An Epistle of Greeting, A Call to Prayer

Dear beloved brothers and sisters at Philadelphia BC,

Greetings to you in the name of our great and sovereign God, the Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My family is marking its final days as citizens of Louisville by packing boxes, juggling final appointments and saying goodbye to cherished friends and loved ones in Christ, who are the fruit of a decade of study and ministry here. During this time, I have thought often of Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted." (3:1-2, ESV) The plucking up has begun in earnest; as one amazing chapter of life providentially closes and another begins. It is a vast understatement to say we are excited about beginning this new chapter of serving the body of Christ at Philadelphia Baptist Church.

In recent weeks, we have seen God's faithfulness manifested in ten thousand marvelous ways, particularly through Philadelphia BC's humble, Christ-like service of our family. The Pastor Search Committee, the Transition Leadership Council and numerous members of the church have provided our family with a clear picture of the Gospel through selfless service and tireless labor on our behalf. We deeply, deeply appreciate your loving kindness toward us and know in fact that Philadelphia is indeed the church of brotherly love.

We will transition to Birmingham on April 7 and the fire burns intensely in my bones to begin preaching, teaching, shepherding the flock there. Preparation of my inaugural sermon for Easter Sunday is well underway and I am grateful that you will get to meet two of my mentors, Tom Nettles and Tom Schreiner, during my ordination/installation at the church the weekend of April 17.

Lisa and I covet your prayers during these days of transition and request, as did the apostle Paul to the recipients of his epistles, that you pray for us without ceasing. Pray that I will preach faithfully, in the unction of the Holy Spirit, as the great Puritan Richard Baxter famously said, "as a dying man to dying." Pray for humility, for holiness, for wisdom, for strength, for perseverance and for faithfulness. Pray for family members, that they will remain fixated upon Christ and His glorious Gospel even as we fill moving boxes in Louisville and then empty them in Birmingham.

We are praying for PBC during our daily family worship in the home, and Lisa and I are praying for the church daily in our own private devotions. How am I praying for you? One of my frequent devotional practices over the years has been to pray back to the Lord the great prayers of Scripture. Of late, I have been studying Paul's powerful letter to the Colossians and have been praying for our new church family at PBC in accord with the apostle's intercession from Col 1:9-14:

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (ESV)

Brothers and sisters, we await Resurrection Sunday 2011 with profound anticipation, in the unshakable confidence that we serve a Savior who is risen from the dead, who has defeated sin and death, and who will return one day to judge the living and the dead.

Soli deo Gloria!