Thought for January 2017

By the time you are reading this, it has nearly been a year since my family and I have joined this little flock of God’s big family. And on this occasion, I wanted to write to you a personal letter of thank you.

Thank you for so quickly becoming a true home for us. Changing churches and ministry is never easy. Over the course of the many years we have known them, we have grown to love our brothers and sisters in Copse, so leaving them behind was always going to be emotional, and 2015 had been really tough for us as a family.

Yet, in you we have found a true spiritual home and family, where we feel loved and supported. This means a lot to me as your pastor, but also as a husband to my dear wife and father of my sweet children, as I know they are in the right place here. May the Lord be pleased to protect and grow our love for one another and unity of heart.

Thank you for looking after us so well. From the very beginning we have had great support from you. You have made the move and the settling in period very very smooth, and you have never ceased looking after us as a family. I would like to especially thank my fellow elders and our dear deacons for your patience with me and your help in my ministry. I count it a privilege to serve God’s people in Rehoboth alongside you.

Thank you for your love of the Word of God. From a ministry point of view, perhaps this is what I am most thankful for. A shared desire to know, love and serve our loving God more and better is truly precious and encouraging. You have been very supportive and appreciative of the ministry of the Word, and as a pastor one could hardly ask for more. May He grant us to continue like this together in the new year.

Together, we have had a joyful, even if not a trouble and heartache-free year in 2016. We have laughed and cried together, yet our God has been faithful to us all along, hasn’t He? He will not change in 2017. Or ever. I am excited about and looking forward to seeing what He has in store for us in the coming year. May He be glorified in and through us.

Your servant in the Lord Jesus,

Calix