in the lobby of our building now and see people smiling, praying and
loving one another. I walk by conversations and hear people giving truth.
I see a church who has become passionate about the gospel, the true gospel, and about carrying it to a lost and dying world. I love you
Trinity! I look forward to writing an "I love my church letter" one day
in which I talk about how my boys grew up watching your faithfulness and now
have children of their own. I look forward to doing
the weddings of our sweet boys and girls in Children’s Church. I look
forward to us leaving a legacy of generations that will finish well
because they have experienced truth and God’s grace. Thank you for allowing
me to be your Pastor.
Bro. Chad
