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Happy Eastertide! I’m so incredibly thankful to have the privilege of serving as Senior Pastor of our church. This summer marks the beginning of my 14th year at All Saints, and I’ve never been more encouraged about the state of our community or excited about the future and all the Lord will do in and through us.
This spring, we preached through the New Testament letter of 2 Timothy. Several times I emphasized the unhealthy and ungodly state of the church Timothy served in Ephesus – it was
a community marked by conflict, factions, racism, and ultimately a lack of love. The Apostle Paul’s first words to Timothy in his first letter to the beleaguered pastor are “remain at Ephesus”, because Timothy wanted to do the very opposite.
Leading a church and remaining faithful to Christ in this broken and fallen world is never easy, but by God’s grace in certain seasons there is more joy to reap than sadness to lament. And while many in our body have endured life-altering struggles over the past year, on the whole our church is thriving. This is due in large part to a godly and gifted staff – each one of whom, from full-time pastors to part-time administrators, take great joy and delight in serving and ministering in this church. God has also raised up extremely capable and dedicated lay leaders to come alongside the staff and me in his work here at All Saints.
This is not something to take for granted; it is not something to become “puffed up” about; but it is something to give sincere thanks and praise to God for, like the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you... making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” These words of Paul help capture and describe my own thoughts and feelings about you. I do thank God for you and am confident that the Lord is at work in and through us and will finish his good work we call All Saints.
This annual report is an effort to highlight all there is for us to give thanks for. Take a few minutes to read through these pages, praying words of gratitude as you do, and asking the Lord how He would have you participate in what’s spoken of here.
Many have “toiled and strived” to accomplish so much through All Saints, but there’s still much more work to do for the sake of the gospel and Christ’s kingdom here in Austin and around the world. Give thanks to God for how he’s allowed and enabled you to participate in the work of our church thus far, and ask him how he would have you continue on with us in the coming year. We need you! We need each and every one of our members to be part of “working out our salvation,” believing that it is “God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13).
With the affection of Christ Jesus,
Tim Frickenschmidt