A Prayer Challenge In This Issue Page 4 Hats of Hope The Gospel Institute BEST Getaway to the Gardens Coffee with the Elders PrimeTime Fellowship Child Dedication Class Page 5 Student Ministries Membership Class Summer Celebration GrandCamps Page 6 Vacation Bible School Page 7 GO: Prairie River Camp (MN) Page 8 Time Lab VBS
How blessed a church is when God gives the gift of committed, qualified elders and deacons to shepherd, serve and lead the spiritual family! Without such gifts from God, the church would be lost, wandering, vulnerable, defenseless, sickly and scattered. Think of what sheep are when they are without a shepherd. This is the condition of all believers unless committed, qualified men are called by God to the work of leading the church. How good God has been to Bethany to give us 20 men who shepherd as elders or elders-in-development and 15 men who serve as deacons and deacons-in-development. The church is commanded by God to love their spiritual leaders. God urges church members, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those
Dr. Ritch Boerckel
who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13, ESV). We should note that God does not typically command or urge us to do something that comes natural to us. He commands that which our own flesh opposes. Very few believers naturally esteem church leaders highly in love. We either tend to neglect thinking about them or we are tempted to resent them for failing to meet our own expectations. God in wisdom urges us to make spiritual efforts to love them because the health of our own souls and of His whole church is dependent upon it. If you are a church member who desires to worship God, one Continued on page 2