Pastor Alistair Begg delivered his final sermon as senior pastor of Parkside Church earlier this month, ending more than four decades of ministry with a message of faith in the sufficiency of God "through all seasons of life."
In his final sermon on June 8, the 73-year-old pastor continued a mini-series on Moses, using the encounter between Moses and God at the burning bush to highlight themes of human inadequacy and divine strength.
"You may say that it's not just an unfinished series, but tonight was an unfinished sermon, and I say that not for your discouragement, but actually, hopefully, for your encouragement," he said, turning to Exodus 3:11–22. "Moses is a beauty, isn't he? Because now he has another question."
"My hope and prayer for today is that the services will be ordinary, and by that I mean doing what is routine," he said. "Instead of a closing message that focuses on our parting, we simply look to the next passage in our mini-series on Moses."
Begg walked the congregation through Moses' persistent questions — "Who am I that I should go?" and "What is his name?" — noting that God did not seek to bolster Moses' self-esteem but redirected him to divine presence.
"God doesn't say, 'Oh, you're terrific.' No, you're perfect for this. No, what does he say? You see it in the text, he says, 'I will be with you,'" Begg said. "The issue is not who Moses is. The issue is who is with Moses."
"We come to know God by revelation," Begg said. "He makes himself known. Otherwise, we could never know him. We don't find God by a consideration of ourselves and then project into divinity. We discover who we are by being made known of it through God himself."
The sermon, which concluded in reverent silence followed by song, echoed a phrase carved into the granite at Parkside's main entrance: "You have exalted above all things your name and your word."
"Moses needs to know that God has exalted above all things, His name and His Word," Begg said. "His inadequacy is not denied. It is assumed, and the answer lies in God's sufficiency."
"Can I just say to you what I say to myself, that God, because of who He is, is sufficient for every season of life? He is sufficient for every responsibility that He entrusts to us. He is sufficient for all of our needs, and He keeps all of His promises."
The Scottish pastor and voice behind the radio and online teaching ministry Truth for Life has served as Parkside Church's senior pastor since 1983.
Begg announced his planned retirement in September 2024, stating the extended notice was intended to "give the church time to adjust to the prospect of and to prepare in a timely way for what this transition will mean."
"It is not precipitous," Begg told the congregation in September. "It's not driven by anything of which I am personally aware, other than my ambition to pass the baton safely into the hands of my successor."
Over the years, Begg has become one of the most recognizable voices in conservative Evangelical circles, largely through Truth For Life.
Last year, during a speech at the Getty Music Sing! Conference in Nashville, Begg warned of a decline in biblical literacy within churches. "Expositional preaching gives way to inspirational talks, which gives way to therapeutical endeavors," he said. "You cannot continue to make your journey through life without your Bible … not as something just to be revered in a corner, but as our daily source of knowledge and encounter with God."
Begg's time at Parkside was not without controversy.
He came under fire for comments he made in 2023 advising a grandmother to attend her grandson's wedding to a trans-identified individual as an act of love. He later addressed the criticism publicly, saying, "I'm not ready to repent over this. I don't have to."
In his final sermon on Sunday, Begg recited a 20th-century hymn quoted in the church bulletin:
"I do not know how many days of life are mine to spend, but one who knows and cares for me will keep me to the end. I do not know the course ahead, what joys and griefs are there, but one is near who fully knows. I'll trust His loving care."
"Let's tell the Lord that we trust Him with the stuff we know, the bits that we don't know, our fears, our failures, everything," he concluded.
