Greetings!

In 1966 – when the Village Church was but 10 years old – John Denver wrote and recorded a song that Peter, Paul, and Mary picked up a couple of years later and took to #1 on the charts. Here are the opening lyrics:

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go

I’m standing here outside your door

I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn

The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowin’ his horn

Already I’m so lonesome I could cry

So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you’ll wait for me

Hold me like you’ll never let me go

‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane

Don’t know when I’ll be back again

Oh babe, I hate to go

Denver originally titled the song, “Babe I Hate to Go,” but his producer convinced him to change the title to “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” It was a good move. Because everyone knows the bittersweet business of leaving.

Sunday morning, we’ll start a new, 4-part series of messages taken from the hymn we had written for our 70^th celebration. The first message is about leaving. So think about what it’s like to leave, and then pray over this passage—Matthew 4:18-22—as you prepare to hear my message: “Leave Your Boat.”

We’ll also gather around The Lord’s Supper table this Sunday, so be ready for that as well.

When we leave something and move on to something else, our hope is that the something else is better than what was left behind. Is following Jesus worth leaving behind everything else? I think so. What do you think?

Blessings,