We have embarked on a new journey here at Community Church Rancho. When Pastor Rob announced he is finishing his ministry as Senior Pastor to encourage pastors and resource churches, he signaled a season of change. The thing about change is that while we can plan and prepare for it, in the end it happens fast. Often that suddenness leaves us feeling a little lost, uneasy, unsure, and just plain sad. And that is 100% normal. Change happens fast, but transition takes time. We are embarking on a journey of transition.
If you missed this weekend’s update on Change and Transition, you can watch it here.
We Are Listening
Naturally, you have questions and concerns about the next season. Two-way communication is an essential piece to moving forward in a healthy manner. We want to listen—we really do! This coming Sunday there will be a Town Hall Meeting in the Worship Center, 12:00-1:00pm. Childcare will be available. This time is set up specifically to listen to you and to learn your hopes and concerns for the future of Community. Come. Bring your small group. Bring a friend. All are welcome. What you share will be taken seriously and will help us shape the months ahead.
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. —Philipians 1:3-6
The First Steps
The first step in any transition is letting go. We can’t move on while clinging to the past. The past is meant to be honored, learned from, and celebrated. One of the ways we have already begun doing that is by remembering Great Moments with Rob. Share your story from anytime over the last 42 years of a time that God did something special through Rob. It could be a wedding, a baptism, an event, a conversation, or a special trip. If it was meaningful to you, we would love to hear about it and celebrate what God did.
To share your story (photos are encouraged!), send an email to greatmoments@findcommunity.com. This week’s Great Moments with Rob can be found at the end of this email.
Let’s continue to pray that we grow in our personal knowledge of God (see Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-19). What is God doing in your life? I would love to know. Find me or a staff member before or after church or come to the Town Hall Meeting—your stories of what God is doing in you and through you are our joy!
Blessings,
Dr. Bob
Great Moments with Pastor Rob
Eight years ago, I found myself at the pinnacle of my career having achieved most, if not all, of my goals of being a partner and playing a vital leadership role in a $150MM firm in downtown Los Angeles. I enjoyed all the financial success that comes with such prestige and power: a private office overlooking skyscrapers of downtown LA, limitless earning potential, perks and fringe benefits in excess, multiple homes, cars, Rolex watches, custom-tailored clothes, extravagant travel. And yet I felt empty, shallow, selfish, lonely, and overwhelmingly miserable.
Rob shared a message one Sunday that hit me between the eyes: contrasting success with significance. Clearly I was enjoying success (as measured by the world), but my life lacked any significance. It was as if Rob was challenging me personally to reflect on the life that I was pursuing, and to seek a higher calling, a deeper meaning, a more glorious purpose for what I was doing with the gifts that God had given to me. Did I want my legacy to be one of significance in the lives of others, or did I want to accumulate things for the sake of appearing to be successful according to the world’s standards? This realization hit me so squarely in my heart and soul that I was reduced to a weeping child in my car before I even left CBC’s parking lot.
Earnest prayer and discussion with my beloved wife led me to resign my position a few days later, unconditionally and unequivocally walking away from that shallow and miserable life, and I have not looked back. I started my own entrepreneurial advising practice serving kingdom-minded clients in a manner that honors God. Now every endeavor in my life is built around my desire to lead a life of significance according to the model and standards espoused by Jesus. My significance comes from living every day to fulfill God’s perfect plan for me, no longer chasing the markers of success defined by this fallen world, but humbly and graciously accepting only those blessings that I know flow from my heavenly Father.
Thank you, Rob, for speaking directly to me (while preaching in a crowded sanctuary), challenging me, and modeling Jesus to me and for me!
Kent Pomeroy
