Deacon Ordination

Opening Hymn

Welcome and Announcements

Hymn

Presentation of the Candidate

*LARRY* We will now call to order a special, open meeting of the Durbin Memorial Baptist Church for the purpose of ordaining Brother Ron Logan as a deacon of this Church. Although this meeting is open for guests, we’d ask that when it comes time to vote that only Members of this church would participate. As church Moderator, I authorize the Pastor to oversee and conduct the rest of this meeting and service.

Testimony of the Candidate

Thank you, brother Larry. The Deacon Board presented Brother Ron Logan as a candidate for diaconal service during the October 2021 business meeting. The candidate was confirmed by vote of the church. Such a decision was made upon the reviewal of the Ordination Council, consisting of Brother Larry Stewart, Brother Claude Rhorer, and myself, Brother Brad Pearce. As a part of the ordination process, we would like to ask Brother Ron Logan come before the church and present a testimony for the whole church to witness.

Brother Ron, would you please come forward and take a few moments to share what God has done in your life and why serving the church is important to you?

*GIVE RON LOGAN 3-5 MIN TO SPEAK*

Questioning of the Candidate

To express your acceptance of these offices, you are asked to stand, and here in the presence of God and His church, to answer the following questions:

Do you believe that the call of this congregation to serve as a deacon is in line with the mission and desire God has for your life?

Do you believe that the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and life?

Do you agree with the values and doctrinal standards of this church and reject teaching that would contradict the teaching of Scripture?

Do you promise to do the work of a deacon faithfully, doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him?

Recommendation by the Pastor and Vote

Upon the recommendation of the Ordination Council, the testimony of the Candidate, and the Candidate’s agreement with the mission and values of the church, the Ordination Council will now present Ron Logan to the church for confirmation of ordination.

To the members of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church, please verbally signify your agreement in ordaining Ron Logan as a deacon of this church at this time by saying “aye”.

Any opposed by like sign.

The Aye’s have it.

Upon the confirmation of this church, in accordance with the Word of God, Brother Ron Logan will be herby ordained and recognized as a Deacon. In just a few moments, we will take time to give a charge to both our new deacon and our church, as well as take time to pray for him. But first, we should all remember that the reason we have deacons and for that matter the whole reason we have the local church, is because Jesus Christ has given us something worthy of being organized around. Make no mistake, today we want to appreciate and honor a man who is showing great commitment and service to the church, but ultimately all the honor and glory today go to the Great God above.

Would you join us in worshipping our Lord this morning? Please stand and sing with us!

Worship songs

Behold Our God

Yet Not I But Through Christ in me

Challenge and Charge

Before we continue on in anything else this morning, I just have to say how wonderful it is to be here and the be apart of what the Lord is doing through our little church in the corner of Clay’s Ferry. It is such a blessing to be able to serve here. But before we begin to look at how a deacon serves in the church, and how the church supports its deacons, it is important to understand the foundation upon which all of this is built.

It’s very obvious through our proceedings this morning that this church is an organized entity. We have by-laws to follow and procedures by which we get things done. But do not let the structure of business confuse you. Also, do not let busy-ness, committee meetings, budgets, officers, the building maintenance, the trustees, or the deacons, confuse you. None of those things are what this church is built upon. This church is built upon, centered upon, and laser-focused upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:19–21 ESV

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

This section of Scripture is describing what has happened to all of us who truly know the Lord Jesus. We were strangers and aliens. We were far from God. Lost in our sin. We meander through the world seeking momentarily pleasure to numb the desire for eternity written in our hearts. But as we were lost, we then were found! Verse 19 says we are NO LONGER STRANGERS AND ALIENS. Instead we have found home in the house of God. That is why we gather together as a church. We are more than friends and neighbors. We are family members! Brothers and Sisters! Everything that we do is founded on the Word of God, the testimony of the prophets and the apostles. We believe that God spoke through them to record Scripture. That’s why we use the phrase, “Here, you will hear the Word of God.” We are committed to the sufficiency of Scripture. But with that and even further, we see the key, the mainstay, the cornerstone of everything that we are and all that we do is Jesus Christ!

All of the business, activities, teaching, and efforts we make are made in reflection to Jesus Christ. Without Christ, all of this would just be vapid pageantry. A show and a farce. But I want to take just a moment to lay out the truth.

The truth is that everyone of us have done things that offend a righteous God. That is sin. Those are actions and even thoughts in which we are even just a little bit off from perfection. You see righteousness and unrighteousness are like water and oil. They do not mix. Light and darkness is the same way. You cannot combine the two. Light casts out the darkness. Our unrighteousness makes us unable to be accepted by God. Even our best works are filthy rags. And let me tell you as someone who has a newborn, filthy rags STINK. So all of us are in such an unacceptable position. And to be honest, there isn’t even anything we can do about it. Not on our own.

But thanks be to God that He loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, and gave Him up to be a perfect, righteous sacrifice to make us clean. Who so ever believes in Jesus, truly believes in Him as the Savior and Lord He is, will be saved and cleansed. It is at that point that God no longer sees us by our sin, but instead when He sees us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. When we understand Jesus as Savior and Lord, and we understand what His sacrifice has done for us, we begin to understand the Love God has for us. That changes us! We want to love as Christ loved us!

Ephesians 5:2 ESV

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Here we see in Christ’s great love and sacrifice, a fragrant offering was lifted up to God. That is God no longer viewing us by our sin, but by the pleasing aroma of the sacrifice of Jesus.

It is imperative that all of us know that Christ gave himself up for all those who believe in Him. In doing so, we are reconciled to the righteous God.

Everything we do within this church is done in response to this. We want everyone to know that Jesus died to pay the debt of all those who believe in Him. And the even better news is that Jesus rose again, on the third day from His death. In His resurrection, we are assured of our eternal life.

Our Sin, Christ’s Death. Our Hope, Christ’s Resurrection. Our Judgment, Christ’s Intercession.

Jesus Christ is quite literally the pinnacle of History and we are captivated by Him and humbled by the grace of God to receive salvation through Him.

He is the cornerstone of the church. And the foundation of everything that we do here. Please understand, its all about Him. Everything. In just a moment, I want to touch on the duties of the deacon, but know that if you do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord, if you have never had the desire to follow Him, I am begging you to understand just how real He is and just how in need of knowing Him you are. I, or many of our members, would love to talk to you about what it means to know Jesus.

Our salvation by the grace of God through Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to gather in the local church. Our dedication to serving Him well, and commitment to His Word informs us to utilize deacons in the functioning of the church.

I want to briefly walk through the origination of the office of deacon as shown in the book of Acts.

Acts 6:1–7 ESV

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. 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. 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. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 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. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

To recap what we read there, there was trouble brewing in the early church. Factions of the Greek believers felt as though they were being neglected and uncared for. So the 12 apostles got together with the disciples and told them that it was their primary duty to preach the Word of God and be devoted in prayer. They needed other men to step up and take the lead in making sure that the members of the church were taken care of. The disciples were tasked with finding seven men with good reputation in the church, who showed wisdom and fullness of Spirit, willing to serve the church and make sure no one was neglected within the body. The whole gathering, the whole church was pleased by this. The apostles then prayed and laid hands on the candidates. And wouldn’t you know it, but a healthy church with defined roles and fired up people, focussed on serving the Lord in the ways He has called them to do, THRIVED. God’s Word was proclaimed, disciples were multiplied throughout Jerusalem and many people grew in the faith becoming more obedient to God’s Word.

A healthy, structured church is a beautiful thing used by God to do His Work.

The role of deacon is an important part of that structure.

There are three primary callings of the deacon that we can gather from this text. Brother Ron, this is what I am asking of you, as well as our other deacons.

Number one, assisting the pastor. I am so thankful for the loving support I have found here in this church as this is the first opportunity God has given me to be the undershepherd of a congregation. Deacons of this church, I ask for your continued assistance. We can see in our text from Acts that the apostles, serving as the primary teachers in that church, were primarily concerned with studying the Word of God, teaching the Word of God, and being committed to prayer. That is the primary calling of the pastor in a church. This doesn’t mean that I will never participate in visitation ministry or serving the congregation, but it does mean that I need your help in this area. There is much to be done and Lord willing, we will see our church grow which brings more to be done. Please join me in this endeavor.

The Second calling of the deacon is to serve the church. The role of a deacon is that of a servant. The word in Greek exactly means servant. The deacons serve the church and are often boots on the ground for our members in times of need. There is much to be done in service to the Lord. Our deacons should know our members, foster relationships with them, and be there in times of need. I can honestly say that, Ron, over the last year you have been there any time I have called upon you. I’d be willing to guess that many in this congregation would say the same. Continue to so.

The final calling on the deacon is to maintain peace in the congregation. This flows from the second duty, but it is still something to note. In the text we read from Acts the church was potentially on the verge of split! The Lord inspired the creation of the office of deacon and it says this pleased the whole gathering. Now, we are not called to bend our standards or moral for the sake of pleasing man, but we are called to remember that we are one body. We are saved by the Same Christ, Filled with the Same Spirit, and reconciled to the Same Father. May our deacons be committed to seeking peace and moving forward in the church for the glory of God.

It's a beautiful thing when the church is functioning as intended. It is important to realize that God has created roles and positions for all of us to serve in. When we take those seriously, reverently, and joyfully, we to may see the increase the church in Jerusalem saw.

Acts 6:7 ESV

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Church, here is my charge to you. Pray for Brother Ron. Pray for all of our deacons. Pray for me. Pray for our church. Pray for our Committee Chairpersons. Saturate every nook and cranny of this church with prayer. Ask God that He would use us to increase for His glory. Ask God to be with our leadership. Ask God to be calling out those who will be next to serve in such roles.

Let’s all use this as an opportunity to thank God for the giving us the local church and the guidance on how to structure it for His Glory. May we always be praying Colossians 3:17

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Pray that everything we do, everything our deacons do, everything bro Ron does, is done in the name of the Lord Jesus, the one who died to give us salvation, giving thanks to God the Father, who loved us while we were still sinners so much that He sent His Son. Let’s pray, encourage, and joyfully expect the increase of God’s Word, disciples, and obedience.

Laying on of Hands

Church, we are now going to lay hands upon and pray for our brother Ron. Let me remind you that the laying on of hands, there is no magic in this, no secret oath or mystery.  We are not passing on something from an infallible Pope or from the first deacons.

What we are doing is symbolizing your act of believing that God has led as we have called Ron to serve this church as a deacon.  We affirm also, that you are setting Ron apart for special service.

Ron, will you come forward.  I would invite all ordained men present to join us now for the laying on of hands. We will go by, one at a time.

Prayer of Dedication

Presentation of Ordination Certificate

Closing Song

Hand of Fellowship