Ordination for Alex Steele

Throughout history God has called workers to carry out His will. Righteous Noah was chosen to survive the flood and save his family through building the ark. Abraham, the man of faith, was selected to be the forerunner of God’s holy nation, Israel. Moses, the man of God, was called to deliver his people from bondage. Jesus chose the twelve to be his apostles. The early church set apart those called to special work through prayer and the laying on of hands.

We come today formally to ordain Alex Steele to the work for which God has called him. We seek to honor only Christ, and this one is being set apart for just that purpose.

The Laying On Of Hands ~ Elders Pray

Charge to Alex

The Christian ministry is both a great joy and a solemn responsibility. May your first priority be to follow Christ. Jesus called the twelve to be with him and follow him, even before sending them out to preach and to serve.

Find time each day to renew your relationship with your Lord. Nothing is more tragic than the man who attempts to tell others about Jesus but does not have Jesus in his own heart.

I charge you to know the truth. As Paul instructed Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)

One of your struggles will be to give yourself as needed to ministry, yet at the same time keep from becoming spiritually and physically exhausted. Nourish your own soul upon the Word of God; then you will find resources to share with those seeking your help.

I further charge you to preach the truth. Though the message of the cross is “foolishness” to those who are perishing, yet, “God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:18;21)

In this day when truth is made to look like an error and when error is widely proclaimed and accepted, preach the truth of God as it is in Christ. Your only right to stand in the pulpit is to answer the heart-cry of those assembled: Do you have a message from the Lord? Do you have a message today from the Word of God?

Preach clearly so that people can understand; preach in love that they will follow.

Finally, I charge you to live the truth. Keep your personal character blameless. Lay the law of kindness upon your heart and tongue. Be a servant, not a master. Persuasion is more effective than force. Lead by example.

Rejoice with your colleagues in their successes; keep yourself from ministerial jealousy. Refuse to measure your effectiveness by numbers.

Take your disappointments to God, trusted colleagues and wise mentors and not to your congregation.

There are times when the most sacred work you can do is rest. See God’s larger service as well as that in your own field. Find a way to work in unity and collaboration with other Christians, and to extend the kingdom wherever God leads.

In the words of the apostle Paul, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2-5).

Alex, may your life’s work honor King Jesus, so that at the end you may hear him say, “Well done.”