Praise God for the Blessings of 2022

21 Dec Praise God for the Blessings of 2022

Posted at 09:42h in Pastor's Pen by

Dear HLPC family,

This will be my last Pastor’s Pen of 2022.  Next week, like many of you, I’ll take some time off to be with family during the Christmas break.  We look forward to having all of them with us.

God has certainly blessed HLPC in 2022.  Our major milestone was paying off the mortgage—which is a great blessing!  We were privileged to see multiple children make professions of faith and administered the sign of baptism to several.  The Lord also blessed us with some great opportunities for fellowship and encouragement.  My own family experienced the joy of a wedding as Matthew married Mary Ross.  God has indeed been good.

The past year has had its challenges as well.  We’ve seen multiple trials come into many lives of HLPC.  It’s been a year to bear one another’s burdens and that will continue in the months ahead.  Grief, illness, and sorrow have been a part of our lives.

Let’s give the Lord praise for the blessings of the past year.  Let’s also recommit ourselves in the year ahead to bearing one another’s burdens by praying for one another and seeking to encourage one another to be faithful to our loving and faithful King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God be pleased to increase our love for Him and for the things He loves in the year to come.  May He make of us a people of His Word and prayer.  May He increase our reach with the gospel and enable us effectively to make disciples.  May we be found faithful in all things to our Sovereign Lord in 2023.

Your Pastor,

Paul

P.S.- Don’t forget our Christmas Eve Candlelight service at 5:30pm.  Also, we will have worship on Christmas Day at 10:30am.

Paul Bankson
pbankson@gmail.com

Paul was born and raised in Birmingham, AL and graduated from Auburn University in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration. It was at Auburn that he met his wife, Connie. They were married in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and moved to Jackson, MS where he attended Reformed Theological Seminary graduating with a Master of Divinity in 1991. Upon graduation, Paul served as a Campus Minister with RUF, the campus ministry of the PCA, at Tennessee-Martin where the Banksons lived for 5 years. They moved to Macon, GA in 1996 to work with RUF at Mercer University and then Paul joined the pastoral staff at First Presbyterian Church of Macon as an Assistant Pastor in 1999. In 2004, Paul and his family moved to Warner Robins where he served as a church planter and then organizing Pastor of Houston Lake Presbyterian Church. In December 2014 Paul completed a Doctor of Ministry degree through Reformed Theological Seminary of Orlando. Paul and Connie have three sons, Andrew (23), Stephen (20), and Matthew (15). Paul enjoys grilling, camping with his family, and Auburn sports (War Eagle!).