My Last Sunday at Westwood

So, today is my last Sunday here at Westwood, and it will be a tough one...but a good one. I love the community here, and we have been blessed these last 3 weeks. Thank you, Westwood. But I thought I would share the prayer that I will pray over these students today:

"Sweet, sweet Heavenly father, you have stirred in the Hanson family in such a way that we are moving away. But we pray that you will be glorified in this transition. We beg you, God that they will know you, the one and only true God through Jesus whom gave all authority to, and whom you sent. I pray that Christ was authentically and properly revealed in these last 4 years, and I ask that you may you be glorified in the reality of a revealed and glorious Christ.

I desperately worked hard to reveal You and Your son to this community who you gave me for this season…and I have been overwhelmed by their keeping of Your word. I pray, God, that everything that I gave them that is from you will be kept in their hearts, and all that was not from you will burn away. I gave them Your word that you had given me, and revealed Your Son, that you revealed to me. I pray that they will grow in their knowledge and understanding of Him. Please keep Your Son real and alive in their lives, and this community. As I am no longer in Olympia, they are, and I beg you that you continue to keep this community unified through the life, work, death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Keep them as one as the trinity is one. God, I pray that they will find ultimate joy and fulfillment in nothing but a growing relationship with You through Your Son. God I pray that as they grow in the love and passion of Your Word, and they are hated, that you will not remove them from the world, but that you will keep them from the evil one who prowls like a lion to seek and destroy. Protect them as they go into their schools, teams, clubs, plays, friendships, workplaces…protect from the evil one as they pursue, invest in and reveal the true and living Jesus. Don’t shelter them, but empower them, love them, and protect them. Continue to remind them that their residency is not of Thurston County, but of heaven…and there we will celebrate and worship You in absolute perfection together. Thank you for this reality. I cannot wait for that reunion.

God, I pray that these students will allow your ceaseless work of sanctification. That it will not be hindered by pride or the deceitfulness of sin, and that Christ in them will be the revealed hope of glory. Thank you for them, dear Father.

I do pray, God, that you will bring people to yourself through this community. So I pray not only for these that I know, but for those who have not come to know you yet. God move through this community and reveal your passionate and true love to those they encounter because of their passion for the Word. God, I pray for a deep and real community here, that is not just social, but built on the truth of Your Word. I pray that the community that is revealed through the trinity of perfect love and unity will be revealed here in the student ministries. Keep them together; let them fight through difficulties and disagreements. May Your saving and transforming work be revealed in them as they are being sanctified. May this community be so attractive and so beautiful that people will be drawn to you because the work of the Spirit is alive and well here.

God I pray that the revelation of Your name that I revealed to them will be powerful, and that you will keep them. I pray for unity, passion, and love. I pray for a community that is always desiring to bring others in. I pray for a community that clamors to know more of you, and to deepen their theology of a God who loved His Son and these students before the foundations of the world.

God, please instill in them a passion to worship you in Spirit and in truth, to love You, love others and to reveal the love of Christ through authentic, passionate, inviting community.

Thank you for letting me be a part of their lives. May your presence keep them in the midst of this life change. I love them, Father. More than they will know. Take care of them. Make me pray for them in all my remembrances of them.

Amen."