05/25/2026
Letter read to Chase Hart this morning to commemorate his graduation from high school and receiving a Bible from UBC:
Dear Chase,
Congratulations on your graduation from high school! It‘s quite a moment, one you have been looking
forward to and working toward for your entire life. To this point, it is perhaps the most significant
accomplishment you have achieved and is the beginning of a new stage of life, one you enter into with
excitement and yet perhaps some reservation. It is the time when you now take responsibility for your
future, with the results resting on your shoulders.
As great as this time is and as hard as you have worked to get here, I know that you recognize that you
have not reached this point in life on your own. I’m sure you, more than most your age, appreciate a mom
and a dad who have devoted themselves to their family. Without those who have loved us, raised us, and
provided for us, none of us would be where we are. I hope that you will take time to consider all that you
have been given and all that has been done for your well-being by those who willingly and joyfully took on
the responsibility of your upbringing, and express sincere gratitude to them in word and in deed as you
move into this new phase of life. Your mom was, and would be so very proud of you, and though you
cannot express your gratitude personally to her, I know you will do all you can to honor her as you make a
life of your own.
Speaking of which, we want to both congratulate you and say thank you for your desire to serve your
country in the military! I wish more young men would take this opportunity. You are going to profit greatly
from this experience in multiple ways. We will continue to pray that the Lord will sustain you, instruct you,
and direct your steps in all that lies before you.
“Semper Fi”
As you enter this new phase of life with all its opportunities, I pray that above all, you will give serious
attention to what is of the highest importance, the state of your soul. Ultimately, this is all that matters:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26). The Lord is the Maker of all things and has made life for us to
enjoy. We are given talents to use and interests to pursue, but there must be only one God in our lives.
Matthew 6:33 assures us that if we, …seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all that is needed for
life will be provided for us.
The point of my letter is to encourage you, to encourage you to seek the Lord as your first priority.
Amidst all the opportunities, responsibilities, and privileges that lie ahead, this is the greatest and most
needful. 1 Chronicles 16:11 commands us,
“Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.
”
And the promise of Amos 5:6 is "Seek the LORD that you may live.
” In Psalm 27:8, the psalmist
responded to God by saying,
“When You said,
"Seek My face,
" my heart said to You,
"Your face, O
LORD, I shall seek.
" In these verses, God is saying that He wants us to know Him and will reveal Himself
to those who seek Him. Through your 13 years of education, you have come to know many things, and in
the days to come, a great many more, but there is one thing that stands above all else, which is true for
all of us, and that is knowing God. In praying for all those who would place their faith in Him, Jesus said,
"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
”
And how may we come to know God? Only through His word. Therefore, Jesus went on to ask the Father
in that same prayer to “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
”
So, in commemoration of your high school graduation, Union Baptist Church presents you with this
Bible as an aid and encouragement in the pursuit of knowing God. Here alone may God be found, and as
Deuteronomy 32:47 says, "It is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life."
God’s grace to you as you begin this new stage of your life’s journey.
Sincerely,
Doug Loafman, Pastor
Union Baptist Church
