Announcement at Big Woods

As Tim indicated, I have been the pastor at Maranatha Bible Church in Linden for the past 16 years. I want to thank the elders here at Big Woods for giving me the opportunity to make this brief statement. I also want to thank each of you that have encouraged my family and I in the last few months. You have truly been a blessing to us in many ways.

Recently, we the elders and congregation at Maranatha Bible Church have come to agree that our church in Linden can no longer continue to remain open. This difficult decision has been coming for a long time, and as a result, we held our final service together last Sunday morning and permanently closed our ministry. Though we are very sad to see the end of our local church, we continue to firmly believe that the gates of hell will not prevail against the universal church.

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It is that church, the universal church, that we have seen in action through this church, Big Woods Bible Church, as your elders graciously came alongside and supported us in a very challenging time of need. Because of this we are certain that the right thing for us to do now is to give our building, property, and all remaining assets to the work of the ministry here at Big Woods Bible Church to use as you see fit. Thankfully, we have no debt, and we have some money in savings. And so we trust that this gift will be a benefit to you and an offering to the Lord. We see this as an opportunity given to us by God in direct answer to our prayers for guidance, and so we have complete peace about this decision knowing that it all belongs to Him. In fact, we are actually thrilled to offer this humble gift being confident that your elders will lead in the use of it for the promotion of the Gospel, for the edification of the Church, for the exaltation of Christ, and for the glory of God.

Finally, I just want to again thank Pastor Tim and all your elders for their genuine concern and labor of love. And also, we would appreciate your prayers for those from Maranatha who still need to find a good church. Thank you!