This Lord’s Day begins brother Mark Day’s work with the Shelbyville Road congregation. He is no stranger to us, having grown up here and having held gospel meetings for us. When he was 13 years old, he was baptized into Christ. Both Mark and his mother obeyed the gospel after a series of Bible studies. Later, his brother, John, who serves as a deacon here, was also baptized. Mark went to our Bible camp where he met his future wife, Alissa. They have two children: Noah and Amelia. Mark interned with me in his senior year of high school. He furthered his education by attending Tennessee Bible College in Cookeville, Tennessee, and has done other work to obtain a Master’s degree. He preached some while attending TBC, then after leaving there, began working with the Flatwoods Church of Christ in Flatwoods, Kentucky. He was there for fifteen years.
When the apostle Peter arrived at the home of Cornelius, he said, “Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?” (Acts 10:29.) Peter did not have a house to sell or loose ends to tie up in Joppa as Mark does in Flatwoods. He will probably have to commute until he can sell his house. However, he will be coming on weekends for a while. When I was hired by the church here forty-five years ago, Lois and I were teaching at Jefferson Christian Academy in Birmingham, Alabama, and working with the Center Point Church of Christ. We did not have a house to sell, but we needed to finish the school year. I was hired in February of 1980 and moved to Indianapolis in June. So, on weekends, I commuted either by plane or by driving for 9 hours one way.
The church here was so welcoming to us. I hope the same will be true today. The church is not the same as it was when we first came. I remember brother Totty’s having told me, “I hope you will stay as long as I have.” He had been with the church in Indianapolis since 1936. I told him, “I am not sure they will keep me that long.” He said, “Yes, they are used to keeping a preacher.” The church has been good to us here. We have been richly blessed with dear friends, some still living, and many who have gone to their reward. I told brother Bill Heinselman, a friend of mine, and brother Totty’s, what brother Totty said. Brother Heinselman said, “Well, if you do, it will not be the same congregation.” He was right. Though many have passed and new members have come in either through having been converted or having placed membership with us, the desire to hear the truth preached and practiced has not changed. For that, I am most thankful.
Peter said, “I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?” For what intent have we sent for Mark? We did not send for him to do our work. “We are labourers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). We sent for him to have fellowship in the gospel. The word “fellowship” means “joint participation.” As Christians, we are responsible for teaching others, visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, and doing good as we have opportunities. He cannot do our work for us. We did not send him to be a secretary. His responsibility is not to look after the building and the grounds. He is not an errand boy for the church. As he has the opportunity and ability, he will do his part. We have hired Mark, not Alissa. Though she is an excellent asset to the church, she was not hired. We do not expect her to be a church secretary.
We sent for brother Day to preach the gospel. In Paul’s last letter penned, he said to Timothy, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Tim. 4:1–5). For him to preach, he needs uninterrupted study time. He does not need people dropping in on him to chat. This does not mean he would not be willing to help with problems, as he can. We do not intend to “micromanage” him. He is a well-seasoned preacher who knows what the work of an evangelist is.
I trust that all members will welcome Mark and his family here. His style of preaching and the way he does things will be different from how I have done over the years. He loves the truth and will preach it. My older brother, Steve, came to see me when I first came here. He came to the services here. One of the members told him that Ben had big shoes to fill. Steve said, “Let him fill his own shoes.” I say the same of Mark: Let him fill his own shoes.
May God bless our labors together in the vineyard of the Lord.
–Ben F. Vick, Jr.