“Did You Know?” - Final Devotional from Pastor Peter
Hello my beloved congregation,
This will be my final email to you. It was many years ago that I began writing the “Did You Know?” articles on the back of our Sunday bulletin and then, because of COVID, we moved to this email format. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you on this forum. We have talked about all kinds of subjects: Biblical, theological, cultural, devotional, political, and more. This became my format to help you shape your worldview to be more Biblical. I hope it has served its purpose. So, here are my final words to you.
Did you know that I love you all with the love of Christ? All of you have become so dear to me. I am so grateful to God that the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, resides in you, as he does in me. That means that we are united forever as children of our loving Father. It has been my great privilege to serve in so great a church and with so great a people. I thank you for having a teachable spirit that has learned to love and treasure the Word of Christ, and in doing so, you love Jesus more, becoming more devoted to him and more like him. I have witnessed this happen in you with my own eyes. This fruit is a miracle of God. As Paul said to the Thessalonians, “you didn’t receive the word as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Continue to stay true to God’s Word, read it more, obey it more and by it, you will grow and become like our Saviour.
I am so impressed by the love you have for each other. You really do love the members of this community. I see that love in your sacrifice, in your care, in your words, and I can even see it on your faces. I see this Christian love in your marriages, with your children, between close friends, and across the wide span of ages. I so love that you love each other. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. How can you not love each other when you love the Lord so much? You are living up to the two great commands that Jesus taught us: to love God and to love our neighbour. I know you will continue to grow in that love, and you’ll take heed to Paul’s admonition, “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another.” (Romans 13:8).
Another thing I appreciate so much about you is that you care deeply about the mission of Christ. Young Nak/City on a Hill has always been a missional church, but not all churches are missional, and they all vary in degree, so for this, we must give thanks and credit to God. When I look at all of you who make up City on a Hill, I see a congregation who loves Jesus and loves the lost. I see a congregation who believes that only the Gospel can rescue sinners from hell and bring them to heaven. Until our dying breath, let’s continue in the mission of Christ.
To our leaders, I can’t say it better than the great Apostle, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28).
Finally, thank you for excusing many of my shortcomings. I know I had many. Thank you for practicing, especially with me, the verse, “love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8). I’m sure that over these many years, there are those of you that I have offended or hurt, or worse, sinned against. If I have offended you by speaking a truth from Scripture, I don’t apologize, but if I have personally sinned against you in word or deed, then I am truly sorry. I ask that you forgive me and not hold it against me.
May God the Father and Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, our God three in one, keep each one of you, and may he keep me, until we see each other again in this world or when we gaze together upon the face of our glorious Saviour.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Your pastor,
Peter
