PASTOR’S POINT
This, my last article for the Newsletter, contains two separate matters.
The first is to say from both Carolyn and myself “Thank you!” for all your kindnesses that you have shown to us. What a journey we have had! We came in the midst of winter, cold and drear with banks of snow piled high everywhere. We leave in the heat and humidity of summer, bright with the sun’s shining rays, and walls of green corn where once one could see unobstructed for miles across the rolling hills of this beautiful part of Iowa. We have been blessed to have been in your midst. You found an apartment for us. You loaned furniture and other needed items. You received us as fellow believers in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
We plan to leave this part of Iowa no later than the 15 th of August. Since we own no real estate our “home” is wherever the wheels of our motorhome stop turning.
Now we encourage you to receive Pastor Doug and Julie Opp with like kindness. Support them with your prayers and words of encouragement. May the Lord bless and sustain you all as you serve with joy the Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, on Sunday the 4 th of July we were reminded of some of the Christian foundations of our country. Consider what two of our presidents said and believed.
“John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams (our second president), was the sixth U.S. President. He was also chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role. On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, ‘The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.’”
The following words come from the personal prayer book of George Washington: “Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy son, Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Larry
Dear Our Saviour’s Lutheran Congregation,
Greetings to each of you today in the name of our living Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Our Saviour’s faith community, for inviting me to be your servant leader.
Your congregational vote to extend a call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Audubon community has demonstrated your desire to partner in ministry and mission with me as an ordained LCMC pastor. I am honored that you have chosen me to join with you as your pastor in witness and service to our Lord and Savior. I do believe the Holy Spirit has guided each of us in this call process. I want you to know that I have every intention of using the gifts God has provided me to serve the congregation and the Audubon community to the best of my abilities.
My hope is to assume pastoral responsibilities in the congregation on Monday, August 16, 2010. My wife Julie and I are looking forward to this partnership in ministry and mission God has blessed us with. We are eager to soon call Iowa home once again.
In closing I ask that you continue to pray for Julie and me as we transition to a new home and new ministry setting. Keep your faith community in prayer as well remembering Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
May God’s grace and peace abound in your lives today,
Pastor Doug Opp
