2 Thessalonians 1:1-4 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

I have pastored four churches. With a couple of youth ministries before that. The first church I pastored, Madison Indiana, I started as the youth minister while a student in seminary. As I nearing the end of seminary, the Church’s Pastor retired. The congregation asked me if I would be interested in becoming the pastor. As one member said it, “better the devil we know than one we don’t.”

I ended up being in Madison for 20 years.

After Madison, we moved to Rapid City South Dakota where I pastored the First Baptist Church for almost 4 years.

Following that I was in Decatur, Ill at First Baptist Church for five years before becoming the pastor at Second.

I have been incredibly fortunate in that I have has wonderful churches with whom I pastored. In Each congregation we stretched and grew together, with very few points of friction or frustration. I have been able, my entire ministerial career, to honestly brag about the churches that I have pastored.

Second Baptist church is no exception, except that it is so exceptional. Just as Paul could say that he bragged about the church in Thessalonica, so I tell you openly that I brag about you all the time when I get to talk about this wonderful church I pastor.

I brag to denominational bigwigs, and other pastors, and to neighbors and friends and family about this wonderful congregation that finds it self situated at the corner of McKnight and Clayton Roads.

I brag about your kindness.

In my own personal walk of faith, I have come to realize that kindness is it. It is the main thing. Kindness is the living out of love and as Paul says, “without love our faith is just annoying.” It is through our acts of kindness that others see the graciousness of God. It is not just the profound words we say or the mighty deeds we do it is the kindness with which we respond to each other.

Kindness is the main thing. And at Second Baptist Church, I see it everywhere. I see it in the way we relate to each other in the classroom, in the hallway, in the fellowship hall and in the sanctuary. I see it in the way we relate to others as we encounter them in very different situations every day. I see it in our response to the world that can sometimes seem very unkind. I brag about you and your kindness.

I brag about your generosity. You are such great givers. And not just to the ongoing ministry here but in everything we bring before you, all the special stuff and we are confident that you will respond with outrageous generosity.

Be it raising money for an orphanage in a refugee camp in Thailand, or a school in Nicaragua, or collecting canned goods to put in Thanksgiving baskets with our good friends at the Antioch Baptist Church, or buying goats and oxen for people around the world for whom those animals are a lifeline, or responding to natural disasters and tragedies, or sending our kids to camp with no cost to them, or supporting our friends and members as they raise money for any number of charities and worthwhile organization’s.

Your generosity is amazing.

I brag about your openness.

We like to say that Second Baptist Church is a different kind of church, and I really think it is. We’re not big on Pat answers, or cookie cutter responses. We encourage questions and love challenges.

Nobody here is afraid to say “I don’t know, let’s find out together!”

If you attend one of our adult Sunday school classes, You know there’s a bit of a free-for-all factor to them as people are encouraged to question and present different ideas and to share real struggles with scripture and faith. I think our openness to working on these things together makes us special. And I love that openness and allows us to share both our orthodoxy and our heresy.

I brag about the way you challenge and encourage me. In other pastorate, I saw myself as the one who pushed grace and openness but at Second Baptist Church I feel pushed (in such a good way), and I tell people this all the time, I feel sometimes like I’m catching up to you. You challenge me to think and to rethink and to reassess and to see experience faith anew. You encourage me to be me, and we encourage each other to be the people God created us to be and not the people that culture and society tries to force us to become.

I brag about the staff here. It strikes me that an office manager has two basic responsibilities, one to do the stuff, and two, to relate to people. Linda is great with the stuff and she is exceptional at dealing with folks. I hear her on the phone sometimes as she ministers to someone in need it’s really phenomenal.

Brad & Marilyn lead our music ministry with grace and generosity. They are beloved. They are kind. In all things their motivation is what is best for Second Baptist church. And they are consummate professionals with whom I am privileged and honored to share leadership.

Henry works with our young people and his heart is ripe for God and cares so much about people. I have appreciated his friendship and his help.

I know that the bulletin lists Carey San as our custodian. But in so many ways Carey (along with Mirian) is a co-pastor as they minister to all of us and specifically to the significant part of our congregation that has immigrated here from Thailand and Burma.

I brag about the other pastors here. All I have ever felt from any of them is support and encouragement and a willingness to serve in whatever way I might need Yeah. Let me tell you, not every pastor can talk about the other pastors in his or her congregation that way.

I brag about our leadership here. Our church council is truly phenomenal as they work together as they stay focused and as they care more about this congregation than they do about personal glory.

I brag about your desire to get it and your recognition that you’re not there yet. Spiritual arrogance is unbecoming and is one of my least favorite attributes among many Christians. That look down your nose at others, I’m holier than thou, thank God I’m not like that tax collector attitude drives me nuts.

At Second Baptist Church, I think most of us recognize that we are feeble, frail, an apt to fall. It allows us to stay connected with the grace and mercy of God.

I brag about this Incredible space, the first time I walked into the sanctuary of the beatitudes I felt at home and sensed that it was a very special space for meeting God. This space has created a place for great conversations and a place where we Can learn and grow together.

I brag about your faithfulness-

Your Commitment to Christ,

Your commitment to this church,

Your commitment to each other.

I brag about our sense of community.

We would not be categorized as a large church, but we are certainly a community of faith that is vibrant, and alive.

We do not have large children’s programs or youth programs but we have developed a sense of community wherein our children are a part of all our lives.

We know each other. We care about each other.

And so, at the talent show, when Esther or Joey play the piano, we don’t think to ourselves ‘that’s nice.” Rather, we revel in their playing and say to ourselves “that’s our Esther,” “that’s our Joey,” and we are amazed as we watch them grow.

I love the community we are building here.

Amen.