Day 27: Bill Cunliffe
“Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments”. Deuteronomy 7:9
I have an English accent - one of the many benefits of growing up in England! It may then come as a surprise that my mother is a New Jersey native - born in Manhattan and raised in Maplewood.
As a teenager, she attended Long Hill Chapel, the planting church of Grace Chapel. This I only discovered after my wife and I had attended Grace for a couple of years, and it came as a pleasant surprise!
I look back with immense gratitude that my grandparents were people of faith, that they attended Long Hill Chapel and raised my mother to love the Lord, that she in turn raised me and my siblings to love God.
My wife, Laura, and I now have the privilege of introducing our children to their Lord and Savior. If my math is correct, that is four generations over approximately 75 years (and counting!) attending the same church family - Grace Chapel and Long Hill Chapel.
But that is not all. We also have the honor of attending Grace with my parents-in-law, John and Theodora Guarino, and my brother-in-law’s family, David and Julia Guarino, and their children Caleb and Emmy.
As I look around Grace, I see multiple multi-generational families. Each of these families, and many others, are a testimony to the faithfulness of past and present generations. This brings me great encouragement, in my personal walk with the Lord, and in my motivation to pass the baton of faith to my children. It also points to the vitality of the church in this part of the world. Grace Chapel is a church body that is faithful and strong!
Prayer
My prayer is a prayer from me to you!
It is taken from a worship song that became popular in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
The Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His Face toward you and give you peace. May His favor be upon you, and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children, and their children. May His presence go before you and behind you, and beside you, all around you, and within you. He is with you! In the morning, in the evening, in your coming, and your going, in your weeping, and rejoicing He is for you! Amen!
I have an English accent - one of the many benefits of growing up in England! It may then come as a surprise that my mother is a New Jersey native - born in Manhattan and raised in Maplewood.
As a teenager, she attended Long Hill Chapel, the planting church of Grace Chapel. This I only discovered after my wife and I had attended Grace for a couple of years, and it came as a pleasant surprise!
I look back with immense gratitude that my grandparents were people of faith, that they attended Long Hill Chapel and raised my mother to love the Lord, that she in turn raised me and my siblings to love God.
My wife, Laura, and I now have the privilege of introducing our children to their Lord and Savior. If my math is correct, that is four generations over approximately 75 years (and counting!) attending the same church family - Grace Chapel and Long Hill Chapel.
But that is not all. We also have the honor of attending Grace with my parents-in-law, John and Theodora Guarino, and my brother-in-law’s family, David and Julia Guarino, and their children Caleb and Emmy.
As I look around Grace, I see multiple multi-generational families. Each of these families, and many others, are a testimony to the faithfulness of past and present generations. This brings me great encouragement, in my personal walk with the Lord, and in my motivation to pass the baton of faith to my children. It also points to the vitality of the church in this part of the world. Grace Chapel is a church body that is faithful and strong!
Prayer
My prayer is a prayer from me to you!
It is taken from a worship song that became popular in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
The Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His Face toward you and give you peace. May His favor be upon you, and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children, and their children. May His presence go before you and behind you, and beside you, all around you, and within you. He is with you! In the morning, in the evening, in your coming, and your going, in your weeping, and rejoicing He is for you! Amen!
Posted in Boast in the Lord \\\'25 pt2
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