Well, good evening. Welcome to the Providence Baptist Church 25th anniversary banquet. So glad to see everybody here tonight. I'm Clint Jackson. It's my privilege to serve as one of the elders here at PBC. We've been around for a few years. I feel like I know most everybody. And I'll tell you, 25 years ago when my wife and I and our one infant son drove up to a daycare on Center Street, Honestly, we thought we had the wrong address. And that turned out to be Providence Baptist Church. After you snaked through to the back room, there's 25 or 30 people there preparing for worship. I would have never predicted at that point that the Lord would have us here 25 years later, over 300 people in this room and probably ten times that number of people who have been affected by the ministry and of the teaching and preaching of God's Word and just the work that the Lord's done through this church. So that's what this evening is about, reflecting on the Lord and His grace and His favor and His blessing upon PBC, and also spending a little bit of time maybe looking forward to what He may have in store for us for the next 25 years, Lord willing. Two other things. There are two tables stacked with a bunch of coffee mugs and we've got about that same number still in boxes. So we would like for all of you who are interested on your way out, take a PBC 25th anniversary commemorative coffee mug with you. Take a couple if you need to, we've got a bunch. And then also too, We don't have these made yet, but we're in the process of putting together a memory book that's gonna look something like this, kind of a hard back coffee table type book. And so I'll, also on one of those back tables, we'll have a list. So if you're not currently a PBC person, and you want one of these memory books, write your name and address there and we'll ship you one when they're ready later this summer. We're gonna incorporate some things from tonight. It'll have a bunch of pictures, some old hymn favorites, some memories, things like that. It just wasn't quite ready for prime time tonight. So if you're interested and you're not a normal PBC person, put your name and address there and we will certainly send you one. Did I miss any logistics? We okay? Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and pray and then we will begin. Okay, good to see everybody. Heavenly Father, we do praise you. We praise you for your grace and your mercy to your people. Lord, we just praise you for watching over and protecting and leading and guiding this local flock for 25 years. We thank you for this opportunity and this place and this meal that you have provided for us and just a chance to reunite and reflect. And just to praise you, because you are worthy of our praise. Lord, I pray that you would be with us this evening, be with the speakers. We pray that our songs, our prayers, our words would be uplifting and would be a sweet sound in your ears. I ask all these things in Christ's name, amen. Good evening. My name's Karen Littlejohn. Tommy asked me to share a brief testimony. I was saved as an adult under Tommy's and Brother Stan's teaching and preaching at Bayshore Baptist Church just a few years before we started Providence Baptist Church. Yes, we used to call them Brother Stan and Brother Tommy. It's a funny thing I started thinking about when preparing this testimony. It seems so southern, and I don't know whatever happened to that. But I say we bring it back. What do you think, Brother Corey? I had been attending church all of my life thinking I was saved, simply because I could state that I believed in Jesus. If you had told me then that I was not really a Christian, I would have strongly disagreed, but I really didn't have a leg to stand on biblically. For some reason, I wanted to say I believed in Jesus, but before this time, there had never been any evidence of repentance in my life. I basically was living however I wanted, suppressing any conviction of my sin. It was truly a miracle when God opened my eyes and changed my heart. I remember telling my worldly friends about my conversion and them asking me, what happened? Were you in a wreck or something? Did you get arrested? They simply could not understand why I would turn my back on all the fun we were having. It's hard to explain, but thankfully God didn't choose any of those drastic measures to wake me up. He just patiently convicted me of my sin through his word under the preaching and teaching of my loving pastors at Bayshore Baptist Church and granted me repentance. A few years later, Tommy introduced the idea of starting a new church. I remember that first meeting at the Dawn Home. where he shared what God was calling him to do and how the new church would slightly differ from the church where we were all attending. As Tommy faithfully presented the doctrines of grace, I had zero hesitation regarding Reformed theology. I knew without a doubt that I had nothing to do with my salvation. When God changed me, I was not looking to be saved. As I said, I was vainly attending church regularly, but all the while believing I was already a Christian. But when he opened my eyes, everything changed. I could see and hear things I did not understand before. Things I loved and lived for suddenly repulsed me. I finally had eyes to see God as perfect and holy, my own sin as vile and disgusting, and was no longer able to take his sacrifice for granted, selfishly continuing an unrepentant sin. The early years of PBC were wonderful. It was a lot of work, not having your own building, and setting up, breaking down, and packing everything into a cargo trailer every time we met. But I was young and single, and so it did not seem so hard to me then. I have so many special memories of PBC through the years. I have to admit, when asked to share my testimony and talk about our 25 years at PBC in five minutes, I was quite overwhelmed. It seemed an impossible task because God has blessed me and my family through Providence Baptist Church in so many ways. I won't bore you with all of them. In the everlasting slideshow, you might see a tall, silver-haired man with some tattoos. Leslie Smith was an evangelist from England. I believe he was an integral part in the early years of our church. He demonstrated such love for God and an unmatched passion for sharing the gospel with all those he met. Leslie Leslie introduced all of us to the hymn, Who is on the Lord's Side? If you ever want to know what he was like, you simply need to review the lyrics of that hymn. Leslie was clearly on the Lord's side, going out of his way to faithfully share the gospel with every waitress, cashier, or garage sale attendee he ever met, always in the power of the Holy Spirit and faithfully giving glory to Christ. There's no telling the impact he made for the kingdom during his visits to Providence. It's clear to see God arranged for Tommy and Leslie to meet, and I'm so thankful for Tommy's wisdom in bringing the Smiths across the pond to help further God's kingdom. Leslie and his wife Sylvia came for our wedding in 2001, and Leslie spoke. I'll always remember his piercing blue eyes as he charged us at the wedding altar. Keep your eyes on Christ. When you think about it, this is the best advice you could give any newly married couple. And I've actually shared this simple phrase with many newlyweds, praying that these words would affect them the way they have been. When Leslie spoke, it was as if those eyes could see right into your soul. Through many hard times, I could just hear him speak with his sweet, endearingly squeaky voice with English accent, Karen, keep your eyes on Christ, reminding me in every situation that it's not about me. Providence has been the perfect church for a couple to raise their children. Marlon and I are so thankful for all those who have counseled and guided us as a married couple and as parents through the years. So many of you have poured into our children via catechism, Sunday school, VBS, Christmas programs, and countless sermons. And has anyone ever stopped to consider the number of cards and notes of encouragement our faithful Pastor Tommy has written over the years? I added up birthdays and anniversaries for my family alone, and it was something like 130 cards just for us. I didn't know he does this for everyone, so it's mind-boggling to think about that. Ultimately, the lifetime Christian friends we have all made here at Providence are irreplaceable. Having brothers and sisters in Christ willing to encourage and even admonish you when necessary has been the biggest blessing We love you all so much and pray God will continue to grow and guide Providence how he sees fit and for his own glory. And that he will give each of us the daily desire and power to keep our eyes on Christ. Well, it's a joy to be here. I didn't know what I was supposed to say, so I just have a few short notes, and I want to introduce you to someone. Just some times of Providence, a few eras, if you will. At the very beginning, before Providence started, before we even thought about starting, or nobody but me, There was a time of abbreviation. I'd been to seminary, I'd taken a class on planting churches, and so this time of abbreviation was helped, I was helped by June. It was a time of pruning. It was a time of clipping. It was a time of trimming, thinning, lopping, cropping, and snipping. All those were in the thesaurus for pruning. And through that time of abbreviation, June saved me, not salvation. She saved me from humiliation. and from some of the dumb ideas I had about how to start a church. She helped me to know what not to do, and she truly did save me from much embarrassment as we pruned all those silly ideas. Second, there was a time of preparation, and that's why Stan Jordan is standing here. I'd finished seminary, I was working for the oil company. Stan asked me to come on staff. He was my pastor, asked me to come on staff. And I don't know, I told him no a few times and the Lord just really, truly convicted me. And did I want to be the big shot? I thought I was ready to go, but the pastor at church, somebody please call me. Well, Stan, the Lord used Stan finally to give into his will for my life. And I went on staff with Stan and six years of a time of preparation. And all I say about that, I'm gonna let Stan say something, whatever he likes to say. That saved a congregation that I might have gone to without six years of preparation under Stan's leadership. He'd been in ministry a long time. I did not know, have any idea what day-to-day ministry. Stan taught me that. Well, thank you, Tommy. It's always been obvious that God had called Tommy to the ministry and that that's where he was supposed to be. And when he came to me and said the Lord had laid it on his heart to start a church, I knew that he knew that the Lord had told him to do that. And so I encouraged him to do that. and I encouraged our church to do what we could do to support them in that. And one of the things the Lord laid on my heart was to stand up in front of the church and say, Tommy's been called to start a church. If any of y'all want to go with him and help him start the church, then you have our blessing to go. And then to give him support for that first year. And so I'm just glad the Lord used that to start this wonderful church. And I just give God all the glory and I want to encourage you to keep going and keep being faithful to the Lord the way you have been. Thank you very much. And so this whole gathering is part of the legacy of Stan Jordan's ministry, gospel ministry. Right? This, it wouldn't happen. This would not have happened. Had he not been willing to give up his congregation, whoever wanted, not many pastors would do that. We're so thankful to God for Stan. Thank you. Yes. Yes, Stan. So that was a time of preparation without which Providence would not be here today at all. There was a time of formation early on in the first few years of the church when Bruce came to Providence. The Lord used Bruce to challenge me and some of my ways that June had not been able to get out. And I just, in my notes here, I say Bruce saved PBC in those early years by helping us. He taught me much about leadership, about, he just challenged me in some of my awkward, backward ways. Then there was a time of institution in the life of the church. As we began, Bruce and I were elders by ourselves for a number of years. But now we're serving together with a group of elders. And through the years, the number has grown. Andy is an elder. Pastor Barry's here as a pastor. Clint, Craig, Dennis, Rusty, Allen, over 20 years of learning together how to function as a group of elders leading a flock, shepherding a flock. We learned to accommodate without compromise. Hard to do. We learned to defer without surrendering our positions. a time of institution. Then there was a time of perpetuation, if you will. Cory and Kristen came to Providence. 14 years ago now? 14 years ago. We had no idea. I didn't know Cory. Cory didn't know me. And the Lord has planted him here. to continue the work one day. Now, I'm not going anywhere yet, but Corey will be part of the perpetuation, the younger elders, those of you who are here. I'm so thankful to God for Corey. I'm thankful to God for Bruce, for every elder, for Stan. And then last, a time of exultation and deep, deep appreciation for every one of you. You have affirmed to June and I. You have supported us. Some of you have been here for 20 years, some for 10, some of you for weeks. But we thank you so much, Providence, and those who have gone on from Providence who are here. You all mean so much to June and me. And I'll just close with one passage. I think James Segura was the one who brought it to my attention that we needed to never forget Colossians 127. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. That has been the goal, to teach one another, learn together and everyone be presented mature in Christ before the throne of God. Thank you all so much for being here tonight and this privilege to speak to you. Howdy. I'm Craig Swain. I'm one of the elders here at Providence. We came and joined and began serving and being served by so many of y'all in 2009. And it's just been a great blessing. And I am the speaker who has the best assignment. I get to return thanks to the meal, and then everybody's very happy. So if you would, please bow with me, and let's give thanks to the Lord. Almighty Heavenly Father, Lord, we do praise you and thank you for the blessings that you pour upon us. We thank you, Father, for the bounty of this meal. We ask your blessing upon it. Father, bless the nourishment of our bodies. Bless us, Father, to your use. And we thank you, Father, for bringing us together as an assembly, for the folks that are even now together serving you, for those that have come and that you have led to other places, Father, to serve you. Lord, use us. Let us be a light for the Lord Jesus Christ, for it's in him that we hope and have joy, in you, Father, and in one another, as his followers. Be with us, we pray, in his name, amen. So I was, I got an email from Corey a month or two back and asked me if Tommy had asked me to speak at the anniversary dinner and I said, no, he has not. He said, well, I think he wants you to. I said, okay, I'll be happy to do that. So I texted him and I said, hey, you have any directives for me as far as, you know, what you'd like me to say or anything you specifically wanna talk about? And he said, no, he said, you be you. Now, yeah, that's exactly how I reacted. You sure? So I had been talking with Corey about the beginning, the beginning of the beginning, or before the beginning, and how I really wanted to make sure that it was shared tonight, what that looked like. And since I was there, I guess that's why I got asked to do it. So I apologize in advance for any tears that are shed. I'm gonna try to limit this to five minutes. That's all I'm gonna say. So this 25 year anniversary is not about Tommy Dawn, as it's easy to think it is. However, it is about Tommy Dawn's obedient call to this work. We were going to Bayshore. I was in the group at Bayshore that started meeting at Tommy's house on Thursday nights and sitting in the doctor's grace, learning what Calvinism was. Tommy had taken a group of us, Mark and I, and Pat Benavides to the Shepherds Conference in California. where we were really introduced solely to those doctrines. And it wasn't hard for me to, some people, you know, hard to grasp it. It was easy for me. I understood God's sovereignty over everything, including our salvation. But I remember when Tommy came to me, we were just studying and doing these things and he talked a little bit about that earlier. But I remember when he came to me and he goes, you know, I'm 50 years old, you know, if we're going to do this, I'm going to do this now. And I was like, well, hey, man, good luck with that. We were going to Bayshore, you know, 600 people, Sunday school, I sang in a huge choir and an ensemble and beautiful facilities and, you know, it was comfortable. And, you know, when God calls you, you know. And it was obvious that he was calling Becky and I. And Becky grew up in Bayshore. She was an infant there. So I was saved there. And so it was difficult, but it wasn't difficult because we knew that it was God's call on our lives. And so... With that, talking about the Thursday Night Bible Studies, I asked June the other day, hey, what color was your carpet in the house? She goes, it was kind of a brown, rusty, kind of red. She goes, yeah, why? I go, I was just wondering, just wondering. because I remember laying on that floor many Thursday nights going through Bible studies because there wasn't enough seats in our living room, and she had to have the couch pretty much, so I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But those times, those Thursday nights were amazing. And then obviously, you know, I don't even remember how it all played out. Tommy did all the work to schedule the first Sunday. I remember I said, well, who's going to lead the music? He goes, you are. What? I'm a singer. I don't want to lead her. But it was really cool, because we didn't have a pianist or musician. So Luke put some CDs together with the hymns. So we had little boombox and CD player. And that was what we sang our hymns to the first few Sundays, which was crazy. You couldn't mess up. Just keep playing. And I remember, so I wrote down, I was trying to think of the people that were there the first Sunday, and if Karen or anybody can tell me different, but obviously Tommy and June, Mark Northcutt over there with the really white hair, and his family, the Benavides family, George, his hair's white, what he has of it there, and then Shannon Burke, Tammy Snyder, who's here, and Delonda. They were there. And my family, the boys. Kyle was three and a half, and Tyler was seven and a half, and they're 28 and 32 now. I think that was it. I don't think there was anybody else there that first Sunday, but. Lola, I'm sorry, Lola. I'm sorry, Lola. I don't even have your name down here. I apologize for that. Lola was there. But talking about Stan, I still consider him a dear friend, but we were very close friends, and I remember. going to Stan, and Stan was so gracious. And what Tommy said earlier about how this all played out in the beginning is exactly right. And I appreciate you guys sharing that tonight. It made it easier on me. But I remember having to go to Stan and tell him that I was leaving, and that was very difficult. But Stan was so gracious and loving to all of us as we started Providence Baptist Church. Let's see, where am I? One of the funny things I remember, I always like to share, so Kyle was three and a half, and I remember he would tell, he was in preschool at First Methodist in Deer Park, and he would tell people, I go to church and a school, and I go to school and a church. Classic times. We left Providence in 2010. and I'm gonna use a Tommyism, we came back after a fashion. I Googled that, because I didn't really know what it meant, but I've heard him say it for years. And it does have a certain negative connotation, but yet positive. Google it, because it's interesting, but we came back after a fashion, I'll just say that, okay? Let's see. To say that there weren't more than a few admonitions, from there to here, in the early days, would be the understatement of the millennium, but, Tommy's love for the church is, I don't know. God-given, obviously, but it's special, and we should all be keenly aware of how much he loves us, and especially through the admonitions. There were many for me early on, for sure. I remember we created our own hymnal. We have one at home or two of them at home. I think there was 40 or 50 hymns, Tommy, was that something like that in the first hymnal? So we created the hymnal because the hymnals that we We kind of swung the pen a little too far, but that's a whole other story. But anyway, there's so many hymns in the hymnal that we have that just weren't, I mean, they didn't make any sense. They just didn't make any sense. But the one hymn, my favorite hymn that we sing, and I thought about that as I was putting this together, the drop that grew into a torrent. is a good picture of what's happening right now in this church. That drop, that call by God to Tommy Don to plant a church, to start a church. I'm not saying this is a torrent, but it's no longer a drop. And it's all by God's grace, obviously, and his mercy, and our pastor's faithfulness to teach and preach the word of God. I'm so thankful for that. I look forward to the next 25. I mean, I live that long, probably won't live that long, but I hope to. But I'm so grateful that we're here and for this church and for the leadership. And so that's all I got. Thank you guys so much. Good evening. I've also been given the responsibility and the awesome task of talking a little bit about Tommy. And some wise person told me that when you're going to talk a little bit about a seriousness of something, you got to sprinkle it with a little humor. Well, first, before any of that, I'm gonna read us a couple of scriptures, which are kind of the setting for what I'll talk about. First one is 1 Timothy 3, one to four. The saying is trustworthy, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. The second scripture I'm going to read is in 1 Peter chapter three. Likewise, wives be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. Remember that scripture. When they see respectable and pure conduct, Do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear. But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, and you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. Well, when I was told that I would talk about Tommy and he found out that I was gonna talk about him, for some reason he's been awful nice to me lately. But I'm going to tell you a little story. It has some humor in it. Tommy's one of the main characters in it. I wasn't here very long, and Tommy asked me one day, will you go visit a friend of mine with me in the hospital? So we went, and we had a good visit. And as we were leaving, we went down the hall, got in the elevator. And as the door was closing, this little elderly lady was coming down toward the elevator, giving her best impression of somebody her age running. She was at least 65 years old, if not more. So Tommy saw her, he held the door open for her, and she got in all huffing and puffing, out of breath. And Tommy said, are you OK? Can we help you? She said, Oh, no, but I got to get home. I've got to get home. She said, I just got a signal on my phone. My house is being broken into. And Tommy said, did you call the police? And she said, yes, but they may take a little bit of time to get there. I've got to get home. And Tommy said, well, you don't want to get home before the police get there. And she looked at him with all the bravado of a Texas Ranger and said, why not? I'm packing. Man, I knew I was in Texas. But it was surely the gracious providence of God that I was brought to Texas and met Robert Tommy Don. and his faithful, loving wife, Vivian June. The name of the church, Providence Baptist Church, is indeed a fitting name in so many ways, especially to me. Two people in my life that influenced me most were Robert K. Rudolph and Robert Tommy Dunn. Dr. Rudolph was a professor of theology at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia. He taught me to think, And Paul Tripp says exactly that in his experience there. The second most influential person in my life is Tommy Don. The two men both named Robert, kind of strange, but Robert Rudolph taught me to think and Tommy Don taught me to love by applying God's greatest gift to us practically. And if they ever produce a book of faithful shepherds, you will surely find his picture there. Now, I would like to say a few words before going on about Tommy's faithful wife, June, and her place in the life of the church. And I believe that Peter sums up June's character in 1 Peter 3, 1 to 6, which we read. And her faithful teaching and mothering of the children here at Providence over the years was and is a reason we have so many who have grown up and were converted and became members, some who are still here, while others are at different places that God has for them. As a testimony to his faithfulness to June's ministry, she has been and still is a mentor, encourager, and counselor to the ladies of Providence. And remember the scripture that I said about winning her husband by the word, It was June's continued witness to Tommy that led him to a church service where God opened his eyes in conversion. Then the Christian she was was now able to marry the Christian this wayward sailor whom she loved had now become. She has been his devoted wife and helped meet, as God has designed, for him, and I know that Tommy is more than thankful to God for her, as well as we all at PBC. Thank you, June. Back to Tommy. Since the day I met him in 2001 at my favorite restaurant, Shibley's, Tommy's focus was single-minded and laser strong to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had one purpose on his plate, to glorify God through his ministry to Providence Baptist Church. The phrase of the Apostle Paul is fitting into Corinthians 12.15, I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls, a theme that describes Tommy very well. He has been relentless in his pursuit to be the best preacher teacher he could be, and no one can deny his achievements in this pursuit. This 25 years of ministry filled with much joy has not been without its trials and problems. How many pastors have had to excommunicate members they mentored and loved? Tommy has, in faithfulness to the word and the love of the person's soul. Thankfully, Church discipline is for restoration of the individual, and in some cases it did just that. The individuals came to their senses and repented and were restored to the body. Sadly, some did not. A lesson for any young aspiring preachers here, do not be afraid to discipline those who need it. The preaching and teaching is but one page in the book of a pastor. Yes, it's the main page, however, and should be the main focus of the ministry. But there will be counseling of individuals and couples who come to you expecting your time and wisdom to solve a multitude of their problems by directing them to God's given answers to those problems in his holy word. And as pastors, To those in need, they will call on you all hours of the day or night. A pastor is interrupted by family and personal health issues, and what will suffer most of the pastor is his time alone meditating on the word and prayer. But none of these issues just mention every deterred Tommy from answering a call for help from a bleeding sheep. Pastors have the responsibility of mentoring young men to be mature men who will come on board themselves to become shepherds of the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is a task of great importance to the church and must be done with prayer and patience and wisdom per the instructions found in 1 Timothy 3, which I read. That we read, Tommy did just that before appointing me to the office here at Providence. When I was arrived, I was a widower for nine years. I had been an elder in two churches in Pennsylvania and pastored a small congregation for 10 years. I also came with a letter of recommendation. However, as Tommy was about to announce me as one of the elders here, I said, Tommy, Susan and I want to get married. Well, Tommy thought it over. And his counsel was, we've only known you as a single person. We have never observed your behavior with a wife. Therefore, we want you to see your behavior as a husband for six months before appointing you. Wow, what a wise decision. His concern was for the church, not for me or not that he could have used the help. In these 25 years, Tommy has wept with many and rejoiced with many, spent many sleepless nights concerned with the decisions of the day. It's not a position for wimps or egotists, but in my opinion, is the most important office in the human experience, greater than the United States president. Because it's the bride of Jesus Christ that we serve, the body in which he himself dwells by his spirit, These are the sheep of the great shepherd and their care and salvation for his glory is his chief concern. Therefore, we who are under shepherds will receive a greater judgment because of this great responsibility. And I know that Tommy would counsel you who aspire to this office, if you can find anything else to do in the church, do it. I also know that as Tommy looks out on the Providence body, especially tonight, because we can see a lot of it here, he has to be satisfied as a church he started with 30 people. By God's grace and Tommy's faithful preaching, shepherding and care has grown to just about 10 times that number. God has certainly been faithful to Tommy as he has been faithful in preaching of God's holy word. And it has been my honor and pleasure and joy, not only to have such a friend and brother, but to have been able to walk alongside for these many years. Thank you, my brother. So in closing, I want to say that this is not the only testimony about Tommy that you would hear. If you would ask anybody who's been at Providence for any length of time, they'd share the same testimony. My brother, my dear, dear friend, for these 24 years I've known you, I confess there's a bit of sadness in my heart and I know in yours, but also the joy you have to know that outweighs all other feelings because of what God has accomplished through you for his glory as you step away from the rigors of the preaching ministry. But again, much of your accomplishments will be seen and carried on because of your mentoring of Pastor Corey Johnson, the one who will be replacing you in the pulpit, and Pastor Alan Thomas, who will fill the pulpit as the need arises. And folks, this is not a sad testimony of retirement here. This is a celebration of 25 years of God's grace to his bride at Providence Baptist Church. Therefore, I want to encourage you pastors and elders with young growing churches to call upon Tommy to come and share his wisdom with you because he'll have extra time to do it now. And I believe Ephesians 4 11 sums it up. And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, like Robert Tommy Don. Thank you, Tommy, and all of Providence thanks you. And we look forward to your continued teaching to us. Thank you, brother. Well, this 25th anniversary weekend for Providence Baptist Church has been a blessing. If you were with us yesterday, we celebrated the 4th of July at Providence. And tonight, this beautiful banquet, a night of remembrance and honor. So if you were a part of this, thank you. Thank you for these memories. Thank you for helping us to commemorate 25 years of faithful ministry, faithful one-anothering, the Word of God being proclaimed. This weekend, it's continuing to be a blessing as we come together, thinking about how God has bestowed grace upon Providence Baptist Church. thinking about the blessing each member has been, the blessing the pastors and deacons have been. But if we were to recount all the blessings, all that God has done in our midst these past 25 years, according to our own finite memories, I do not think we'll be able to fill a weekend or even maybe a lifetime because There's not even, there's not just one storyline of PBC, of Providence. It encompasses the work of God and the lives of the people of God who have been sanctified this past 25 years. There's lifetimes upon lifetimes of ministry and love and care that has gone on at Providence. Most of, as we, We were told by Chris, or we saw, there's a handful of original members, but most of us were not there at the founding. Some have been here for 20 years, some for 15, some 10, some five, some one. Nevertheless, the collective ministry of 25 years, all have benefited from God's word that has transformed lives by his spirit. And those lives have impacted others' lives who come and visit and eventually join. Now this is possible because we know that we are all members one of another. Part of the body of Christ being built up and equipped for the work of the ministry. This happens collectively, corporately. We're bound together in love over these last 25 years. Whether you've been here for a year, or 25. So blessed be this tie that binds. However, I would be remiss if I did not offer up some ministerial reflections on such a special occasion. Before I spoke, Bruce was up here and he spoke about the impact of Tommy Dawn and how Tommy has impacted PBC and any who have come in contact with him, and this is true. Tommy has been such an immense blessing to me in my own development, in my own life. I have watched his patience, his teaching, his love for the church, and that has impacted me in more ways than I can describe. So thank you, Tommy. This evening, I wanna also speak about Bruce, who didn't want me to speak about him, but it's gonna happen. He has served here for over 20 years. Bruce is not only a dear friend, but he's like a spiritual father to me. He's walked with me through peaks and valleys. He's encouraged me, he's exhorted me, and he's rebuked me. As you can tell from his speech, he has also joked with me. He's told many, many, many jokes. Honestly, I don't know of one man who has told more jokes in his life. He is always telling jokes. In fact, Bruce, if you're here, who's telling jokes to all the waitresses at IHOP? But in all seriousness, you might hear some more jokes, but in all seriousness, there's much to praise about Bruce, just not his golf swing. When Bruce swings the golf club, he looks like he's at the same time chopping down a tree and winding up to slay Goliath with a sling. I love you, Bruce. He's a better golfer than I, so. All jokes aside, though, Bruce is one of the most caring souls you will ever meet. He has given his money, his time, his energy, and his life to pastor the flock that God has set before him. Bruce is also a pastor's pastor. He is someone who pastors go to for advice and counsel. Like I mentioned, he's played an integral part in my own spiritual growth and development. And with Bruce, you watch not only by, you learn not only by watching from afar, but you also learn by going with and doing. Recently, I received a phone call. It was at the office from an unknown person that was desperately requesting a pastor come to the hospital and pray with her dying father. I called Bruce up. maybe six or seven p.m., and with no hesitation, he met me at the hospital where he came to minister to the family in need, praying with this dying man. That's how you learn pastoral ministry. Bruce epitomizes hospitality and generosity. When I used to work at the night shift as a police officer, I used to wake, or he woke up, but I would go over at 6 a.m. when my shift was over and I would sit in his home office in my uniform and we would talk about life, challenges, marriage, and then as I left, he would encourage me to go home and love my wife and my kids. When Hurricane Harvey hit, I had to stay and work and him and Susan took me in and let me sleep in their spare bedroom. When our family was preparing to move overseas on the mission field, we sold our home and Bruce offered up his home for us to live in until we left. He has always been hospitable. He's the one that you go to when something's heavy on your heart. And not only does he not mind, but he also seems to love being there for you in the hardest of times. One night, I had something particularly heavy on my heart, and I went over to his house after 10 p.m., knocked on the door, and he let me in, and we talked. I had no doubt that Bruce would let me in. And I think, as a former police officer, police officers run towards gunfire when everyone else flees. Bruce runs towards bleeding sheets. If you ever had Bruce come up to you and ask if everything is okay or how are you doing? You know that he's not just passing the time or just making flippant comments. This is care that comes from a man full of genuine concern and love for you. So if he comes to you and asks, know that he loves you and he wants to encourage you. And the truly thing about this and about Bruce is that I can confidently say that I'm not the only person in this room that would probably have the same testimony about him. You know, often as a pastoral ministry, we speak about how the pastors need to smell like sheep. That is, they need to be with the flock and amongst the flock that they shepherd. And so Bruce, he smells like sheep. He is with the sheep. He loves the sheep. He shepherds the sheep. Bruce is a shepherd who smells like sheep. And this is relieving for me to know because all those years I couldn't figure out what that smell is, was in the office. It was Bruce. All jokes aside, even though Bruce doesn't always come into the office as much as he used to, Every time you see Bruce, there's joy emanating from him. Whenever I see him, it's because he's always with the people. He's always with the body. He's either going to meet someone or had just come from meeting someone. He smiles and he laughs because of how much he loves Christ and Christ's bride. His love for the church is infectious. The way that he talks about Christ's bride is glorious and convicting. And I've had many conversations with Bruce in his house, sitting at the table, where he's talking about the abundant life in the church as we love one another. And Bruce will tell you, with tears streaming down his face, how much he loves Providence Baptist Church. That's a pastor. It's okay, you can clap. He's not only a pastor's pastor, a shepherd of sheep, a lover of the church, he's an excellent preacher and teacher. If any of you have had the privilege of hearing his teaching, you'll note that same love that comes through in his counsel and hospitality comes through in the care that he takes in writing a sermon. He handwrites every single sermon. I don't know if he knows how to use a computer, but he handwrites every sermon. He's not afraid to preach the whole counsel of the word to you. Afraid to preach solid doctrine. Not afraid to exhort the church concerning waywardness. He spoke about church discipline a second ago. Most importantly though, he brings in his preaching and teaching, he brings the word of God to bear on the church. In the lives of the congregation. And so for many years, his teaching complimented Tommy's, and together they taught the church the whole counsel of the word of God, sound doctrine, reproving, rebuking, exhorting, encouraging, side by side. And now on this 25th anniversary of Providence Baptist Church, they have the privilege of looking around, looking back, and seeing the fruit of their labors by the grace of God all around them. And so as I get ready to end, I want to read a brief excerpt of one of Bruce's sermons about the church. He says, so I ask you, where are you? Do you possess the peace of God, that constant undergirding peace of trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ on your behalf, that regardless of the circumstances life brings your way, that your future is secure? Can you say with a hymn writer, pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside. This is what God, our Heavenly Father, promises in his word and produced in his son given to his church for practical outworking with the participation of each member, supplying the needs of spirit and flesh to one another. The love of God and the love of the brethren on display for all to see. He says, does all this sound a little romantical? Well, it is. According to Paul in 2 Corinthians 11-2, the church is betrothed to one husband so that to Christ he might present them as a pure virgin. The church is in the vow of being the faithful, legally bound, betrothed bride of the Lamb. We will not see the final consummation until we are fully redeemed at the marriage supper in heaven as our Lord returns to finally and completely redeem his bride. But here and now, the bridegroom bestows gifts upon his bride, grace and peace and all spiritual blessings as he woos the church to its final destination. So Christ, our savior and bridegroom, is savior and head of the church, the body. And during this betrothal period, Christ loves the church and gives himself up for us so that he might sanctify the church, having cleansed the church. And he does this by the washing of water with the word. As the high priestly prayer says, and Jesus says, sanctify them through your word, your word is truth. And to what end? That he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing that he should be holy and blameless. Christ nourishes the church and cherishes her. The word cherish is in part warmth to foster comfort and to nurse. And like a mother who tenderly watches over and cares for her infant, is how Christ watches over and cares for the church, you and me. There's never a moment that Christ does not tenderly watch over his body. So that excerpt should give you a foretaste of Bruce's love for the church, and especially for Providence Baptist Church. And so if you know Bruce and you will affirm with me that he has impacted your life, and if Bruce is your pastor, you will affirm that he has shepherded well. Bruce, thank you for your pastoral care and love of the bride of Christ. Thank you for all the years of faithful service to the King Jesus. May the Lord add blessings to the work of your hands for his glory and the good of Providence Baptist Church. Thank you. Be at peace with each other. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Live in harmony with one another. Stop passing judgment on one another. Accept one another then just as Christ accepted you. Instruct one another. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Serve one another in love. Be patient. burying one another in love. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Do not lie to each other. Admonish one another. Encourage one another. Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Do not slander one another. Don't grumble against each other. Confess your sins to one another. Love one another deeply from the heart. Live in harmony with one another. Love each other deeply. clothe yourself with humility towards one another, love one another. This I printed out from a file that I made several years ago, titled 59 New Testament Commands to One Another. And 19 years ago, when Deanna and I came to Providence, I had no idea truly that these were my responsibilities in the local church. No idea. I'd read my Bible. I knew they were there. I read them. But I never put them together with my responsibility as a church member within the body of believers. I had no idea. until I was taught what my responsibility is within the church. Who taught me? Well, God's Word did, but the messenger, Tommy, Bruce, and many of you. These are not suggestions. These are commands of God as how we are to interact with each other day after week after year. And now I want you to awkwardly look around at everyone. You can look up, stand up if you want. Look at the faces of everybody around the room. Many of you don't recognize everyone. Some of you in the room are ones that have one-anothered in the past here at Providence, and the Lord has taken you elsewhere. And some of you are new faces in the crowd, and you will be one-anothered and be one-anothering for those that are here in the body. What a wonderfully awesome responsibility we have to love as Christ loved to one another. And let me tell you, one of the other things that I was taught, that this is how I'm supposed to love in my home. This is one anothering between a man and his wife in the home. Same responsibilities we have in this church. Isn't it a blessing that we are taught this? This isn't new to you. You know these things if you've come to Providence any time at all. This is what we are called to do. And I didn't read them all. Tonight, you know, we are one anothering and you don't want another to be known about, right? You don't do it because you want notoriety or you want some pat on the back. You do it out of love. And there are people in this body that have one another today out of love, and we will never know, God knows. And we don't say thank you for one anothering normally, but we don't normally have a 25 year anniversary of this body either. So tonight, we are gonna say some thank yous for those that have one another to us collectively service after week, after year, after quarter century. I'm gonna call a couple of individuals up. And so you don't have to stand up here alone. I'm gonna get my representative, Vanna, to come up and stand here with you. Come on up, Vanna. because I have some things I'm gonna hand down. It'd be awkward for me to hand it down to you as you come up, but I will hand it down awkwardly to Vanna, and Vanna will lovingly one another the gift to you from there. Thank you. The first person I would call up is not here, that has one another to us and you're not even aware. For almost a decade now, and that's Jason Cooper. Jason Cooper cleans our church every single week. Jason Cooper works night shift at Bucky's down the street, the Big Beaver. And many times when you are asleep in bed, Jason Cooper is at the church at 2 a.m., 1 a.m. in the morning, cleaning and getting ready for Sunday. Week after week, after month, after year. When you miss the trash can and the piece of paper goes and lays on the floor and you don't go pick it up, maybe didn't notice, it's Jason that comes and cleans it up. And I have to use this example, but when you are the last one in the bathroom on a Wednesday night upstairs and you forget to flush, two, three days later, it is Jason that lovingly comes behind and cleans it up. never complaining. And Jason often says, this is a ministry. He says that to me. This is a ministry that he does lovingly for all of us. And we want to acknowledge and say thank you to Jason. Again, I wish he could be here. And I've asked Josue if he would pray, give the Lord thanks for Jason. for what he's done and what he will do. Now, you may not be able to hear Josue, we have no microphone, but speak loud, brother. Amen. Thank you, Josue. Glenn Toler, come on up here. Where's Glenn? Thank you, brother. As Glenn makes his way up here, I have been one that directly benefited from Glenn's efforts over years. We have a live feed of our services, and in case you're not aware, I was not able to be at church for a while. But I could stream the services live, and what a blessing. Streaming is not like being here. It is not the same. It's not the same as being collectively with you. There is something hugely missing, but when that's all you have, what a blessing it is. What a blessing. And the sound, it's not always perfect, but I guarantee you if it's not, it's being tweaked to be as perfect as it can be. When you see a visual The screen lowers, it's on a power, it just lowers, and there's a visual up there, Glenn Toler. There's others that have helped, one another together, but Glenn does it tirelessly for you, week after month after year. And so, Glenn, we as a body at PVC, Providence, want to say thank you. a small gift of our appreciation for all you do for us. Thank you. Tendai, if you would please offer thanks for our brother Glenn. Yes. Amen. Thank you, brother. Thank you, Glenn. Thank you. Diane, if you could get your able-bodied assistant to assist you up here, we'd appreciate it. Both of y'all come on up. Diane, I took piano lessons when I was a kid, but I thought it was sissy. How stupid kid. And I begged my parents to let me quit, because practice, practice, practice, and they did. Finally, they succumbed to my pressure. I wish they hadn't. And when I listen and hear the piano melody playing in the prelude to our services and leading up to when we will sing together as a body, I envision Diane tirelessly practicing for years to be able to play and do what she does. She has led and done things behind the scenes most of you are not aware of, keeping the ensemble, who's doing what, coordinating all of that for years. And it's been a blessing to our body. Thank you, Diane, for your efforts. It's been, like I said, a huge blessing to all of us, and it just happens. We come in on Sunday, and the melody's playing. What a blessing. So again, from the body, thank you. Thank you. Dennis, you would say thanks to the Lord for Diane. Absolutely. Father, we do so thank you for today's marvelous discussion. We're so grateful for the day that you brought Diane Amen. Thank you, Dennis. Thank you, Diane. Thank you. Andy and Amy. Come on up here. Andy Johnson. Yes, you. Thank you. Amy, come on up with him. Some of you might get to church early on Sunday. If you do every Sunday, Andy is up there practicing, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la. Getting ready for the service. Andy might get emotional on occasion. Do you know why? He loves the Lord. And because the Lord loves us and loves him, he loves you immensely. And again, tirelessly, year after year, one another into us, out of love, efforts that most of us are not even aware of. And just a little small recognition to say thank you. Thank you for all you've done year after year after year. Tony, Tony Hasso, say thank you to the Lord for Brandy. Amen. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Andy. Thank you, Amy. Bruce. Come on up here, Bruce. Yeah, come on up, Bruce. Alan already shared much about Bruce. I can tell you there's wisdom literature in scripture, as we know. Sometimes I think The Lord used Bruce to author some of it. He knows it. He lives it. And he imparts it to us as elders. And the entire church benefits from it. So I won't go. Andy said a lot. Excuse me, Alan. So brother, we love you. And we thank you for loving us. And we are grateful. Thank you, sir. Phil. Would you please go to the Lord and thank you for our brother Bruce. Amen. Thank you, Phil. And thank you, Bruce. We love you, brother. Corey, Kristen, please come up. Corey was just a young buck. 2011, when he came in and started interning and sitting in on our elders meetings, And he would give input even way back then. And I'm like, wow. Wow. Never jealous, but I wish the Lord give me some of that. No. And then he went to school and got a degree that is going to be a benefit and has been a benefit to our church, to our Bible Institute. And it's all out of love for this church, all out of love for the body. Following the Lord's lead, the Lord's direction. It's evident in the pulpit, right? I mean, from orbit. And I'd watch and I'd be like, wow. I know y'all understand what I'm saying. Praise the Lord for sharing this and bringing this to my attention because I need it. And going forward, at the 50-year anniversary, as Corey contends to lead us forward, Providence is in great hands, and the Lord has provided. He truly has. So Corey, it's together, you and Kristen, we know. We thank you, and we are praying for you. And Tommy, if you would, go to the Lord. the church would care for them as they give their lives to us. Thank you, Father. Amen. Thank you, Tommy. Thank you, Corey. Thank you, Kristen, for your ministry. And finally, Tommy and June, come on up, please. I think we could all rotate through here and say some words about Tommy and June and the ministry that they share for this church, for this body, and the love that we have all seen and experienced for all of these years. We've heard it tonight. We praise the Lord for a shepherd that loves like Tommy loves and blessed him with a wife as they minister together. And as June loves, all you ladies know, that we have really, really seen the benefit of these two. The Lord has joined together and joined together with us here at Providence. And we're thankful. So, again, a little something, but oh, there's more. For Tommy, Dr. Heatham will be very glad to hear this, a legacy standard Bible. engraved with Tommy's name, presented to Tommy Daum for 25 years of faithful service to our Lord and His Church at Providence Baptist Church. And a friend of probably many of the ladies here, has become a friend of mine as well. James Avery is his name. Some of you may be familiar. Just a little something for you, June, from the ladies and the rest of us here at Providence to say thank you. And I might ask Corey, if you would, to go to the Lord and thank him for for our brother Tommy in June. Amen. Thank you. Thank you all. And thank you to these few for the one or nothing they've done for us for all these years as we now, of course, go forward in one another together. Thank you. Good evening. I am so privileged to speak to you tonight to tell about God's goodness and his faithfulness leading to our journey with this body at Providence Baptist Church. As many of you know, Mila and I, with three children, came to the United States from the Philippines in 1998. For me to work for the University of Arkansas And while we were there, we were blessed with a body of believers at Emmanuel Baptist Church that became what is known now as Legacy Baptist Church. It is the place where we were taught of the doctrines of grace. We grew abundantly in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the faithful teaching of the scripture and eventually me serving in pastoral ministry until we moved to Texas in 2014. Leaving Legacy Baptist Church family was not in any way easy for us because of the bond that was established in love for many years. And because of work change, we moved to Texas. Our earnest prayer then, prior to our move, was to find a like-minded church, which was answered immediately. And looking backward, we were praying for a reformed Baptist church where we can worship our Lord. And Mila, while I was working, tried to Google from the internet some possibilities, and one of them, and the first on our list to visit was Providence Baptist Church. Our first visit at Providence was in early September of 2014. And since then, we never set our feet to look for an alternative. And I'm going to tell you the reasons why. And these reasons are not ranked according to importance, because they are all very essential. And first, on these reasons, is the Lord has shown us his goodness through this caring body. It was evident at the beginning of this visit how the men and women received us so kindly. We were treated like native among you. You know, it's hard sometimes to think about being an alien in a foreign land. And we experience how to be the real alien in this land. And one of the fears of being an alien is the fear of acceptance that you may not have when you are in your own land. But as I said here, you treated us like native among you because you love us. We did not feel like strangers for you have contributed to our needs and shown your hospitality to us as we begin to settle in our newfound place here in Legacy and here in Lake City. You cared for us. You invited us to dinner. I think it was Pastor Tommy and June who invited us first among you. But we were received abundantly with great affection. There were many of you who approached me and my wife that make us very comfortable in this body. And the second reason that I have here is that the distinctiveness of providence. And this is what I'm gonna, I'll try to express this special things about being distinctive of providence. And it is very common for many churches to have such distinctions of what a church is like. What does this body look like if you're coming from the outside? And I can easily see and recognize this because Providence just showed me that you know what is a church. I didn't know what is a church when I came to the United States. It's like a place where people just go together and have a Sunday morning worship and then go home and that's it. You know, it's like I did the church, but the context of church is so different here at Providence and how to do the church as the Bible teaches is very evident. And another not very common among churches that we see is, you know, there's a tall guy there at the front who are collecting names and checking attendance every Sunday, assisted by others, but it isn't very common. And I will tell you the reason why it's important. One of the other distinctives of Providence is the strong adherence to ordinances. We were taught that these are means of grace. What is that? Until I heard it taught and preached on the pulpit. We have fellowship. We have usually a packed fellowship on Sundays after worship, before Sunday school, and during fellowship meal, we have prayer service. Very important. As Pastor Tommy mentioned to us, we are all about worship. What we do is worship. What we think about should be an act of worship to the Lord. All in all of us is worship. We heard about covenant membership. It's a distinction again. And we thought and we said that church is very serious about God and it delights in his word. Without this delighting in the word of God and in God alone, we will not be able to understand all these things. Providence, you are not perfect. And from what I see from 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, as Paul said, you ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Doctrines, which are from the word of God, prove essential in the church for its polity and teaching. You have taught me. what is church through these doctrines. The other reason here is God is faithful and strong. We have found that what makes a local church blessed is because God chose to bless it. It is not in any way, well, like because you Providence people do good works to earn something in return. Now, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that because God is faithful to providence to provide and care for his people, providing what? Providing men and women, gifted people who understand the Bible and fear the Lord and preach the gospel. Because God raises men and women for different purposes, to strengthen his body. The other reason that God showed us Providence to be part of is that God is glorified through faithful men. So for the almost 11 years that I have been a part of Providence, I am certain of this. that God has raised and uses man for the ministry to glorify himself and to care for his people at Providence. He is still raising such men. But I would like to mention special recognition to honor two of our men, Pastor Tommy and Pastor Bruce. I still remember Pastor Tommy when Captain Wilmore visited the Philippines. He spent the birthday in the Philippines with us. It was very biblical that they serve us a fish for your birthday, but they have a cake and some candles there. But I'm thankful that you and you, Captain, joined me in that mission trip to Santiago. Pastor Bruce, you have been a pillar here at Providence as well. You care for us. I still remember when you said, I love you, Rusty. That is so sweet of you. Pastor Tommy and Pastor Bruce, you have been faithful to the Lord. You follow what Paul has said. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. You have been faithful to Christ and to the church that he died for. This body, We are richly blessed by your ministry and testimony, by which in return, I would say, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God, consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. You have invested your life to the gospel without doubt, but in faithfulness to the Lord. I look up to you. and always consider how your faith remain over the years. I am so privileged to serve alongside you both. I am so grateful to the Lord for this body. He blesses us in every way necessary to keep us unto him. God has brought you and other accountable men, the shepherds and the teachers of this flock to equip us. the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature mind to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. There are so many of you here that I will not mention name, all of you have been so loving to us. And I'm thankful to the Lord for this work of ministry, the men who are continually equipping us For we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Over the years, the Lord has been so gracious to this body, steadily joining and holding together people to worship His holy name. It is not easy over the last 25 years that we see how those statement of faith, what about the doctrines of the Lord's Supper? How do we deal with choosing between wine and grape juice? Seems like an easy task to think about, In the ministry, it is somehow uncomfortable to deal with. But I appreciate the Lord for His wisdom being rendered among these men who are under shepherd for this body. Pastor Tommy and Pastor Bruce, God is glorified in your life in this body. and praise be to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for you both. Next, I would like to call Aaron Wright. Mr. Aaron Wright is the pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church. I heard that he was part of Providence way back in the heydays. Mr. Wright, please come here. Yes, my name is Aaron Wright, I'm a pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, and I have been incredibly blessed and influenced by the ministry of Providence Baptist Church. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4 in verse 13, he says, until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. I will say this, when I came to Providence Baptist Church in, I believe it was 2001, you were meeting in a wedding chapel over off of Red Bluff. And I had become a Calvinist. but I wasn't reformed. I don't know if some of you all know the distinction. You can be a Calvinist and not necessarily reformed. And I began to attend Providence Baptist Church and the liturgy and the worship and the music was different for me because I came from a more of a regular Southern Baptist church. But as I attended, as I continued to participate in these ordinary means of grace, they were effectual upon me. I grew to love reformed worship. I grew to love reformed teaching, preaching, and singing. I learned about church planting at Providence Baptist Church. I don't know if you remember this, those of you that were there at that time, shortly after being at the wedding chapel, you then moved to, over on Vista Street, there was a daycare center. Anyone been involved in church planting? There's a lot of physical labor involved in church planting, and this was almost like a double portion of physical labor in church planting, because you would go into this daycare center, and you would have to pick up all of their stuff, then you'd have to set all of your stuff out, then you'd have to load all your stuff back into the trailer, then you'd have to clean up after yourself, and then you'd have to set all of their stuff back up. Now some of you remember back in the day, we would show up and there would be surprises. There was perhaps like a wedding party or something that happened the night before and we'd just have to close one of the restrooms for the day. But I learned the importance of church planting, the importance of the investment that is made by people during those times, during those early parts of a church's life. and the dividends they play out later on. Now you show up to Providence Baptist Church and you just sit down in the nice, comfortable, cushioned, cloth seat. That's not how it was in the early days. You sat down in a seat that wasn't cushioned, if I remember correctly, and it folded up neatly into a trailer. You know, I learned very much about the importance of biblical preaching and governess, the importance of acting in conviction rather than pragmatism. There are multiple times where either Bruce or Tommy talked very straight to me, looked me in the eyes and said, you wanna be a pastor, you wanna go into ministry, you're showing up late to church, you're showing up late to the prayer meeting. It's funny to laugh about it now. At the time it was very serious. There's other times where they were very straight with me. They were very direct and they were, these are very important times. I wanna say this as well, that I was influenced in my life at Providence Baptist Church by the families at the church. And many of you probably don't realize this. Most of you probably don't realize the influence that you can have upon other people in just your regular, normal Christian life. In a place like Providence Baptist Church, where you have the fellowship meal, you have time for different people to interact with each other. I know at some churches, we separate people by marital status and by their ages, and they can be all over the place, and you may never really interact with each other the entire Lord's day. But when you have something like the meal time, you're able to interact with many different people. As many of the older families, I would see how they interacted within their marriages, with their children. as much as I gleaned during those times, and I would encourage you to even press on in your lives, just in ordinary Christian living, the importance of it, that God uses, just as he uses ordinary means of grace to sanctify people in a very formal, particular way, but God also uses in the church just these informal interactions that organically occur to influence other people. So know that when you're sitting down at the fellowship meal and you're talking with a young person, you're talking with an older person, you're talking with someone maybe you don't have a lot in common with that you have much opportunity to influence such people during those times. I was influenced at Providence Baptist Church with opportunity to teach. I don't know if you still do this. It's a dangerous thing to do, but you did it for a while. I know, because I was there. And you would allow young men to sign up to teach on Wednesday nights. And I signed up as much as I possibly could without overdoing it or getting called out for signing too much. It was an opportunity. I learned to teach. I learned to communicate with other people. had opportunities at the nursing home ministry. Ended up having a nursing home ministry at Grace Family Baptist Church that was modeled after the one that I learned about here at Providence Baptist Church. That went on until COVID and that kind of messed things up and we never quite got it back together in the same way. I was influenced through the opportunity to preach at the prison. I hear you're still doing that. A fantastic opportunity to minister. have a captive audience. It's a great opportunity to learn to preach in such opportunities. I have been so blessed during those times. Andy Johnson and I would go out for, I think it was a couple years. very influential period in my life. I am so grateful for the ministry of Providence Baptist Church, through just this, a church just operating biblically, just operating in an ordinary biblical way, and the ways in which so many lives can be affected. This is the means that the Lord uses, and I appreciate the ministry of Tommy and Bruce, that have been a source of guidance in my early years, and even in times of ministry, Being able to reach out in times of difficulty, in times of ministerial questions, and I know the door is still open at any point if I have further questions. I praise God for the work that He has done through Providence Baptist Church. My prayer is that He would continue to work and bless and thrive this church. Thank you. It's pretty cold in here. I say that because if you were to work at the office at our church and you walked in and Bruce and Tommy have been there, they're the only ones there, there's a good chance they haven't turned on the AC. And then there's Bruce, he's wearing a sweater and it's the middle of August. They tell me one day I'll get old, if the Lord wills, and I'll understand. Both of these men, though, have been a blessing to me. The whole church has been a blessing to me and Kristen. I could tell you stories. I've spent a lot of time with Tommy and Bruce. I'll keep those close to the vest for now. But they have big shoes to fill that I don't think anybody truly can fill. You've been blessed to know these men, to be served by these men. much more could be said, we really aren't doing justice for what God has done in the life of our church. But Kristen and I, we came to Providence 14 years ago. It was February 2011. I didn't come to PBC looking for a job, didn't come looking for a position. What we were coming to do was look for a good, healthy church in which to plant our family. We didn't have kids at the time. We now have three beautiful children. But Providence has been a breath of fresh air for us. We've been greatly blessed by the church. And it's my hope, my prayer that 25 years from now, men and women will be able to say the same. We'll be able to say that Providence has been a breath of fresh air. Not that we're a perfect church, far from it. I'm a part of it, so are you. But I pray that Providence will continue to be a healthy church. A church that will continue to be a bastion of the truth. Now I wish I could stand here and say that every healthy church remains healthy. That's not the case. There are plenty of examples throughout history where we see conservative churches becoming liberal. Here's just two. The church that Jonathan Edwards pastored. New England, both of these are gonna be in the Northeast. The church that Jonathan Edwards pastored in the 18th century, conservative church. The church, actually the first Baptist church that was founded in the 17th century by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island. Conservative churches that have now, well now if you were to look at these churches, they embrace the LGBTQ movement. They openly, they not only tolerate, but they affirm sexual sin that is blatant and obvious. These were once conservative churches that have now been overwhelmed by liberalism. But why does this happen? Why do conservative churches become liberal? Well, this isn't an exhaustive list, but here's a few reasons. One reason is self-reliance. When a church becomes self-reliant and begins to depend upon its own strength and wisdom, it's only a matter of time before that church becomes infected with disease. Such a church will pray less and less. The members will devalue the church's prayer meeting. Such a church will lean more on extra biblical methodologies and practices, and they will lean less and less on the word of God. Such a church will become pragmatic, make decisions based upon what works, what will draw in the most people. And when a church becomes self-reliant, that church is deluded to its weakness. Therefore, it becomes overconfident and relies less and less on the Lord. So that's one reason why conservative churches become liberal, self-reliance. Another reason is a refusal to deal with sin. Such a church will allow sin to run rampant. Such a church will be influenced by the culture which constantly changes its list of tolerable sins. Such a church will be swayed by emotional appeals to what is right instead of appeals to biblical truth and biblical morality. Such a church will confuse long-suffering with allowance and toleration of sin. The law will be softened and misunderstood. The standard of righteousness will be minimized. And Christ will eventually be preached as one who turns a blind eye to sin. He accepts you as you are. But that's not the picture of Christ in the Scriptures. We've been going through Revelation. We see Christ will come with a sharp two-edged sword against such a church. Yes, it is true that he saves us as we are. Thank God for that. But he doesn't save us to keep us where we are. He saves us from our sin. So that's a second reason why a church might become liberal. It no longer deals with sin. A third reason is the church will fall in love with the present world. The things of this world, they are enticing. If you say they are not, you're lying to yourself. Oftentimes, men, women, boys, and girls forget God and go after the things of this world. And as we learn from scripture, all it takes is one generation. Just think about national Israel. God brought them into the promised land in a miraculous fashion. I mean, through miracle after miracle to get them there. But yet, once they came into the land, what happened? The next generation, after that generation dies off, the next generation, the very next generation, as we learn from the book of Judges, they turn their backs on God. And they begin to worship and serve other gods. The gods that were enticing to them because the people of the land were worshiping them. They became, Enticed, they became enamored by this present world. And just like Old Testament Israel, churches can quickly turn away from God and fall in love with the present world. Think about Demas, who we read about in Timothy, in Paul's letter to Timothy. Demas deserted Paul. Why did he do it? Because he fell in love with this present world. So when we fall in love with the present world, we lose our love for God. And when we lose our love for God, we drift away from Him. And we stop walking in His ways, we stop obeying His truth. So that's the third reason. Churches fall in love with this present world. And one more reason that I have that I'm gonna give you tonight, why conservative churches become liberal, is they forget what they believe. and they lack doctrinal conviction. When doctrinal beliefs and practices become relative to the individual, we're on a fast track to disunity. And we're also on the fast track to the elevation of private interpretation. Such a church will tolerate incompatible doctrinal beliefs and will eventually be forced to compromise. Such a church will focus more on what she does than on what she believes, to the point where she'll say things like doctrine divides. Why does it matter if we disagree on soteriology or ecclesiology? Such a church will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes her way. Such a church will forego doctrinal precision in order to maintain what they think will be peace and calm. And while that might seem promising, This will not bring peace. This will bring theological drift to the point where God is reduced in many churches to just a superhuman version of us. And our sin is reduced to nothing more than a sickness or a disease that we can cure. And this is deadly. And this is happening across our nation in churches today. Conservative churches are becoming liberal because of theological drift. So we could keep going with this list, self-reliance, falling in love with the present world, not dealing with sin, drifting theologically, not giving ourselves to doctrine. We could keep going and probably list many more. But what would be helpful now is just to turn our attention to the so what question. So what do we do? Given the danger of drifting away from God, what do we do? Well, Paul's letter to Timothy is especially helpful. In Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4, Paul writes about those who will drift away from the faith. They will devote themselves to deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons. As Paul is explaining, some who once seemed to be so zealous for the word of truth, they'll abandon the word of truth for a lie. And just imagine if the entire church does this, what happens? That's a church that's gonna drift away and drift into liberalism. And so in response to this danger, Paul exhorts Timothy to instruct the church to have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. He also commands Timothy to instruct the church to read and teach the scriptures. as Aaron was just mentioning now. And lastly, he instructs Timothy to keep a close watch on himself and on the teaching. So I just want to briefly consider these points. So the church is, first of all, instructed to have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. To combat liberal drift, we must refrain from dabbling in false teaching. That doesn't mean we remain unfamiliar with it, but we do not even entertain it for one minute. And while we must not entertain false teaching, Paul instructs us to do what instead? To train ourselves for godliness. So don't entertain false truths or false beliefs, but set your hope on the living God and live lives of godliness. Now it's vital to remember this. We don't live godly lives in order to gain heaven. We live lives of godliness because heaven has already been gained for us through faith in Jesus Christ. Because Christ has earned heaven and through faith, we now have become heirs of heaven. We've become heirs of the kingdom of righteousness. So we live lives of gratitude. We live lives of godliness out of gratitude for what Christ has done. Therefore, it's imperative that we give ourselves to the gospel. and we have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Those irreverent, silly myths always lead us away from the gospel of grace. So not only are we called to avoid false teaching, but Paul also instructs the church to devote herself to the public reading and teaching of scripture. So the church must be devoted to the word of truth if we're going to remain in the truth. If we give up the word of God, what happens? we're going to quickly, rapidly drift away from the word of truth, from the God of truth. Therefore, we must open up the word of God. We must read the word of God. We must preach the word of God, even when it pierces us, even when it pierces those ungodly fleshly longings that we have. We read, we teach, we preach the scriptures, even when it makes us uncomfortable. because that which makes us uncomfortable leads us to the God of grace. So we must open up the scriptures, read the scriptures, teach the scriptures. And lastly, Paul calls Timothy to keep a close watch on himself and on the teaching. In chapter one of 1 Timothy, we learn that Timothy was left behind in Ephesus to charge certain persons within the church not to teach any different doctrine. And in chapter four, Timothy is commanded, he's instructed by Paul to keep a close watch on his own life and on the teaching. So why is he warned to keep a close watch? Because pride comes before the fall. When we think we've arrived, we are sitting ducks. We're just waiting to be picked off. When we think we've got it figured out, What do we do? We stop laboring to know God and His truth. When we think we've arrived, that's when we are most susceptible to attacks, to be picked off. So let us keep a close watch on our lives and on the teaching. And if we stop teaching in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, it'll only be a matter of time before we lose our love for God, lose our love for his truth, and drift away into liberalism. And you know what happens when we drift. It's usually a slow drift. And then when you look back, you don't even know where the shore, you don't even know which way to go. So let us hold fast to that which we've been taught. Let us guard it with our lives and let us call upon God to keep the fire burning within us. and let us take heed lest we fall. We are not above temptation. If you think you are, you've deceived yourself. We are not above temptation. We're not above the proneness to wander. So what do we do? We pray that God will keep hold of us, that we might keep hold of him. This time, Dennis will come and he'll pray for us that we might continue to keep hold of God and that he would keep us. Let's go before the Lord. Oh Father, we are so grateful to you. We are a testimony that you are building your church. We are a testimony of your faithfulness. since the days that Christ walked the earth, since the days of the prophets, and since the days where you created man and woman in the garden. Oh, Father, we envision the next 25 years. Some of us may be there. Some of us may make it in this body, but only if going forward, we guard the truth. the Word of God, that we sing the Word of God, that we preach the Word of God, that we hear the Word preached, that we teach the Word of God and learn the Word of God, and that amongst each other, we live out the Word of God. Father, let us not be self-reliant. Let us rely on the Word of God. Father, let us not tolerate sin. by your mercy and your grace, and with gentleness and fear, let us call it out. Father, may we not fall in love with the things of the earth. Father, give us minds that are set on things above. Would you keep us, Lord, for many generations? Would you keep our love of God? Would you increase our love of God? May we not forget these 25 years that we've been taught Your Word and what we believe. May we never give up the truth, Your Word, that is absolute. May we remember You are a holy God, a God of great majesty. Going forth, may we purpose to keep watch over ourselves and over each other. Father, help us to be men and women and boys and girls that flee false teaching and set our hope on godliness. Father, your great work has given us life. May we now turn and obey because of Christ. May we obey your word and keep it. Father, I pray you would prosper us going forward. We ask this humbly in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I guess we've come to the end. So I guess these kind of banquets only happen every 25 years or so, so as the night has gone on, I've just noted just a few memories that I'd like to share. I don't know, there's probably not very many here that remember Guy and Scotty Coleman. Raise your hand if you do remember them. Oh, there's quite a few over here. Okay, very good. Guy was very influential in my life, because he would always talk about reading the scriptures every year. Like, every year? You read it every year? Like, the whole thing? Yeah, he said he actually read the Old Testament once every year and the New Testament five times every year. So that was a challenge to me and an encouragement to me. Of course, Karen already mentioned Leslie and Sylvia Smith and the times that they were here and taught us. And by the way, thank you, Marlon and Karen, for opening up your home for many Fourth of July celebrations. And who could forget Karen's caramel apples? We should have had you made some for tonight, I guess. How about meeting at, I don't know how many here of the men, but we used to meet at Denny's like at 5 a.m. on Bay Area Boulevard, right? And Tommy would would teach us and mentor us, and we would pray together. I remember our first attempt at the ANC daycare that Erin mentioned. Our first attempt at, I don't know, sort of a middle school Sunday school, which we met in the mop room. I think Delonda was part of that. Yeah, she's here tonight. Just how many, just the memory of, of course I always like to go golfing with Bruce and Tommy, but more than that is that they would meet Amy and I at the hospital for our children's births. What a special memory that we have of that. Amy and I came to Providence Baptist in January of 01. About the time that I had finally decided that the problem was me, I would complain about church a lot before I got to Providence. But I'd finally kind of decided the problem's me, I need to just become a better church member, and then Clint and Amy Jackson, who we'd been going to church with, invited us to Providence. So thank you, Clint and Amy, for inviting us. Because once we got there, it was, as Corey said, a breath of fresh air. And we've not left since. So that was January of 01. And I just want to thank my wife for putting up with me all these years and teaching together with her. And just, she helps to keep me organized. And I just, it's been a great ride here at Providence. So thank you. I think, well, I was gonna mention Aaron Wright, teaching and preaching at the prison. Yeah, for, I don't know, two years or so, we would drive together and it's great to see you preaching. What a breath of fresh air that is. None of these are in any particular order, but again, Diane already, We mentioned Diane and all her service in the music, and somehow I got into the music, I think it was about 2010, and I think I have Chris to thank for, because I kind of fell into the, I kind of fell into the, yeah, providential, I guess so, but I kind of fell into leading music, And I will, yeah, in January of 01, when we first came, I would have never thought I wouldn't be the music leader, but I do enjoy, I mean, thank you for being patient with me because, I mean, I'm not the most musically gifted or talented, but I do enjoy making a joyful noise to the Lord, so thank you. Thank you, Lola. for teaching the littles all these years. All of our children, and yes. That is honor due. And I'm not gonna ask you if you wanna keep teaching, because I know sometimes you're offended by that, so I'll just wait for you to tell me when you don't wanna do it. So, but thank you for all these years. Thank you to George for being our kid's favorite catechism teacher all these years, because he would always bring his box of prizes. And so they were, my kids always loved to be in George's catechism class. Let's see here. Another memory that I just have is chasing Ellie down the ladies' parlor aisle while Tommy's preaching his sermon. Just a great memory there. And I just have two left and then we'll sing our last song. The summer of 2004 and words cannot express the gratitude and gratefulness that I have to Chris and Shiloh and all the work that they did. Some of you will remember the 2004 makeover that many of you participated in. And wow, that's been 21 years ago now. That's crazy. But thank you so much for that. And then my last memory Make sure I got them all here because they're all over the page. As I told some of you the other night, that's just the way I kind of do my notes. They're all over. But last but not least, my memory of June and her willingness to to teach all those years that she taught, and going to the nursing home, and I'll never forget just those years that we did Pilgrim's Progress, and how special that was, and teaching our children that story. Amen, and just, Lord, come Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. You got something, Barry? Okay, that's right. Don't forget your mug as you're walking out. Glad everybody could come and may the Lord go with us. Amen.