The senior pastor at church turned 65 on Sunday and we all got to sing happy birthday to him. Pastor Rob is the man. I was very involved in church up until December 2005 when I got hired at JetBlue and got reconnected after leaving my role. Here is what I can say about Pastor Rob - He is 65 years old and looks like he is 35 years old. He is a man who loves his family, loves pastoring our church and leads a life of excellence and integrity. His messages have always challenged me to be a better version of myself and there are may times I felt like he was speaking directly to me. I know it's hard to tell given my frequent mean blog posts. I fall short. I am flawed.
Years ago, he lost his son in a car accident. He persevered through the pain and continued leading the church. I can't imagine the loss he and his family experienced when that tragedy happened. The previous Sunday he mentioned it was going to be his birthday and he had no intention of leaving his position and feels just as excited and motivated to lead our church as when he and his wife started it. I understand he has been senior pastor at our church for 38 years and the current facility has been in existence for 35 years. Our church is one of the larger churches in the community and one of the more active.
There was a time they gave away bumper stickers... I know... Anyway it seemed liked 1 out of three cars in the late 90s and early 2000s had a church bumper sticker on their car. We did.
The worship style is modern and the messages are relevant. I enjoyed church back in the day and enjoy it just as much today.
For pastor rob's birthday, pastor jurie preached. Pastor Jurie is from South Africa. Up until he preached this service, he stirred the demons in me. Or something like that. I feel like he's trying to manipulate us and he's always yelling when he talks. I think he tries to be exciting and engaging. To me it falls flat.
Anyway - on Sunday Jurie hit it out of the park and did an exceptional job capturing the three themes of Pastor Rob's ministry. I don't know how long they've know eachother, but I do know Jurie interviewed family, friends and staff members and read a lot of the old notes from various sermons over the years.
Here are the three themes to Pastor Rob's life: Grace, Grind and Grit. We have a collection of phrases we say at every service:
I am loved by God
I can not earn it
I can not lose it
I am forgiven and made brand new
In Christ I live with passion and purpose
I am empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world
and to love this love revolution
Instead of trying to describe the Grace, Grind and Grit - I'll show you:
I stumbled upon this message from 13 years ago. It is an ordinary example of the messages pastor rob preaches on any given sunday. He's the best pastor I've ever had the privilege of hearing and knowing.
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