As we approach Christmas 2015, I want to take the opportunity to tell you how grateful I am to be your lead pastor. Being a pastor is hard work, quite frankly, but it is a work that “fills my cup.” I feel like a satisfied farmer most nights when I go to bed (minus the bib-overalls and the missing appendages), sore from a hard day’s work, but glad to know that the fields have been sown and waiting for God to send forth the rains.
I also want to tell you how happy it makes me to work with the staff we have here at LifePoint. Pastor David, Pastor Nate, Pastor Tony, Pastor Ethan, Pastor Chris, Mary Veal, Linda Nelson, John Webb, Rachel Tucker, Kris Kocken, Kristin Morris, Janet Johnson, Rachel Huffman, Loren Sargent, Kyle Kent, Eric Little, Rebecca Cribbs, Diana Gast and Phyllis Schlageter are truly a joy to do ministry with. God has blessed us, friends, with a dedicated staff of men and women who truly love the Lord and work with all their might. Our elders are godly men who lead and shepherd well: David Denny, Ken Hansen, Jim Hanson, Rick Kocken, Steve Koerner, Wade Lytle, Dustin McKinley, Nate Meece, Jay Six and Carl Walton. We also have wonderful volunteers who come by the office and count the offering each week, assist the ministerial staff on Fridays as they get bulletins and inserts ready, help us proof our publications, plan our worship services, lead ministries, etc. And then, of course, there’s so many of you, who play instruments, teach, lead, sing, oversee our finances, change diapers, park cars, greet guests, make coffee, visit the sick, etc. What a wondrous thing is the body of Christ at work! And here’s the best thing: we do it imperfectly and it’s still a joy. What will it be like in heaven when we are gathered with all the saints from all the ages from all the tribes and peoples and languages? Something to behold!
Thank you for obeying the Scripture when it exhorts you: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).
You’ve made leadership a pleasure in 2015. Thank you.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jym