I thank you for the opportunity to share a few thoughts with you this morning. I wish I could say these things to you in person but for health reasons it is best if someone reads them to you. I am grateful to Mary Miller for agreeing to do this, particularly since I believe she was the first person the Lord saved under my ministry in Moira.

Eight years ago tomorrow, the Lord brought me to Moira to be your Pastor. Most of you were not attending this church then and some of you were not even saved in 1995. Others among you have listened to me preach for much of that time and my earnest prayer is that soon you too will be saved. God has allowed me to sow the good seed in your heart. I pray He allows me to see the harvest, whoever the reaper is.

Wednesday sees the end of my Pastoral ministry here. Every day since I became ill, I have known where I longed to be – here in Moira Baptist. The strange providences of life would be terribly difficult to accept, if I did not have an unshakable belief that God is sovereign. As Hudson Taylor wrote once to his mother, “The Lord reigns. Trials cannot rob me of this unchanging source of joy and strength”. Why God should allow an illness to take me from you so suddenly is not easily understood but His way is perfect. I trust that through this He may make me more a man of God than I could ever have been without illness. I believe God is also using my trial to speak to you and to this community. I have to be patient for God still has much to do in me and through me. I wait for Him to reveal His plan for my life.

I want to sincerely thank you for all the love and support you have given us over the past 8 years. These years have been the happiest period of my 35 years in the Lord’s work. Joanna and I deeply appreciate every prayer, every encouraging word, every act of kindness and every promise for the future and particularly all you have done for us since I became ill. I know that you will continue to pray for us. Pray for our health and for our family; pray for our faith to remain strong and that we will continue to have real peace through the storms. Please also pray for the ministry that God is giving me through 2hearts – the web site that reaches out to others who are ill. As one church friend helpfully reminded me, my ministry is now in reality a church without walls; a ministry that reaches around the world.

Before I go, I want to speak to some very special people. I want to speak to the boys and girls. One of the things I miss most of all is sitting beside you here in church on Sunday mornings and talking to you about the Saviour. You are all growing up so quickly but I hope you remember what I often told you; that now, when you are young, is the time to turn from your sin and ask Jesus to save you. Don’t wait until you are grown up; trust Him now. So many of you little ones have encouraged me by your cards, pictures, messages and visits and most of all by your prayers. I know that many of you pray for me every day. I love the faith you have. You simply ask God for a new heart for me; I know God hears your prayer and I believe He will honour your faith. Please keep on praying and please give yourself a big hug from Pastor David. I will always be your friend.

And so, friends, the time has come to say goodbye as your Pastor. We have had wonderful times of blessing together. God made us a growing, caring family. Time after time, He gave us grace to face traumatic experiences. He has been pleased to bless our witness and save souls and build many in the faith. He has made us a church with a heart for the world. Our great God has done far beyond what we even asked. Joanna and I will continue to worship and serve here as health permits and as the Lord directs. Even when I am unable to be present physically, you will be on my heart. I continue to pray that God will bless Moira Baptist church and show you His plan for the future.

I could not find a better way to end than to use the following selection of scripture verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The whole epistle seems to sum up what I want to say but particularly these verses.

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends. …. whatever happens to me, you must live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, as citizens of heaven. Dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. Hold tightly to the word of life, so that when Christ returns, I will be proud that I did not lose the race and that my work was not useless. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.

It has been an enormous privilege to serve the Lord among you. Thank you.