Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

I want you guys to know what kind of Pastor you have now.

I mess up.

Last week I preached on and the entire sermon I used the name Joseph instead of Joshua.

My son is named after this very Joshua.

I have no idea.

Next time I do something like that feel free to correct me.

Last week we looked at the end of at the battle between Amalek and Isreal.

1.

When we pray, and completely rely on God, He prevails.

2. When we cease to pray, we are overcome.

3. When we become weary, we must allow others to help.

4. When we pray, obey, and rely on one another, God is glorified.

As we move forward in our text today we are going to see these ideas move Israel toward a leadership structure that is designed by God to create sustainability.

We are going to be applying what God is doing in them and make application for our body.

We are going to read all of today for the sake of context and then focus primarily on the later half.

We are going to see how God uses Jethro to give Moses a plan for structured leadership so that the burden of ministry doesn’t fall on Moses alone.

I mentioned last week that because of the way that God has instructed us to do ministry here, specifically with me having my primary vocation be in another field, we have to all understand and move beyond our historical idea of what church ministry looks like.

its obvious that our text today is dealing specifically with that idea.

As we move forward, I want to take a moment and give you a glimpse into my day to day.

Not as a pat on my back, but to make sure we are all on the same page and to remove any opportunity for assumptions.

All of these times are heavy on the ish… I’m not a schedule monster

Day starts 6:30ish quiet time and getting ready for work

8-5:30ish is work with lunch time reserved for sermon prep or meetings with church members as needed.

I get home around 6 and from 6-9:30 is family time, dinner, chores, and exercise.

9:30-11 sermon prep

11 until bedtime is Bethany time

somewhere between 12 and 1 is bedtime

Saturdays I try to spend at least half of the day with the family/chores the other half is sermon prep

Sundays are up early around 6 for quiet time and sermon prep, getting kids ready and getting to church, church, lunch and grocery shopping, run home to unload, life group, go home and get supper, kids in the bed, pass out, start over.

Again, this is not to pat me on the back.

It is to show you that I literally don’t have time do any more than I already am.

If it can be stripped from my schedule it already has been.

I have spent a lot of time asking God what there is in my life that I can stop doing.

lol

So, as we read our text today, keep in mind that all of us have packed schedules.

I am not alone in being really busy, but all of us have ministry responsibilities that we are called too.

Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about the fact that all believers are called to be disciple makers, not just pastors.

None of us can do this on our own...

The only way this happens is if all of are fulfilling our roles.

Jethro, Moses father in law, comes to visit and bring Moses family back to him.

Synopsis

They have a great reunion and even though Jethro has heard some of God has been doing, Moses gets to give him all the details.

Those who “serve” in the Christian community, assisting the elders or overseers (bishops).

The Greek word which the NIV translates four times as “deacon” occurs a further 25 times in the NT, where it is translated as “servant”.

It seems that all Christians have a general servant role, whereas some (deacons) are called to a specific office of service within the church.

Jethro is amazed by what God has done and because of the stories that he is hearing from Moses, he understands the truth about who God is.

Side note, this is super encouraging to me.

We have all had family that have heard what God is doing and been doubtful that it is him.

The Seven: assistants to the apostles

We are unclear exactly what Jethro believed, but based on his response, it seems that God is revealed to him and he has a better understanding of all the things Moses has been telling him.

Why they were needed

The verb “wait” means “to serve”.

As God works in our lives, He has the power to give us opportunities to explain and show our families that we have been hearing and obeying God the entire time.

As a result they will come to have a better understanding of who God is.

(ESV) — 1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The needs of a church cannot be met by one person.

Their qualifications and selection

ex 18:17-

God wants us to focus on the task that He has called us too.

(ESV) — 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

When we all do our small part, no one is overwhelmed.

I love that Jethro points out that it won’t be only Moses that will be worn out, but also the people.

Having to wait for days on someone else so that you can get something done is exhausting.

This is why it is important for us to all do our part.

It keeps us from being overwhelmed.

Their names and appointment

This works in two ways.

1.

All the needs are met and there is only light work for each person...

Although the Seven are not actually called “deacons”, they were probably the earliest example of Christians carrying out the tasks which came to be linked with deacons.

2.

You are doing what God has called you too and you don’t have to feel guilty about not doing all the other things.

(ESV) — 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

This has been my experience so far in this new role.

When the elders meet and we talk about all the things that need to be done around here, I struggle with not feeling guilty.

I tend to feel guilty because I have the knowledge, experience, and the tools to fix all the stuff around here.

The only thing I don’t have is the time and I’ve had some conversations about it.

I have talked with God about this and

A major part of my transition to pastoring was me learning to say no, I can’t do that.

I had to stop doing some things that were enjoyable, but they weren’t what God was calling me to.

I also want you to know that I recognize the fear and anxiety that some of you are feeling as we talk about this.

You may be recalling personal experiences or experiences of you parents where you volunteer to participate in a ministry and you have to die to get out of it.

Deacons were assistants to overseers in Philippi

God doesn’t call someone to leadership to hang them out to dry.

That is never his plan, but each person isn’t faithful in their calling, things are left undone.

God very purposefully creates a leadership structure that allows all of us to lean on the support of others and to spread the load out among everyone.

All Christians are “saints” (that is, set apart for God), but overseers and deacons have specific roles assigned to them.

(ESV) — 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

Qualifications for men and women deacons

There is no NT description of the precise role of deacons (although may imply a certain role).

These qualifications would be appropriate for people responsible for financial management, administration, and social service, such as that offered to widows; The women may be deacons’ wives (NIV text), or deaconesses (NIV footnote).

We can see here a very clear picture of each person taking on responsibility with the directive to pass it up the line if it is too much for them.

As we talk about serving in a leadership position, please understand that you will have a support system.

There are specific qualifications for leadership.

(ESV) — 8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.