Wednesdays with Grace

Dear Grace Church,

Greetings from New York City. Betsy and I have just bought one-way tickets to Birmingham!

I’m so happy about the prospect of joining Grace Church at the start of May. Thank you very much for inviting me to be your pastor. I know how eagerly you've poured yourselves into this church, and so I count it a great honor to be entrusted with the pastorship.

When Betsy and I and the boys arrive, we'll essentially be congregation members alongside you, because the person a church gathers around is Jesus, "the chosen and precious cornerstone" (1 Peter 2:6). As he himself says, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).

My special duty and joy will be to bring God's Word to you, Sunday by Sunday. It's through the proclamation of God's Word that Jesus is revealed and exalted, so that we truly meet in his name and experience his presence among us. That has already been happening at Grace Church, and my hope and prayer is that the spiritual life you've been enjoying will continue.

Grace Church is well named, because Ephesians 2:7 tells us that God displays "the incomparable riches of his grace” in his saved people. The local church is the neighborhood showroom of God's global spectacle. What a privilege, and what a responsibility! I can't wait to join you in seeking to fulfill God's extraordinary vision for the local church.

With love in Him,

Bernard