Encouraging Email of the Week

Got this great email from a gal in our church last Saturday evening. It fired me up to preach after what had already been an exhausting week that had included not one, but two tragic memorial services. . .

Hi Pastor Tim,
I wanted to thank you for all the devotion you are showing your flock by teaching us the gospel every Sunday. I am enlightened by your clarification of the gospel message by embeding it within the context of Old Testament scripture. Just the other day one of the non-believing students I work with asked me to tell him a story from the Bible. By the grace of God, the story of Abraham and Isaac was fresh on my mind from your sermon last Sunday. I told this story emphasizing the message God gave to Abraham of how he would provide the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices. I am wheeping with joy as I tell you how greatful I was for the words God has given me through you and his helping me to remember his story and link it to the good news of the gospel. It was an incredible moment to be able to share the gospel with 6 students in my school who seemed to be hungry for the knowledge of their savior. I wanted to share this with you because you should know that what you are preaching is finding its way to the ears of others who have never set foot in a church before. Be encouraged to keep doing what you are doing despite the resistance of others. My husband and I are proud to call you our pastor and we are praying for you and your family.

This gal is learning to read the bible differently. . . rightly as a story of redemption, rather than as a book of rules. Praise the Lord!