“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” — William James

We all have people in our lives that we never got a chance to meet personally, but really wish we would have had the opportunity to do so. Those men and women who followed Jesus in such a way that they have left behind a legacy in the lives of our friends. These are people who “fought the good fight & finished the race and kept the faith.”‭‭ and deeply impacted other people in our lives.

Pastor Alvin Jones is such a person for me. Pastor Alvin is the founding pastor of Freedom Bible Church, the church I now have the privilege of leading. He left this world to be in the presence of Jesus two years ago…but his legacy continues to live on in the life of our church.

Based on all of the stories that I have heard and what I have observed in our congregation over this past year, here are a few things I know to be true about Pastor Alvin Jones:

• He was passionate about following Jesus
• He loved and led his family well
• He cared deeply about the church God called him to plant
• He ministered to people with compassion
• He spent his life carrying the Gospel to people that didn’t know Jesus

Pastor Alvin, thank you! Thank you for faithfully serving Jesus and leading others to do the same. Thank you for teaching Freedom Bible Church to hunger for God’s Word. Thank you for leading our congregation to care about people far from God and open their arms to them. Thank you for training our congregation to be generous with their time, talents, and treasure. Thank you for the legacy you leave behind and the lives that you have impacted along the way. I know Jesus still looks at you today and says, “well done”!