Hillside
Church, I am very thankful that 15 years ago, God called me to be your
pastor. I preached my installation sermon
here on September 24, 2006. This year, you
showed me and my family a lot of love, and I really grateful. But then, in countless ways, you show us love
every year, and I hope we show you love too.
I won’t say ‘reciprocate.’ Love
is not reciprocal, but flows from the Spirit beating within each of us and from
the generosity of the heart. You show love because of the heartbeat of Christ
in you. I hope that’s what I am doing as
well.
The
last few years we have seen ups and downs.
Before COVID came our church went through some changes, and now, 21
months of pandemic have imposed changes on all churches and on everyone
everywhere, churched or unchurched. I
thank God to have gone through this with you.
I
believe God will be seen this Christmas among us, as we love each other and
welcome all who come. I believe as the
word is proclaimed and praise is sung, the Holy Spirit’s touch will be felt. Reader, be part of it. Maybe you are a Hillside member who hasn’t
come in-person yet. Maybe you are
someone who sees our newsletter, but hasn’t gotten very involved in our
church. I pray that you will. I pray you will come and experience the love
and community that we offer. And I thank
God that I get to be part of it.
-
Pastor
Rob
