We Have Been Served so that We Might Serve | Acts 6:1-7, 1 Timothy 3:8-13

At 6 verse 1. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the

Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their

widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the 12

gathered all the disciples together and said, it would not be right for us to

neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and

sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit

and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will

give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. This proposal

pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the

Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus and Nicholas from

Antioch, convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who

prayed and laid their hands on them. So the Word of God spread. The number of

disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became

obedient to the faith. And then if we turn to 1 Timothy 3, verse 8 to 13.

1 Timothy 3:8–13

1 Timothy 3 verse 8. In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect,

1 Timothy 3:8

sincere, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must

keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must

first be tested, then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers

but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be faithful to

his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have

served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in

Christ Jesus. Good morning everyone. It is great to be together praising God

with our voices, praying to Him, singing together. These are all wonderful graces

that our Father God has bestowed upon us, His people. And this morning we're going

to witness an incredible event where our Lord Jesus is going to be magnified in

our midst because of His work that He's doing in His church here in Armidale. But

before we look at the texts that were wonderfully read out for us this morning,

I think we should pray. Let's pray.

Father God, we are so thankful to be here this morning. That in your kindness, in

your grace, in your loving mercy, you have brought us together to come around

your Word, to hear from you this morning. And we ask by the work of your Spirit, that

that would indeed happen. That you would change our minds, that you would cause us

to look at Christ, our beautiful Savior, and to love Him ever so much more. And

that you would change us, change us Father, and use us for your glory. We ask

for this in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen. Well it's great to have you with us

here this morning for this very special time where we will be ordaining Andy

Wagner as our new deacon. Now before we go ahead and lay hands on this man, I

thought that it would be a good opportunity to have a look at why Jesus

has given this very important office to His Church. However, this morning as we

gather, we don't primarily want to gather together to ordain a man, though it's

very exciting to do so. But we primarily want to give glory to Christ who is

doing His continual work among us here at Grace Christian Church and in the

city of Armidale by making Himself known through the preaching of the Word and

through the servants of His Church. So if you have your Bibles with you this

morning, it's going to be very handy to have them open at the passages that were

read out this morning being Acts 6 and 1st Timothy 3, as they show us why the

office of deacon is such a vitally important ministry to the local church.

Also this morning, I just want to say that I'm aiming at just two things for

you to understand before we ordain our deacon. The first thing that I want you

to understand is simply what is a deacon? And the second thing that I want you to

understand is what does a deacon do? That's right, two very simple things that

I'm aiming to help you to understand this morning before we ordain Andy. What

is a deacon and what does a deacon do? So with that said, let's go in order with

which the texts were read out this morning. First with Acts 6. These are the

words of God. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the

Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their

widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve

gathered all the disciples together and said it would not be right for us to

neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on

tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be

full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. And then we

see seven men that were brought forward, they presented them to the Apostles, they

prayed for them, they laid their hands on them so that the Word of God spread. So

the first thing that I want you to understand is that a deacon is a

servant who has been set aside by God to, and it's in the name, to serve. Now I say

it's in the name because in the Greek the word that sits under our English

translation of deacon is a word that is always associated with service. That's

what the Greek literally means. Deacon means servant when used as a noun or

service when used as a verb, a doing word. And different forms of the word

deacon are actually found over a hundred times in the New Testament. Now that's

not to say the office of deacon, which we're going to look at this morning, is

talked about over a hundred times in the New Testament. No, the noun form is only

specifically used in a few different places, but the Greek word that is

associated with the verb deaconing is found all over the place. And it always

means either serving or ministering to others. Here with the passage that we

have before us we get an understanding of just what the deacons were set aside

to do. But first let's have a look at a bit of context. You see something

incredible had happened in the early church. We read after the ascension of

Jesus in bodily form that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church. Now

we all know the story. Peter then delivered one of the greatest recorded

sermons in the Bible to which around 3,000 people were saved and then added

to the church. So what you have is an absolute explosion of people on a tiny

little group of disciples that needed to get themselves into order. Quick smart.

Just think about it. Jesus started off his ministry as a lone rabbi in Galilee.

He then collects people from little Jewish villages to follow him as his

disciples. But by the time you get to the end of his earthly ministry and

crucifixion, he's all but abandoned by a few people. Granted after his resurrection

he appears to over 500 people but then we're told in Acts 1 that those in the

upper room, well they numbered only around 120. So that growth of 3,000 in

one day is insane. I mean we've seen wonderful and beautiful growth here in

the last year at Grace Christian Church. But imagine if you will if we went from

this little flock in this room this morning to an added 3,000 in a day. We'd

be needing to think about a whole bunch of things that go along with that. And it

was the same here with the church in Acts. They were overjoyed that the Lord

Jesus had added so many to their number that they broke bread in their homes.

They ate together with glad and sincere hearts we're told. It was an occasion for

celebration. And church when we see the Lord adding to his people it's always

something to celebrate. But as we know more people mean more work. It's

inevitable. Now something to note here. We don't all come from the same walks of

life and it was the same in the early church. There were some who were very

wealthy and who had lots so that they could sell all that they had so as to

help out financially others in the church. And others needed to be assisted

because not everyone who was saved into the church was materially wealthy. And

that's fine as we know material status means nothing to God. And so there were

very generous people in the congregation who knew that about their new found

brothers and sisters in the Lord and they wanted to love them practically and

make sure that they were really taken care of. There was a problem and that was

the sheer number of people who were being daily added to the church. Now the

problem wasn't the people in and of themselves. No that was and is and always

will be the most amazing thing when we see people come to the Lord. Bring it on

we say. The problem was that some in the church namely the widows were starting

to be neglected because of the incredible rate of growth experienced in

the church. Now I want you to notice this. The problem of neglect in context was

between two widow groups. Now we don't have time to go into all of this this

morning but the Jewish Christians were keenly aware that they serve the God who

deeply cares about widows and orphans. He deeply cares about them and they must

never never be neglected. So it seems that the Christians who had that

background in Judaism were keenly aware of making sure that those who had no

husband to look after them were looked after by the church. However the

Hellenistic Jews who were Jews that most likely didn't live in Jerusalem but in

the surrounding countries hence being Hellenistic or Greek speaking didn't

receive the same treatment. So for whatever reason they were being

overlooked in comparison to the widows of the Hebrews. And so we might say here

that there was a great need for servants of the church to raise up and meet those

specific circumstances. There was growth and that's amazing the Lord loves to add

to his church. However the church was keenly aware that providing four people

physically among them is also very important to our God. Not just for the

Jewish widows but for all widows that were among them. They knew that looking

after the vulnerable no matter how big or fast the church was growing was

extremely important to God and so they had to do something about it. And nothing

has changed. Nothing's changed. So being aware of this the 12 gathered all the

disciples to sort the problem out. Now as we're starting to see here the

problem wasn't that the church was being neglected spiritually but that some were

starting to be neglected physically. And there was a danger here that they were

becoming aware of. They were in danger of neglecting the word and prayer so that

people could be physically provided for. And so instead of just continuing to

focus on spiritual matters the Apostles those who were responsible for feeding

and leading the flock looked to hold the two things together. Say it plainly. They

looked at not neglecting those in need among them because they knew that God

cares for those in need. However they knew at the same time that they were

not to neglect the preaching of the word and prayer. We see it right there in

verses 2 through to 4 of Acts 6. In other words those who were and are

responsible for serving the church in the ministry of the Word couldn't leave.

They shouldn't leave that great responsibility in order to meet the

needs of those among them physically though in no way are physical needs ever

to be neglected. I mean that's incredible if you think about it. On the one hand

it lets you know how important the preaching of the Word of God is for the

people of God. But on the other hand it tells you that people's physical needs

are important as well. And so those who would be chosen for this great service

are not just waiters but very much chosen to be put in the position of

supporting the elders in the ministry of the Word among them. Let me explain what

I mean by that. Physically helping the people of God is a very important thing

to do and the Apostles knew that but they also knew that their primary

responsibility was to teach the people of God, to give themselves over to prayer

and provide leadership. However because of the sheer growth of the church they

couldn't do some of those, they were starting to see that there was a danger

of not being able to do those things they were called for. So they appealed

to the church for specific men to take on the task of looking after God's people

in a physical sense so they could continue looking after God's people in a

spiritual sense. We're starting to see something here. This isn't an either or

situation and that is so important to understand and apply to us here at Grace

Christian Church. Brothers and sisters we have to be so careful of not leaning

one way or the other. I mean if we were all about serving the community of

Armidale and making ourselves the best community centre that this city has ever

seen at the expense of neglecting the Word then all we're doing is turning

ourselves into a social justice club where we don't actually have any good

news to tell anyone or disciple anyone in. Waving people to hell whom we are

fed, clothed and watered. Is there a great need in our community? Absolutely and does

God care about those in need among us and out there in Armidale? Absolutely but

not at the expense of His Word being neglected because it is the gospel that

is the power unto salvation for everyone, everyone who believes and faith comes by

hearing and hearing by the Word. The Word is preached and it is vitally important

for both the people of God and the community around us. It's vitally

important. Let's think about it like this. Notice that people don't come to the

Apostles, present the problem and they say you know people's souls are more

important than their bodies. Let's just leave them. Let's just see how they

figure it out. You know she'll be right man. And I know we might find that

amusing however there could be strong conservative churches that do a great

job of telling it like it is and and knowing what they know in phenomenal

ways. Their doctrine is pure. They hold fast to the truth of the gospel. Amen.

They turn a deaf ear to the people around them because they turn a deaf ear

to the homeless, the starving in their cities and they're not passionate about

meeting real concerns with the people around them. In this text we see there is

a danger and the Apostles beautifully bring out something here. The church can

become so fixated on doing church that we can become inward-looking and forget

about people's real physical needs. But neither one of those pictures is

biblical when it comes to the church. In other words it's not an either-or

situation. It's a both-and. We proclaim the gospel with boldness. We protect the

gospel and it is the news of salvation for everyone. However at the same time we

give our lives and our love to make the gospel known among our own people and to

those who are in great need with all we say and with all we do. It is a beautiful

picture and that's what we see here. The Apostles say we're going to give our

whole attention to the preaching of the gospel but we are going to raise up a

whole class of office in the church whose fundamental job is going to be to

serve those real tangible needs that are among us. I hope you can see something

here brothers and sisters. Deacons they are so much more than waiters. Now they're

specific men chosen by God. They're confirmed by the people of God chosen to

meet the needs of people so that the word can still be proclaimed with boldness

without hindrance. They are a vital part of the ministry of the church. Now as we

can see in the text before us these seven men aren't called deacons here but

undoubtedly they act in that role serving the needs of the people so that

the elders among them could lead the church. It's a beautiful picture of the

church in action not just in word which was growing the church growing the church

but indeed which was assisting and loving the people of God with real

tangible love. It's a beautiful picture we have here. So what are deacons? Well

they are servants chosen by God for a specific role which are confirmed by

the people so that they might meet physical needs of people and thus

support the elders in the ministry of the word. It's what they are and that's

what they do. To put it plainly deacons are specific servants that serve in a

specific way. There's more to say on this and it's already been said a couple of

times this morning. They are so much more than waiters. Now deacons are men who

hold fast to the truth of the gospel and meet certain Christ-like character

qualifications. If you have your Bibles let's have a look at 1st Timothy 3

verses 8 through to 13. We're told in the same way deacons are to be worthy of

respect, sincere not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They

must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must

first be tested and then if there is nothing against them let them serve as

deacons. In the same way the women or the wives are to be worthy of respect not

malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must

be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.

Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance

in their faith in Christ Jesus. Now as I said before the Greek that sits under

the word deaconing is tied to serving and ministering and that's what we all

do. It's been said wonderfully from this pulpit this morning. That's what we all

do for one another in the body of Christ. Yet as we've also seen this morning

certain men are called and put aside to function in the role of deacon. Now the

way in which this service is carried out varies from time to time and from church

to church because not all situations are the same for all time. I mean we don't

have an axe six situation on our hands here this morning I hope. But in saying

that the qualification of deacon well that's permanent for all time. Permanent.

And it's here in these few verses that I've just read that we have those

qualifications spelt out for us. In other words what we have here is what the

church is to look for in a man who would serve the church in this way. Now I want

you to note a couple of things here before we have a look at this list. First

I want you to notice how the passage I just read began with in the same way. Now

what Paul is focusing in on there is just like the elders of the church the

deacons are to reflect the character of Christ as well. In other words like

elders deacons are to be godly self-controlled Christian men qualified

by their desire to serve and by their embrace of the gospel of the Christian

faith and their proven character. They desire to serve that's important but

notice this they're also characterized by a character that's being shaped by

the grace of the Holy Spirit. And this is evident for the church to see. I want to

say it like this there's a list of qualifications that the deacon it's kind

of got to have on his CV so the church can see the grace of God working in that

man's life and recognize him for that role. Second there are differences with

the elder in that the deacons are not set aside to lead or to teach. That's a

role reserved for the elders of the church. As we've seen this morning the

deacons assist the elders so that they can be given over to prayer and

preaching while the deacon meets the practical needs of the people. I want to

illustrate this and it's like walking a tightrope and your grace is the net

that is under my feet right now. But I like to think about it like a band that

plays well together to make beautiful music. That means the deacons aren't the

roadies that kind of linger to the side while the show goes on. I like to think

they're more like the rhythm section that serve the more frontline instruments

of melody and voice but are still instrumental to the band. To put that

another way elders and deacons work together in complementary roles. The

elders lead the people with the voice while the deacons assist the people with

the hands. And I think we're meant to have a picture of two ordained officers

serving the people of God in word and deed and when working together it

creates a beautiful song for the people of God to sing along with. So with that

said let's have a quick think about a few things that we've read in these

verses this morning and I want to make some general comments for your

consideration. First the deacons need to be honorable men. That means that they

are genuine authentic men that are not given over to gossip or slander. We also

want to see that they're controlled meaning they don't flip out in anger or

have a problem with addiction so as to hinder them from displaying the mercy

the grace and the love of Christ to all those around them inside and outside the

church. Second they're to be a sacrificial

giver. What I mean by that is that they're not looking to the office for

dishonest gain. As we saw in Acts 6 the role requires that they're going to have

some part in the distribution of funds and supplies and we don't want someone

in that role who's lining their own pockets. We are all called all of us to

be generous people. God wants you and me to be generous with what we have which

means that the deacons will have a certain amount of responsibility with

what you give your sacrifices which are given in order to help people. We want to

be able to see what is given being used in the most God-honoring way. Third

they're to be devoted to the Word of God. Now as I said before that doesn't mean

that they have to teach the Word of God but it certainly doesn't mean that they

shouldn't teach the Word of God either. In fact one of the seven that was named

this morning if you read on in Acts he goes on to be an evangelist and we see

that he wonderfully explains to the Ethiopian eunuch who Christ is and how

one might be saved. And so we want men who are not just in love with people and

wanting to help them but in love with God and wanting to know him more and

more and when not if when the opportunities present themselves that

they're able to lead people to Jesus in a way that is right and true. We all need

to know the Word of God and we're all called to share that truth with others.

This includes the deacon however he's not expected to stand up from week to week

and deliver the Word of God. Fourth and certainly not least he is to be a good

husband and a good father who leads his children in a godly way. Now church does

this mean that all these character qualities exist in a man without sin?

Absolutely not. Otherwise we would have no deacons. In fact you wouldn't have

elders. If Paul wanted this perfectly figured out the church would have gone

2,000 years without deacons if it was required that they met all these

qualifications perfectly. No we're all in the same boat when it comes to sin.

We're all in the same situation when it comes to pouring our hearts out to God

when we fall short. When we make mistakes and we all do. The Bible isn't asking for

perfection here but is giving us the church the elders things to look for in

a man who is day by day season by season looking more and more like Christ. We're

not looking for perfection here at Grace Christian Church. That's not the point of

what Paul has given us here but it is to say when we raise up leaders in this

church we want men who are working with the grace of God to reflect his glory as

best as he can. And so we have these things given to us by God so that we can

know what to look for in certain men among us whom God is raising in our midst

to serve us in this way. Church I began our time this morning by telling you

that I essentially wanted to answer just two questions and those two questions

were simply what is a deacon and what does a deacon do. Well hopefully you've

seen as we've looked at these passages that have been read out this morning

that deacons are servants chosen by God for a specific role which are confirmed

by the people of God so that they might meet the physical needs of people and

thus support the elders in the ministry of the word. In other words deacons are

specific servants that serve in a specific way. But I also began our time

this morning by saying to you that we don't just want to ordain a man among us

no we want to glorify Christ who is doing his continual work among all of us

here in this church and in the city of Armidale by making himself known through

the preaching of the word and through all of us his servants. And so I want to

leave you with something this morning leave you to ponder this we see it in

John 13 you might already know the story but towards the end of Christ's earthly

ministry he washes his disciples feet and then he says to them I'm going to

give you a new command simply this love one another. Now we might ask the

question is that really a new commandment well if you know your Bible

you know what Jesus is doing here he's driving home an Old Testament truth a

truth that was given to the people of God from the very beginning in Leviticus.

However what does Jesus go on to say? He doesn't just say love one another he

goes on to say love one another as I have loved you because of this love

everyone everyone will know that you are my disciples. In other words as we the

people of God filled by the Spirit of God live to serve and love one another

not just in word but in deed we will be witnesses to the world around us that we

are truly disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this this is a truly

phenomenal grace a phenomenal grace that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit.

We are all sorts of people from all sorts of places with all sorts of walks

of life we come from different backgrounds different economic

circumstances different experiences different nations different cultures yet

we all have one Father in heaven we all have one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we

all have one Holy Spirit we've all been gathered as the people of God through

the life death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we've all been gathered

in him because of the grace of God alone the grace of God alone his unmerited

favor on us alone but there's more right now in this very place in this very

community right where you sit this morning there is a love that's being

poured out by God's Holy Spirit that goes deeper than any physical bond it is

truly by the grace of God that any of this has come about it is the Lord Jesus

Christ we need to hear this this morning it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has been

pleased to add us to his church so that we might shine a light in this world

brothers and sisters the deacons they take the command of that love and they

work at making it visible in the life of the church they are men who are raised

up among us who lead us in showing what tangible love to the congregation

really looks like so that we might learn that we might love and that we might

witness to the world around us our Lord Jesus makes it clear and we see it in

the gospel love is tangible the gospel isn't God telling us he loves us alone

he's shown us he's shown us in the Lord Jesus the love of God for his people is

tangible and in God's kindness he raises deacons to give us a picture of that

gospel centric sacrificial love as I've said this morning already the deacon is

vital to the fellowship of believers he complements and he supports the elders

in the ministry of prayer and the preaching of the word and church we are

so blessed that God has given us a man in this local congregation to help us in

this a specific servant to serve us in a specific way let's pray

Father God we began our time this morning by asking that you would hold

the Lord Jesus Christ high among us and so that we would look to him and we

thank you that the gospel is something a love that is so tangible a mark in

history a real-life event that we can look to and see both your wrath on our

sin and your love poured out simultaneously father we thank you for

the Lord Jesus there are no words to express there is no worse to express the

Lord Jesus father you are a good awesome God we ask that you would please use

this community that we would love one another in the way that you would want

us to love each other and that we would be witnesses to this world around us

Lord we know there are many going to hell around us please use this church

for your glory and for the sake of Jesus in his name we pray amen