^“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”
2 Thessalonians 3:16

I am so thankful that Christ is risen from the dead.  Alleluia in deed.  For not only does our Lord’s resurrection give the promise and certainty of life eternal one day in our resurrected bodies when He returns in glory (...come Lord Jesus!...), the resurrection of Jesus Christ gifts us the very lens by which we should view all of life in the here and now.  So here and now as I am writing this in my office which sits “outside the camp”, a very blessed place that is filled with the memories of my ministry here, containing all the shelves gradually being lifted of the burden of holding all my books as I pack them away, the geckos that like to run in an out of this space from under the door, I look with bittersweet joy through that gifted resurrection lens.

The bitter joy now is that my family and I are moving on to a new church people that the Lord is leading us to love and serve.  Here in Naples, He led us in it over the last 6 years.  By no means have I been perfect.  I’ve failed often.  I know I caused frustration for many.  But my prayer is that even in my failures and frustrations, I’ve at least been daily faithful to you.  You.  You dearly beloved children of the Heavenly Father.  We are so thankful for your faith in Jesus to have called me and Liz right out of the seminary.  We are incredibly grateful that you embraced God’s goodness in His blessing us with our three daughters, praying for them, cherishing them, and looking after their well-being.    The joy is bitter for us in that this sort of good bye isn’t easy.  We loved being here with you.  We thank Jesus for you.  But the wonderfully distinctly Christian thing about a good bye for us, is that it is not permanent.  We will see you each of you again.  If not in the here and now, certainly when Christ returns to make all things new and raise all of us up to eternal life with Him.  At that moment we’ll fist bump, handshake without fear (no more sickness am I right?), or simply hug.  Whichever you prefer.  It will happen my friends.  And therein lies the sweet  joy.

In all of this here and now and all the way through the other side of eternity, the Lord is in our midst.  I can say with all certainty because...well...we are His Church.  The joy has been and always will be in Jesus.  How He led me here to share Him with you.  How He’s leading me to share Him with a new group people.  How Christ will always lead you to share Him with those you love, those you consider friends, even those you consider your enemies.  In Christ, With Christ, Through Christ, all things are possible.  Continue to cherish your life in Christ.  Seek Him continually in all things.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  And now I’m done thinking up more cliché things to say, I’ll spare you the agony.

Thank you Faith for your faith.  Your time.  Your prayers.  Your encouragement.  Your challenges.  Your love.  We love you, but that will always fall short of how much Jesus loves you.  

How marvelously distinct a Christian thing it is to confidently say:  Good bye for now and see you again soon.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Sam, Liz, Cora, Caleigh, and Cybil Maconachy