It was both an honor and an humbling experience to have been chosen to serve as elder/shepherd at Otter Creek church for several years. I was very blessed to be included in a group of Godly servant leaders who committed themselves to the care of God’s people through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some of those same men are still serving today with our current shepherds. I’m thankful for all of them and praise God for their leadership.
I have many pleasant memories of my time as a shepherd – too many to recount here – but it was a time of spiritual growth for me, and I’m grateful for that. One church activity that the elders, ministers, and a representative cross-section of members (young, old, married, single, etc.) participated in was evaluation / planning study over several months wherein, with much prayer and the Bible as our guide, we looked at ourselves critically in terms of strengths and weaknesses and tried to determine where God was leading us a a body of His people. I believe God blessed us during that period and enabled us to build upon some of our strengths and eliminate some weaknesses to show us a better direction for spiritual growth and service. And, perhaps the most important result of the study is that the elders became more deliberate in soliciting prayer needs from members and spending much more time praying for the specific needs of our church family. Our shepherds and ministers continue to bless us all in this way every week, for which I’m very thankful.
I pray that God will help us to choose those men who should be our servant leaders at this time, and that they will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to commit to serve. I also pray that we all will encourage and pray for them continually, and that God will be honored and glorified by this family of believers as we try to walk with Jesus.
Jim McAlister
I have many pleasant memories of my time as a shepherd – too many to recount here – but it was a time of spiritual growth for me, and I’m grateful for that. One church activity that the elders, ministers, and a representative cross-section of members (young, old, married, single, etc.) participated in was evaluation / planning study over several months wherein, with much prayer and the Bible as our guide, we looked at ourselves critically in terms of strengths and weaknesses and tried to determine where God was leading us a a body of His people. I believe God blessed us during that period and enabled us to build upon some of our strengths and eliminate some weaknesses to show us a better direction for spiritual growth and service. And, perhaps the most important result of the study is that the elders became more deliberate in soliciting prayer needs from members and spending much more time praying for the specific needs of our church family. Our shepherds and ministers continue to bless us all in this way every week, for which I’m very thankful.
I pray that God will help us to choose those men who should be our servant leaders at this time, and that they will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to commit to serve. I also pray that we all will encourage and pray for them continually, and that God will be honored and glorified by this family of believers as we try to walk with Jesus.
Jim McAlister
1 comment:
Jim, I can honestly say that I have greatly appreciated the time that you had as an elder and the work you and the others did in that time. And even though you no longer have the title of elder, I still think you do the work of one.
Phil Wilson
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