Beloved family and friends,
On behalf of all of The Servants of the Word, I wish you a joyful celebration of Easter. The Lord is risen indeed, and nothing will ever be the same again. The course of human history has been changed forever by his death and resurrection, which have opened the way for us to eternal life! We pray that in this season you might be filled with the joy of Christ’s victory over sin, and with the sure hope of his triumph over death. And in this second year in a row in which Christians from East and West coincide in our calendars and share the same date for the feast of Easter, we pray with special fervor that our risen Lord will bring about the full unity of his body, by the power of his Holy Spirit.
This is my final newsletter greeting to all of you as presiding elder of The Servants of the Word. By the time our fall newsletter comes to you, I will have handed the baton to Ken Noecker, and it will be his smiling face that will greet you in September. My own face will be doing its best to avoid being burnt in the tropical sun of the Philippines, where I will be serving in the coming years.
As always at such times of feasting and of celebrating God’s goodness, we remember before him with gratitude all the ways that he has so richly blessed us.
We count you among the great blessings of God to us, and we thank him, and you, for your love and your support. And we pray that you may also know, in countless ways, the riches of his blessing in your lives.
In Christ our risen Savior,
John Keating – Presiding Elder, The Servants of the Word
This article is from our 2011 Easter Servants of the Word Newsletter [1.1MB PDF].
John:
Bendiciones especiales en esta celebración de PASCUAS DE RESURRECCIÓN para tí y todos los hermanos que conforman la hermandad.
Adelante hombre de Dios para seguir construyendo el baluarte
saludos de toda mi familia
Que el Señor te bendiga
Galo
Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay sa’yo, John! Sumaiyo nawa ang isang matinding pagpapala sa dakilang panahong ito ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay habang ikaw ay naghahandang tumulak papunta rito sa aming bayan. Kami ay lubos na nananabik sa iyong pagdating!
Un saludo Jon espero que el Señor siga bendiciendo tu trabajo apostólico. Verdaderamente el Señor ha resucitado ¡aleluya! Acabe muy contento en la pascua y espero que en este año en el que nos vamos a volver a encontrar en el Adelante podamos platicar, aunque sea un poquito antes de tu marcha a filipinas. Todo sea por él. Es una bendición contar con hermanos con tanta sabiduría. Que el Señor te siga reconociendo como el siervo fiel y humilde que eres. Te quiero mucho hermano.
There’s a very special place in my heart for so many members (past and present) of the Servants of the Word. And a debt of gratitude for some of the amazing worship songs that are still among my favorites, such as “God Alone”, which my husband sang in church this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbRLkd0kI5Q&feature=youtu.be