Navigating Transitions
Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
Introduction
I want you to immediately please turn your Bible with me to Ecclesiastes 3. It’s a well-known passage. This morning, as we read through this passage, I’ve got just so many thoughts and ideas and different things that the Lord’s been speaking to me throughout this week about change—and probably more than a week, obviously. Probably the last year. And so there’s some points from this passage I want to share with you, and just some thoughts in general that I want to share with you this morning as well. So let’s read, starting in verse 1.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
May God really bless his Word this morning.
We All Experience Change
There’s an African proverb, and it says, “Rain does not fall on one roof alone.” I really like it because I think it is so relevant for all of us. And what it means is that, hey, we are all being impacted by change. You have experienced change; I have experienced change; and as long as we walk this earth, guess what? We will experience change, right? It is part of our lives. And we’ve seen that throughout life. We’ve seen all the changes.
I had to smile—this popped up. It was amazing. I don’t know what Facebook is picking up, because I’ve had this week all of these things on Facebook about change and quotes and different things that’s been showing up. It’s like, “Oh, it’s good. I got to take a screenshot.” And I saw this. I was just thinking about technology, right? It’s like, yeah, think back about those old TVs, and I had to carry some TVs in my new workplace this week. I was like, “Praise the Lord it’s not that heavy anymore,” right?
But just think about the smartphone. It’s like, the iPhone is only 18 years old, but it feels like forever and how that has impacted our lives.
And then we think about the political landscape—you know, all of the changes. I had to throw this in for President Obama, right? And all of the questions and things that we experience.
And think about social media, how that has changed so many things in our lives.
I had to make it fair, and so President Trump, right, and like all of the different changes that all of us are experiencing even in this moment, and what the world is experiencing, the different changes.
Think about COVID. Just think about all of the changes that brought into our lives, right, and as a church and as a community. I mean, it already feels so long ago, but it’s not that long ago, and how that impacted us. I remember all of those different conversations and staff meetings, and we would plan one thing, and then like half an hour later the Governor would send something; it’s like, “Well, there goes that plan,” right? “Let’s change our plan again.”
And then, you know, President Biden and that four years.
Think about AI. You know, that’s kind of everything what people are talking about and how that’s changing the world.
Cryptocurrency.
And then I was thinking—and those are big topics, but then just all of us experience some deeper personal changes, and we’re experiencing—starting to think about some of these things.
But just like, think about retirement, the impact that that had on your life, and, you know, different rhythm.
The shock and the change of death and the loss of a loved one.
Marriage. Right? It’s like, you remember those days, right? Poor Venessa, she had to deal with a lot of changes. It was all great changes, right?
Arrival of a new baby. Goodbye sleeping in!
And then we’re starting to think—Hailey had her kind of a junior prom thing last night, and just seeing her in a dress and starting to do college visits. And it’s like, “Ah man, our time is running short with her,” right? And you that have been through it, you know that impact and the change that that brings in your house.
And so, you know, as we’re transitioning, as we’re experiencing change, you are experiencing change, and we will continue to experience change, and we see these big events, and we don’t always acknowledge it and to say, “Yeah, you know what? This is a big change. What do I do with that? How do I allow God into some of those changes in my life?”
But the good news is this morning—and I hope I can just leave you with this good news—is Hebrews 13:8. It says:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
And it’s easy to read over that and to make it cheap. But I’m so grateful that God is the same. In all of our transitions and changes, God is truly the same. His love is the same, his faithfulness is the same, and we can hang on to that in all those moments when we experience transition and change.
Change is Part of God’s Design
Now, a couple of things as we look at our main passage this morning that I want us to just pay attention to—especially verse 1, pay attention to this. Change is a part of God’s design. And so I think that helps us to embrace that and to say, “Okay God, you are up to something. I’m not gonna be afraid. I’m not gonna run away.” Whatever you’re dealing with, and maybe things you will be dealing with, to ask the questions, like, “God, what are you busy doing in this season?”
I love the Hebrew word, but I love moreso the Greek word. The Greek word that’s the similar word as the Hebrew that you might be more familiar with is kairos, kairos time. And what it means or implies is that all of these seasons that the author is talking about is saying that all of these seasons and time periods, these kairos times, are very specific. It is created by God for us in that moment. A lot of times when we’re experiencing change and different things in our lives, we might think, “Oh, this is a surprise, obviously a surprise to me, and maybe this is a surprise to God.” But it is not. It’s a specific design and plan and purpose from God for your life. And at the end of the day, we got to know that it’s gonna be good. It’s gonna be good, right? We don’t always see it in the moment and in the hour, but to hang on, to say, “Lord, this season”—maybe it’s a great season. Maybe it’s a sucky season. Maybe it’s a hard season. Maybe it’s a season full of joy. Whatever that season is, it is designed by God for you in that moment, and he’s busy doing something in it. Can I hear an amen?
Full Spectrum of the Human Experience
Verse two, “a time to be born and a time to die.” I love how it’s kind of covering this full spectrum of the human experience. I mean, I don’t know how old—you know, we’re all different ages here, but just think about all of the things that you have experienced so far. Right? And so the author is giving us this full spectrum to say, man, from the day that you’re born till the day that you die, you will experience change and transition. And so, it’s just part of life, and we can either hide, we can run away, or we can embrace and say, “God, wow, I don’t know exactly what you’re doing, but you’re doing something, and I’m just gonna pay attention. I want to just hold on to and I want to run to what you are doing, even though I don’t maybe understand it completely.” But it’s easy for us to just say, “Oh, I’m the only one dealing with change.” But if we’re honest, all of us have experienced change in our lives, and you will continue to do so.
Let Go of What No Longer Fits
Verse 6—I want to just talk a little bit here to us as a congregation. It says, “Let go of what no longer fits.” Let go of what no longer fits.
There’s some aspects of my life where I really enjoy change. There’s some aspects of my life where I don’t enjoy change, and you’re maybe the same. But I think it’s important for us as a congregation to ask the Lord in the coming years—maybe in your own life too—what are some things that you need to get rid of? Right? And as a church, we have experienced so many good and healthy changes over the years. It was good changes. Godly changes. And every time that I brag about you to other pastors and conversations, people have asked me what did we do to grow and all of the changes that we’ve experienced. One of the things that I always share with them is this, it’s like, man, we had a congregation that was willing to throw the stuff away that didn’t fit anymore. And that was so meaningful for the health of this church. And it’s easy for us to be stuck and to say, because of tradition and because of maybe being comfortable, we’re gonna hold on to stuff that actually God is calling us to say it is time to throw away. Get rid of that stuff. It’s old stuff. And so even as we transition, you transition as a church, right, it’s like, there’s some good stuff, but your new leader and leaders is maybe gonna challenge you to say, “Hey, there’s some stuff here that worked; it was great; but now it’s a season of change. There’s some stuff that we got to throw away.”
I remember when we hired Christo as the youth pastor, and he was maybe a couple months in, and we worked hard in the TEXT Room. That was the best name ever for that youth room. And we had TEXT, and Christo came in and said, “You know what? We’re changing the name, and we’re gonna paint this.” And I was like, “You know, I’m sure that is not from the Lord, you know? Maybe that was just bad pizza. TEXT was such a good youth name, and the kids worked so hard on that,” right? No, we didn’t say that. It’s like, “man, that is great. God is doing something new. Let’s get rid of the old stuff.”
And so to even ask, as you deal with transition and change, to say, “What no longer fits?” And maybe even to ask that in your own family. What are some stuff that you’ve been holding on to that God is calling you to say, “Hey, we got to move on. It’s not for this season anymore.”
Everything Beautiful in its Time
And then verse 11, here’s a great promise for us this morning. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Seasons are not wasted, right? If we embrace it in faith, with a good spirit, and we keep running to God, I know that I know that I know that he will use it for his glory and that he will turn it into something beautiful.
Change is Necessary
Two quotes that kind of popped up for me this week on Facebook. It says:
Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.
It’s like, man, that is so true, right?
I looked at just changes in nature, and so one of the things that kind of came up last night—Venessa and I were sitting in bed, and we were watching some snake videos. Yeah, I know. That was our date night. No, it wasn’t. But, you know, we’re all familiar with that process as a snake gets rid of its old skin. It’s a powerful reminder of the changes that even happens in nature. And so that is part of our lives too.
Just one more quote here, then I’ll talk about the snake thing.
Growth is painful. Change is painful. But there’s nothing as painful as staying stuck somewhere where you don’t belong.
Right? And so, going back to the snake illustration, at least from what Venessa and I were picking up through these videos (if you can trust those videos), a snake must shed its skin in order to grow. If it refuses to or cannot, the old skin can constrict it causing infection, blindness, and even death. Right? And so that change is a necessary process for the snake. Change in our lives a lot of times is just as important, and we can hold on, and we can refuse to change, and that can really impact our spiritual journey.
Some things that once protected you can eventually start to choke you. Old mindsets, roles, identities, habits, or even relationships. And so even God is maybe calling you this morning to say, “Maybe it’s time for some changes in some of these areas in your life.”
My mind went to some of the stories in Acts. When you just think about Acts and when God gave Peter a vision about the gospel that is supposed to go out to the Gentiles. When you read Acts and when you read Romans and you look at the life of Paul, right, and Peter, how they were struggling to understand that, hey, this whole religious system is changing. It can’t look the same as it used to. There’s a change. Jesus died on that cross so that now everyone can experience the gospel in their lives. And that took a little bit for them, right? It’s like, I mean, just think about Paul, the stuff that he was holding onto, and God had to zap him and make him blind so that change can happen. Right? And Peter, some of his stuff that he was dealing with and things that got him into trouble. You know, we can read Acts and we can read Romans and think, “Oh, that was an easy change,” but that wasn’t an easy change. They had to wrestle for some stuff in their lives.
Some growth demands intentional discomfort. You will feel itchy before you grow. Kind of just, when you think about the snake—apparently, according to the video, they’ll start to feel itchy. Then they’ll know, okay, it’s time. Then they have to find a rock to kind of crack open the skin.
And I think a lot of times—there’s a good friend of mine, she is dealing with some change in her life, and she said it feels like that she’s walking with a rock in her shoe. Have you had that? Right? Like a little pellet in your shoe, and you’re like, “Man, there’s something. Something is off. Something is hurting me.” And I think in the same way, sometimes we can send something in our spirit, and we can ignore it and just hope it goes away, or we can take the time and say, “Let me just take my shoe off and get rid of that,” pay attention.
So where is God maybe calling you to do some changes in your life?
The Next Generation
Kind of a part that I want to close us with this morning before we pray. I want to take some time to pray. It says, “Change is about the next generation.” When you read 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 2, Paul is encouraging Timothy to preach and to teach what he has been learning, and then he says, “Okay, go and preach and teach this word to other people so that they can go and preach and teach the same word.”
And I like this quote. Nick shared with me a podcast (it was great) on emotionally healthy spirituality, and Pete is talking there about just transitioning in ministry and in leadership. And he makes this quote. It says:
Your ceiling should become their floor.
Right? And so we see that in the life of Paul as he is investing into Timothy and saying, “Hey, it’s time for you to lead and to invest in the next generation so that they can lead.” And change is necessary. And I think when we think about change in our lives and when we think about change in our church, we got to keep the next generation in mind and to say, “What can I do now and what are some of the changes that I need to make so that I can hand things off in a healthy way for the next generation?” Because all of this is way bigger than us. It is about the next generation. It’s about your kids. It’s about your grandkids. It’s about their kids. Right? And so we want to make healthy changes now that will impact them as well.
We don’t have to fear change, but we do need to navigate it with God. Pete said it best:
What makes or breaks healthy transitions is how emotionally and spiritually grounded we are. Let’s not just go through change—let’s grow through it.
And so it’s just that paying attention, to acknowledge the change that is in our lives that we’re experiencing, that we’re experiencing now as a community, and to say, “I’m gonna run to God. I’m not gonna ignore it. I’m not just gonna avoid it. But I want to run to God. And I want to be excited about what he is doing in this season.” Because this is a divine season. I believe it with all of my heart.
Closing Prayer
This morning I want to pray for our staff, and we want to pray for our Council. And then we need to pray for the search team as well, Pastor Search team.
You know, about 15 years ago when God called us, I knew God called me here. And I knew I was running away too in the beginning, but God said, “No, it needs to be Duluth.” And it wasn’t about my likes or my dislikes. Venessa and I and Hailey came because God called us. And as you pray for this church and as you pray for the Pastor Search Committee, pray for God’s Spirit. it matters, because even when you think about the Pastor Search Committee, you have different personalities in there, and all different personalities want different things in pastors. And corporately, you’ve got to come together and you’ve got to figure out what is God doing. You know, that’s why you’re calling a committee, and you want to hear from God in that moment, but it’s not about our likes and our dislikes. It is about who is God calling for the next season so that his will can be done in this community for the next generation and the changes that God wants to lead through you. And so pray for them. Fast, seek the Lord, because it matters, right? You don’t want to just call somebody that is available. You want to call somebody because God has called them here, because there’s great and important and meaningful work that needs to happen in this place.
You’re gonna be okay, and I want you to know I’ve been trying not to cry, and so the two ladies kind of caught me off guard this morning. I was keeping my tears for the end of the month. But I’m praying for you guys, and thank you for your prayer. And God is with you in this season and in all of the seasons as you go through that.
So I want us to—first of all, I want to call on our staff—Brandon, and Nick, Christo. They’re gonna carry a big load, as well as our Council. If Council, can you guys stand? If you can, if you want to just, again, reach your hands out towards them. If you’re next to them, please lay your hands on them as we bring them to the Lord.
Father God, we want to just pray this morning for our Council and for our staff this morning. Lord, I pray that you would give them wisdom. I pray that they would hear from your Spirit. Lead them, guide them. Thank you, Lord, that you have them here for this season. None of this is per accident. And so we praise you. Thank you that you have this team and these leaders here in this moment for this time. And so help them with all of the changes. Really again, just pray for your Spirit to make them sensitive. May they continue to look at your Word in all of their decision-making. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Is there anybody that’s here that’s part of the Pastor Search Committee? You guys? Just you? Oh, nominating? Yeah. Pastor Search Committee. Yep. If you guys can stand, we want to pray for you as well. So at least two. Okay, she’s in the back? Okay. Three. Oh, Jasmine is on there. Okay. Oh, there’s Kathy. Okay. Will you guys come to the front? That’s such an important task. I’m really praying for you guys and your leadership. Hey, let’s pray for them.
Father, we pray for this team this morning, and we just pray for your wisdom. Lord, thank you for their willingness to step up in this very important role that you have given them right now. And Father, we pray that they would hear from your Spirit. I pray, Lord, that all of them would take it upon themselves to pray and to fast and to seek your face in this moment. And so keep them united as a team. And we just, as a congregation, Lord, we trust them as your Spirit leads them. Lord, I pray that you would remove personalities and expectations and that your Spirit would really reign in all of their meetings. And so thank you, Lord. Thank you that we can trust you. Thank you that you love this church and that you care for this church. And Lord, you’ve been faithful through every generation; you’ve been faithful through every president; and you will continue to be faithful. Thank you that you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We give you thanks in Jesus’ name. Amen.
