“The Gift That Stays”

My dear friends,

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It’s a peculiar thing, grace.
You can’t earn it.
You can’t bargain for it.
You certainly can’t deserve it.

 

It just… arrives.
Like morning light creeping under a locked door.
Like forgiveness whispered from someone who had every right to stay silent.

 

I’ve come to believe grace is the one gift God gives that never depreciates.
It doesn’t tarnish with time, or lose its luster in the hands of the unworthy.
It renews itself endlessly — stubborn, radiant, almost reckless in its generosity.

 

And perhaps that is why it unsettles us so.
Because grace is not a transaction.
It’s a rescue.

 

Over the years, we’ve built something beautiful here —
a community stitched together not by perfection, but by presence.
We’ve stumbled, we’ve disagreed, we’ve prayed for one another in the dark.
And somehow, through it all, grace kept slipping between the cracks,
binding us closer than our differences could tear apart.

 

If you’ve ever seen a glimmer of goodness here —
in a sermon, a conversation, a prayer whispered over coffee —
know that it wasn’t me.

 

Pastors come and go.
Voices rise and fade.
But grace… grace endures.

 

We are only the messengers.
The mail carriers of mercy.
The ones who, with trembling hands, pass on the letter that says:

“You are loved. Still. Always.”

 

So as I prepare to step away, know this:
I am not leaving you without something.
I’m leaving you with the very thing that brought us here —
the quiet, persistent, undeserved love of God.

 

Carry it with you.
Guard it.
Give it away freely, as though you’ll never run out — because you won’t.

 

And when you gather again — to worship, to sing, to break bread —
remember: the true miracle isn’t in who delivers the message,
but in the One who keeps sending it.

 

Grace is the gift.
We are merely the delivery system.

 

And for a time,
it was my deepest honor
to make the delivery here —
to you.

 

Peace to you all,
and may grace continue to do
what it does best —
surprise you. +Pastor Ken (2012-2025)