August 29th, 2021
An Update From Our Pastors
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Thank you for joining us on our mission to "seek and save the Lost."
We want to share with you an update from this morning's service. You can watch the video here or read the letters from our pastors below.
A Letter from Pastor Johnny:
Dear Grace Church Members and Pastors,
It is with a heavy heart that I must submit my resignation letter for the position as Lead Pastor of Grace Church as of September 19, 2021.
I have been in prayer and have sought God’s face during these past few months and truly believe that God is moving and leading me and my family to a new assignment in Giddings, Texas.
It has been a great pleasure serving you and being your pastor these last eight years and I know that God has great days in store for this great church.
You are in good hands as we have from the beginning of my ministry, set men in place to help lead this church. I only ask that you love them and pray for them and follow them in the following weeks as they make decisions about Grace Church’s future.
Finally, I want to express my love for all of you and ask that as you walk into the future, you love Jesus more today than you did yesterday and that you would follow him with all your hearts. He truly is our Senior Pastor.
With Love in my heart always,
Pastor Johnny Spray
A Letter from Your Pastors:
We are saddened at the news of Pastor Johnny and his family moving away to lead another church. No doubt, they will be missed. We want to make sure we take a minute to discuss how we can support and pray for Pastor Johnny and his family as they prepare to leave.
Some things you need to know about the Gospel ministry:
• A Pastor is called to gospel ministry by God.
• When a pastor is called, and accepts that call, he has to be prepared for God’s plans, and not his own plans.
• Pastor Johnny was called to Grace Church for a season and purpose.
• He is now being called by God to move on and lead another church, a call he must be faithful.
• Our responsibility toward Pastor Johnny at this time, is to pray for him, his family, and his ministry as he follows God’s calling.
In order to help us understand what this means for us, I want to share some thoughts about where we are. When Johnny was brought to us about 8 years ago, it felt very much like God was at work. After looking back over the last 8 years, we can see much of the work that God accomplished through Johnny while at Grace.
One of the first things Johnny did when he arrived, was to surround himself with other men to hold himself accountable and to help lead the church. He helped to guide us to what we believe is a more biblical model of church ministry that includes multiple pastors instead of just one man having complete control without accountability.
For those who don’t know, we currently have five pastors that serve as your leadership team here at the church, including Johnny. Any big decisions are made by this group of men, and almost always made unanimously. As a group, we are responsible for, and able to, hold each other accountable. We have given each other the right to speak as needed into our lives, even with tough issues. This has helped us to be the better leaders. We still have flaws, and the accountability and support from each other helps to fill the gaps and keep those flaws from affecting the church as a whole. We believe this is the model seen in the New Testament, and the model that Johnny helped guide us to during his time here. If you don’t know us, reach out and say hi and get to know us.
We also have pastor apprentices. These are men who feel called by God into Gospel ministry and have a desire to lead and preach. Our apprenticeship program is designed to help these men become the leaders that God is calling them to be. Part of this program is that each of them had to prepare a sermon and preach to the rest of the pastors and the apprentices on a Wednesday night. We have done this and each of these men has prepared a message, preached it, and then listened to feedback, critiques, and suggestions to help them get better. Over time, our hope is that these men will become part of the leadership team here, or maybe even somewhere else as God calls. What we want you to see from all of this, is that God is leaving us in a good place as a church, even though he is sending Johnny to his next assignment at another church. He has literally been preparing Grace Church for this moment since Johnny’s arrival 8 years ago.
So, what are the next steps for Grace Church? As your pastors, we realize that Johnny’s departure is going to leave a big void. It is a void that will have to be filled in some way. Your pastors have been aware of Johnny’s new calling for a few weeks now and have been seeking God and working together to figure out what is next.
What should you expect from your pastors?
1. We will readjust each of our responsibilities as needed to cover the void that Johnny leaves. While it may not be done exactly how Johnny would do it, we will do everything we can to take care of the church.
2. We are not going to rush to fill Johnny’s spot with just anyone. This is too important and too difficult to rush into.
3. We will seek God’s guidance, as well as, wisdom from others, to move forward. God has already been working in us and showing us some things, and we believe He will continue to do so.
4. We will make sure that God’s word is preached from the pulpit every Sunday.
I have mentioned our pastors and apprentices, but I have not mentioned our other leaders and servants in the church, and we have a lot. Just look around at the people at Grace Church, and you will see them everywhere.
What do we need from you, as members of Grace Church?
1. Pray – For Johnny, for Grace, for your Pastors, for guidance for all of us as we move forward.
2. Trust – Your pastors to follow God’s calling and prompting.
3. Serve - Continue to serve if you are serving, and if you’re not, now is a great time to start.
4. Give – Continue to support the church, we will keep moving forward, and we don’t know what all resources will be needed yet.
5. Community – Stay connected to us and each other.
6. Faith – Stay faithful as we move together towards the future at Grace Church that God is planning.
Our hope and prayer is that you will see God has been doing great things and is going to continue doing great things at Grace. We are excited about where God will take us next, and we want you to be with us.
Pastor Jamie – jamie@gracelou.com
On behalf of all your pastors
Pastor Don – don@gracelou.com
Pastor Aaron – aaron@gracelou.com
Pastor Steven – steven@gracelou.com
REMEMBER, this season will provide you opportunities to continue to fulfill the vision and mission that God has given us:
To seek and save the Lost by loving Jesus, loving people, and advancing the Gospel.
Your pastors,
Aaron, Don, Jamie, Johnny, and Steven
We want to share with you an update from this morning's service. You can watch the video here or read the letters from our pastors below.
A Letter from Pastor Johnny:
Dear Grace Church Members and Pastors,
It is with a heavy heart that I must submit my resignation letter for the position as Lead Pastor of Grace Church as of September 19, 2021.
I have been in prayer and have sought God’s face during these past few months and truly believe that God is moving and leading me and my family to a new assignment in Giddings, Texas.
It has been a great pleasure serving you and being your pastor these last eight years and I know that God has great days in store for this great church.
You are in good hands as we have from the beginning of my ministry, set men in place to help lead this church. I only ask that you love them and pray for them and follow them in the following weeks as they make decisions about Grace Church’s future.
Finally, I want to express my love for all of you and ask that as you walk into the future, you love Jesus more today than you did yesterday and that you would follow him with all your hearts. He truly is our Senior Pastor.
With Love in my heart always,
Pastor Johnny Spray
A Letter from Your Pastors:
We are saddened at the news of Pastor Johnny and his family moving away to lead another church. No doubt, they will be missed. We want to make sure we take a minute to discuss how we can support and pray for Pastor Johnny and his family as they prepare to leave.
Some things you need to know about the Gospel ministry:
• A Pastor is called to gospel ministry by God.
• When a pastor is called, and accepts that call, he has to be prepared for God’s plans, and not his own plans.
• Pastor Johnny was called to Grace Church for a season and purpose.
• He is now being called by God to move on and lead another church, a call he must be faithful.
• Our responsibility toward Pastor Johnny at this time, is to pray for him, his family, and his ministry as he follows God’s calling.
In order to help us understand what this means for us, I want to share some thoughts about where we are. When Johnny was brought to us about 8 years ago, it felt very much like God was at work. After looking back over the last 8 years, we can see much of the work that God accomplished through Johnny while at Grace.
One of the first things Johnny did when he arrived, was to surround himself with other men to hold himself accountable and to help lead the church. He helped to guide us to what we believe is a more biblical model of church ministry that includes multiple pastors instead of just one man having complete control without accountability.
For those who don’t know, we currently have five pastors that serve as your leadership team here at the church, including Johnny. Any big decisions are made by this group of men, and almost always made unanimously. As a group, we are responsible for, and able to, hold each other accountable. We have given each other the right to speak as needed into our lives, even with tough issues. This has helped us to be the better leaders. We still have flaws, and the accountability and support from each other helps to fill the gaps and keep those flaws from affecting the church as a whole. We believe this is the model seen in the New Testament, and the model that Johnny helped guide us to during his time here. If you don’t know us, reach out and say hi and get to know us.
We also have pastor apprentices. These are men who feel called by God into Gospel ministry and have a desire to lead and preach. Our apprenticeship program is designed to help these men become the leaders that God is calling them to be. Part of this program is that each of them had to prepare a sermon and preach to the rest of the pastors and the apprentices on a Wednesday night. We have done this and each of these men has prepared a message, preached it, and then listened to feedback, critiques, and suggestions to help them get better. Over time, our hope is that these men will become part of the leadership team here, or maybe even somewhere else as God calls. What we want you to see from all of this, is that God is leaving us in a good place as a church, even though he is sending Johnny to his next assignment at another church. He has literally been preparing Grace Church for this moment since Johnny’s arrival 8 years ago.
So, what are the next steps for Grace Church? As your pastors, we realize that Johnny’s departure is going to leave a big void. It is a void that will have to be filled in some way. Your pastors have been aware of Johnny’s new calling for a few weeks now and have been seeking God and working together to figure out what is next.
What should you expect from your pastors?
1. We will readjust each of our responsibilities as needed to cover the void that Johnny leaves. While it may not be done exactly how Johnny would do it, we will do everything we can to take care of the church.
2. We are not going to rush to fill Johnny’s spot with just anyone. This is too important and too difficult to rush into.
3. We will seek God’s guidance, as well as, wisdom from others, to move forward. God has already been working in us and showing us some things, and we believe He will continue to do so.
4. We will make sure that God’s word is preached from the pulpit every Sunday.
I have mentioned our pastors and apprentices, but I have not mentioned our other leaders and servants in the church, and we have a lot. Just look around at the people at Grace Church, and you will see them everywhere.
What do we need from you, as members of Grace Church?
1. Pray – For Johnny, for Grace, for your Pastors, for guidance for all of us as we move forward.
2. Trust – Your pastors to follow God’s calling and prompting.
3. Serve - Continue to serve if you are serving, and if you’re not, now is a great time to start.
4. Give – Continue to support the church, we will keep moving forward, and we don’t know what all resources will be needed yet.
5. Community – Stay connected to us and each other.
6. Faith – Stay faithful as we move together towards the future at Grace Church that God is planning.
Our hope and prayer is that you will see God has been doing great things and is going to continue doing great things at Grace. We are excited about where God will take us next, and we want you to be with us.
Pastor Jamie – jamie@gracelou.com
On behalf of all your pastors
Pastor Don – don@gracelou.com
Pastor Aaron – aaron@gracelou.com
Pastor Steven – steven@gracelou.com
REMEMBER, this season will provide you opportunities to continue to fulfill the vision and mission that God has given us:
To seek and save the Lost by loving Jesus, loving people, and advancing the Gospel.
Your pastors,
Aaron, Don, Jamie, Johnny, and Steven
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