Tim Fisher was recommended on Sunday, November 20th as a Deacon Candidate. On December 4th during our Members Meeting, church members will vote. The following is his testimony explaining how and why he feels called to be a deacon.
Hi, I’m Tim. For those of you who don’t know my testimony, I was raised in a Christian household with parents who were believers and faithfully modeled Christian beliefs and values to me and my two brothers. I believe I came to faith in high school, and was baptized soon after, but despite all of that, I did not handle my transition to college well. I struggled to find a church I felt comfortable in, and found myself indulging in the temptations of the world around me. My immature faith spiked and waned for the next 10 years without consistent personal devotion or discipleship. I traded the light of the gospel for the darkness of the world for far too long. But in 2016, I moved to Arizona to be closer to my brother’s family and decided to commit to Church on Mill, because of the biblically-sound preaching. What I also found at Church on Mill was a place that I could be discipled and would be asked to serve. My personal testimony led me to serve with the youth, because I didn’t want them to choose a decade of darkness like I did. I wanted them to have the joy that comes with surrendering your life to Christ. Through continued discipleship and service, God has been faithful to strengthen me and transform me from an immature Christian who would easily be tossed about on the waves of life, constantly questioning his salvation, to a believer more fully aware of the depths of his own depravity, but also the endless depths of God’s love and grace.
When one of the elders first approached me about becoming a deacon (specifically the deacon of youth), I said “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not ready for that.” But as I talked it over with my wife Rachel, and went through the deacon class, I realized that the position of deacon is not one of recognition or fame, but one of service to make much of God. The Greek word for deacon literally means ‘servant’. Hebrews 9:14 says “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” To be honest, I rarely ever feel ready to take on the next thing God is calling me to, but by His grace and power, He has always seen me through it. If the church commissions me as a deacon, I trust he will do the same.
