Well hello, Cove Church! My name is Aaron, I am back from my sabbatical, and I have missed being with you all. I’ve been praying for our church, and you've been on Paula and my hearts that entire time. I’m so grateful to be back in the saddle and able to come and share a quick thought for you today.
One of the passages that I spent some time in on Sabbatical was Matthew 24, where Jesus talks about the signs of the ends of the age. And it's about the kinds of things you'd consider being part of that, things like earthquakes, famines, wars, people betraying one another, getting mad at one another... it's the kind of stuff that makes you go, “Wow, that sounds a little bit familiar right now.” It seems that's kind of where things are. He talks about these things being birth pains and the signs of the ends of the age. But then he says “But no one really knows the day or the hour, I don’t even know the day or the hour.” And he’s basically saying, “That's not what I need you to worry about, I don’t need you to worry about the day or the hour. Know the signs, know the seasons.”
But then he comes back to this point, in Matthew 24:46. It says, “Blessed is the servant whom his master will find doing so when he comes.” Basically it's saying, it’s good to be aware of the signs of the end times and the birth pains of all that, but what do we do? He’s telling us, what we do is to do the thing we’ve been called by God to do. So if we haven't discovered our purpose in life, we get to seek Jesus and maybe the help of others to find that purpose and to discover that purpose and to walk in it. Then once we know what that is, we are to continue to do that thing that God made us to do, be that person that God has made us to be, that influence we’re supposed to have in the world, the specific voice that we’re supposed to have in this world. Jesus says, “Just be doing that. Just be doing that when he comes.” Someday there will be an end to this clock that is ticking down and Jesus will return, but what should he find us doing? He should find us doing the very thing he designed us to do, the purpose he gave us for our life, and each of us has that purpose, has that calling. It's up to us to then walk in that purpose.
That would be my encouragement to you today. Wherever you find yourself, there are gifts and strengths and parts of who you are that God designed to affect the lives of others for the Gospel, for the Kingdom, and for Jesus. So let's be about doing that. Let's be about bringing that to every arena we find ourselves in. Let's bring hope to this world that is in desperate need of it. Let's bring Jesus to this place in every way, in every form, in all the different ways that we do so through the unique person God created us to be. Let's be doing that when the master comes.
About the Author
Aaron Sutherland
Pastor Aaron met his wife Pastor Paula in college, and they have been growing in love together for 25 years ever since.
Aaron earned a bachelor’s degree from New Hope Christian College and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Formational Leadership from Capital Seminary. He is a licensed pastor with Open Bible Churches.
Along with their two sons Ethan and Isaac, the Sutherlands have continually experienced the great adventure of following Jesus. From 1995 to 2004, the Sutherlands ministered as youth pastors for two vibrant churches. In 2005, God called them to plant Desert Song Community Church, in Redmond, Oregon. It was in those years that they discovered the excitement of watching God start a church from nothing. The Sutherlands have had a heart for church planting ever since, as they serve with organizations that further church planting around the world. In the fall of 2012, Aaron and Paula moved to Eugene, Oregon to plant Cove Church.
Aaron loves to spend days with a fly rod in his hand and a fish on the line. There are no bad days on the river.
