A WORD FROM ROBERT

“…as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” 2 Corinthians 6:10

To those whom I long to see,

It is hard to believe that a year has come and gone since I stood before you on that fateful day and proclaimed to you the hope that we have in God. I doubt seriously whether that day will ever perish from my memory. I was so afraid and yet so hopeful. I was afraid because of the unknown, yet hopeful because of our God. I well remember Mike bringing in that wonderful, huge, vase full of flowers. It was so full of life though I felt so dead. It was a moment in which I was dying and at the same time hoping to live. It was a sermon that I so wanted to preach with all of my being and yet at the same time one that I wish I would never have ever prepared. I will always remember our gathering on the beach. I remember that none of us wanted to leave, but the sun was setting and night was approaching. It was time to go. How could a heart be so full and so empty at the same time?
A year has come and gone. So much has happened, not just in our lives but in yours as well. I am so very proud of you all. Christ has enabled you to walk through the difficulties of this past year as well as to see great accomplishments. You have all found new churches where you are not just attending but ministering as well. That is a great joy in our hearts. You show the work of Christ wrought in your hearts and exhibited through your lives. Your continued fellowship with one another is an expression of the genuine love of God produced by the Spirit’s presence.
I will always carry you in my heart. The memories of the last few years together sustain my soul. Yes, those were years of struggle and uncertainty, but that is not what I remember. I remember a congregation growing up into a mature body that loved to see Sunday come. My memories are of worshipping our God together as one being. If I close my eyes and block out the surrounding noise I can still hear you singing. I can hear you reading the scripture, I can hear your prayers, I can hear your praises to our great God. When I still myself I can sense your joy when we found a new song that expressed our hearts to God or we sang an old hymn that brought comfort and courage to our weary souls. When I think back on those days it seems as if just when it all came together, and we learned to worship God in Spirit and Truth, the wind blew and like a zephyr of smoke it was gone. Some things are just inexplicable, but we trust in the wisdom of God and not the desires of our hearts.
It is a strange existence that we have. We are at the same time thankful for what God has done and yet disheartened that He did not keep us together. We are fearful of what the future holds because of uncertainty and yet greatly anticipating what God is preparing for us to do. It has been a year and yet it seems like it was only yesterday.
I cannot express to you how I long for one more worship service together. To experience one more song, one more prayer, one more passage of scripture read. I long to stand before you and declare the Word of God just one more time. To unpack the children’s material, to set up the sound system, to unfold the pulpit, just one more time. These are indeed difficult thoughts, but not ones that should lead us to despair.
I am reminded of something that I once read by C.S. Lewis that I believe will help us through such thoughts. It is from his space trilogy. Specifically it comes from a conversation that takes place between a fictional creature from Lewis’s vivid imagination and a human. The specific thought is that the memory of an event is part of the event. It is the completion of the event, its culmination. I remember initially reading it and not quite understanding its significance. But I now believe I understand some of what he wrote.
Memories are not designed to take us from the present to the past but rather to bring the past into the present. Memory serves to transport the reality of the past into the present so that what once was can now be experienced and enjoyed again in the present. My point is that I can have one more song, one more prayer, one more sermon, if I will just remember what God has done. To long for another moment is in some measure to deny the sufficiency of the past. Certainly memories can grow into legends and some even pass from legends into myths. But one thing is certain in my mind and that is that God was with us and I will forever call upon that memory to carry me through the present lonely paths that lead to that place where we will all gather again. Where we will forever sing, and praise and enjoy one another forever in the presence of our Lord who unites us forever by His Spirit.
As the sun rose a year ago, so shall it rise again in a few days. The rising of that anniversary sun will be announced by a building chorus of praise to our God that will begin in the east and move across the sky until it rests above us at the appointed time. When that time arrives I will ask you to join me in singing another song, offering another praise, hearing another sermon about and to our great God. If you will listen you will hear my voice join in with yours and I assure you that I will be listening for yours. In that moment let our hearts grow in thankfulness for what God has done for us. Let faith swell up in your soul, full of anticipation at seeing the glory of God that he intends to demonstrate through the work that he began in us and will complete. Even if we cannot see it in full measure until we all join together and look back at the wonder of His wisdom.

With deepest love and warm affection and longing of heart.

Robert




I just wanted to add that I just love ya'll so very much! My heart has been heavy with love and bursting with memories especially in these last couple of weeks.I too shall never forget the beautiful day last April 29th as we gathered on the beach after morning worship to have one last meal together and the love I had that each of you gathered to share in Joshua's baptism. I am so glad that he got to experience that with you all since you knew him since birth and played a part in loving him and seeing him come to Christ.I am so moved by the music of Christ Fellowship Church and how when I hear those songs in our current church it brings me back to those times spent together singing whether in a hotel ,school,home,college auditorium or gathered together in knee deep water at one of our baptisms.The song link I included here is the last song we sang together and the line about "He gives and Takes Away" has actually brought me great comfort as I reflect on the circumstances of our ending and how we all saw through the tears that it was God that was taking away and we could rest in that knowledge and continue to say..."Blessed be the Name of the Lord"...
I am including a link to Robert's last message to us as a congregation as that has been something that I have returned to several times this year to hear from Gods word about the greatness of his Sovereignty even in the most painful times in our lives.It has been such a source of strength for me and I hope you will find it encouraging again as well.
Becky

OUR LAST MESSAGE TOGETHER




OUR LAST SONG