Letters to My Congregation

I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

Each week (usually Wednesday), I send out a letter to the congregation at ClearView Baptist. It’s a tiny way I hope to shepherd them during the week. Perhaps it might encourage, help, or challenge you as well.

ClearView Family,

There has been one particular song playing on repeat in my head since last Wednesday night. If you recall, last Wednesday was when we first met. I started singing this song (again, in my head) as I drove home that night. The song emerged again all morning on Sunday and has been stuck in my brain ever since. If you’ve seen the 2014 version of the movie Annie you will know it. It’s called “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here.” The song is performed when orphan Annie sees her new home for the first time. Go ahead. Give it a listen. It’s got a nice ring to it.

I’ve been (mentally) singing this song for a full week now. And, yes, it’s because I really think I am going to like being the pastor at Clearview Baptist Church. You all have been so kind and caring and eager and interested and interesting and funny and loving and hungry for God. What the Pastor Search Committee told me about you has proven correct. Yes. I think I’m gonna like it here.

Thank you.

Thank you for your sweet welcome. Thank you for your prayerful posture. Thank you for voting me in on Sunday (I really needed a job!). Thank you for enduring a difficult season. Thank you for depending on the Father to sell the land in His time and in His way so we could be debt free. Thank you for celebrating the goodness of God. Thank you for allowing me to open God’s Word with you. And thank you, most of you, for staying awake during the sermon (grin). Yes. I think I’m gonna like it here.

This will be my last “Letter to My Congregation” until the end of September. To best prepare my soul spiritually for the next season, I am going to step away for several weeks. The LAST thing ClearView Baptist needs is a brand new pastor who is running on spiritual fumes. No. When I start, I want to serve you out of the overflow of a rich, deep, and intimate relationship with Jesus. So, for the next several weeks, I am going to breathe deeply. I am going to rest. I am going to meditate, unhurriedly, on the Scriptures. I am going to spend uninterrupted time with members of my family. I may or may not watch some Auburn football. I am going to pray. I am going to write. And I am hoping to give the Spirit plenty of room and space to do what He wills in and around me.

I really do think I am going to like it here. I am eager to jump in and get going. But the best thing for all of us, for now and the future, is for this sheep to be led by quiet waters having his soul restored. God willing, I’ll see you again in a few weeks - with an open Bible and a heart eager to follow the leading of the Spirit.

Until Then,

Pastor Matt

(Image found here.)