A Bittersweet Goodbye
On Sunday we said goodbye to Derek and Roxann and their two boys, Ezra and Asher. This is part of church life. We have to be just as good at sending people off as we are at welcoming them.
Derek shared about the ways God has used your lives and ministry to impact his family. Here’s what he said:
My wife, Roxann, and I and our two sons Ezra and Asher are so blessed to be here to share our time and experiences during our 2 year stretch at this wonderful church.
We moved down to Anaheim from the inland empire about 2 years back as my work brought us to the area. We prayerfully asked the Lord to plug us into a solid community of believers for his purposes and our joy. We visited a church very close to our home, then Sovereign Frace next which was a bit further but much closer to home so to speak. Right away we were immersed with the family-style welcoming we see in the scriptures. Good ol’ Deacon Dave, who incidentally keeps the books for my company now and showed me how no to do accounting, greeted us with warmth after the first service we attended and after our second service we were convinced this is where God wanted us to be.
We discovered that Sovereign Grace of Orange was doing big things for the kingdom. Santa Ana church plant on the horizon, solid doctrinally-sound expositional preaching and teaching....great worship team with wonderful music, fell in love with the culture, and we were excited to be a part of this body of believers.
We were 1 kid deep at the time with one on the way and in need of the safe haven of a good church and by God’s good grace he blessed us here in immeasurable ways. We're so grateful for his mercy. We plugged into our small group and He surrounded us with a community that loved him. I met with Lucas on a few of occasions and received loving pastoral care and made great friends along the way. Relationships that we're so grateful for. Truly this is what a healthy body looks like.
As New Mexico natives our journey in southern California was one that was intended to be temporary and by God’s good grace he is fulfilling his plans for us to head back home. We've made wonderful connections here and we love you all as our fellow sojourners and look forward to an eternity of glory together with Him. We intend on fulfilling our membership commitment of joining a Bible-believing local church back home and will miss this place and miss you all. We're grateful to have a church home here and plan to visit very soon.
Thank you very much for being our brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage you all to continue loving one another and welcoming new people into the fold as you had so graciously with us. May God continue to bless Sovereign Grace of Orange with love for one another, new additions to the church, and continued praise and honor of our precious savior the Lord Jesus.