Grace and Peace from Our Lord Jesus Christ!
When I pray for you, I do not cease to give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you. It is He who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of His beloved Son and poured out His Spirit upon you. And I have the privilege and joy of preaching to you concerning the Spirit who is within you and praying for you to be filled with Him.
God is working all things together for your salvation and your good and His glory. Looking back at the past year it is amazing to see how He was at work to bring us together. Thanks be to God for your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints. I have seen your love for me and my family from the first day we arrived. I have witnessed and can testify to your hard-work and your words and deeds of encouragement. I have only been here for three months, but I have learned much about you and your joys and challenges. And I look forward to getting to know you all better.
This coming year I want to visit with many of you at your homes in order to continue to learn about you and your joys and challenges and your vision for the church. This will help me to better pray for you and preach to you and for me to be able to testify to what I see God doing in your lives. I will also continue to faithfully devote myself to study, teach and proclaim the word of God to you. Many of you have expressed a desire and see a need in our church for more Bible Studies and small groups or other similar ministries. I see the development of such ministries as the biggest challenge we can undertake together this year, but also as the most rewarding thing we can do for each other and for the spread of the gospel in this community. I am praying that your hard work and encouragement of one another will see this take place. As your teaching shepherd, these things are my top priorities for 2010.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you this year as He has been during this past year. Amen.
In Christ,
Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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