Sermon Tone Analysis

*Mt.

Olive Baptist Church of Centerville*

*April 21, 2002, 4:00 PM*

*Deacon’s Ordination*

 

*Text*:               Acts 7:54-55

*Subject*:          /“The Wages of a Faithful Deacon”/

 

Acts 7:54-55

54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with /their/ teeth.

55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

 

We are here for a very important occasion.

That is to ordain, by the laying on of hands, a new deacon to the Deacon’s Ministry.

This is important to the church body for it means that the church is growing and in need of more faithful servants to carry out the mission of service among the saints of God.

And while this is a great occasion of celebration, it is also an appropriate time of reflection and meditation on the true meaning of being a deacon.

This candidate has no doubt spent countless hours on his knees before the Lord seeking God’s will for His life in ministry and has accepted his call into the deaconate ministry with full knowledge of God’s will and the imputed responsibility for service.

So often there are members in the church who look upon the office of the deacon in a very superficial and scripturally inaccurate way.

But if you speak to a faithful deacon you will find that it is an office that cannot be taken lightly.

(Be sure that you ask a /faithful/ deacon).

Some folk think that the office of the deacon is one that is for

* Show

* Count money

* Lead devotions (line out hymns, read a Scripture, pray, sing another hymn)

* Some think that it is to run the church, including the Pastor

 

But if you as a faithful Deacon, they will tell you it is a position of faithful service to the Lord in service to people.

The very word /deacon/ means to serve.

There is no monetary compensation for being a deacon…but there are wages earned.

And these wages are not as the wages of sin which bring death, but they are the wages of faithful service.

And God, by His grace pays you what no man can pay you.

But you have to ask yourself, “is it worth it?”

Well, if you want to be a deacon, you need to be fully persuaded in you heart that the answer for you is “yes”.

You see, in Acts 6:1, we see that the call for deacons was a very specific one that was targeted at very specific needs in the church.

Acts 6:1

1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples [/mathetes/ ~/math·ay·*tes*~/] was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Discipleship was multiplied.

Not the membership.

\\