Five Reasons I Am Confident
Jim Ladd
Well, this is my final blog for you, my church family at ECC, and that is not an easy thing for me to embrace! Change is hard enough, but leaving people I deeply love and have cared for is almost unbearable. It has been an indescribable honor to be invited into your lives - your suffering, celebrations, grief, loss, and joys. I am overwhelmingly grateful to have had the privilege of being your pastor!
I am also very confident about God’s future for you and for ECC! Here are five reasons why I am so certain of a great future:
1. Jesus loves His Church and it is indestructible.
He builds it, He fills it with life, and He will protect it. The church is, at the same time, so very fragile and yet so completely indestructible.
2. Your Elder Team is extraordinary!
What a perfect team the Lord has assembled for you and for this unique hour in the life of the church! They are passionately committed to Jesus and to you. They are crystal clear on the cultural and spiritual realities here that must be guarded. And they operate with humility, maturity, integrity, and unity together.
3. Your Church and School Staff are rockstars!
I have never in my life had the opportunity to work with a more talented and focused team! They are stunning, and are ready to serve and lead you forward, confident that the Lord is at work. They have no plans of putting the car in park, but rather are fully persuaded that God is calling us to continue to move forward as He leads. The best is yet to come!
4. The committed Members of ECC are all-in.
The backbone of the church family are the members and volunteers who so tirelessly and faithfully serve one another, pray for each other, and remain faithful even in times of disruptive change. We have a long history of amazing members and it is true today.
5. The Mission is Clear.
Over the past several years, the Lord has used the tensions of our cultural moment to solidify His call in us to equip every generation to change their world for Jesus. The Mission of Jesus is clear: Love God with everything you’ve got, and love others as you love yourself. That mission will not change, and it beats in the hearts of us all. God cannot help but bless, empower, and resource that mission!
Words cannot express my gratitude for all the comments, cards, notes, and visits I’ve had over the past several weeks. Truly I will love you forever!!