Our Father, we thank you that we have good memories of our years together We have prayed together. We have played together. We have laughed together. We have been angry together. We have endured pain together. We have grieved together. We have celebrated together.

Our Father, we have fallen short in many ways. Everything seems incomplete. Everything seems undone. Everything could have been done better. Everything seems to fall short. Help us as we tend to wonder how we could have done it all better.

Yet, Father, today is not a day for grief over our condition or over the past. It is a day to celebrate the past. It is a day to remember the saints that have lived among us and now have departed to be with the Lord. What blessings they have been to us. It is a day to remember the covenant children who grew up in this Church and whose lives have been changed because of faithful parents and the teaching they received. What a blessing they have been to us. We thank you for our children and our children’s children, and we pray too that many new generations will rise up to praise the Lord.

Lord, we pray that You will bless the seed that has been sewn. Help us to take heart in the fact that Your word will never return void, but will accomplish the purpose for which You sent it. Your word has been proclaimed and it has not returned void. Grant greater blessings in the days to come. May the blessings rise as high as the clouds in the sky. May the grace of God pour out like the rain in the midst of a thunder storm. May the love of Christ fill this Church like the blue fills the heavens. May the Kingdom of Christ grow and may the glory of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Lord, help us to remember that the life of the Church is not dependent upon us. You have used a crooked stick to draw a straight line. You have used a man of clay to bring spiritual blessings.. You have used weakness to demonstrate Your power. You have used a preacher who was never sure of himself to give hope and assurance to others. You have used a man who was shy to preach with power and authority.

Lord, where I have failed turn it into success. Lord, where I have been blind give sight. Lord, where I have been wrong make it right.

I thank You for the love of the people of God. I thank You for their prayers. I thank You that even now, and even in the future, I can count on them. I thank You for their respect and honor. May I be granted the greatest honor of all, hearing from Your lips the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Lord, we thank You that a godly man is waiting this day to come here as the new pastor. We thank You that He is a man who loves You with all his heart, mind, and soul. Give him wisdom beyond His years as he comes to a new place to minister to strangers. Help him soon gain the respect of Your people. Give Him strength. Give him the joys of victory. Give him strength in days of failure. Give peace to his family as they make this difficult transition.

Life is really short. We soon grow old and gray. The shadows of the night creep over the hills and we must give way to another generation. History is longer than our lives. We are just one generation among many. We pray that we have been faithful in our generation. Our legacy may not be in silver or gold. It may not be in the wealth of this world. But we all know that money cannot buy the blessings we enjoy.