To God Be The Glory

Thank you, Hall's Ridge Boys, for such an appropriate song. I wanted this day not to be about sadness, but about rejoicing, and the great things God has done, and I'm so grateful for that song. A lot of you have asked me how I feel this morning. And you know, I really felt like there would be more sadness. There is some of that. This being my last Sunday. Actually, I'll be working through Friday, so I don't know what surprises will occur between now and Friday. But I thought there would be more sadness than what I'm experiencing, and I'm grateful. There is some of that, but I'm grateful that my overwhelming feelings today and spirit in my heart is that, first of all, of joy. I rejoice in what God has done and allowed to happen here over the years, and I rejoice in the future, because I see great things ahead for Johnston Chapel, and I have great joy that Dan thing is going to lead you into the next phase of this church's life and ministry. I have great joy in that. I also am filled with peace today. I know in my heart that I have followed God's will, and to be able to look back, not always perfectly, but I know that these decisions for this church are in God's will, and throughout my ministry, I've sought to follow God's will. I have a deep peace about finishing today, the course that he's laid out for me as far as being full-time ministry and pastor is concerned. But I also have today in my heart a very deep sense of gratitude. I'm feeling that I think more than anything else. I am grateful to God for how good He has been to us, and I am grateful to you for how gracious you have been to us. This message today is going to be very simple. There are no attention-grabbing illustrations to begin. There is no extensive outline for you to puzzle over in the bulletin. There are no deep exegetical insights for you today. There's not really much pertinent application for your lives today. And I know what some of you are thinking. Sounds like a normal John King message to me, so let's have at it. I purposely wanted to preach my last sermon to you two weeks ago as we finished up the book of Joshua. I knew this would be the last time I would have an opportunity to address you as you're seeing your pastor, and I wanted it to be more of a personal sharing of my heart. But I also wanted it to be biblical. And so over the past few weeks I've looked at some of the farewell addresses in the Bible for lack of a better term. Some of the men who said goodbye in a sense to those that they had led and served alongside for so many years. So I looked through Deuteronomy 31 to 33 in Moses as he gave his farewell address to the nation of Israel into his successor Joshua. I looked at Joshua's farewell address in Joshua 23 and 24, which we have looked at extensively in the past few weeks. I looked at David's farewell address to the nation of Israel in 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 and also his challenge to his successor and son Solomon. And then I looked again at Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 and to his young protégé who would really inherit the mantle from him, Timothy, in the book of 2 Timothy. And what I find as I reviewed, found as I reviewed those various occasions, was three common threads. In those farewell addresses there was typically a recounting of the blessing of God and then there was a rejoicing at the ministry that had been shared over the years and then there was an encouragement and a challenge to people for the future and to the new leader for the future. And so I want to do that today. That's what I want to focus on. That kind of farewell address to you. But I want to begin with a disclaimer. I have been far from perfect as your pastor. No one knows that better than me. Well, maybe Jeannie. But I have been far from perfect. There have been things through the years that I have said that later I regretted. There have been things that I've done that I regretted having done that way. There have been ministry situations I have handled that I have regretted not doing them a little better or a different way. On those occasions I have always sought to be sensitive to the spirit of God, his conviction, his prompting me and I've tried to make things right with whoever was offended or hurt. I would just like to say this morning for anyone who remains hurt. At anything I've ever said or done, please give me the opportunity to make it right with you before I leave. Maybe not today, but this week, please, please come to me. I want us to always be brothers and sisters and to love one another as fellow believers. And I believe my heart is clear, but there may have been someone that I have may have offended or hurt in some way. And I don't want that to be left unsettled, so please help me with that. But today I want to focus on God's goodness and give him glory for all that he has done. I want to begin, as I noticed in those farewell addresses by those biblical characters, I want to begin by recounting God's blessing in my life. And this really, quite frankly, is more of a personal testimony. But the reason why I wanted to share some of my life history and testimony with you is because so much of it is intertwined with Johnston Chapel. From childhood, my life has been intertwined with this church. And so I want to first of all thank God and recount God's blessings on my life as a child. I will always thank God for my family, for my mom and dad, what godly people they were and godly parents they were. And I can even thank God for my four sisters. Mary Beth, Jan who is here today and has been for more years than I've been here. Patty and Catherine have always been such a joy to my heart and some of my greatest encourages. My dad came to know the Lord through the testimony of a coworker on the railroad. He didn't know much about how to find a good church. And so he would sit down with his Bible at night, listen to the old fashioned revival hour. Radio Bible class, Dr. Charles Fuller, Imard Khan, those great Bible teachers. And to begin to learn what the Bible taught. My mother and dad were members of a church, but a church that did not preach the gospel. In fact, my mother had pins for 14 straight years of perfect attendance, but she did not know Christ. She was however a singer and she was often asked to sing in various places in our area. One time she was invited to sing at a revival meeting at a little church down in Oakvale. The evangelist for that week was a man by the name of Jimmy Jones. And my mother heard the gospel as she had never heard it before. And the spirit of God pricked her heart. She didn't know what to think of it. She didn't like to think of the fact that she might be a sinner, a church member who was a sinner. That didn't ring with her and she couldn't wrap her mind around that. And so she persuaded my dad at least to try to attend the church where Jimmy Jones was the pastor. Johnston Chapel Church, the little white building across the road. And they started coming when I was just a child and our family began to become very involved in this church. She didn't take long from my mother to get saved and my dad, mom then, became deeply involved in the church and the salvation of all five of us kids quickly followed. I came to know the Lord as my Savior, just shy of my ninth birthday in June of 1961. In VBS and the little white church across the road. That brings me to my teenage years. And so I want to recount God's blessing in my life as a teen. I had the privilege of being in an amazing youth group here at Johnston Chapel. The youth group back in the 60s was an amazing youth group. I don't know how many of you are here. There were a lot in the first service that were part of my generation. But some of you here may have been in that youth group back in the 60s. It was just an amazing time for us as teenagers. Preacher Jimmy, as we affectionately called Jimmy Jones, was not only our pastor, he was also our youth pastor. He had youth meetings for us. He took us to camp. He played ball with us. And we made lasting and deep relationships with each other, many of which remained to this day as friendships. There were so many things that stood out to me in my teenage years, one of which was the high school Sunday school class that I was a part of and so many others of those young people. And the teacher, Mary Wade, she will always be my favorite Sunday school teacher. She knew how to make the word of God live for teenagers. And I will forever be grateful to her teaching in those years of my life. There were lots of adults in the church back then that we as teenagers looked up to, our parents and others like them. And I have had the distinct privilege, honor and sadness of conducting most of their funerals since I've been here as your pastor. Those were difficult goodbyes, but I'm thankful I'll see them again. It was while I was a teenager here at Johnston Chapel that God called me to preach when I was 17 years old at Patrick Springs Camp. I went for a couple of weeks, the first week as a camper with the seniors, high young people, and then the next week as a counselor with juniors. During those two weeks God was prompting my heart and speaking to my heart about ministry. And I didn't know really how to go about finding God's will, but I knew a little bit about Gideon and judges and throwing out of fleece and kind of testing the word to see if something was what he was doing. And that's what I did, I threw out of fleece. I said, Lord, if you really want me to go into ministry, open up an opportunity for me to speak this week at camp. And I thought, well, that's quite a test, even for God, because there were a lot of preachers there. And those days the preachers took all their kids to camp, and so preacher Jimmy was there, Sammy Shove, Cecil Wright, right on down the line of all those preachers that were good friends. And that very day that I prayed that prayer, Sammy Shove came up to me and said, John, would you please speak to my morning at the devotions around the flag. And I knew that God was doing a work in my heart. I came home and said something to my parents. That all the plans were going to change. It was going to finish my senior year and go to Bible college and train for ministry for genie tech engineering. All that was out the window. And my mom and dad looked at me crying and said they've been praying for me for two weeks that God would call me. Into the ministry. I will forever be grateful for parents who wanted their children to serve the Lord, regardless of where that was or what it looked like, but had a passion to want their kids to serve Christ. Whatever it meant, wherever it would be, that's what they wanted. And I'm grateful to God for that. That brings me to my years at Pete Mont Bible College and I recount God's blessing in my life there. I'm thankful for the training I received there for the growth and knowledge of the word for professors like Dr. Hoyl Bowman who taught theology. When I had my first theology class and I learned that you could actually take Bible truth and logically order it and put it in a systematic order and it be called systematic theology. I was hooked. I mean, that fit my personality to a tee. I'm a little OCD as you know. And so to realize you could do that with the Bible, wow, that was cool. And so I just was hooked on systematic theology. It had been ever since and I knew then that wherever God would lead me, whatever I would do, theology would be a part of it. I would teach the word of God. I'm grateful for what I learned about serving. It wasn't just about the classroom and learning at Pete Mont. I was thrown into ministry context, some of which I was not prepared for. My first opportunity to serve was doing street evangelism in downtown Winston-Salem and one of the poorest, worst parts of the city filled with bars and so forth. I will never forget that and learning that sometimes ministry means opposition and suffering. I remember passing out tracks on that street trying to witness to people in a bar owner coming out, living at what I was doing on this side of the street, my friend on the other side of the street and told me to get away from his bar. And so I moved a couple of stores down and that probably angered him because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the sidewalk and he was beating me. I don't know what would have happened if a police car had not pulled around the corner and started up that street because he stopped and ran back to his bar. But I learned some things about ministry that day. The opportunity to be a youth pastor while I was in Bible college at Daniel's missionary Baptist Church just up the road here was such a great experience for me. That's where I first led someone to Christ. And then to teach junior high boys Sunday school at Readie Creek Baptist Church in Lexington North Carolina. That was an education. To have leadership roles at Piedmont. The Lord was developing and shaping my life to serve. But the greatest blessing of all that Piedmont brought me was my wife. It was a Piedmont that God brought into my life, Jeannie. She has been a faithful life and ministry partner for 46 years. And I am so grateful for God bringing her into my life. She has been so faithful and devoted to the Lord to his work wherever God would take us. And I'm thankful for the three daughters God gave us. Amy Ruth and Melissa have been such a joy to our heart. I'm so thankful. Amy and her family can be here today. We also got eight grandchildren. That's the best part of all. I thank God for his blessing to me. In 1973, Jeannie and I had been on a team of musicians from Piedmont that summer. And after we got done with that tour, a pastor by the name of Jim Tilly at Neams Grove Church in Seagrove North Carolina called me and said, would you be willing to become our youth pastor? I didn't know who Jim Tilly was. I'd never even heard of the church. I come to find out Jimi Jones had held a revival meeting at Neams Grove and had given Jim Tilly my name. And so long story short, we went there in June, July of 1973. Little did I know that would begin 45 years of full-time ministry. It seems a blur today. Seems like it was just yesterday. We began that ministry. Jim Tilly was only there six more months. I didn't realize he was considering a church in Richmond, Virginia. But six months later, he took another pastor at the time. The deacons came to me and asked if I would be willing to be considered. I didn't even pray about it. I knew what my answer was. No, I'm not willing to be considered. I had my plans laid out. Finish Bible College first. I still had a year and a half to go. Then train under someone. Learn. I was young. I was 21 years old. I knew I wasn't ready. But God had different plans. They asked me if I would preach until they found someone. So I started preaching and God lit a fire in my heart for the ministry of the Word. Two months later, they came back and asked if I would reconsider. I did. I was in the church of the church of the church of the church of the church. I was in the church of the church of the church of the church. I didn't appreciate that as much as I do now. I looked back now and shuddered to think if I had had a difficult church, a hard ministry, difficult people, and antagonistic people, and I was kind and gracious with a young man. I probably would not be in ministry today. I will forever be grateful to those gracious people who for seven years loved us and patiently endured us as their pastor. Then God led us to faith Baptist church in Winter Haven, Florida. That's an interesting story. I was long to tell. It's the only 100% vote I ever had going anywhere. And we knew God wanted us there. But once we got there, we realized we didn't fit. We were out of place. We were not well accepted. And it was the most difficult year of my ministry life. I can remember walking around the auditorium and praying, crying out to God, not understanding that I miss your will. Even though I don't know how to find your will anymore. Have you abandoned me? I know those kind of difficulties in ministry. It's hard to explain what all happened that year. I mean, the church grew doubled in size. It was a blessing to be there, but we just didn't fit. And there was a lot of opposition to where I'd gone to Bible college and so forth. So after a year, I left to go to seminary. I was crushed. I was defeated. I know what it's like to look at people and then look back at you like you're a failure. What happened to you? It was a crushing time in our life and ministry. But God was so gracious. I needed seminary. Looking back on it, I needed it. I really did. And God wanted me there at Grace Theological Seminary in Indiana. He had other plans for us too. I was planning on just supporting my family and whatever way I could go to school. But God moved on the heart of a little church, first Baptist church in South Whitley, Indiana, who was without a pastor at that time and through a seminary student that had been a youth pastor with me in North Carolina. I got in touch with us and extended a call for us to go serve there. So in April of 1981, I became the pastor at first Baptist church in South Whitley. That following fall, I started seminary. I told the church, I'm here to go to seminary. You have to understand that. That's my main reason for being here. And God used those years to teach me a lot. The studies at Grace enriched my life and ministry and deepened my understanding of the word of God. I am so grateful for professors who became friends like Dr. John Whitcom and Dr. George Zimic. But it was the church that grabbed my heart. That little church of such loving rural Indiana people rekindled in our hearts a love for the pastorate. The church grew. I cut back in seminary, crammed a four year master's program into seven years and spent nine years at that church. And those were blessed years. I still love that little town and that church and those people. But that brings me to 1990 and coming here. God had always kept my heart tied to this church. Whenever we were in Bible college or in other ministries, we would vacation to see our parents. And so we would come back here. We would visit Johnston Chapel. I maintained a close relationship with Jimmy Jones. I had him for two revival meetings in North Carolina, one in Indiana. And we maintained a close friendship. I was here for revival meetings in 1980 and 1988. Jimmy was already talking to you about retirement and he wanted the church to hear me preach for a week. And after that, I was one of the ones who was considered to come back here to preach. And amazingly, you asked me to candidate in 1990, April of 1990. The church graciously called us. We came and arrived here on June 25th, 1990, 28 years ago, tomorrow. Pre-Turgeonian, I worked through a six month transition and then I became the senior pastor in January of 1991. It's been a blessed time. And that leads me to rejoicing in God's work among us. As I've reflected on these past 28 years, it is amazing to reflect on all that God has allowed us to do in those 28 years. I'm going to mention a lot of things that God has done and please understand this is not intended in any way to be a list of my accomplishments. Some of these things I initiated, many of them I did not. Many of them came from the hearts of you. God's people, as you saw an opportunity for ministry and wanted to branch out into other areas of ministry. And I simply gave my blessing and a green light and a willingness to help in any way I could. This is not about me. This is really a testimony of God working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure as Paul said in Philippians 2.13. To God be the glory because whatever's been accomplished here, He has done and He's done through all of His people and primarily through a tremendous leadership team that God has surrounded me with through all these years. So I want to rejoice in God's work among us. First of all, I want to rejoice in the people that have been saved and baptized and added to the church. God knows who they are. I don't keep those kind of records. I used to, it was part of my nature to keep records of everything and know every time I preached and how many times I preached and how many funerals I've done, how many weddings I've done and all that. Years ago in my first ministry in North Carolina, the spirit of God convicted me about that wouldn't be true for everybody. I'm not saying this applies to everybody, but for me, it was feeding my pride and my flesh. And so I quit. I just quit doing that. But God knows there have been some people saved and baptized and added to the church. And I am grateful for that. He knows and it is best that he knows. I am thankful for the growth of the church. I'm thankful that people have grown spiritually, not because of my ministry, but because God promises when the word is faithfully preached and taught, he will use that to grow His people and to mature us into the image of Christ. And I've always seen myself as a plodder. I think it was Spurgeon who wrote a book called In Praise of Plodders. Just keep plotting along. Just be faithful. And if you're faithful to God's Word, he'll use it in people's lives. And so that's all I've ever aspired to be is someone who was faithful to God's Word. And I believe God used His Word to grow people. And I am so thankful and grateful for that. There have been other more measurable signs of growth. These are not the most important signs or measures of growth. But sometimes they are an evidence that God is adding people and adding depth and richness and breadth to the church ministry. I'm thankful for the growth and attendance. He's given us. When I came, we were averaging about 350 per Sunday by 2006 that had grown to 575. And then we tailed off some over the next few years. But by 2013, we were averaging 565 again on Sundays. So last five years, we have seen somewhat of a decline in our attendance. There are probably a lot of reasons for that. Not the least of which is the need for new leadership. I don't take the credit for anything. I don't want to take the blame for anything either, but I know the time is right for new leadership. I know the time is right for fresh energy, envision, and purpose for this church. So I'm confident of the future of this church and its growth. I'm thankful for how God has grown us financially. I looked back at our first budget this week. I looked it up in the church records. In 1991, our budget was 271,735. And I remember I was the one that used to meet with the Finance Committee. And just say, let's tweak this, tweak that. We'll do that a little bit here. Add some emissions. 15 minutes we were done. That was our budget process. Today, our budget is 1,2007,373. And I thank God not just for the numbers, but for the growth that He has enabled us to have as a church because He has continued to provide for us. And whatever He gives us, we are responsible to be good stewards of so that we steward His gifts to reach the world with the gospel. And I'm grateful that we've had more opportunity to do that as God has sent us resources to do so. Then there's been a growth in ministries, which I'll touch on in a moment. I'm thankful. I rejoice in God's work among us in the growth of the church. Thirdly, I rejoice in God's work among us in major initiatives that have been undertaken through the years. And again, this is a data reflect as I read from Psalms earlier to ponder on all His good works and delight in them. And so I just want to remind you of what God has allowed us to do in major initiatives like buildings and facilities projects. The first building project we ever did here was to double the size of the pavilion and to put a playground in down there. Pretty modest by comparison, but we've seen happen since then. But it was our first real building project after I came and then there was expanded parking, a projection system and new lighting for the auditorium. Yes, believe it or not. That which is in such need of an upgrade today to make possible the expansion and cultivation of our contemporary service. It was new to us a few years ago. The new education wing to meet the needs of the church in the school, the garage and storage building, new youth and children's ministry areas, the renovation of our auditorium, the extension of our lobby, the development of new nursery suite and administrative suite, purchase of a bus and. Several vans, the purchase of the brown property and the development of a soccer field there. So many things God has allowed us to do over the years. Thank you. Thank you for being willing to step out on faith and trust God to do those kind of things. I think one of the greatest major initiatives that has been a joy to my heart has been our mission's focus. This church has always been missions minded. But in the early 90s we began mission trips and a real engagement on the field and the part of our people. I think the first one was actually a group of young people that Mike McGraw took to Trinidad after preacher Jimmy had come back from speaking down there and told him about two missionaries down there. George Mohammed. And Dominic Matlin. Thank you. Thank you. We need fresh new leadership. Somebody has to have a mind left. And our young people went there and had such a great ministry and then the church began to send genie and meet a visit all of our missionaries. And that was followed quickly by adult mission trips and then teen mission trips and children's mission trips and individuals going to the mission field. And it's been wonderful to see us embrace being on the field to serve with our missionaries. But beyond that mission conferences were started in the 90s and that developed into missions Sundays that we do four times a year. There's a new fresh focus on missions. And by the way, if you do not attend on mission Sundays, you're missing the best Sundays of the year. Please embrace fully the desire to bless our missionaries and to catapult us out to the harvest fields. Don't think of missions Sundays as a step down. It is a step up in what God wants this church to do. I challenge you to be faithful to those services. Then the mission strategy, helping us better understand how to send out missionaries from this church and do a better job of supporting the ones that we support. What a blessing that major initiative has been. So many other major initiatives over the years, the beginning of a focus on strategic planning, which began in 1998 and has continued to this day. A new staffing model for our church that allowed us to grow in ministry offerings. The move to a more contemporary translation of the Bible. The addition of a contemporary service and there are plans to enhance that and grow that. But it was a big step for us back in 2002. And the focus on community outreach. Those are just some of the major initiatives that God has allowed to happen here. And I am so grateful for them. I rejoice in God's working among us. I rejoice in God's working among us among us in the ministries that have been added through the years. I mentioned that a new model of ministry staffing enabled us to branch out into many areas. That was only part of it. You caught the vision of serving and of reaching out to our community in so many different ways. And so we added a mince fellowship breakfast, mince prayer group, divorce care, divorce care for kids, grief share, mobs, which now is mom life, celebrate recovery, Philippian ministry, a deeper partnership with Bluefield Union mission, the Abel Crisis Pregnancy Center. Heavens sent ministries and tender mercies. The development of children's ministries to a great level. The introduction of small groups, various women's ministries that have started. The 101, 201, 301 classes to help assimilate new people. 3D archery to reach that segment, that niche of our Southern West Virginia community that loves shooting and reaches them with the gospel. Parents of prodigals, Daniel plan, e412 training program with Piedmont International University, a website and Facebook page, a prayer chain, prayer calendar, standing in the gap, prayer ministry, a welcome center, greeters in the lobby, valet parking, a security plan with well trained security team members, adopt the homebound ministry fellowship committee. Bereavement meals, so many things that you have allowed us to do as a church. Thank you for the growth of the ministry of this church and so many other ministries that were here before I ever came that are still flourishing today like a wana and so many others. And then others that served a good purpose for a time. Sunshine club, mercy meals, Wednesday evening meal, good sense financial management class, the radio broadcast and the Chapel Lay Institute. I'm thankful I rejoice in God's work among us. But I've left this one to last because this is what I rejoice in most when I look over the years of God working among us. It is the people that God has used to bless us, genuinely. This church, this ministry is not about one person. It is about staff people. What happens at Johnston Chapel could not happen were it not for faithful staff. And I will always be grateful for the people God has put around me to make me look a lot better than I really am. To enhance my life in ministry, I'm thankful for all the pastoral staff that I've served alongside these years. Jim Knopfinger, Mike McGraw, Chuck Vickers, Jim Simmons, Kevin Shirey, Juddixson, Brian Stuttler, Dan Thing, James Walsh, and Jason Bowden. Godly men who have deeply enriched my own life in ministry. I'm thankful for all of those who have served in secretarial and bookkeeping roles. Don Reed, Sigrid K. Hill, Vonda Wyatt, Darleen Bolton, Blaine Dunnevant, Su Farley, Lynn Strange, Dream Along, and Derek Belcher helping us with graphic arts. I'm thankful for the incredible maintenance staff we have had over the years. Jimmy Bailey, Mike McGraw, Mackie Hall, Wes Wyatt, Chuck Terry, and Joey Simmons. And I'm so thankful and grateful as you are too for the custodial staff that has so faithfully served behind the scenes through the years. Betty Clyburn, Martha Taber, Brendan Knopfinger, Debbie Morrison, and Brian Petrie. I am so thankful also for our yard care staff over the years. Mike McGraw, that's the third time I've mentioned Mike. Mike's not a lot of stuff around here, and we are grateful to Mike McGraw for his ministry here. Eric Crandall, Eddie Absher, Johnny Robinson, and for the MCA administrators who have served alongside me and have been such a blessing to me. Larry Deeds, Bob Brooks, Eddie Nicewander, Chris Strange, and Mark Patton. I wanted to call those names. Thank you for allowing me the time to do that because it is those people that deserve recognition. They serve so much behind the scenes. They bless my life every day. For 28 years, they have blessed my life. And they have blessed our church. And I want to say a thank you to every staff member who has served here. My heart is intertwined with yours in a deep way. And I love you all to all the deacons too many to mention who have served through the years. Thank you. You have enriched my life and made me a better pastor to all the trustees who've cared for property matters matters regarding loans. Thank you for all the committee members who have served so faithfully. Thank you. And last but not least, all of you. Thank you for how you have cared for us. Bless us and courage us. I cannot think of a better place to serve God than right here. And I will forever be grateful that God allowed me these years with you. I cannot express how much you have blessed our hearts. Thank you. Thank you. But now it's time to refocus on the future. And we got 10 minutes to do that. I do want to take a few moments to refocus on the future because I noticed that in those challenges and parting words in the scriptures. So let me talk a little bit about the future. First of all, for Genie and me, I've told you this before for us retirement is not sitting on a rock and chair on the front porch. Although I'm going to do a little bit of that. Retirement really is a refocusing of ministry and ministry and serve in a different way. I want to read to you just briefly the five reasons I shared with you two years ago when I announced to you my intention to retire. The first reason why I mentioned I was going to retire was we're all going to die. And that's not an announcement about the current state of my health or anything like that. But it's simply a fact of life. And when there's no intentional transition plan, churches begin to suffer because pastors hang on and hang on and hang on. Oftentimes churches wait till pastors are incapacitated or die to begin looking for a successor. And by that time the church ministry is declined due to the pastor's inability to provide the proper leadership and quality of preaching needed. So planning for a smooth purposeful transition, I believe is a biblical model presented to us by Moses to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, Paul to Timothy, even Jesus to the apostles. And so because we're all going to die someday and the aging process is a part of that. We need at some point to move out of the way and give new leadership the opportunity to lead. Second, we all hit and then pass our prime in effectiveness both physically and mentally. We begin to lose energy, imagination, focus, openness to change, and the drive necessary to charge in the next hill in the next day. And then we'll start to charge in the next hill and leading others forward when this happens to a pastor the church begins to suffer as his effectiveness diminishes. Often the pastors the last one to see that. And the people are afraid to point it out to him because they'll feel they're hurting. So both pastor and church hang on and the church begins to decline. That God commanded the priests in numbers eight to retire at a certain age and to pour their lives into mentoring younger priests. Actually their retirement age was 15. Look at it, numbers eight. Just as God set a time for them it's best to set a specific time to transition out of full time ministry before the decline becomes too serious. The third reason is eventually we lose our ability to relate to younger generations and inspire them to follow. There are some rare exceptions but at some point most of us simply cannot keep up with all the changes necessary to continue to be effective in ministry. We may have a degree of wisdom to share with younger pastors and we could should continue to do that but the changes needed personally and professionally to minister effectively begin to outpace us and we simply cannot keep up. That begins to hurt the church's ability to reach younger generations. And then fourthly as we age I mentioned two years ago we must learn to focus on the primary gifts God's given us. Again we can't do everything we've done in the past with the same energy or sustained drive. So much is required of a senior pastor all pastors but the senior pastor bears the responsibility either directly or indirectly for everything that happens in the church. And you get to the point where you just can't keep up with it all. Age brings the need to focus on fewer responsibilities in order to continue to be effective and that's exactly what I'm planning to do. And then I said two years ago I fervently and passionately desire what is best for Johnston Chapel to the glory of God. And I believe an orderly transition to new and younger leadership will accomplish that objective. I believe those things as strongly if not more stronger than I did when I said them to you two years ago. Everything I just said has been confirmed to me in the last two years abundantly confirmed that it is time and it is right. For me to turn leadership over to younger to a younger leader. I mentioned two years ago that I hope to continue preaching teaching occasional classes mentor younger men and ministry those three areas would be the focus. Of my ministry in the remaining years God gives me and the Lord is already opening some doors that way I'll share with you in just a moment. I mentioned two years ago that genius I may or may not continue to live in Princeton. We have decided we will continue to live here but I will not have any official pastoral or leadership role that Johnston Chapel nor will I serve on any committees or boards teaching a BF or lead a small group. I will not accept requests for conducting funerals or weddings except to assist the new lead pastor at his and the family's invitation. There are reasons for that. I'm no longer going to be your lead pastor. You need to look to pastor Dan. I will be his biggest cheerleader. I will help him in any way he wants. But I will not interfere in any way. I will no longer be your pastor. You do not look to me after Friday when I finish my ministry. You look to pastor Dan. We do continue to we do plan to continue attending Johnston Chapel whenever in town but I want you to know we're not going to be in town much. The Lord has begun opening doors for us. I want you to know from my lips and not wonder why we're not here. For the next two months, I will take a sabbatical. I have an opportunity to preach in South Carolina and July. We will back away from ministry. We won't be here. I don't want anyone looking at me wondering what I'm thinking or feeling about anything. I want you to know I fully support everything that pastor Dan has in his heart and mind to do here. We need a break and we're going to spend time on our family and be with our kids and grandkids over the next couple of months. Then beginning in September, I will be preaching somewhere every Sunday from September on through December 16th. The Lord has already opening doors for us to focus exactly on what I wanted to do to preach and teach in other places. Just to go in to preach, not have the pastoral responsibilities. I will not be a full-time pastor after Friday. I do want to focus on preaching and teaching and God's opening opportunities. Next year, we will have a couple of revival meetings in the spring. Crusade in North Carolina in July and teaching a module in a master's program in August. The Lord is opening some doors. I'm grateful for that. That's what we want to do. I want you to know why you're not going to see us much. If you don't see us here, don't you dare think something's wrong or John and Jeanne don't like what's going on or anything like that. That's not it at all. We're going to be doing what God's called us to do in this next phase of our ministry life. That is, bless and minister, hopefully, bless, at least minister to other churches and preach wherever God opens doors. He has graciously opened that. That's the next chapter for Jeanne and me. What's the future hold for the church? Very simply, this challenge. I spent a couple of weeks challenging you from Joshua 23 and 24. I just want to say today, be faithful to the Lord and to His Word. Support your pastors as you have always done. Embrace Pastor Dan. Love him and his family as you do. Support his ministry. Follow his lead. If you will treat him and his family like you have treated Jeanne and me and our family, he will have a long and fruitful and blessed ministry here. I trust you will do that. Then for Dan, what is the future hold for Dan? Well, obviously, I don't know that, but I would love to give a challenge to Dan as well, a charge to Dan for the future. I believe it is more appropriate, I believe, just to read it from the scriptures. Because the Bible often gives a charge to pastors from an older pastor, Paul did it in Ephesians or Acts, chapter 20, verse 28, when he is addressing the elders from Ephesus and he says, And all the flock of which God has made you overseers, be shepherds of the Church of God, which he bought with his own blood. And then Peter's admonition to fellow pastors in 1 Peter 5, Dan, I give to you. To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings, Peter said, who also will share in the glory to be revealed, be shepherds of God's flock, some translations translate that feed the flock of God that is under your care, watching over them, not because you must, but because you're willing as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve, not lording it over those entrusted to you. But being examples to the flock, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. And then my favorite, which has rung in my ears for many years, the charge of Paul to his successor Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead. And in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge, preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine, instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you keep your mind, your head in all situations, in doer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. I want to ask Dan to join me here, please, on the platform. Basically what God has charged a lead pastor to do, one who is responsible for feeding the flock, is to feed the flock, lead the flock, and shepherd the flock. And I have complete confidence in Dan thing, and what God has called him to do here. Quite often when there is a transition in leadership, there is some official symbolic act which highlights that transfer in leadership. Often times there will be a passing of a baton, and I have read of pastors who literally have a baton like in a race, and they pass it to the next guy. And that would probably be appropriate for Dan, but I stopped running a long time ago. So I am passing a baton, but that may not be the best metaphor. I know of a pastor in Orlando, Florida, who washed the feet of his successor. I love that symbol, but I'm not sure I want to wash Dan's feet. So we're not going to do that this morning. That might be a little awkward for both of us, although it's a beautiful symbol in servant leadership. I actually thought about leaving Dan maybe a mock bucket at a mock because he's going to have to clean up some messes I've made. Maybe that would be an appropriate symbol. But I've chosen not to do that. I really don't want to make light of this moment. I do have something I want to give to Dan as a symbol of the transfer of leadership in shepherding this flock. This is not a cane, by the way. As you can see, this is a shepherd's staff. Dan, I present this to you with the challenge to feed the flock, shepherd the flock, guard the flock, instruct the flock. Be a good shepherd as I am confident you will. May God bless you, my friend. I love you and the Lord. I'm going to ask Dan, in a sense, his first official responsibility is the new lead pastor at Johnson Chapel. To lead this congregation in a closing prayer. Thank you, pastor Dan. Father, you've been so, so good to us. You've been faithful. And to you be the glory today for everything that's been accomplished in Pastor John and Jeanne's lives and ministry, we thank you. Thank you for your providence in their lives, guiding them each step of the way. How you prepared them to come here and to lead us. Thank you for bringing them here. Everything that's been accomplished has been because of your grace and your goodness. Thank you for giving me Pastor John as a friend, as a mentor, as an example, someone to look up to and learn from. Thank you for him. All of us are thankful for his humility, his gentleness, his kindness. Thank you for giving us a man of wisdom, a man who is righteous, who loves you, who shown us the way. Thank you for giving us a shepherd. Someone who deeply cares for the flock and we thank you for how he sacrificed over and over and over again for us to serve us and to love us to be there when we were hurting. Thank you for him as a teacher. Someone who poured his life into your word, the study of it, to understand it, then to deliver it with passion. Thank you for his stand for the truth, for how he's helped us to grow, how he's helped us to love you in deeper ways, how he's shown us how to serve. Thank you so much for his ministry. Thank you for Miss Jeannie, everything that she's done as she served along Pastor John's side, all the sacrifices she's made. Thank you for her ministry to the women of this church and to the children of this church and to all of our homebound people, everything she does that no one knows about. Thank you. Thank you for her. And Father, we pray for the days ahead. Help us to be found faithful. We want your blessing. We want to continue to see your hand of blessing here as souls are reached with the gospel, as people are discipled, as we send people out all across the world to win souls for Christ. Father, please bless us. Help us to be faithful to each other, faithful to you, faithful to your word. And Father, please help me. I need you. This is an overwhelming task. I'm not worthy and I just thank you. It's because you're grace that I stand here. Help me to love you more, help me to lead. Well, help me to be a shepherd. Help me to be faithful to your word, help me to preach the word unashamedly in the days ahead. Please bless your church. We'll give you all the praise, honor and glory for that in Jesus' name. Amen.