Oh so sorry! So very sorry to hear the sad news. We lost another wonderful person today. Music Pastor Rob Finch passed away this morning due to COVID complications. May God comfort Janeen Hardyman Finch and their entire family.
In our ten years of attending Berean Baptist Church, my husband, our son, and I have been fortunate to hear Pastor Finch lead the choir and orchestra, as well as the Berean Music Academy in which my son took piano lessons all the way through high school. Pastor Finch drove the church van that took the music students to their yearly national competitions at BJU. He also preached at church and taught Sunday School. We have been privileged to know him. Even though we have moved to another church closer to where we lived, to this day, I can still hear the beautiful hymns of Berean that Pastor Dan Sweatt, Pastor Todd Sivnksty, and Pastor Finch compiled for our church services every Sunday. Our hearts have been blessed as we worshiped God with songs composed just for God.
I can still hear Pastor Finch’s voice leading the Berean congregation as we sang hymns all those years. I can still see him conduct the sanctuary orchestra (that my husband was a part of for a time) and the glorious church choir (I think that’s what singing in Heaven sounds like).
Most importantly, Pastor Finch believed in Jesus Christ as His personal Lord and Savior. I have friends from all over the world, and some might not know what this means. I don’t always explain it on social media, but I just want to say now that when a person believes in Jesus, it means this:
God loves me. But God is holy. And I am a sinful human. Holiness and sin don’t mix. In fact, sin has a penalty of death. But who is qualified to pay the penalty for us? Only God Himself. So He sent Jesus, His perfect and sinless Son, to die on the cross to pay that penalty on my behalf. When I accept Jesus into my heart, that payment is applied to me. He forgives me of all my sins, I am reconciled to God forever, and He gives me eternal life in Heaven.
And Heaven is where Pastor Finch is now, where all his sicknesses are healed, and He is with Jesus. Some day we Christians will see them again. In the meantime, we cry, but not without hope. We grieve, but not in despair. Because Christ in us is the hope of glory. The best is yet to come.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
I posted this on Facebook:
