Our Blog

Filter By:
Showing items filed under “Alan Scott”
in Newsletter

Pastor's Point - May 2024

main image

Dear Church Family,

On Sunday,  April 21st I shared with our church family three things that the Apostles did while at Jerusalem as they were waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now I confessed on that Sunday that waiting is not my favorite thing to do in life. I like to get things done, I have trouble being idle, and in my flesh, I can struggle with being impatient. I am sure I am not alone in this. Maybe you feel the same way about seasons of waiting. But the reality of life is that we all find ourselves marking time in our lives by seasons of waiting.

The Apostles did three things in their waiting according to Acts 1:12-26. They prayed to God, they understood their lives considering the truth of Scripture, and they trusted in God because they knew He was in control. Praying, studying scripture, and trusting God are wonderful things to do while we wait. Actively waiting is so much more beneficial than passively waiting. When we busy ourselves with prayer, studying the Word, and a trusting attitude towards God will protect our hearts from the corrosive effects of passively waiting. When we become passive in our waiting, we tend to process our lives in our own wisdom which often encourages, distrust, bitterness, and anger towards God. These are great dangers to us as we live our lives.

You see while we are actively waiting by praying, reading scripture, and trusting God we have the benefit of hoping while we wait. Psalm 27:14 states… “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.” It is possible for hope to grow even while we wait. And while we hopefully wait, we can find that our faith will increase because we know we are waiting on our God who is sovereign over all.

But also waiting helps us to have a proper perspective in life. I was reading an article by Jeff Robinson about waiting and in it he writes… “When we bring urgent petitions before the Lord, we wait with expectation, and the city of man in which we live fades in importance as we begin to realize that the city of God is primary. As Jonathan Edwards prayed, “O Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” Waiting helps to do that. It prioritizes the eternal over the temporal in accord with 2 Corinthians 4:18: “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” It can be hard to keep proper perspective in life as it relates to eternity in our seasons of waiting. We can become so consumed with our immediate circumstances that we lose focus in life as it relates to eternity.

Let’s make it our aim as we live our lives in seasons of waiting to pray, focus on God’s Word, and have a heart that trusts God. We will benefit greatly as these disciplines guard our hearts from bitterness, anger, and distrust. And as we live this way, God’s wisdom will encourage us to have a proper perspective in life. As Jonathon Edwards said… “O Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.”

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Posted by Alan Scott with
in Newsletter

Pastor's Point - April 2024

main image

Dear Church Family,

I pray you all are doing well and enjoying the blessings of God in your life. This month I have just two quick points to share.

Recently I have been sharing some of the “one another” passages from scripture with our church staff at the beginning of our staff meetings. These are powerful truths that will help us live better in community with each other. The reason I decided to focus on these passages with our church staff is because it is very important for us to prioritize our relationships and use a biblical standard in how we treat one another. It is important for us to have hearts that are looking to prioritize others. This does not just happen. We must make a conscience effort to apply ourselves to live out these verses.

As we live in community with people in our families, churches, or work environments we have the privilege of living in such a way that we encourage, strengthen, and support others. Now if we are honest sometimes it is hard to live that way. Living in community with others can be hard, challenging, and difficult. I love this quote from Scott Hubbard from his article, The Art of One Anothering. He states… “I sometimes think I could be very holy if, after doing my morning devotions, I just stayed in my room all day long. I find that patience, for example, comes easier by myself. Peace, too. I feel a general kindness and goodwill when I’m alone. I imagine myself ready to bear others’ burdens. But then I leave my room and begin interacting with some of those “others” face to face. And before long, I wonder where my
holiness went. Patience now feels fragile; peace goes on the retreat. My theoretical kindness finds itself unprepared for real annoyances, and my shoulders seem too weak for real burdens. People, it turns out, have an irritating way of poking the spiritual fruit on my table, only to reveal just how many of those apples and pears are plastic.”  The Lord will help us in our weakness to bear the fruit of the one another passages. There is nothing better than healthy, supportive, and
encouraging community. We as followers of Christ can be used to build that kind of community if we will only apply ourselves to living out the “one another” passages that we find in God’s Word.

Second, I just want to share how thankful I am for all of those that serve on our church staff. Each one of them goes above and beyond in their service to the church and ultimately to the Lord. I love and appreciate each one of them as partners in ministry and as my brothers and sisters in Christ! I also want to point out, if you did not know, that Pastor Bryan Gotcher just celebrated his seventeenth anniversary of service here at Oakhill! We go back even further than that because we served together at my former church for a couple of years as well. All total we have about twenty years
together serving the local church. I can honestly say that the “one another” passages have been instrumental in allowing us to minister together for these last twenty years. I thank God for Bryan and all the many roles that he has filled in our church family throughout the years. I refer to him affectionately as the “Swiss army knife” of ministry because of all the different roles he can fulfill in the church and in ministry to the Lord. He has been a good friend and fellow pastor with me for many years, and I am looking forward to all that God has in store for us as we continue to serve here at Oakhill!!

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Posted by Alan Scott with

Previous12345678910 ... 5556