Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

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!

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.