For Such a Time as This

Recently, the founding pastor of our church left to pastor a church in Florida. Sam was a great shepherd of this congregation and led them from a NewStart church to one that is stable and occupying its own space here in Dundee. With his departure, Ken Papenhagen and I have been named as the co-interim pastors. It's a different role for us, and one that will surely test us in ways that being associate pastors did not.

This week, we will be looking at God's charge to Joshua in Joshua 1:1-9. It is a great story of the faithfulness of God and how He promised to lead the people of Israel and never leave them or forsake them. For some reason, the word forsake has jumped out at me. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to be spending some time on it.

Joshua had an enormous task in front of him and his people. The only leader they had known was gone, and the work was unfinished. That is where we are. We are poised to take the land that God has given us, but we are in transition. The promise that God will not leave us or forsake us is one that I cling to.

Pray for us during this time. It is a challenging time, a time of uncertainty. But it is also a time of great promise and hope.