Honoring Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
Christo Möller: Introduction
I’m sure we got the order of service wrong because we shouldn’t have played that now. It’s like everyone’s crying.
It’s my honor to introduce our speaker today. We made sure we had a speaker because none of us would be able to pull it off on a Sunday like this. But this morning I want to introduce Hollis Kim. He’s here with his wife Sue. Hollis is part of our Northwest Conference, part of the Covenant. He is the Director of Ministerial Health and Connection, and we want to welcome him to come and share the Word with us this morning, to come and encourage Steven and his family, and also to encourage us as we say goodbye. Let’s welcome Hollis. Thank you.
Let’s just take a moment to pray. Lord God, thank you for this wonderful time. Thank you, Lord, that you have sent Hollis across our path to come and share the Word with us. In a season like this we pray, Holy Spirit, that you will continue to work in him and through him, and that his word and the seed that he sows today will fall in our hearts and that it will grow to bear good fruit. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you Hollis.
Hollis Kim: You Shall Not Cross the Jordan
Thanks Christo. Good morning, church.
Did I hear you say that in Africa you say “amen” a lot? Okay, so you can do the same, okay? I’m just saying.
I bring you greetings from Northwest Conference, but also from our Superintendent, Kara Stromberg. And I am so, so, so honored and so grateful to be here today. I got some Kleenexes; I might need it too, so if you got Kleenex, make sure it’s around so people can use it.
It’s a mouthful of a title, but really, I like to describe my function as a pastor to the pastors, and I’ve been so grateful to know Christo and Steven for these many years. When I first started in this role, I was up here—we had a pastor’s lunch over at Covenant Park, right? And I get out of my car, and who do I—the first people I meet were Steven and Christo. And they’re from South Africa—I’ve never been there, but we have dear friends, a friend who shared the same birthday as me, and they’re from South Africa. So I learned all about Table Mountain. I got a coffee table book that says “Cape Town, Table Mountain” on it. And I know about braai, which is the national kind of barbecue thing of… Anyway, so there’s all that kind of things.
But I’m really grateful to be here today especially. And it’s almost like, Steven, you said it all. So I almost feel like the sermon’s been preached, because your shepherd’s heart is so clear to your people, and your love for Jesus—you’ve heard the Lord, and you’re trying to obey. You guys obeyed when you came here. You obeyed when you came to Fairmont, Minnesota, when it was really cold. We heard about that at dinner last night, and we heard about your call up here. And now we’re hearing your call, God’s call, for the future. So thank you, brother, for your gift to me as a brother and a fellow pastor, but also as an example of Godly leadership to the church.
You’ve heard that phrase from Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” And the response is, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." That’s easier said than done. So I’m gonna do my best to be an encouragment to you today. I told the worship staff as we were praying downstairs earlier, my prayers have been for you and for me today from Isaiah, where Isaiah the prophet says about his experience with God—and here’s where I’d like to read that. He’s saying:
The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
So my prayer has been and continues to be today that God has given me an instructed tongue to give you a word of encouragement and strength. May it be so.
So let me—yeah, Christo, you prayed, but I’m gonna pray again, man. I’m sorry. I got to pray. Let’s pray.
As we were reminded from Steven’s sermon last week, Lord, indeed, you are always the same. You have been, you are, and you will be the same yesterday, today, and forever. I think of that old hymn, “There is no shadow of turning with you.” You are faithful and you’ve been good. And through all the seasons of our lives and the life of this church, you have been and you will be good. So Lord, we pray for your Holy Spirit, that his eternal encouragement will be ours today. And, Lord, use me, I pray, in these short words, to be a gift and a blessing to this body, your people here at Salem Covenant Duluth. We give ourselves and this time to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And all God’s people together said, “Amen.”
So I have a couple texts. I don’t know—Bil, do we have the picture of my sons? There we go. Just a quick introduction. Sue there, she’s the best-looking of the lot. David on the left is 34, Jonathan in the middle is 32, and they are a gift to us. And I told the guys at dinner last night, I said, “You know, I’m a pastor, and our kids like us, and that’s a gift.” So Hailey, no pressure. But, you know, yeah, anyway, it’s harder being a pastor’s kid than being—and pastor’s spouse. So I just want to say, hats off to you guys.
So I want to read from a couple texts. The first one will be from Deuteronomy 31, and there’ll be three movements in these passages. I’ll read another one from Deuteronomy 34 in a little bit. But Deuteronomy 31 begins here.
Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you.”
That’s not you, Steven, but that’s what Moses said. But here’s what he said: “The Lord said to me,” and Steven said the same.
“The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’”
In other words, “Your time is done, and now we hand off the baton to the next generation of leaders.”
“The Lord your God himself…”
And church, I want you to hear this.
“The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you.”
God’s already in tomorrow and weeks and months to come. Remember that.
“The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over before you.”
So God’s made provision in your leaders. He’s already prepared leaders and the next pastor of the church to come and follow Steven and to take the baton and run the next leg of the journey.
“And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you…”
So he’s gonna protect the people. He will protect you.
“… and you must do to them all that I have commanded…”
And here’s the word I want you to remember. This is repeated in these verses.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them…”
Why?
“… for the Lord your God goes with you.”
“Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
I want you to hear that, church, and say that to each other. Remind each other in days to come. The Scriptures tell us in the New Testament, “Encourage one another.” Do that. It’s important for us as a body of people, when we are with each other, to encourage each other with the Word of God and reminders of God’s Word to us. Amen? Thank you.
Okay, move on. Next one? Sorry, go back to the… That’s right, thank you, Bil.
So then, here’s a word to Joshua. So, to you leaders. That was a word from Moses to all the people. And Steven, when we met for lunch a couple months ago, I think, and he said, “God’s made clear it’s time to move.”
And you know, when Jesus—we’re in the sixth week of Easter—when Jesus told his guys, “Guys, I got news for you. I came to die." Can you imagine Jesus followers saying, “What?” “The Son of Man came so that he could redeem the world. He’s gonna suffer at the hands of the leaders of the Jews, and he will be crucified,” and he’s speaking of himself. “He’ll be crucified and dead. And the third day he’ll be raised from the dead.” The guys probably didn’t hear that last one. They’re probably more stuck on, “You’re gonna leave?” And do you remember, just a few weeks ago we celebrated Holy Week, Good Friday. It doesn’t feel good, but it’s a Good Friday. And then you imagine the in-between, the Saturday, the Holy Saturday. “What’s gonna happen to us?”
So as Steven mentioned his last sermon, transition and change, there’s three parts. There’s an ending, which is tough; there’s a messy middle, a wilderness; and then there’s a new beginning. We so want to run to the new beginning, don’t we? We don’t know the answers. We don’t have everything settled. We want that. But God says, "Will you trust me?"
And this is harder, I think, for pastors’ spouses and kids. I can tell you stories about our kids. When they were little, in one transition, the older one, David, said, "Oh, we’re ready to go." And Jonathan was our more sensitive one. He said, "Can we pick up our house and move it to the next city?" And so what we did is took some flecks of paint from the baseboard of our old house and put it in a baggie, a plastic bag, and put it in his drawer. So we ended up in the new place, he looked, “Oh, this is the old house!” Okay, that was one. That was when the kids were like in second and fourth grade, I think.
We made another transition when the boys were in sixth and eighth grade, and the roles were reversed. I remember praying with the boys, and I said, “So God’s gonna call us to a new place. We’re gonna move." So our younger one, Jonathan, said, “Oh, great!” And I said, "What do we do when God calls us to go?” And Jonathan, the younger, says, “Well you go.” And David says, "No!" He says, “The movers are gonna have to pick me up bodily and move me out.” So we were kind of—okay, we had to tell the movers this was gonna happen, right? But it was hard for one and the other in those occasions. So it was a transition for the family, but also for all of us, right? We said, “What’s gonna become of us?”
And I am certain that the disciples, when Jesus died, thought, “Okay, now what? Who’s gonna lead us? What’s gonna become of us?”
And same thing here in the Old Testament. Moses has led the people for forty years. You’ve only been here fifteen, brother, but, you know, it’s a long time. And all those—I was crying too during that video, man. It’s like, there’s so many moments that you and all of us can remember, right, over these years. Moments—and you guys came through COVID. Oh my gosh. I remember when COVID hit, it’s like, I saw Duluth services, and it’s like, okay, so you had these, like, I don’t know how many people were in the room, but, you know, you had to make it happen.
I remember—there’s moments that you can remember, and that’s why it’s important for us to—when we have tears, it’s an affirmation that we love each other. We really mean a lot to each other. So make sure the Kleenex boxes are ready to go around, okay?
So Moses summons Joshua, and here’s what he says now to Joshua, to the next leader, and to you all leaders. Joshua comes to Moses, and Moses makes a point to say this in front of the whole of the people of Israel. He says:
“Be strong and courageous…”
There’s that phrase again. To the people, “Be strong and courageous.” To Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” Why?
“… for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.”
So God’s given a task to the next leader—or leaders, in your case—for what’s next.
“The Lord himself goes before you, and he will be with you.”
It’s the same phrase. It’s worth repeating to Joshua in the presence of all the people who hear the same phrase.
“The Lord himself goes before you, and he will be with you.”
You notice the Lord himself goes before you and goes with you.
“He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So what’s appropriate is to not be afraid and not be discouraged. Friends, we will be afraid and discouraged. I know that.
We stayed at a new hotel, which is right near the Bass Pro Shop, where Steven’s gonna work. It’s like, “Oh, that’s where it is.” You know? It’s like, I’m just gonna imagine him, you know, behind the counter and kind of all—very different. But that’s what God’s called him to for this particular next season. How short or long it is, we don’t know. But what’s clear—and I want to affirm this, Steven, to you, but also in front of you—God’s spoken to you, and you’re obedient. So you don’t know what’s next, but you know what? It’s like, it doesn’t matter, because you know the one that has called you, and he is faithful. Yes? Amen?
God is faithful, and it’s not just words. This is how we learn trust and we grow in faith is when difficult times come. It’s not when things are easy; it’s when things are hard. Right? When things are really difficult, that’s when, you know, kind of the bad stuff shows. And you know that when you pray for patience, guess what? Then you have somebody that cuts you off in traffic or is really short with you, and you go, “God, I asked for patience!” And he goes, “I’m working on it, son. I’m working on it.” You know?
I had a friend just recently, she said, “I’m having all these challenges,” and she said, “God, why is this happening?” And here’s his response. She heard him say, “I’m building your resume.” And she’s going, “What?” “I’m building your resume. I am helping you grow in the grace that’s in Jesus.” But that only comes through hard times. And what’s ahead for you as a church, for Steven and Venessa and Hailey, we don’t know. But who is the one that is the way? We don’t know the path for it, but we know the way, the truth, and the life, and his name is Jesus. Amen?
All right. So in these first verses in Deuteronomy 31, Moses addresses the people, and Joshua is among them, and he says, “Here’s what God said to me. I’m obedient. I’m inviting you to obey with me.” Now, thankfully, Steven’s not dying or dead. Thank you, Jesus. That ain’t the case. But it’s harder when we don’t—you’re still alive, and we pray that God will give many more years, you know? It’d be good to have a dad to walk you down the aisle maybe someday if you get married. You know what I mean? But we don’t know the future, but we know the one who does and is already ahead. The text says, “God himself goes ahead of you.” So in days to come, this summer, and in the fall, et cetera, God is already there. So that’s the word to God’s people through Moses, and that’s the word to Joshua or the next generation of leaders that are coming.
All right, and let’s go now to Deuteronomy 34, Bil, please.
Now, Steven and Venessa and Hailey, I want to speak to you because this addresses you. The first two texts from Deuteronomy 31 speak about the people, but this is a very, very personal intimate picture of Moses with God. Nobody else is up on that mountain, on Mount Nebo, except God and Moses. But just hear this, and I want you to hear this as an encouragment to you guys, okay?
Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev [which is a desert area] and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, “I will…”
Whoops. “I will welcome you.” He says that too, but not particularly here. Sorry. This is the word—it’s like, to Joshua, to Moses, he’s saying, “I want you to see all this. These last 40 years, all your years, 120 years of your life, has been leading to this moment.” God called Moses to bring the people to the brink of crossing the Jordan, but not to cross over.
Steven, you fulfilled God’s purpose and mandate for you. And Venessa and Hailey, you guys are part of that. I know, Hailey’s like, “I just went with mom and dad.” But all of you have had a part in that, and so God has been forming you and using you with other people. We all are used by God in each other’s lives, right? We sometimes even don’t know how, but God is using us and developing in us his character. We’re reflections of the Lord Jesus.
“This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
So that’s a hard word. Moses had led the people through thick and thin, through hardships and great moments, and we can tell stories of the forty years in the desert, in the wilderness. That’s a long, long time. But, you know, God brought Israel out of Egypt, but he took forty years to get Egypt out of Israel. He was forming for himself a people in that forty-year period, and God is in the process of continuing—as he started already and will complete—continue to form you as a people, us as God’s followers. And he’ll do the same with you guys.
So, you know, when we met for lunch, he said, “The church is in good shape. I’m not leaving because of a scandal. None of that stuff.” Everything is in good shape, but then it doesn’t make as much sense for us to go, “Well, why are you leaving now?” It’s because the Word of the Lord says, “It’s time to go.” And Steven, I want to say again, I commend you for your courage and for your audacity in obeying God. You’ve heard from the Lord, and there’s absolutely no mistake. God said, “Go,” and so you go. Thank you for doing that. And thank you for coming from South Africa, by the way, to Fairmont and then to here. That’s a whole lot different, man. Snow here; ain’t none of that in South Africa. I grew up in Hawaii, folks, so I know what they’re feeling. I feel these guys.
So now we continue.
And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.
I want you to read this here carefully.
He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
Now I’ve wrestled with some commentaries. My hunch is that it’s God who did the burying. That’s what the text seems to indicate.
He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where [Moses’] grave is.
That’s such an intimate picture to me of God’s tender mercy and love for his servant, Moses. And I want you to hear that. You ain’t Moses, but Steven, God has had his eye on you since before you were born; he formed you in your mother’s womb; and he had a mystery, and you are in the process of continuing to fulfill it in this next leg. Thanks be to God.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
Friends, we began the weeping, and we’ll continue to weep. There’s a season of mourning. When we love someone and their family and they leave, it’s a separation. So transition has three elements to it. There’s a sadness that comes with this. There’s a separation that first comes, and there’s a sadness that goes along with it, but it’s important for us as people of faith to remember there’s also a sent-ness. God is sending Steven to the next part of the journey.
We talked about this at lunch a month or two ago. You know, my sense is your pastor is a shepherd, but also an evangelist’s heart. When he talks about reaching out to folks that don’t ever darken the door of a church—yeah the language is kind of funky, and it’s like “Ooh…” And people sometimes, when they find out you’re a pastor, they go, “Oh, I’m sorry. I should watch my tongue.” But the thing is, Steven is now sent into the community to be God’s emissary at Bass Pro shops. Who knows the kinds of people that have never darkened the door of a church that will show up and somehow see in him the light of Christ? They might go, “What’s up with you, man? What is up with you? There’s something really, really different about you.” And God might give him opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.
But that’s an example to us too, friends. We are sent. So there’s a separation, there’s a sadness, and there’s a sent-ness. God is sending you all into the next leg of the journey. What does God have in store? I don’t know. God does, and as the text is reminding us in that last passage in Deuteronomy 31, God’s already ahead of you. He’s already ahead of what’s happening tomorrow and in months to come. So we can trust that he is already with us and he knows the future. He holds our future. Amen?
So I want you to just think a moment, reflect a bit. As you hear these words, what’s stirring in you? What do you feel and think? What are you asking God about? What are your questions? I want to encourage you—don’t be afraid; don’t be shy to let God have it. What I mean by that is, tell him what you’re feeling and thinking. I’ve had moments where I’m just ranting and raving and saying, “God, why are you making this happen? Why did you let this happen?” And God sometimes is silent in the moment. He lets me, like a kid, rant and rave, but then he comes to me in the silence, and he says to me, “I am with you. I love you. That’s never changed.” And that phrase, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” is something that becomes much more something in my heart that settles.
Friends, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. I want to say that again and again, but we know the one who does. Amen?
So I want to take some time now to pray as we close. And I’ll just ask you, whatever God’s stirring in you, I want to encourage you to give that to God. We don’t have to be perfect in God’s sight. We just need to be real before God. He already knows what’s going on in us, and that’s good, because God is always doing something. What he began in you, he will complete in you. Let’s just take a moment to be quiet, and I’ll close in prayer.
Holy Spirit, come. Speak to us. Settle in us. Lord, we thank you that your Word is good. You are good, and all that you do is good. We thank you that you knew this day was coming. You have been forming and fashioning this day and all of us for this moment. And we give you thanks for Pastor Steven, for Venessa, for Hailey, for their life with us and their commitment to us and their leadership in your name to you, reminding us always to look to you, Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We ask that you would settle in our hearts those questions we have, but Lord, we ask that you would use this next season for Steven, Venessa, for Hailey, and for all of us to form and fashion a life of faith—a deeper faith, a stronger faith, a quieter faith, but a more confident faith, a quiet confidence that you have all things in your hands. You’re before us, you’re beside us, you’re behind us, and we’re thankful for that reminder. Would you let us be reminders to one another as you remind us? Would you help us to be encouragers to one another as you encourage us in these days to come? So we look to you and we pray with King Jehoshaphat, when he and his people were faced with something that was an enemy attacking them. They didn’t know what to do. Here’s their prayer. They said, “Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” Would you help our eyes to stay fixed on Jesus, the one who initiated and the one who will complete our faith when he returns? In between, in the meantime, help us to be faithful in you, with you, knowing you have us in your hands. Hear our prayer, you who are good, and all that you do is good. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”
Pastor Steven Osborne: Final Address
Good morning, church! Good morning, church online. It’s a joy to see all of these faces. I don’t know why you guys are here. It’s beautiful out there. You should be by the lake. So many of you adjusted your schedules to be here and paid a deep price, and so thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. And I’m grateful that I get four hours here to preach; there’s not a second service. And it was kind of weird not to think about which service sounds the best for singing. It’s like usually, it’s like, “Oh, first service,” or “Second service," and you guys sounded great this morning. It’s just, I am gonna miss that.
And as I was watching the video there, I was like, “Man, video quality has really improved over the years.” And you remember the blue carpet? It’s like, man, a lot of changes. It was fun to see all of that. Thank you, Nick, for putting that together. I appreciate it.
Well, I’m obviously a mess. I’ve been crying all weekend, and so I’m gonna try and read because I will not be able to just share.
It’s hard to find the right words for a moment like this. (I’m sorry, I’m trying to pull it together. Thank you.) Fifteen years ago, God called us to Salem, and today we bring this chapter to a close. Not with sadness alone, but with deep, deep gratitude. First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Venessa, my daughter, Hailey. You’ve both sacrificed so much behind the scenes so I could lead and love this church family well. You’ve given up countless evenings, weekends, and vacations, and never once complained. Venessa, your strength and quiet faith have steadied me more times than I can count. Hailey, you’ve grown up in this church. You’ve done it with grace. I’m proud of the woman you’re becoming. I couldn’t have done this without both of you.
I thought this was gonna go better.
Pastor Hollis, thank you for your kind words this morning. Your support over the years has meant more to me than you’ll ever know. You’ve walked with me, encouraged me many times, and it’s really been very encouraging. I’ll never forget the phone call in Haiti when we were stuck there, and suddenly I felt like, “Oh, at least somebody knows we’re in Haiti. At least somebody important. Hopefully they’ll send somebody to come and get us if we’re…”
To all the volunteers—boy, where do I even start? Some of you have been running alongside me since day one. You’ve given your time, your energy, your hearts, and this church is standing today because of your sacrifice and faithfulness, and I’m forever grateful. And there’s just so many names, and I was thinking about mentioning all of the names, but then that’s really gonna be a four-hour service.
To the staff, thank you for believing in the vision, even when it sounded crazy. I think of COVID, and when we had to pivot and try and figure it out, and it seemed like every half an hour there was a different rule and changes. I remember the staff sitting in the office, and we were trying to figure out our first service online, and I was having conversation with Christo and worship, and he said, “No, we can’t do that.” I said, “We are gonna do it.” And at the end of the day, they made it work, and just so grateful. Thank you for trusting me enough to join the team—Nick, Brandon, Christo, Kelsey, all of the staff before them. Thank you for working hard, for dreaming big, and for standing shoulder to shoulder with me.
I want to give a special shout-out to Christo and Natasha. You trusted me enough to move your entire lives from South Africa. That kind of trust doesn’t go unnoticed. I’m endlessly grateful for you.
And to Salem as a whole, thank you for your grace. You’ve endured a lot of change under my leadership. Some of it worked, some of it—well, let’s say it stretched us all. But you never gave up. You stayed the course, and I will keep bragging about you for years to come. You are a rare church, one that actually wants to grow, heal, and love like Jesus. I know that change isn’t easy. It can feel uncertain, uncomfortable, and even scary. But I want to remind you that this moment is not a dead end; it’s a divine intersection, a fresh opportunity to grow in your faith and trust God in new ways. The future is bright. I truly believe that for all of us. I’m praying for the next Lead Pastor and the Salem team. May they take what we have built and go even further. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines—and yes, we’ll be tracking everything online. I will text Christo and Nick and Brandon if they mess up. Don’t be surprised if I start showing off your wins like a proud uncle on Facebook. And if you’re ever near Bass Pro, please stop by and come and say hi. I would love to see all of you. And stop at my house for a cup of coffee. You can still drop off gift cards there as well for Starbucks. So don’t forget me at Pastor Appreciation Month.
I have a little prayer I want to pray over you this morning, but before I do that, I think the most important thing I can say this morning is: God’s been so faithful in our lives and my family’s life. Our relationship with Jesus has been so important; it’s never been just a religious act for us. It’s been very real. And I want to encourage you today—as you’re sitting here today, I want you to know and encourage you—don’t make your relationship with Jesus just head knowledge. Let the Holy Spirit really impact your heart and your mind.
Can I tell you a crazy story that happened to me? Okay, I’m almost embarrassed. Well, I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but some of you might think this is weird, but I’ll tell it in any case. So I just want to say how I trust Jesus and how real he is. I hope it will inspire you through my weird story.
We have a hot tub on our deck, and this thing has given us so much trouble over the years, and we spent a lot of money. So we were excited to get this thing going, and so I got it up, and I filled it with water, and it was leaking like crazy. And so I called—there’s a technician; I have him on my “Favorites” list on my phone. And so I called him and said, “Hey, when it’s warmer and stuff, please come out, fix my hot tub. It’s leaking again. I will have to sell the two dogs to pay you for your service, but we’re willing to do it.” And so he came out and he said, all right, he fixed the leaks, and blah, blah, blah. But my two pumps have broken. It’s gonna be about $2,000. I said, “Well, I don’t think we’ll be hot-tubbing this summer.” I could see Hailey just kind of blowing bubbles for us with a straw or something in the bathtub.
And so I’m in Bass Pro as this guy was kind of calling me and giving me this great news about, you know, just how things are broken, it’s not gonna happen, and blah, blah, blah. And so I was just kind of upset the whole day and just like, “Lord, this would be awesome. This is kind of our family time. This is where we have our family conversation sometimes in the evening,” and it’s like, “We really want to experience this,” and I’m really praying. And you know, sometimes we pray, and it feels like it just hits the ceiling, and then there’s some days where there’s stirring. Right? And you’re just like, somehow you have a sense God is gonna answer this. And so I’m driving from Bass Pro to the house, and I’m praying for this hot tub. I don’t know why it’s so heavy. It’s like, “God, your word tells us if we only have faith like a mustard seed…” It’s like, “I have that today.” And so I’m kind of excited. I’m excited to get home. It’s like, “My faith is there. This thing is gonna work.” And I get home, and I turn on the pumps, and it didn’t work.
And I had to go to Menards for something, and I’m driving. I was like, “Lord, again, it’s like, man, I just, I have the faith today. I trust you. This is gonna happen today.” I was like, “I know that this is a first world issue. I totally get this. I know you have way bigger issues.” It’s like, “Man, you know, it’s like, you have to look after Christo. That’s a full-time job for you. There’s all of this stuff in Africa and all over Middle East.” It’s like, “But, the hot tub, Lord. This is really gonna be a blessing.”
So I come back from Menards, and again, just like this stirring. And I turn the power on again, and here it’s working. Just amazing. Amazing. So then I text my technician guy, and he’s not a believer. But I’m texting, it’s like, “I got to tell you a story. Let me just tell you what God did.” He’s like, “Are you sure that that...?” I was like, “Yes, nothing is leaking. Thanks for fixing that, but God did take care of the $2,000. I don’t need your services looks like for the rest of the year.” And so kind of a cool testimony.
But I’m sharing that with you today just to say, it’s like, God is in this, and it’s amazing how he can hear those little prayers when it’s real, when we really have a faith, and when we trust Him. And again, there’s sometimes bigger things I pray, and then he doesn’t answer, right? I’m still praying for the Lord to send us to Florida or Hawaii, so if you—Arizona, so if you hear of a church, let us know.
But church, thank you so much for all of your love and support. You guys mean a lot to us. And if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I want to encourage you to do that today, to have that conversation with him.
You will hear on the media—I was just watching—there was an article with a well-known actor. I don’t want to say his name. He was saying, “Oh, we won’t see each other in the afterlife. There’s nothing after this, and God isn’t real.” I kind of just smiled as I was reading that. And I want you to know that God is real. Jesus is real. I’ve seen it over and over and over in my life. And so trust him. Make it real. It’s not about religion. It’s not about just showing up on Sundays. It’s not about doing good works. It’s about giving your life over to him. It is a great gift. It’s a gift of grace; you don’t have to earn it. And there’s something beautiful when we come to him and we just say, “Jesus, I give over. I’m in desperate need of a Savior.” And he is faithful. He will show up in powerful ways.
Let me pray over you this morning.
Father God, thank you for the gift of this church family. Thank you for the laughter we’ve shared, the tears we’ve shed, the miracles we have witnessed, and the battles we have fought together. I pray your continued favor over Salem. May this be a house of healing, a place of restoration, and a lighthouse for those who are lost in the storm. Strengthen the leaders. Fill the staff with courage, humility, and vision. Unify the body; make them one in spirit, one in purpose, and one in love. Let this next season be marked by fresh outpouring, deeper discipleship, and a greater impact than ever before. Let new songs rise, new stories be written, and new people find their home here. And may your presence be real, raw, and undeniable. Continue to dwell in this place. So Lord, thank you that you are faithful. Thank you that You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Lord, I pray that you will fill all of us this morning with your Spirit of courage. Remove all fear. Father, we pray again for all of the staff here, for all of the leadership, for the next pastor, whoever that might be. We pray that your will be done in all of this. And I pray now your blessing over this beautiful congregation. May they continue to sing loud and worship you. In Jesus’ name, amen and amen.
Well, good morning, church!
Top Dog Award: Nicholas Anderson
You may be seated.
Before I begin what we’re about to do next, I am aware of the fact that I have probably spent not the least amount of time, but so much less time than many of you have with Steven, and so I will do my best to honor him for all of us.
About a year or so ago, Steven brought into the office a small golden dog trophy. During the staff meeting, he handed us a sheet of paper with instructions on what he called the Top Dog Award. There were four criteria we could use to nominate a person to, and in his words, “recognize and encourage standout contributions among our team.” Keeping in line with our church values, Brandon and I found Romans 12:10 as a Scripture verse to ground this tradition in:
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
So with that in mind, I nominate Steven Osborne for the Top Dog Award. The reasons for this are as follows.
For his exemplary service to the community. I’ve never had a pastor who so seriously cared for all the people under his care. The number of times I heard of Steven going to visit a person in need or in the hospital is astounding. Jasmine and I were the recipients of his exemplary service multiple times, and we are grateful.
His innovation in ministry. From the moment Steven and I became friends, he was pushing me to use my gifts and talents. He created opportunities for me and gave me the freedom to try new things, even if there were some office talks after a few of my videos maybe pushed the boundaries too much. He was always looking for ways to innovate and push the congregation forward.
Spiritual leadership. I am a better person because of Steven’s spiritual leadership in my life, and I feel lucky that I was able to be so close to him for five years. Jasmine and I talk a lot about how our walks with Jesus are not the same since meeting Steven.
Team collaboration. Steven’s push for team collaboration was amazing, and almost to a fault sometimes. He was always looking for feedback and willing to receive a pushback on his ideas. Even though he was the leader of the team, he strived to include all of us in final decisions.
The reason Steven deserves the Top Dog Award today is because this congregation is better off for his pastoral role over us than if he were never here.
Top Dog Award: Brandon Marini
Well, I would also like to nominate Steven as the Top Dog for the following reasons.
His vision. Steven has a way of perpetually envisioning a brighter and better future, regardless of how distant or impractical it may seem. It was never just a dream for him, though. He took out his fork, and he was gonna eat that pie in the sky.
His leadership. When Steven was voted in as Lead Pastor, he described himself as driving Salem like a bus. We could either get on board or get left behind. I was not afraid to get on that bus. I knew Steven was capable of taking our church to new places, and I wanted to be with him in the midst of it all. He constantly pushed us forward, often to my own discomfort. “Let’s think this through for a few months,” I’d say. “Nope, we’re doing it today,” was his reply. He’s not one to dally, but he fervently pursues whatever God puts on his heart.
His compassion. While Steven can give a hard word when needed, it is never delivered without compassion. He genuinely cares for each one of us and wants to see us grow and thrive in our life in Christ. He’s not satisfied with surface-level relationships. He has certainly set an example that I will ever strive to match.
Top Dog Award: Christo Möller
I guess it has to be unanimous, so I’ll nominate Steven.
A lot of you don’t realize how long I’ve known him for. (I was doing really well not crying.) There are so many different hats between us. Steven would often call me into his office and say, “Today is the pastor hat,” just to check in with me. Or he would say, “This is the boss hat. Do you have all your hours in this week?” Keeping me on my toes. He would have the leader hat, invest in me, teach me. He would put on the friend hat, and we’d just hang out. Just have fun. Stupid jokes. He would always have my back, no matter what I did, no matter how hard a time I gave him. He’s my role model. His faithfulness is amazing. Regardless of what a season or circumstance brings, he’s always been committed and faithful to the calling, no matter what it cost, even to this day, being faithful to the calling to step away. We nominate Steven as our Top Dog.
Pastor Steven Osborne: Response
I just want to thank my mother…
Christo Möller: Closing
I want to invite Pastor Hollis Kim back just to pray over the Osborne family as we close our service.
Hollis Kim: Closing Prayer
I’m gonna come down here. This is too far away. Come, stand up, would you? I’d invite you, if you’d like, to just extend your hands. And if you want to stand with us. Let me stand… yeah.
Father, we begin with thanks. Really, we’re so grateful to be part of Steven’s life—Steven and Venessa and Hailey. Many of us have had many moments of really quiet, really special, sacred moments with each of these three. And Lord, we echo what’s been said already about Steven, his faithfulness to you. No matter what the season, no matter what the issue, his answer is always a ready “yes” to whatever you called him to. And so we thank you for all three of these dear ones of yours, and we ask that you would richly bless them, that as they have sought to encourage this congregation, may you now encourage them in Jesus’ name. We ask that you send your Holy Spirit and his eternal encouragement, that in days to come, as they wonder about how things are going here, as they worry about people that they’ve loved over the years, of the people that they’ve invested and given their lives to for these many years, Lord, we ask that you comfort them with the comfort that only you can give. We ask that you’d help them to trust you with these dear ones here at Salem Covenant. And we ask, Lord, that you would teach all of us what it means to trust you in the next step of what you’re inviting us into.
Lord, we thank you for Steven and Venessa and Hailey. We ask that, in these days, you would remind them that you go before them—you yourself go before them and are before them—and that you will never leave them nor forsake them. Help them experience that, not just hear those words. Lord, thank you for their love for you and the love for your people, which is so clearly evident. Our many tears reflect our love for them. And so, Lord, we ask that you would receive them, and that you continue to grow them in your grace in these days. And we ask that you would help them to hear your good word, “Well done, good and faithful servants. Come into the presence of your beloved master, Jesus.” Help them to continue to go with you, to know that you are very with them. Help them to experience that, not just know the words and read the words, but day by day, give them small tastes of your sustaining presence. Help them to be surprised at your showing up in places and in voices and through people they least expect.
So we commend them to you, thanking you so much for them, and thanking you that you’ve given us a chance to walk with them and to be part of their lives and they with ours over these last years. So Lord, we commend them to you, knowing that you are a very good father—a good, good father. Thank you in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”
Nicholas Anderson: Benediction
Join me in this benediction.
Leader: Pastor Steven, may the Lord bless you and keep you as you step into this new season of life and calling.
People: We give thanks to your faithful service among us.
Leader: You have led us with wisdom and grace, stood steady in trials and sparked new life in our community.
People: You have been a shepherd, a guide, and a friend.
Leader: You have been a source of strength and encouragement and a vessel of Christ’s love among us.
People: Your labor in the Lord has not been in vain.
Leader: We bless you now in the name of Jesus, the One who called you, sustained you and walks beside you still.
People: May his peace go before you, his Spirit empower you, and his joy and will be your strength.
All: With grateful hearts we all say, “Amen.”
Go in peace.
