BBF Family,

What a joy it is to lead you! As you know, our family has within it so many differences and so much diversity. When I think about all the different denominations, experiences, backgrounds, and cultures that we come from, it’s truly amazing to fathom how God has blessed us with such unity and oneness among one another. This is a powerful display of God’s grace abundantly poured out on us, and to Him be the glory!

Family, I have seen you actively pursuing God, and I have seen you actively pursuing relationships with one another that are founded and centered on Christ. You long to live in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ – giving Him literal Headship of your lives – in ways that absolutely confound the world around us. Imperfect as we are, you are living for Christ and for His glory in radically counter-cultural ways.

You are also actively involved in the Great Commission – serving not only within the church but ministering in remote areas of Panama and beyond! God is using you to accomplish His purposes, and He has given you a joy in this that drives me to worship every day. God is so good to us, and He has closely knit us together as a family in the most literal sense.By and large, you have seen clearly and resisted the many traps – the many distractions and deceptions – that the enemy has laid for us. The significance of this cannot be overstated, as our enemy has truly been working overtime to divide and conquer in recent years. Praise be to God, we know the only One who is sovereign over all things, including our enemies.
 

Still, I see where God has placed a hunger within you for His truth, and a desire to grow in Him. Not only that, but a hunger to excel still more in so many of the above areas.It is truly a blessing to know and serve each one of you. And I pray that we continue to get to know and serve one another even better – to become even more inclusive, edifying, and encouraging to one another; even as we seek to function more and more like a real family.

I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again – the friendly, welcoming, informal, and familial nature of this local body is one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been greatly blessed by you, and God has given me a heart for you – a deep love and care for each one of you.Lastly, your desire for the truth from the Living God and your refusal to settle for comfortable ear-tickling is exhilarating! To be a part of a church family who wants to be challenged in the Word and longs for depth and genuine relationships is a blessing beyond words.

May the Lord bless us as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may our joy be ever-increasing as we do all these things for His glory. Amen.

 

Pastor Bryan