• Remember the kid’s bulletin in the foyer.
• Tonight’s assembly is our monthly singing. The High School and Middle School men will be conducting the service.
• Volunteers Needed: The Meal Preparation List and the Lord’s Supper Preparation List will require some changes for 2007. If you are not one or both of the lists already, please sign up if you would like to help. A sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board in the foyer. Please help with these important, behind-the-scenes works.

• Transportation: Sutton, Bratton
• Lord’s Supper: S Durbin, D Norris
• Meals: A Thompson, A Sutton
• Deacon: T Price
• Usher: K Swisher
• Sound: J Norris, J Price, N Sutton

Shepherding the Flock
By Reggie Robarts

Did God know what He was doing when He ordered that a local congregation be overseen by some fallible men from among its own ranks? Knowing the tendency of men to make mistakes, use poor judgment, and frequently fail in their responsibilities it seems God could have come up with a better plan than the one He revealed in His will. But, who am I, one of the most fallible of men, to question anything God does. I know that is exactly the way God ordained that the local church be governed and I feel that weight of responsibility while serving in that capacity at Eastland. No one coerced me into that office and when I was first asked to serve as one of the elders I am sure I did not fully understand the awesome task that I had assumed. In the years since I began serving I have become more acutely aware of weightier judgment that I have incurred for myself. I will not only answer for my own life as a Christian but also for the diligence and faithfulness I displayed in my role as a shepherd. I have learned much about the practical side of such service.

The role of an elder is described as a “work” in I Timothy 3:1. It is not a position that one seeks for prestige or to have supremacy over others. It is not a place where one can arbitrarily impose his will on, and sometime his prejudices, on his fellow Christians. Of all the terms used to describe this work in the New Testament, elder, pastor, presbyter, bishop, etc. the one I like best is shepherd. It suggests some much about the relationship that must exist between the leader and his flock. God thought there were some essential characteristics of an elder that closely paralleled that of a literal shepherd.

The shepherd had to be willing to sacrifice for the sheep. In John 10:1-18 Jesus speaks of Himself as the shepherd that would even lay down His life for the members of His flock. It is unlikely under the present circumstances in which we live that any elder will be called on to die for one the members of the congregation. But he must be willing to make himself available day or night to spend time with those who are in need of encouragement and exhortation, and even admonishing. He should be on call at all times to respond to the needs of those under his care. His time cannot be his own if he is going to adequately serve those who are committed to his care.

The shepherd must know the sheep. A book published in 1997 by Lynn Anderson, They Smell Like Sheep, has much good information about discharging the duties of leadership. The title of the book is descriptive of the closeness that should characterize the intimacy of elders and their flock. Sheep are known, at least by cattlemen, as smelly creatures. If one “gets out amongst them” he is going to smell like them. It’s just another way of saying that if an elder doesn’t really know his flock he cannot know the needs that they have and cannot minister to them, as he should. I have known elders who did not know the names of some in the congregation much less anything at all about them. If we are indeed the family that the Bible describes, then surely there ought to be a close and caring relationship between all members.

The family atmosphere ought to be conducive to a comfortable feeling that leads to members coming to the elders to make suggestions about the needs of the congregation and what may be problems that have escaped the elder’s attention. Elders should welcome comments and even criticisms when they are done with the right attitude. When there are decisions that affect the spiritual welfare of the congregation the elders should be sensitive to the input of the members so the best decisions can be made.

The elders have the responsibility to see that the congregation is fed a healthy spiritual diet on which it can grow spiritually. There has to be balance to any diet and the spiritual diet is no different. The teaching needs to be partly positive so the duty and individual responsibility can be clearly seen by each member. The teaching sometimes needs to be negative so everyone will understand what sin is and its eternal consequences are. The elders are to see that the flock is protected from false teaching both from within and without the church. Pernicious doctrines can slip in and take its toll on God’s family.

This is just a smidgen of what serving as an elder is all about. There ought to be young men in this congregation today who are preparing themselves to serve the Lord in this way in the future. There can be no higher calling to which a young man can aspire. Serving will be both rewarding and painfully disappointing at times and anyone who desires to serve should want to avoid mediocrity and do the best they can. It has to be taken seriously because one day you will have to give an account for those under your care. Hebrews 13:17.

God’s Man
Author Unknown

When God wants to drill a man,
  And thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man,
  To play the noblest part,
When He yearns with all His heart
  To build so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
  Then watch God’s methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects
  Whom He royally elects;
How He hammers him and hurts him,
  And with mighty blows converts him,
Making shapes and forms which only
  God Himself can understand,
Even while His man is crying,
  Lifting a beseeching hand…
Yet God bends but never breaks
  When man’s good He undertakes;

When He uses whom He chooses,
  And with every purpose fuses
Man to act, and act to man,
  As it was when he began;
When God tries His splendor out,
  Man will know what He’s about!