Every page has two sides.  On one is the end of the chapter you’ve just finished.  On the other is the beginning of the next chapter.

We’ve now turned the page.

Aaron McRae, in his inaugural sermon as our new senior pastor, made a specific point of acknowledging that we are still a church in transition, and spoke with transparency and confidence into the reality of that situation.

He took Joshua 1 as his text, reflecting on the encouragement God gave to Joshua in the uncertain and anxious interval between the death of Moses and the people’s entry into the promised land: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Josh 1:5b, NIV).  When Aaron read that verse, another passage immediately popped into my head, coming from the very last words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:18b-20, NIV)

The God who led his people through the wilderness to the land he promised is the same God who gave us his Son, to live for us and to die for us, and to return from death to renew the promise of eternal faithfulness.  He will be with us, always.  We just need to be about our task of making disciples.

How wonderful, how amazing, to have had the privilege of watching God repeatedly confirm his leading and direction during our pastoral search.  How comforting to be assured that we are already living inside God’s promise as we begin the next chapter of our life together.

And how appropriate to be reminded of God’s faithfulness by the person whom he has both gifted and called to be the pastor of the local outpost of God’s kingdom which happens to bear the name of Hillside Community Church.

Welcome, Aaron.  May God richly bless you and your family as you transition to Southern California.  (It’s either the Promised Land or the wilderness, depending on whom you ask.)  Let the adventure begin!