The following resource is from Desiring God.org.

Let's pray together.

Father, what a word we serve, what a gospel we have that our sins, though they are many, your mercy is more.

And what a avalanche of wisdom just poured out on us through Bob Russell.

What a gift those lessons are for us.

Oh, Grant that they would be fulfilled in us, I pray. And now Lord help me to be faithful

to your word and to tell the truth and to be as helpful as I can be for the sake of these friends in ministry that you would

guide them, fill them with your Holy Spirit, meet every need that they have, strengthen their

hands in grace, advance your mission through them, glorify your name, and accomplish exceedingly

more than we can ask or think because of this little time we have together. I pray in Jesus name.

Amen. Well I thought it would be helpful to the greatest number of us here if I looked at the succession

process at Bethlehem Baptist Church and how it came about through three lenses.

So number one, the outcome of God's work, number two, the rule of God's word, number three, the sovereignty of God's sending, and all of that

under the banner of the sweetness of God's blood-bought grace.

And the reason I put this banner, the sweetness The sweetness of God's blood-bought grace over the whole thing right here at the

outset is because in the retelling of a story of a succession that seems to have at this point gone pretty well, it will almost inevitably sound like it was done with less conflict,

less sin, less confusion, less uncertainty than was in fact the case.

So last Monday I got out my files on the succession and I took 48 different documents and

looked through them again to narrate the two and a half years leading up to the transition and it brought up again all the

emotions of frustration and uncertainty and

it brought tears that we walked down and personal conflict and relational stress.

And it brought tears, really did bring tears to my eyes of joy

...