My column from the May edition of our church magazine.
Remembering
May 5th will mark seventeen years since our church building was dedicated and opened by Rev. Allan Harman.
To put that in some perspective, our tenure at Scots on Pick Avenue was for nineteen years.
Anyone under the age of twenty who is part of our church doesn’t really remember our previous place of worship.
But more than buildings, what remains with me is the memory of the human ‘bricks’ which comprise our church. I say comprise, because even though some are not longer physically present, they are still with us.
Their example, influence, words and encouragements have not left us even though their bodies have.
Our friend Noel Cusack joined the church triumphant during this last month.
All through the last decade Noel’s health had made it difficult for him to be as active as he would have liked. For all of that he was a valued supporter of the Allendale and O.B. Flat congregations until their conclusions.
As a retired elder and former clerk of the eldership Noel retained a keen interest in all aspects of parish life.
When he laid down the responsibility for active eldership Noel was presented with a framed certificate as an expression of our appreciation.
On the certificate Micah 6:8 was included as a tribute to Noel:
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
It was, and remains, a privilege to have known Noel as a man whose walk with the Lord Jesus saw him not only do that which is right, but to genuinely love doing so, regardless of personal cost.
It has been an immense further privilege to have known so many here who also matched up with that description, beginning with Noel’s late wife Phyllis, and then to think of so many others.
As a keen gardener, Noel would no doubt point out that fruit comes from roots, and the qualities in his life for which we give thanks come from a relationship with Jesus.
I mention all of this for reasons of both sentiment and practicality.
It is good to remember our departed friends and to remember that without their dedication and Christian love our church would not exist as we know it.
We do well to remember their faithfulness and to remind ourselves that their efforts our not simply for our benefit, but also as examples.
We must emulate that which in their lives best expresses the love and servant heart of Jesus.
And we must also be conscious that our lives and examples here are an investment for generations to come.
In Christian faith there must come a day when those who follow will talk about us as we talk about those who have been our examples. If not we have failed in passing the good deposit of faith which we have been blessed to receive.
On May 5th we’ll thank God for the various ways in which His grace has blessed us as a church, but our best expression of gratitude is planting the blessing we have received into the lives of those who follow us.
— Gary.
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