My family and I have been at Knollwood four and a half years now. We have certainly been here long enough to come to love and appreciate this congregation. Like some other fortunate men, I know what it is like to be the preacher here, and I know what this congregation thinks of its preachers.

In the time I have been here, three former preachers of this congregation have passed away: Austin Mobley, Earl Robertson, and just last week, Bill Feist. The passing of brother Feist has brought some thoughts to my mind.

First, when I study in my office, teach a Bible Class, write a bulletin, or stand in the pulpit here, I know I am simply building upon the efforts of those who came before me (1 Cor. 3:10). I have an old picture from the late 1960's of Earl Robertson standing in front of the auditorium teaching a Bible Class using the old, metal framed lectern that was only recently replaced. I have bound copies of old bulletins edited by brother Robertson and brother Mobley on the bookshelves in my office. I put a picture of my bookshelves on Facebook last week, and brother Keith Greer noted that he used to use the same bookshelves that now hold my books. I am not doing anything groundbreaking here at Knollwood. I am just running my leg of a race that others ran before me.

Second, the passing of a life reminds the living of the brevity of their own life (Ps. 90:9-12). I need to redeem the time (Eph. 5:16) by making the most of my time here at Knollwood. I need to busy myself doing the work of an evangelist. I need to be studying and preaching the whole counsel of God.

Third, the passing of these gospel preachers reminds us that God created the church to survive the passing of any one given generation. The Lord appointed the apostles to perform a great work, yet the church survived the death of all of these men. No matter how great a member is, the church goes on after their funeral. The life that member lived may have had a great and lasting impact for good, and their presence may be felt after they have gone on to their reward, but the work will go one without them. Eventually someone else will sit in "their" pew. Lessons will continue to be taught, songs will be led, prayers will be worded, visitors will be greeted, the sick will be looked in on, etc. The old saying is, "Life goes on." In the church it is "The work goes on." It is good to look to the past with fondness, and look to the future with hope, but let's remember that there is work to do today. What happens now is what matters.

There may not be many people here who remember Austin Mobley, Earl Robertson, or Bill Feist (I only met one of these men, and had very limited correspondence with him), but they labored here. Now that they are gone, their loved ones are realizing how precious their time really was. These men chose to spend some of their time, and use their talents, here at Knollwood. We are the better for it.

Whether we remember them or not, we know God is faithful to remember their works (Heb. 6:10; Rev. 14:13) just as He will remember ours.