Appreciation for the Church

Our church has worshipped and ministered in Ann Arbor, Michigan for 35 years. I wanted to write a few things that I really appreciate about our church--and though I speak of the church as "it," I mean the people gathered in the ministry who are the church. I am thankful for:

1. It's faithful history. The church established and maintained a testimony for the truth starting in 1981. Faithful teaching, expositionof Scripture, godly counsel, support of missions, and local outreach work have been ongoing ministries since then. Although not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I can say that the church wanted to honor God and was used by God to help people grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ.

2. It's present kindness to me and my family. The church has continued to support us (not just financially, but also on a personal level) for the past 15+ years, the last 10 of which I have been privileged to (under)shepherd the assembly.

3. It's continued faithfulness. The church family wants to maintain a Biblical and faithful testimony. It does not want to cave into the demands or wishes of the world.

4. It's love for one another. When big needs arise, big support has shown up. When little needs arise, people work behind the scenes to take care of things. Again, this is an area where we continually need to work, but I see far more than just negatives in this "department" of our church.

5. It's support of missionaries and local missions work. Being willing to invest a good amount of finances by giving to missionaries, and by being committed to planting a new church in a town nearby to us, the church family has shown it is serious about the Great Commission.

6. It's willingness to try new ministries, and then to stick with them. In recent years, we have tried new outreach ministries and kept at them year by year.

7. It's love for God. Although this is not necessarily seen by individuals in the church as they look at other individuals that they do not know well, I see this from the pastor's vantage point.

8. It's patience. The church has endured my ministry since I preached my first message 16 years ago. I would say the content was OK, but the delivery was quite lacking. Putting up with me and my dry preaching is no mean feat. I appreciate the church for doing it.

I'll probably think of more later, but I'll stop there. I thank God for FBCAA! May God continue to bless you richly.