Sunday, November 7. 2021 AM

All right, good morning, everyone.

Glad you're here to worship with us at Sunnyside this morning. We've got lots to cover in announcements this morning, so bear with me and follow along.

We'll have deacon ordination this morning as part of our service, but be sure and come back tonight.

We're going to be having a deacon ordination fellowship with cake and punch in the fellowship hall after our evening service tonight.

Before that, after church though, if you want to participate in the shoebox packing, that's going to be going on in the fellowship hall.

I believe Jill is already trying to figure out how many pizzas she needs to order to feed everybody who's going to be helping with that.

So a lot of fun this afternoon helping out with that. Coming up on Wednesday, November 10th, dinner at 545 and then 630 tag for the kids and Bible study and prayer time for the adults.

In addition to that, if men could stay and help after church on Wednesday evening to set up tables and chairs for our upcoming

Thanksgiving, that would be appreciated as well. And then like I just said, churchwide

Thanksgiving service and meal, November 14th at 530 p .m. we'll be having our annual

Thanksgiving fellowship and then looking ahead to the 21st. If you want to participate in our

Christmas choir, those rehearsals are going to be starting up in the evening, 530 on that day and then continuing through the month of December.

This week's fighter verse comes from John chapter 15 verse five. Jesus is saying,

I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing. Again, Operation Christmas Child going on as well.

A little bit more details about our Thanksgiving dinner that's coming up. The church is going to provide all those foundational elements.

We're going to build our base layer with turkey and ham and rolls and all of that. But members are asked to kind of provide those supplemental additions.

So a side dish and a dessert, generous portions that can serve roughly 20 people or so.

We always need the food. There is in your bulletin, there's a link in there if you want to sign up online for what you're going to be bringing or you can contact

Wendy Hill. Her number is in the bulletin there as well. All right, lastly,

Tristan Call has made some updates to our church pictorial directory. There's some new pages for you to put in your directory as well as some updates or additions to people that were already in there.

You can pencil those in with that first sheets front and back inside there as well. All right, any other announcements before we get started this morning?

All right, we're going to have a time of prayer and preparation for worship this morning.

And then after that, oh, do we have a presentation? Yeah. Come on up.

Our joy this morning to welcome Carol Gathright to our membership.

And we love Miss Carol and she is such a blessing to us. Always an encouragement.

Every time I come by nearby, I get a hug and a smile and an encouraging word.

She's full of joy, full of the joy of the Lord. And we are so grateful to be welcoming her into our fellowship.

Our church wants to love you in some specific ways. We want to love you by encouraging you in your faith in Jesus Christ.

We want to pray for you. And if you have any needs, we want to serve you and be a blessing to you.

We are committing ourselves to you as brothers and sisters and saying you are our sister in Christ and we want to love you and be for you in Jesus.

How's that sound to you? I think that sounds very good. Okay, wonderful. And do you commit to the same for our church?

Will you pray for us? Oh, yes. Well, thank you. You and the church. And will you love us and encourage us in Jesus Christ?

Yes. And are you okay with having all these brothers and sisters?

Yes. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Okay, wonderful. Yes. Well, church, do you affirm your commitment to our sister

Carol at this time? Yes. Yes and amen. Yes. I'm going to go ahead and pray.

Just thank God. Thank God for you and thank God for our church and the way he built it. Thank you. Father, I thank you so much for this time.

Thank you for Carol. What a blessing she is. I thank you,

Father, that you have brought her not only into our church, but that first and foremost, you have brought her into your fellowship as your daughter through your son

Jesus Christ and that you have given to her your Holy Spirit. And Lord, we thank you for the life that is in her and I thank you for bringing her to be a part of us.

And that in this way that you continue to bless us. We thank you,

Jesus Christ, for building your church in this way and we pray all these things in your name. Amen. Would you pray with me?

Father, I thank you and I praise you for your great love and your mercy. You have brought us together this morning to worship you.

So help us to do so. We are your people, the sheep of your pasture.

We are your children. We thank you and praise you that we can call you

Father, that you watch over us and keep us and that you meet every need that we have.

And we thank you and praise you for your son, the Lord Jesus, our

Savior, who came and gave his life for us, who shed his blood on our behalf that we might have life, abundant life, eternal life.

I thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus, and for your spirit who is here among us.

I thank you and I praise you for your Holy Spirit, Father, to bring us together, to unite us, to be of one mind and lift our hearts before you in praise, in song, in thanksgiving for you are worthy.

We thank you and praise you for the salvation we have in your son, the

Lord Jesus. In his name I pray, amen. Good morning.

I pray you are rejoicing in being here today because this is a privilege, a privilege that not everyone in this world gets to enjoy.

We're going to have a call to worship. I'm going to ask you to stand if you're able. I don't know why

I didn't catch on to this, but our psalms, call to worships, are also tied to our first song, which is a psalm out of your psaltery, your psalm book.

So this comes out of Psalm 71, verses 22 through 24. And then we'll sing, our first song will be 71C, which is also part of Psalm 71.

And then next month we'll do Psalm 72. You're a sharp bunch.

Read with me. I will also praise you with a harp for your faithfulness, oh my

God. I will sing praises to you with the lyre. Oh, holy one of Israel.

My lies will shout for joy when I sing praises to you, my soul also, which you have redeemed.

And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me harm.

71C. This will be a familiar tune. The next song is

The Church's One Foundation, and that's 277 in your hymnal. The Church's One Foundation is

Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is the new creation, by water and the

Word. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride.

With his own blood he martyred, and for her life he died.

He leapt from every nation, yet one for all the earth.

Her charter of salvation, one

Lord, one faith, one girl. One body, names she blesses.

Heartaches, but holy blood. And to one womb she presses, with every grace endued.

With toil and tribulation, and to all of her.

She weighs the consummation of peace for ever.

Brethren, if you would please direct your attention to the Word of God as recorded in the book of Isaiah, chapter 6.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above it stood seraphim, each one had six wings. With one he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips.

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the

King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

Then I said, Here am I, send me. And he said,

Go, and tell this people. Keep on hearing, but do not understand.

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes.

Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.

Then I said, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities are laid waste, and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate.

The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

But yet, a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree, or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down.

So the holy seed shall be its stump. Let us pray.

Father, your name is holy.

We thank you for sending your spirit that our ears would hear, that our eyes saw, and that you preserved a remnant.

And we, Gentiles by the flesh, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, estranged from your promises of the covenant, that by your holy seed,

Jesus of Nazareth, have brought us near.

And as we are gathered here, one of many local bodies, that we are just one, among all that you are calling to yourself throughout time, across this planet, that you are building your church.

And as we labor for your name, battling as a church militant under you,

Lord Jesus, our banner, that you would strengthen us, until you turn faith into sight, and become church victorious.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your word, and for what you have done.

Amen. Please be seated.

Amen. Next two songs are from HMA4.

All I have is Christ, your black hymnal. And then, Take My Life. You should have a song sheet for that.

We're gonna sing the first and second verses in the chorus, and then the third verse in the chorus.

I once was lost in darkest night, yet,

God, I knew the way. The sin that promised joy in life had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that you would hold a rebel to your will.

And if you had loved me first, I would refuse you still.

But as I ran, my hell -bound race, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross.

And I beheld God's love displayed. You suffered in my place.

You bore the wrath reserved for me.

Now all I know is grace.

Alleluia. All I have is

Christ. Alleluia.

Jesus is my life.

Now, Lord, I would be yours alone.

And if the wall might see a strength to follow your commands, could never come from me.

Oh, Father, use my ransomed life in any way you choose.

And let my song forever be my only boast is you.

Alleluia. All I have is

Christ. Alleluia.

Jesus is my life.

Take my most ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and look. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice and let me sing always only for my

King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold and of my good

I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as you choose.

Here am I, all of me.

Take my life. It's all for thee.

Take my will and make it thine.

It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart.

It is thine all. It shall be thine royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I want at your feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be ever only all for thee.

And I will be ever only all for thee.

Amen. Let's go to the

Lord together in prayer. Father, I thank you for gathering us together today. What a joy it is to come together on this first day of the week.

The day that Jesus rose from the dead. The first day of the week.

First day of a new creation brought about through the power of his resurrection, overseen and brought along by the power of his

Holy Spirit. And here we are today, rejoicing in and beneficiaries of his mighty grace.

Father, thank you for providing all that we need in every time in which we live.

Lord, I thank you for this special service today as we ordain new deacons for the church, and Lord, I pray that we would serve you well, that we would take up all that you have entrusted to us, and that we would be good stewards, maximally use our lives for your glory.

We pray these things for the sake of Jesus, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to the first letter to Timothy, Paul's first letter to Timothy chapter 3.

We'll be reading verses 1 through 13. First Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 13.

We're taking a little break from Daniel as the Lord has seen fit to provide for our church new deacons, felt that it would be needful for us to pay attention to what our

Lord has to say about how he wants his church organized and what deacons are and how they serve.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a good shepherd. He leads us so clearly and so well through his word.

All we have to do is see what he has to say and follow his instructions. Title of the sermon today is

A Good Standing and Great Boldness. A good standing and great boldness, which is the blessing of the deacons who serve well.

And of course, a good standing and great boldness is a reward to every Christian who faithfully serves our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now this morning we're going to ordain four new deacons in our church,

James Brown, Jacob Call, Darrell Hamilton and Dylan Hamilton. And why do we have new deacons here today?

Well, it's because of our victorious risen Jesus Christ. He gives to his church through his

Holy Spirit all that we need for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry.

Jesus Christ promised and he is in the process of keeping his promise. He said,

I will build my church. And he is. He's building his church.

And we are rejoicing in that today. One way that he builds his church is by raising up deacons.

Now, what does a deacon look like? And how does a deacon function in the church?

I'm glad you asked. Those are great questions. And we're going to talk about them today. So, thank you for being inquisitive.

We're going to read 1 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 1. We read verses 1 through 13.

If you are able, I invite you to stand as we read the word of the Lord. By his spirit, through his apostle

Paul, to his disciple Timothy. This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober -minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condition as the devil.

Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double -tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, but let these also first be tested, and then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. You may not know this, but in traditional

Baptist circles, deacons have gotten a bad rap. Deacons have often been the butt of jokes.

Where are the deacons? Oh, they're all outside the church smoking after the service. That's an old joke.

In seminary, it went like this. The deacons would get together and pray to God to keep the pastor humble, and they promised

God that they would keep the pastor poor. That was in the seminaries.

I heard that one a lot. Deacons have been mislabeled, misused, misaligned a great deal,

I think, in the context of a weakening Protestant evangelical context. There might be a connection there.

We need to go to the word of God so that we have the right picture in mind. What is a deacon according to the scriptures, and then

I think we'll see the beauty and the grace of deacons in the church.

Jesus Christ, having been given all authority in heaven and on earth, calls us to make disciples of all the nations, and he adds to his church.

He adds to his church by the grace of conversion to the new birth. Then we, in honoring our

Lord and Savior, give our amen to what he does by adding to our churches through baptism.

Christ adds to, brings into the new covenant by conversion, and then what we do is we give an amen to that through baptism.

Welcome, welcome to brothers and sisters in Christ. We really are brothers and sisters, as I was saying earlier to Carol, and we were saying to Carol together, brothers and sisters, and Jesus talks about this in more than one place in the

Gospels. Natural family lines, of course, are not erased, but there are new ties in Christ that bind us together in stronger love, in more priority love.

And so we have this household here. It is the household of Christ. Well, how will all of the physical needs of this spiritual household be met?

One of the provisions from our Heavenly Father is the diaconate, the deacon body, the group of deacons within each church.

And our passage in 1 Timothy 3 gives us a healthy picture of deacons. And what

I want to do today is to put that picture in agreement with, or in conversation with, some other passages in the

Bible that will help us see how deacons function in the church.

And we see the blessing of deacons in this. Now this is not a technical sermon.

It's not one delivered only to deacons, only about deacons. And why is that? Because we are members of one another in one body.

We are members together in Christ of one body. In Christ we are joined together and knit together and supplied by Christ for every good work.

So everybody here needs to understand what deacons are. Primarily so that you can pray. So that you can pray for the deacons.

And then join with them as they lead out in service. Here's the main idea from our passage this morning.

A deacon models the Christian life through ordained service in the church.

A deacon models the Christian life through ordained service in the church.

When we read through the New Testament sometimes we see the church in its infancy stage, where things were just getting started.

But once things were established it was clear that every local church needed a plurality of elders and deacons in that church.

Every single instance of a church a local body of Christians gathering together to preach the word and observing the

Lord's Supper and Baptism. Keeping lines clear about confessionally who is a

Christian and who is not. Every local expression of the church had multiple elders, as we do here by the grace of God.

And multiple deacons, which we do here by the grace of God. Here's an example.

When Paul opens up his letter to the church in Philippi this is how he talks to them.

Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who were in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.

Bishop is a term that we often associate with certain church traditions. However, it is simply the word, the

English word covering the Greek word for overseer. Or another word that's a synonym is that of an elder.

So notice that there are bishops and deacons. There are overseers and deacons, elders and deacons in the church.

Both of them plural. And he says, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my

God upon every remembrance of you. I want God to bless our church that way.

That God would so bless our church with his mercy and grace that the congregation of saints along with the elders and the deacons are thought of and prayed for with thanksgiving.

That we would be a blessing. And I think that having a biblically robust diaconate a deacon body that will bring glory to Christ.

And I think that will prove a sweet savor to struggling widows, weary missionaries, needy families, and over committed saints.

So let's look in 1 Timothy 3. Let's consider from our text a deacon's character, a deacon's service, a deacon's household, and a deacon's reward.

First of all, a deacon's character in verses 8 and 9. Listen to this again. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

So Paul is instructing Timothy, his disciple, and he wants Timothy to help the churches that Timothy is ministering to.

And he says, look, you've got to have deacons in your church, and this is the kind of men that you're going to be looking for.

And first of all we have this comparison. Likewise he just talked to him about overseers, just talked to him about elders in the church.

And then he says, likewise. So there's a comparison going on here between elders and deacons.

Different roles in the church, but very similar character.

That the leaders of a church are to have holy character, Christ -like character.

They are to be godly. They are to be obviously different than the normal pagan ways of the world.

So there's a likewise, there's a comparison here. So when we look at the bishops and the description of elders, we see issues of character.

We see that they are to be humble, that they are to be temperate, that they are to take care of their households well.

And in like fashion, the deacons are going to have the same character. There needs to be a proper stewardship of one's own house so that there can be a greater stewardship in Christ's household.

There needs to be a good reputation both within the church and outside of the church. So also likewise with the deacons.

There's a comparison there. Also there's an exhortation. He says, they are to be reverent.

And they are to hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

The term reverence, we have the word grave in the old King James. We have the word dignified in many other translations.

What does this mean? It simply means that the man is honest. That the man is devout.

Plainly and clearly believing the things of the Bible and not trying to deceive others.

Not putting on a show. Reverence. Also, we have the exhortation that they hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

Meaning, in this particular context that the deacons would have no doubts as to Jesus Christ.

No doubts as to him fulfilling the old covenant bringing to pass the new covenant.

That they would be fully convinced of the good news of Jesus Christ. And that they would hold fast to that without any tremors of uncertainty.

So that's the exhortation. And that's the comparison. And also there's a prohibition. There's a three way prohibition here.

Paul says to Timothy, look, you don't need anybody who is using in an improper way using language, liquor, or lucre.

If you're the servant of Jesus Christ for the blessing of the church, you must not be enslaved to deceit, be enslaved to drunkenness, or enslaved to dollars.

That's what it comes down to. If you're going to be a slave of Jesus, if you're going to serve Christ, then you can't have all the other loyalties pulling you in a different direction and subverting your service to Christ.

And so these three things Paul brings to the foreground. Double -tongued is the word that we have here.

They must not be double -tongued. What does that mean? It means to be of two words.

To have one way of saying a thing but meaning another. To say two different things to different folks in different settings, pretending to have only said one thing.

Or you could put it another way. You could say a double -tongued could also just simply come down to complaining. You know the kind of servant who goes about doing all these servant things, and boy do they let you know about how much they do.

And how much they resent that nobody else is helping me. That's an example of being double -tongued.

The servant of Christ is a deacon is brought into the service of Christ and they say,

I want to serve Jesus. Well you can't serve Jesus and then promote yourself. You can't serve

Jesus and try to do things for the Lord for his glory and the good of his bride and then go around complaining about how much trouble this is all causing me.

Or how nobody else does what I do. This is definitely not deacon material.

You don't need anybody doing that anyways in the church. So no double -tongued.

Also given to much wine is another prohibition. Being someone who is focused on alcohol or obsessed with alcohol.

Don't need any deacons in the church being like that. In Proverbs 23 29 -32 we have an example of somebody who was like that.

Who has woe, who has sorrow, who has contentions, who has complaints, who has wounds without cause, who has redness of eyes, those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine.

Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly, at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper.

Don't need deacons in the church who are obsessed with alcohol and always drinking and getting drunk.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it's not for kings to be given to wine. Why? There's a stewardship.

There's things to be working on and taking care of. And so, although the

Bible never prohibits wine or drinking, it says don't get drunk. Just like the

Bible does not prohibit anger. There is a really good reason why we should be angry. There are righteous reasons to be angry.

But, yes, of course, it is easy to misuse our anger, isn't it? And in a like fashion, wine is not prohibited in the

Scripture. Alcohol is not prohibited in the Scripture, but we are to make a proper use and stewardship of it.

If you can't handle your tongue and your complaining, then how are you going to handle service in the household of God?

If you can't handle your wine and you're giving yourself over to it over and over again, then you're not going to be able to serve in the church and be responsible with that stewardship.

And the last word here in 1 Timothy 3 is not greedy for money.

Now, this covers over a ridiculously long word in the Greek, which I don't have a hope of pronunciating after two years of this study.

But it simply means this. The love of sordid gain, or the

King James, the lust for filthy lucre, desiring to get money however one can get it.

And if I can get it and nobody notices, then I will. One may imagine what a damper it would be to have someone like Judas Iscariot or Ananias, the husband of Sapphira, serving as a deacon, pilfering and taking and being dishonest with the money, what a damper that would be in the care of widows and the missionaries and the church property and so on.

So we can't have deacons who are enslaved to language and liquor and lucre.

Now, when we think about the comparison with the character and reputation and maturity of elders, when we think about the exhortation to reverence and holding fast to the faith, when we think about the prohibitions against being enslaved to other things,

I think we see how that qualifies and equips, how it helps a deacon and, in fact, any

Christian in serving the Lord. Why don't people serve Christ more often?

Why are they not more free to serve Christ? Well, it just may be. It just may be that there needs to be a growing up in Christ.

It just may be that there needs to be a growth and devoutness in the faith. It just may be that somebody can't serve

Christ very well because they're enslaved to these various things. But God has forged

Christ's own goodness in a deacon's life. By the grace of God, this makes him fit ably to serve and fit relationally to serve within the church.

Rather than be enslaved to various vices, he is given over to following Christ with a full conviction and a pure hope.

Honestly, the qualifications for a deacon really should be a template for every person in the church.

Why is that? Because this is quite simply Christ -likeness. It's just godliness.

Everybody should see that template. Deacons are modeling the Christian life through being ordained to service in the church.

They're modeling what the Christian life looks like. So, a deacon's character matters not just to the deacons but really to all of us.

What we're reading really here is the fruit of the spirit. What we're reading here is the grace of God at work in somebody's life.

And the fruit of the spirit is the outcome which is evident in the lives of those who are satisfied in Jesus.

When a tree drinks deeply of the water in the earth and draws from the earth the nutrients, the minerals, the food from the earth into itself, then out comes the fruit of that tree.

And likewise, when we are rooted deeply in Christ and satisfied in Christ and being nurtured through Christ, the fruit of his

Holy Spirit is made abundant in our lives. Well, that's a deacon's character.

Now what about a deacon's service in verse 10? In verse 10 we read this, but let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

So, these men that I have mentioned earlier have all been through Timothy's school, which is a time of testing here at our church where the pastor sits with these men and we work through the truths of scripture and talk about the nature of the church and what it means to serve and so on, and hash a lot of things out.

And so these men have been tested. They've been through Timothy's school. Their character, their beliefs, their approach and their understanding of the church has been verified.

So, yes, these men have been tested. We have given you their names. The saints here, we've given you their names to think about for a couple of weeks.

Get back to us if you have any concerns whatsoever and there was no news, and that's good news.

And so, now, having been tested, now they're to serve as deacons, being found blameless, meaning having the proper reputation.

There's no glaring fault that impedes them from being deacons here.

Now, to understand the dynamics of this testing and the meaning of the service, I think we need to reflect on the initial commissioning of deacons in the church in Jerusalem.

This is just months, just months after Christ ascended to the right hand of the

Father. And so in Acts chapter 6, and you can turn in your Bibles there, Acts chapter 6, verses 1 through 7, we see what happened.

We see that the saints and the elders together selected tested men for serving the church, serving the household of Christ in the physical needs of this church for the kingdom advancement.

So I'm going to read verses 1 through 7 of Acts 6. Now, in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the

Hebrews by the Hellenists. This is within the church. Do you know that churches sometimes don't get along? Jesus sure does.

And he's got a lot to say in the Bible about how we are to love one another, and what to do when there's a problem, and then how to get along.

Well, complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were being neglected in the day of the distribution.

Verse 2, then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, so here's the apostles, here's the leaders of the church gathering the saints, and they say this, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

Up until this point in time, as people saw needs in the church, they were given generously, and they would bring the money and lay it at the apostles' feet.

And then the apostles were kind of overseeing all the logistical, physical needs of the widows and the poor and just the needs of the church.

And so the apostles realized, hey, we're having a conflict in the church, and we're having this problem because we can't do it all.

We've totally dropped the ball because we have too many other balls in our hands. We're trying to teach the word, and we're trying to pray, and we're trying to shepherd the church through the truth of God's word, but we can't do all of that and at the same time meet all the physical needs going on in the church.

So they admit their limitations. I can't do it all.

They can't do it all. That's what the elders are saying. Therefore, verse 3, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the

Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. That short description, good reputation, full of the

Holy Spirit and wisdom, all of that is in extended form, explained more in our passage this morning, 1

Timothy 3 verses 8 -13. But all of that is in complete agreement. This is where it comes from.

And whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

And so there's a division of labor here. The elders are going to commit themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word, and these men, who later were called deacons, are going to look after these other needs in the church.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

When they had prayed, they laid hands on them. We're going to do that at the end of the service today. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

So, at the beginning of the passage, we have conflict. By the end of the passage, we see the growth of the kingdom.

Do you see what happened? And so this is evidence that Christ is building his church in a particular way, and he says that we need deacons, and this is for the good of the church and the spread of his gospel.

And so, a deacon's service is pertaining to these matters, physical, logistical matters.

There are many needs in our church. There are benevolence needs in our church. There are the need to make sure that the property we held in common is cared for properly so that we retain the value of what we have here.

Why? Because it belongs to Jesus. This is his building. This is his three quarters of a city block, and we have a bank account that belongs to Christ, and there's all sorts of missionaries all over the world that we give money to in local ministries that we give money to, and all that money belongs to Jesus, and all that work that he is overseeing across the world, that all belongs to him, too.

And if it was all to the elders, we couldn't do it all. We couldn't do it all.

And so we have to have deacons here in our church who will be taking up the stewardship of Christ's property and Christ's funds to make sure that we are maximizing all that God has entrusted to us for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

So that's what deacons are about, and they are of great necessity and blessing to the church.

Now, it is important that we notice this, that the men who were called forth to be deacons were not called forth because they had special expertise or experience in various fields.

This is not the kind of resume or job interview that you would expect.

It comes down to those who were filled with the Holy Spirit. Those who had the Holy Spirit, that's who were called forth to serve in this way, and why is that so important?

Because the flesh profiteth nothing. The flesh profits nothing. The Spirit gives life and peace.

1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4, verses 14 and 15.

Let's take a look at this. Actually, let's back it up in 1 Peter 4 and go look at verse 10.

Verse 10. 1 Peter 4 and verse 10. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Verse 11. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers or serves and acts as a servant, and this includes the deacons, let him do it as with the ability which

God supplies. The ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.

Amen. Do you hear that? So, anybody who's teaching, preaching, making disciples, counseling, reading the

Word of God aloud, leading in the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, whoever does that, do so by the power what

God supplies through His Holy Spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ. And whoever is serving, whoever is working and laboring and doing things behind the scenes even, whoever is serving and ministering in this way, do it according to the power which

God supplies, the power of the Holy Spirit. The giftings of the

Holy Spirit, you see, are far more than what we can amply supply in our own particular wisdom and in our particular strength.

The giftings of the Holy Spirit come according to the grace of Jesus Christ, whose supply is not limited.

Our supply is limited. My expertise is limited. My experiences are limited. My strength is limited.

Our service should be done according to the grace of Jesus Christ manifest to us in His Holy Spirit.

Remember that not only is He the Word, but He's also the servant who gave His life a ransom for many.

He is the master teacher, the master expositor, and He is the perfectly humble servant who washed the feet of His disciples.

His Holy Spirit is our present comforter by whom we cry, Abba Father, a gracious gift by the victorious resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to speak and enables us to serve by the power which

God supplies. So, church, will you pray for the deacons according to those truths?

Will you pray for them to be filled with the Spirit? Deacons, will you serve knowing that we are confident in the

Spirit's work in you and our prayers are for you? Thirdly, a deacon's household, verses 11 and 12, likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well. As with the overseers, so with the deacons.

Their households must be in order. Consideration is first given to the conduct and character of a deacon's wife.

Why? Because she is his most necessary helpmeet. Not good for Adam to be alone, not good for a deacon to be alone, not good for a pastor to be alone, not good for Adam to be alone, or a man to be alone.

So, she is his most necessary helpmeet. And so similarly, though more concisely described than her husband, she is, some thought is given to her character.

But there is a prohibition unique to her that we need to take note of. It says, not slanderers.

Now what does that mean? The Greek word is diabolos. Diabolos, sounds like diabolical.

Deacons' wives, and by extension anybody in the church really, are not to be devils. As is sometimes translated.

Not to be devils. Which means what? Slandering the saints. Or serving as an accuser of the brethren.

You see, a deacon is going to be putting on, sometimes is going to be putting on the rubber boots that go up above the knee and wading into some muck.

Serving in some situations that are full of difficulty and full of problems.

And you know what? He's going to do an awful job of it if he does it all by himself without some kind of help from his wife.

And if she gets involved in any way in serving and she has all sorts of experience and wisdom and ideas that will be really, really helpful to him, she must then also considering the situation that she's involved in, not look at the sufferings and the difficulties and the problems and the consequences of sin and the mess that her husband is working in and then take that up and then begin to slander the saints.

You see? But to be gracious and to be temperate and careful in how she speaks.

This is the way that Paul is instructing Timothy. Why? Because this is the way that Christ wants his church to be built.

And in verse 12, the entire household of the deacon is brought into view. The household is the oikonomos, the economy.

We get our word economy from the Greek word household, because the economy comes out of the household.

And in this time, a household is expressed in Christian detail in Ephesians 5, verse 22 through chapter 6, verse 9.

And in Colossians chapter 3, verse 18 through chapter 4, verse 1. We don't have time to explore the household right now, but it includes a man's wife, a man's children, and a man's slaves.

And how a deacon was a steward of Christ's business in the church, related to his wife and children and workers, and that mattered a great deal.

As Jesus was fond of reminding his disciples, faithful in little, I will make you faithful in much.

Think about this. What kind of order and organization does Christ keep in his household? How well does he rule?

He's the perfect servant, not only in character, but in all of his actions toward his own.

Have we not been led well by our Savior, Jesus Christ? Have we not been cared for faithfully?

Have we not been made holy? And have we not been provided for again and again in our weakness?

And how patient is Christ with us? How often does he see fit to come to our level and meet us in our desperate need?

And this is the model for all servants, especially for deacons. So deacons, encourage your wife.

Deacon, encourage your wife. Deacon, encourage your children. Lead them well. Show them the leading and provision and example and grace of Christ.

And from your service to them in the name of Christ, proceed and serve. Do so in the power that Christ gives you, in the pattern that he shows you, for the prize that he promises to you.

And that promise is a deacon's reward in verse 13. For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Good standing. It's exactly what it sounds like. Having your feet firmly planted on the ground.

It has the idea of being able to speak to the truth of Christ with unstammering voice.

As you would have no timidity in stance. You would have no trepidation in speech.

That you would have a confident bearing and bold communication. That is your reward for serving as a deacon well.

Consider the standing and speech of Stephen. Consider the standing and the speech of Philip.

Consider the boldness and the standing of the deacons that we have examples of in the scripture.

A deacon's reward is the Christian's reward. Service for Christ in his power according to his pattern leads us to the very same confidence both in our position in Christ and the same confidence in our proclamation of Christ.

The reward of serving as a deacon, the reward of serving in the church, the reward of doing anything for Jesus is not is not the resume, the record, the pushing forth of one's own image.

Deacons do not serve Christ by putting their vlog up about this is a day in the life of a deacon.

Here's what I do. Surely, those who do that have their own reward.

Those who virtue signal and say look at my giving to the poor, look at my administration of charity, those who virtue signal in that way,

Christ says they have their own reward. They get it right here, right now, with the weak and tepid applause of men.

But the way that the deacons are to serve is not for self inflation, not for self importance, not, you know,

I get to move people around and show my expertise and my position by making people do things, no.

It's joy in Christ. Joy in Christ. Having boldness and standing in Christ.

The standing is in Christ, the boldness is in Christ because the faith is in Christ. Assurance and joy in serving

Christ well for his sake, that is the reward of serving as a deacon. The strengthening of your faith, the increasing of your gladness in Christ before God, the increasing of your boldness in Christ in God before all of the church and all of the world.

This is your reward for serving well as a deacon. May we all desire that together.

Let me pray for us and then I'm going to ask all the deacons that are able and all the elders who are able to come to the front so we can pray together.

Father, I thank you for the blessing of your word. Jesus, thank you that you know our needs and you're a perfect shepherd instructing us and guiding us and showing us what we're supposed to do.

Lord, thank you for your patience with us. Thank you for your provision in our lives and I pray for these men.

I pray for James and Jacob and Dylan and Daryl. Lord, I pray that you would encourage them and that you would strengthen them and that you would give them all wisdom and bless them with your

Holy Spirit and help us as a church to support them in this work.

Jesus, may you do great things by the power of your spirit through our church as we seek to be in obedience to you.

Let me pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Elders and deacons, let's gather down here at the front.

We're going to put them in the middle because we're supposed to lay hands on them. Gather in, guys.

Alright, we're now going to pray and we're going to thank the Heavenly Father for raising up these men to serve his son and his church by the power of his

Holy Spirit and we're going to ask that God would greatly bless this endeavor that you men will be strengthened in your faith and in your service for the

Lord. Heavenly Father, we come before you and we thank you for these men.

I pray that you would help each one of them to take up this role as a deacon with great joy and that they would rest solidly and continually in the righteousness of Jesus Christ as they're covering as their justification before you.

They would know the joy of your acceptance and love. I pray that you would give them wisdom and eyes to see the needs of the church, the needs of the community, and how we as a church may be better at being the salt of the earth and the light of the world and a city set up on a hill which cannot be hidden.

And I pray that you would give them wisdom and zeal and encouragement and that as they stir things up and they lead out in service that we would rejoice to step in with them, beside them, together serving

Christ and so that the name of Jesus would be praised, that the name of Jesus would be exalted, and that the crown rights of Jesus Christ would be pressed forward in every sphere of our society.

And Lord, I thank you for these men. I pray for their wives. I pray that you would give them great encouragement and joy.

I pray that you would help them be great helpmates to these men. And Lord, I pray that you would give them confidence in Christ as their justification before your throne, that they would know, along with their husbands and their families, that they would know even in their labor, how to rest, and to rest with great confidence in you.

Lord, thank you so much for favoring us with your grace in this time. We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Alright, let's sing a hymn together before we leave. Would you stand with us, please?

O church, arise. In your HMA 95. What a blessing.

O church, arise. Put your armor on.

And follow Christ, our captain. For none of the weak can say that they are strong in the strength that God has given.

With shield of faith and belt of truth, we'll stand against the devil's lies.

Let our revolt lose battle. Christ's love will take it out to those in darkness.

Our call to war is to love the captive soul, but to rage against the captor.

And with the sword that makes the wounded whole, we will fight with faith and valor.

When faced with trials on every side, we know the young come insecure.

And Christ will have the prize for which he died, an inheritance of nations.

Come see the cross where love and mercy meet, as the

Son of God is stricken. And see his fellows made crushed beneath his feet, for the conqueror has risen.

And as the stone is rolled away, and Christ emerges from the grave, his victory will continue till the day every eye and heart shall fear.

So spirit come, put strength in every stride.

Give grace for every hurdle that we may run.

With faith to win the prize of a servant good and faithful.

And save them all till by the Word we truly triumph.

May the love of the Father, and the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.