Deacons

Deacons

Invite you back to sunday night and wed evening

I want to preach on deacons this morning we are voting on our new by-lays tonight to ratify them. And one of the changes we have made is moving the office of the trustee to the office of a deacon. Because that is the biblical role given in the new testament and we want to be more spiritual.

So with that being said I want to give the scripture behind what the office of the deacon is.

The Local new testament Church has two offices The office of the Pastor Bishop or elder and deacon. As the office of the apostle and prophet are no longer in service.

When we have our annual meeting we will vote on our first deacons.

So we need to know something about it. And the need for the deacons in the scripture

So we turn to the book of acts the first church and why they selected the first deacons.

Reason for the Deacons

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

The church was growing

And it was having growing pains

Pains are a part of growing up when we grow we have pain

Emotional pain teenager puberty zits and hormones emotions

Physical pain kids come my legs hurt when going through growth spurts

When we grow spiritually it is always started by pain

Growth brings pain wich brings friction which brings more growth

Every time you add a child there is added pressure added friction and added growth

And when you start on that journey with more responsibility it is a difficult time as you grow into it.

Some people think of a great church as not having any problems listen every church has problems

Everything that grows experiences difficulty.

Even the one that was led by the 12 apostles had problems

The only church that has no problems is a dead church.

What was the problem ?

Multiplication of the disciples

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied

The amount of people coming to the church was increasing

More people more problems

It stopped being addition and started to become multiplication

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

Just for whatever reason counts the men hear estimated about 20,000 at this time

And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)

Now back to six verses one that number is being multiplied

The more people you have the more people you can reach the strength of the church grows.

God's command is to be fruitful and multiply

As long as there are lost people around us we need to be growing and reaching them not growth for us to be able to brag but to be able to reach more people for the Lord

Now the Lord has been adding to our church we have another family joining today. And the more people come the more people get saved Saturday a group went out passed out hundreds of gospel tracts last week someone got saved in the office and the distribution of the Lord's message is growing at this church.

But with that growth comes added pressure I remember hearing about pastors during the great awakening were a hundred souls were added to the church in kentucky and the pastor got so sick he had to take a leave of absence he got sick trying to include all those people in

Needs grow babies added to the nursery counseling is added kids in Sundays school

Jr church just started now we have 17 kids upstairs and not enough workers the needs grow with the congregation.

And when it happens fast it is very difficult

I believe the Lord had wisdom with noah

He built the ark got the rooms ready got the food and then got sent the animals and Noah was just directing traffic.

Unfortunately for us it seems like the need is there first the man that started this church said preparation must be made in anticipation of new growth.

We find ourselves so often like the first church playing catch up because we sometimes are stretched thin on available resources.

The Murmuring of the Discontented

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

As soon as the multiplication shows up that is what God wants he wants multiplication

Than the devil shows up and he wants to divide.

He wants to start dividing

Look grecians against the hebrews

Gets these cultures against each other

The Grecain widows thought they were being neglected because they were not jews

Daily ministration giving out food

Widows no social security and had to be taken care of by the government or by family

They felt neglected. Now, the problem was legitimate, because somehow the apostles were not able to manage and to care for the widows.

Now, the problem may have been legitimate, but the method of dealing with it was wrong

Murmuring

What is a murmur?

concealed complaint. It’s not a complaint to the right person at the right time with the right spirit for the right purpose.

Murmuring is not really against the church, or against the pastor, or against the deacons, or against the teacher, or against the program;

murmuring is against God. God forbids murmuring. Murmuring is the opposite of faith and praise. Let me give you some Scripture.

And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

That doesn’t mean that if you have a problem, you can’t address the problem, but you address the problem in the right way. Come to the right person with the right spirit, the right attitude, and directly, forthrightly, kindly, lovingly, and in the Spirit of God, address the problem. But don’t you be a murmurer in the congregation

It was not a doctrinal problem

Not a moral problem

It was functional problem

That is what most problems are over they forgot to do this they overlooked this they forgot to do this I was never told they forgot to tell me .

Anything that moves develops friction

It had to be dealt with so they called the people together

Responsibilities of the Deacons

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

They called the people together said this problem has to be dealt with

Now I used to wonder why they said this was the calling of the first deacons and I do not see the word deacon any were in this passage do you

When I was in bible school I learned this and verified it myself

daily ministration

word of God, and serve tables.

and to the ministry of the word.

Ministration is the greek word we get deacon to deac is to serve

Serve tables it is there again

Ministry of the word

So the church has two ministries or businesses on is functional and the other is spiritual

So they were to serve tables take care of the daily ministration so the preachers could serve the word and pray

Deacon is to serve runner through the dust

To wait upon to administer to serve

So what do we need decons for ?

To oversee and take care of the ministries of the church so the pastor can give himself continually to the word and prayer

When I spend to much time overseeing things and I am always avalible than I am not worth much when I am available

I must study and pray and put in work so when I get here to give you the Lords word it is with power from God and it is a help

If I spend to much of my time doing other things I am empty when I get to the pulpit.

So these men they help me

Bro Roland building looking at these plans to redoe parts of the church I am overwelmed he yawns this is a small project he works for saws and has been part of overseeing renovations to buildings new projects for billions of dollars of work

Bro Cormican Finances looks at our buget simple to him that is what his gift is it takes a lot of pressure off of me

Bro Eric gift of governments and he is responsible for a large part of our growth he knows how to administrate dna delegate and create processes oversees discipleship.

That is just the tip of the ice berg

They help me

Provide accountability oversight

We have reached the point were a lot of this goes beyond my ability to think. Start construction need a plan for the long term we hired an architect never would have done it on my own.

More and more I find I do not know how do do certain things And i am not supposed to that is why he sent these guys and you all to help the ministery the work of the church

So I can stay in my lane

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

the minister has to give himself to the study of the Word and prayer.

Old preacher told me you have to be careful that you don’t put a big S on your shirt and try to play Superman, and to be here and there and everywhere at the same time.

There has to be a time when he gives himself continually to the ministry of the Word and prayer. And, what did God give preachers to do? To do the work of the church? No! God gave preachers to preach the gospel so that the people can do the work of the church.

You have a pastor-teacher, to mature you. Well, why does God want to mature you? For the perfecting of the saints, “for the work of the ministry.”

Pastor, you’re to do the work of the ministry.” No. My job is to mature you to do the work of the ministry.

that’s what we pay the pastor for.” No, you give your money to God; God pays the pastor

He is not to be a hireling. You can't hire someone to serve God on your behalf so you don’t have to do it.

You may hire somebody else to cut your grass, but you can’t hire anybody to pray on your behalf. You can’t hire anybody to win souls on your behalf. You can’t hire anybody to study the Bible on your behalf. You’re to pray. You’re to win souls. You’re to study the Bible.

And God gives the church ministers, pastor-teachers. To mature the saints. So the saints can do the work of the ministry.

Look at the person next to you, and say, “You are a minister.”

Now, when that stops, it all implodes. And so, what does the devil want to do,?

He wants to take pastors and teachers, and get them off here in some administrative thing, as good as it may be, serving tables, helping widows, doing this or that.

The devil doesn’t care what I do, as long as I don’t study, and get full of the Holy Ghost, and preach the Word of God, because, if you don’t have that, you don’t have mature saints. And, if you don’t have mature saints, you don’t have ministry.

the devil says, “Well, let’s just start a little murmuring over here, and let’s see if we can sidetrack this church that is growing

But it didn’t work. It didn’t work, because, I say, these men were walking with God, and they were spiritual and practical at the same time.

And so, they said, “Let’s get us some men to serve the people of God

What do we need deacons for to shoulder responsibility

One man used to be a deacon not with us any longer said my goal is to take this responsibility and to shoulder it so you do not have to worry about it and you can focus on preaching praying and ministry of the word he got it was a good man.

That responsibility can be anything that is needed to make the church functional

To keep the murmering down to make sure that people don't get lost in the shuffle

Do you see why we need deacons ?

Many things they can shoulder the business finances building visiting people ministries and you do not have to be a deacon to do it.

Requirements

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Now, what does it take to be a New Testament deacon? What the qualifications for serving tables ?

“Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report.”

First of all, there must be an established testimony,

Not a Johnny come lately

Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.

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

For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

What is the difference between novice first be proved not in acts either

The church at ephesus was an established church and so the requirements for their leaders were greater than in acts

And their requirements were greater than in crete when Paul told titas to appoint elders in every city he did not give the requirement to first be proved because the church was a new plant and those men were not available

The principle is this as the church grows and the amount of qualified men are more than the person you put into leadership must have a greater testimony

As the church grows the maturity of the leaders and their testimony becomes more important.

These seven men were the next generation of leaders they had probably been saved for a very short time at this point.

They were not perfect neither were the pastors but they had a good testimony

Why do I say that because these men will not fit everything perfectly as I did not when I started I started a novice I was not blameless I did not rule my own house well but the Lord let me grow into that

And these men which we choose will still need to grow as we all do but we must get started like titas had to in crete

I used to think that i will wait to appoint deacons till every one of them is perfect fitting these qualifications but that truth helped me be obedient to God as I try to lead the church forward.

Everyone should strive to fit these qualifications for the day when it will be the day you are called upon to serve in this office for the good of the church.

Honest report

The pastors needed to be able to trust them

To tell me the truth to tell me were they believe i might be in error . what needs to be looked after. That they have my best interest and the church's best interest at heart

They have protected me from people trying to destroy me before. Adan and Bro z have had my back and helped me continue in the ministry

() Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

Not only are they to have an established testimony; they are to be full of the Holy Spirit—Spirit-filled men.

Nothing for Jesus in the church should be done, can really be done, in the power of the flesh. We must be filled with the Spirit.

Without me you can do nothing. Make your own oxygen make your own life your own body your own soul whether physically or spiritually you can do nothing without him the power of the spirit

My house work on it and got exhausted discipleship bro altimorono

Only way to get better is to rest, drink water

The only way to get better spiritually is when you rest in the spirit

And how do we know whether a man is filled with the Spirit?

you will have the fruit of the Spirit. That is universal. And what is the fruit of the Spirit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.”

Number three—very important: They are to be full of wisdom

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

it’s better to be good than it is to be smart. It is better to be wise than it is to be shrewd. It is better to have wisdom than to have knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge. Knowledge may be proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows so little

They must be competent to the task they are appointed to

These were not ordinary men. These were extraordinary men.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

These were quality men that they chose.

For example, let’s mention the first two. Stephen—Stephen preached one of the mightiest sermons in the entire Scriptures. You find Stephen’s sermon there, and they stoned Stephen, because he preached with such power and grace. They stoned Stephen.

And Philip was a layman who preached to that Ethiopian eunuch out in the desert, opened up all of North Africa most likely to the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These were quality men.

Competent they were greek As this and the following names are all Greek

and competent to the task of the grecian widows. They were the ones competent to have the wisdom and tools necessary to carry out the task .

Now, what happened?

What was the result of this multiplication of the disciples, this murmuring of the discontent, this ministry of the deacons?

verse 5: “And the saying pleased the whole multitude; and they chose

Verse 6: “And when they set whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them—

7—and the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly

now, we don’t just have multiplication; we have great multiplication—

and a great company of the priests were made obedient to the faith.” Now, the devil tried to stop to church, but he didn’t stop the church.

All they did was to honestly, sincerely face the problem, pray, seek the will of God, do what God told them to do, and the church continued to grow with even greater opportunities.

Problems are opportunities in reverse, if we’ll face them with the Holy Spirit. We’re going to have problems.

I’d hate to be a church that the devil wouldn’t oppose.

The devil is going to oppose Huisache Baptist Church, and it may get worse, but we need to face every problem in the power of the Holy Spirit with wisdom and love, and see what God is going to do.

Deacons are here not to cause problems; deacons are here to solve problems.

Does that mean that deacons can only serve tables?

No. A deacon can do anything. That’s service there’s no job that a deacon may not do, and there is no job that only a deacon may do.

They’re here to say, “Pastor and people, put me to work. To the best of my ability, I’m here to serve the Lord, and, God being my helper, I will always be a part of the solution. I will never be a part of the problem.”

Now I want you to pray church

That when we do this and select these men they would be fit for the task and be able to withstand the pressure that comes with us and we would be led by the Lords hand with this decision that will happen later this year.

And if you are a man or a woman read that in 1 timothy three and say do I fit these qualifications

And if you are a wife say would I be hindering my husband to take part in this ministry am I the kind of wife that my husband needs if God calls him to be a deacon.

What we are going to do is meet with the deacons with the candidates and go over expectations then we will provide you a list of names that will be considered during the meeting for consideration. That way you have a chance to get to know these men ask them questions and address any concerns you may have

Because it is a very important step for our church and we do not want to take it lightly.

This is exciting for our church as we move forward for his cause.