A week of lasts - 23 minutes with the Bible

 

This is a week of lasts.  The last day in the office, the last full sermon to the WCC congregation, the last Tuesday morning men's group, the last fish on Little Hills Lake, the last WCC staff meeting, and the one that hits probably the hardest is the last coach call with the man who has walked with me through these 3 intentional interims, Lynn Kent.  I know that I will be in contact with Lynn in the future but his counsel has been priceless over these 5 years and 3 interims.  I wish I had taken a picture of us both but we have actually only met in person 2 times over the 5 years.  The role of a coach is so important to fulfilling a demanding task.  At times I truly felt like the player on the bench being sent into the game by my coach standing at the end of the bench but this coach many times was kneeling in prayer on my behalf.  A huge thanks to Lynn!

The top picture tells the story of this blog post.  A new name is on the sign for WCC!  God has provided another shepherd to join the group of shepherds at WCC to keep advancing the gospel effort to Waushara County and beyond.  Stephen is another associate pastor who is stepping into the main teaching role of a church.  I have now seen this happen 3 times.  In college I thought this would be the ideal situation.  I would go and serve under someone else for awhile and then step into the weekly responsibility of teaching but I was thrown right into the effort 38 years ago.  I don't regret it and actually I am praying and seeing the need that more young men need to take the step I did right out of college.  Maybe they need a coach like Lynn, someone who has served well, encouraging, praying, and guiding them through the new waters.  

My last sermon at WCC is a sermon I shared 7 years ago on a Resurrection (Easter) Sunday morning at the Oglesby Union Church in Oglesby, Illinois.  I wanted to give those who basically attended once or twice a year the bigger picture of the Bible and also how Jesus' life, death, and resurrection fit into the overall story.  I called it "23 minutes with the Bible" because that is how long it took me to get through it originally.  I liken it to a Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the Bible, not exhaustive but hitting the highlights with an overarching theme.  I remember after preaching that sermon that many asked for the transcript and the same was true this last Sunday.  I don't take credit for this technique because I am sure other pastors have done the same thing at times.  It was a good practice to speak through from Genesis to Revelation in a story form.  It actually took me 23 minutes again, 7 years later.

I now commission the new teaching pastor of WCC and then travel to Florida to reunite with my wife.  We load up a truck and head to the mountains of Colorado.  The Stillwater Community Chapel has been waiting for our arrival since December.  The most precious thing that Stephanie and I take with us to Colorado is God's words of salvation in Him to share with others.  Different place but same message.

Adam