Beginning Year Six with Courage and Hope

Last Sunday I officially began my sixth year serving as pastor of our First Baptist Family. As I look back on the last five years, I find myself grateful for your partnership in this ministry and hopeful that we will embrace our current challenges and opportunities with courage and commitment.

Five years ago Amanda and I were welcomed to Pensacola with a hurricane warning and evacuation orders. As we rolled into town, almost everyone else was traveling north. My first official action as pastor was to cancel Sunday worship services. Then on our first Sunday, a handful of storm refugees who were helping us look after our campus, much of which was still under repair after Hurricane Ivan, gathered in Pleitz Chapel for an impromtu worship service just before we were hit by Hurricane Dennis on Sunday afternoon.

As many were still rebuilding after Ivan, and as others were involved making repairs after Dennis, another storm named Katrina began churning across the Gulf of Mexico. Although we avoided a direct hit, our neighbors in Mississippi and Louisiana did not. And just as many had come to Pensacola to help our community with cleanup and repairs after Ivan, our First Baptist Family mobilized our resources and our energy and almost 300 of us traveled to Gulfport, Gautier, or Biloxi during the next year and a half to participate in Disaster Relief.

As we completed our partnership with friends on the Mississippi Coast, another storm was brewing. This time, it was economic turbulence. Even as our community was experiencing economic challenges in the aftermath of consecutive storms, our nation’s economy began to experience a decline, which further complicated the economic climate in Pensacola.

Now, this year just as we began to see an improvement in the market, we are dealing with the Oil Spill Crisis in the Gulf. While we are hopeful that the gusher will be contained soon and that cleanup will be thorough, coastal residents have once again been called on to rise to the occasion with courage and hope.

During the past five years we have shared many diverse experiences as a church and community, including joyful moments and tough times. Though challenging, tough times have a way of forming character and forging courage. Mother Teresa once said that, “"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

I am grateful for your friendship, your partnership and your prayers during these first five years. And I look forward to a stronger partnership as we embrace the opportunities and the challenges of the future with courage and hope.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we continue our series, Doing Good Everywhere We Go, as we look at Proverbs 27:17 and focus on “Bringing Out the Best in People.”