The First Deacons

Morning, everyone. Good to see us all. We're continuing and going back to the book of Acts.

Just to recap, if you've been in and out over the summer, we've been doing this series on apologetics,

which is just to answer some of the hard questions that we have, whether it's about science or suffering

or the purpose and meaning of life, all these kind of things. And so we're going to put a pause there.

Let me just tell you, just to reiterate again, the purpose of that series was not so that you

could be better at arguing with other people about the faith. That is not what it is, because you can

be the best at arguing and actually win them over intellectually or to the point where you just beat

them into submission with your words and you're like, okay, I've won. You still can't win their hearts.

You still can't win their souls. In fact, it's not you who does win any of their hearts and souls.

It's God. The whole point, I think, at least my heart for that series was just to encourage you

that when you're faced with some of these doubts about purpose and meaning, when you're faced with

some of these questions in your head about, well, what about science or what about suffering,

that you would be like, oh, actually, there was an answer to that. I don't remember it because I

wasn't fully paying attention, but there was an answer to that that I can now go back to Spotify

and find the answers to or go to Google or AI. Our faith is question-proof. We may not know all

the answers, but God is bigger than our questions. Just because we can't answer them doesn't mean that

God doesn't exist, was really the point of that series. We're going to go back to the book of Acts now

because whilst we have all those questions, actually, and we're equipped and we have all the intellectual

knowledge we need, if we just sit on the couch and we don't go out and we don't actually go and scatter,

it all is still meaningless. So we're going to go back in the book of Acts where we see these people

basically catch fire and then start spreading to the point where now that we're here in Hong Kong

hearing about the same message that those people took from those days. And so just to give you a recap of the

book of Acts, it's just, we only got up to chapter five. Okay, so the first chapter is the first flying man.

You see Jesus ascending and saying, I'll be back. And then he says, but I will pour out my spirit onto you

and you need to take that. You can't just stay in one place. You have to go. You have to go to the ends of the earth.

But for now, go to Jerusalem. For now, go to that Jerusalem, to the place that you know, and wait for me there.

Can you imagine just a man flying into the sky and says, I'll be back. Go to Jerusalem. Wait for me there.

You would be just as shocked as they were. And so they got back to Jerusalem, didn't know what to do.

Couldn't go back home because of what they just saw. So they're like, well, let's just go pray.

So they found an upper room and they went to pray and they prayed for 10 days straight, 10 day prayer meeting.

And then the Holy Spirit descends on them. And that is Acts chapter two.

Pentecost comes. They start speaking in tongues. Peter, the impulsive coward, violent Peter,

stands up filled with the spirit and gives the sermon of his life.

The kerygma, the gospel, talking about Jesus. Jesus's life, Jesus's death, and Jesus's resurrection.

And what happens? The people are filled with the spirit. They are cut to the heart. Acts chapter two, verse 37.

They are cut to the heart and they go, well, what must we do? What must we do to be saved?

And so he says, well, be baptized, repent, and you'll receive the forgiveness of sins.

And from that moment on, you will be a new community. And then Acts two, 42 to 47 is the new community

where there's a field of reverence and awe. They're devoting themselves to just fellowship,

breaking bread, communion, prayer. And then they see just, they just, they have glad and generous hearts.

The Lord adds to the number. The church grows from 120 to 3,000. Just think of a logistical nightmare

that would be. But here it is. It grows. Chapter three, they go out and they see people who are in

need. The lame beggar is healed. They heal him, but they get in trouble for healing him. So Acts chapter

four, they're dragged into court. They're dragged in front of the Sanhedrin. Why did you heal this guy?

Who are you? I said, who are we listening to? We're not scared of you. We just followed a guy who told us

he would die and come back again. And he did exactly just that. We're going to follow him.

Now we're going to respect you and you can do whatever you want to us, but you can't touch us

really because of that guy. And then the community continues to grow. And then it grows and they get

more and more generous. There's no one in need, remember? And then of course, there's the first death.

A couple who had spiritual pride, who wanted to be seen as people who were holy, who were good. And

so they saw other people giving generously. So they decided, hey, I want to give generously,

but I want to appear to be more generous than I actually was. So here I am. Because actually,

in some ways, I don't blame them. They didn't have to do any of that stuff. So they did it. They just

held a little bit back. And my question I remember was, hey, it's not about what you're giving already.

It's actually about what you're still holding back. That's the key. God doesn't care about how much

you're actually giving. He's looking at your heart and going, well, is there something that you're

still holding back from me? And sadly, they meet a very drastic end because at that point,

the integrity of the church, the purity of the church was so important. Can you imagine starting

a church at that moment on a lie? We wouldn't be here, if we're honest. So they take the hit.

And that's when we move to Acts chapter 6. We don't know the time difference between Acts chapter 5 and 6,

Acts 6 · chapter mention Acts 5 · chapter mention

but it's probably a while. And what we see then is actually the church growing even more.

And that's when some of the problems are coming. So we're going to go through that. We're only going

to be doing seven verses. It's not just going to be me talking. I'm going to invite a friend up to

talk as well. But I truly believe in these seven verses, we'll find out a little bit about church,

a little bit about us, a little bit about God, and actually a little bit about our church,

not just the gathering here. If you look at the full name of the gathering,

it is the English Gathering of Kongfuk Church, which is part of EFCC, Evangelical Free Church of China.

That's why we're called just the gathering, because our full name is very long.

But we're part of a wider church. So I want to take this chance actually to talk to you a little

bit about that today as well. But before all of that, can we have the word of God to be ministering

to us? I'm going to invite Andy to come up and speak and share from the word of God.

But I'm only joking, just reading. Can I invite you to stand for the word?

It's okay, they're all friends.

Now in these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists

arose against the Hebrews because their windows 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 the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor,

and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. And they sat 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

become obedient to the faith.

Thank you.

This is the word of God. Can we give him a round of applause? Take a seat, please. Take a seat.

Oh, that's so good. Some of those names. Some of those. Sounds like you're reading a different

kind of Italian spaghettis and pastors. So I'm only going to do seven verses. I'm just going to go

through verse by verse. You see chapter six, verse one here. Again, if you have your Bible,

please just keep it open so you can see where I am in the sermon. That's helpful. And as I've told

you many times before, I don't believe in the app. I only believe in the physical word of God. So,

and if you want one, it's at the back over there. And if you don't have one at home, then

if you take it, no one will notice. This is okay. 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. Isn't that just the purpose of the church,

that the church would grow? We've all known churches, actually, we hear about churches that

are dwindling and kind of dying and aging. But the whole purpose of the church is that it grows.

It's not always the case. And God does allow certain churches to die. I take great comfort

and great trepidation in thinking that actually all the churches in the book of Revelation,

they're not around anymore. They're just a pile of rocks. And Jesus says, if you're not doing

what you're going to do, which is to the church of Ephesus, he says, you're not loving anymore. I'm

going to cancel you out. I'm going to close you down. So Jesus isn't afraid to close churches down.

But this one is growing because the purpose of the church is to not just gather, but to scatter,

to actually bring people in, to invite friends in, to actually share the gospel with them. If you're

just here week in, week out, just doing your thing, then you've missed the point of church.

That's the whole point of what it's trying to say here. But then there's a problem.

There's a complaint. There's the Hellenists. The Hellenists are basically the Greek speaking Jews.

They probably came to Jerusalem during Pentecost to worship and filled with the Holy Spirit and

became Christians. But so these were the Jewish diaspora almost who speak Greek. I don't know.

I mean, they are equivalent, you know, Asian Americans or Australian born Chinese or British

born Chinese. And they're all called back to the homeland. And so it's that kind of group of people.

And so it's those people who were there. And of course, they are the minority.

And so you see that. And they arose against the Hebrews who were the ones who were Hebrew

speaking Jews, those who were from Jerusalem, the OGs of the group of the people. And so

there was a complaint against these, between these two groups of people because their widows

were being neglected in the daily distribution. So there were a group of people, the needy,

the widows who weren't getting the food that they needed. And then I stopped there. I go,

wait a minute. It was only in chapter four where there was no one in need.

Where everything was good. We're all sharing. I'm going to buy, sell my house and I'm going to give

you all my money. And John C is going to give me his Tesla. And it's going to be a great,

wonderful time that we get to share all these different things together. And yet two chapters

later, there's a group that don't get food. I'm careful not to kind of romanticize the churches

in the Bible because they're still filled with people. And where there are people, there is

selfishness. And so it doesn't take long. And so I'd encourage you, if you're sat here going,

oh, this, my church isn't this church. Well, this church wasn't that great either because it was

filled with people. And the church isn't really just about how great the people are. It's about how

great God is. And so you see this group of widows, Greek speaking ones. And now the problem here is

there was an economic disparity. There were the rich and the poor, which is a normal thing. It was

around when Jesus was around. The church of Philippi had a businesswoman and then had a slave girl.

Paul talks to the church in Corinth and saying, you guys are having communion, but you guys are

having caviar and you guys are having Samsung or no food at all. There's a difference. This isn't how

it's supposed to be. We're supposed to love one another together. And yet you see here,

there is a problem. And of course, that is just simply just difference.

We're just surrounded by people who are different to us. The root of it, of course, is simply

selfishness. Just on a side note there, the church is supposed to look after those who are in need.

Even in the Old Testament, the prophets would say, would actually gauge a group of people's

relationship to God by how much they are caring for the poor. Okay? That's how they would gauge.

And so the church has to have a role to play where we're actually serving those who are in need.

Now, here's the first critical point that comes out for me as I sit around looking at all of us here,

English speaking Chinese in Anmuti in Hong Kong. Are there people in need here? Yes, there are.

Are we helping them as much as we can?

I wish we were.

But that's where I also want to talk about the wider church. That there are things that are going on that we should hear about.

There are things that you and I could be doing. More things that we could be doing.

The ministry

of the Word fuels the ministry of tables.

When we minister to people through the Word,

it also has to bless their lives as well.

Francis Chan says this,

If we only preach the gospel without caring for the poor,

we fail.

If we only care for the poor without preaching the gospel,

we fail.

Jesus did both.

And so

must we.

But maybe just to kind of jump

to their defense, this church, and give them the benefit of the doubt,

there was another problem, just language.

You know, these guys speak Greek.

And these guys speak Hebrew.

And so

somewhere along the line, it might not have been

overt racism and discrimination.

It was simply just, well,

hey, I'm making an announcement.

I'm shouting out loud.

Hey, there's going to be food over here in Hebrew.

And the ones who are speaking Greek just don't hear it.

They don't understand it.

So they don't know what's happening.

We're part of a wider church.

And I sit in some meetings with my

Cantonese and Mandarin counterparts.

And sometimes in those meetings, they're in Chinese.

And I'll be honest, sometimes it just flies over my head.

I don't know what they're saying.

My Chinese is limited to 打拳天 Chinese.

Like, you know,

雨打火, 宿地名, 宿辰, those are fine.

But you start talking in Christianese, Chinese lingo,

or just watching the news, it's over my head.

So I can imagine maybe there's certain situations here

where there is food being distributed and announced,

and the Greek-speaking ones just don't hear,

or they just don't understand it.

So that might actually be a problem.

Or there might just even be a cultural problem as well,

because they're just different.

I keep saying this.

The irony of me here being a Chinese guy

standing in Hong Kong,

speaking to a group of people in English,

we're just, we're in a really interesting space.

And there's language and cultural divides

and generational divides.

There are so many different divides.

There are so many reasons

why we shouldn't be part of the same church together.

And yet here it is.

My problem is,

I'm going to try and defend all of those things,

but honestly, there are sometimes also no excuses,

because we, even in this very niche community,

we still like to hang out with people just like ourselves.

Correct?

If we say that actually you're the,

you're basically an average of the five people

you spend the most time with.

Have a think now,

who the five people are.

In this church,

the people that, okay,

we're not supposed to have favorites,

but let's say if I just asked you,

who are your favorite people in church?

Just three.

Like, just don't even,

don't even,

you don't need to share it.

The first few minds are popping up right now in your head.

And then I asked you the second question,

which is,

how similar are they to you?

The answer is,

probably quite similar.

If we're being very honest.

Why?

Because we naturally go towards the people who understand us.

We naturally go towards the people who empathize with us,

who we can talk and have conversation with.

So even in a group like this,

where we are already niche,

there are still people that we like to hang out with more.

So I don't think it's not as big a surprise that we're here right now.

The problem here is this.

Why aren't you hanging out with any people who are different to you?

You really should.

I learned so much from hanging out with people who are different to me,

who are much older than I,

who I don't agree with,

with everything.

And yet,

there's something that I can learn from them.

So if you're just averaging,

if you look at the average five people that you hang out with,

and they are all quite similar to you,

my encouragement to you is find someone else.

Find someone's different.

Find someone who doesn't speak the same language as you do.

And you learn something.

I was really inspired by a conversation I had last Sunday with Ebenezer.

Because I was like,

he's like,

the Western world and the,

just in the Eastern world,

the way they,

the way they think,

not even just communicate,

the way they think,

the values that they have,

that sometimes those values they're not even aware of,

is just so different.

I wish people would see that.

We need to spend time with those who are not the same as us.

I also think we are a special group.

I think we're a special group because,

no one,

like with us Chinese,

especially,

those who are third culture kids,

who can be a bit of both,

we have a fantastic opportunity.

And I think the Hellenistic Jews would have had the same.

So they were Jews,

but they've gone to a foreign land.

They can speak Greek.

They can probably speak a little bit of Hebrew.

That's the perfect group of people to be the bridge.

That's the perfect group of people who can understand both sides.

I think we,

I think there are people sat here in this room,

who have the ability,

and the capacity,

and the calling to actually stand in the middle.

Maybe not even just between two groups of people.

Maybe even between three.

Because you can speak all three different languages.

The Lord calls us to be people who stand in the gap.

And so maybe as you evaluate who your five people are,

maybe just see,

okay,

what kind of person are you?

What ingredients are you made of?

And maybe there's something that the Lord needs you to do to be in the gap there.

I think there is a good opportunity.

So that's the problem.

Verse two,

and the 12 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.

I love this.

I always say,

when in doubt,

gather,

just get together.

Or when in conflict,

communicate.

Okay,

just let's talk this through.

Not passive aggressively.

Let's talk this through clearly.

And so they get everyone involved.

They get those who are in charge of distributing the food.

They get all the disciples involved and say,

hey,

okay,

there's a problem.

These ladies aren't getting any food.

We need to figure out how to do it.

But here's the problem.

We're too busy standing up here,

just preaching the word of God.

We need help,

is what they're saying.

This is what they're not saying.

That the person preaching is more important than the person serving tables.

That is not what they are saying.

They are saying,

this is what we're supposed to do.

We need someone to help us do this.

That is just as important.

You are just as important as the person stood here preaching.

You need to know that because often we confuse that and we think the church and everything should go through one person.

That's not the case.

He's saying,

preaching of the word of God is the most important,

but the person doing it isn't more important than the person serving tables.

Are you able to grasp that difference with me?

It's very important.

Because if you think I'm more important than you,

you won't be doing what God's asking you to do.

The mission statement,

second one is,

what are your gifts?

What are you called to do?

You must be doing something.

You're not here just to sit.

But,

preaching the word of God is very important

because one of the other problems that we have in churches,

often we run programs,

we do lots of things,

we get very busy and we miss the gospel altogether.

And people can walk through our churches

and go through our programs and our weeks

and do all the fun things that we do,

which are all great things,

but they don't encounter the gospel.

They're not grasped by the gospel.

So,

preaching the word is the most important.

And the other thing is,

the church is obligated to care for people,

to scatter,

to spread the good news,

and to also care for the needs of people.

Because otherwise,

they could have said,

wait,

we're hearing complaints

that some ladies aren't getting food.

Well,

actually,

the church,

we're not supposed to just,

we're not a restaurant,

so they can go find their own food.

That's not,

they didn't say that.

They said,

there's people in need.

We need to look after them.

So,

my question for us is,

do we go out of our way

to spend time with people who we don't know,

who aren't the same as us,

and do we go out of our way

to help those who are in need?

And sometimes,

that looks deeply uncomfortable.

That looks like hanging out with people

who are in deep need,

and you,

you could have gone to watch a movie,

but you didn't.

You decided to stay and hang out with them

until late in the evening.

Just to be a friend.

Just to keep them company.

That's what being the church is.

Now,

this goes into the topic of the church here.

We've been here.

Agnes,

how long have we been in this place for?

Two years?

We've been in this place for two years,

and of course,

we keep knocking out down different walls

just to make a little bit more space

and installing fans

so you don't all faint during the summer.

But I look at this,

and I have to say,

I have a little bit of comfort.

Why?

Because I know that our church is growing,

and I know that we have lots of problems.

I know there are people here who come in

who don't even get spoken to at all.

You don't even get anyone smiling at you,

and then you walk out.

And that breaks my heart,

because I'm like,

that's not what it's supposed to be.

But I also get there's just a lot of people here.

I do get that.

And we're trying to find ways to,

well,

clearly,

we're not above breaking walls,

and we're not here to,

we're looking,

and I'm going to invite someone else

and blame it all on him in a minute

and have him explain to us

why we're still here.

But it's a problem for me

because I know there are people here

who you've been coming

and you want to be in a life group,

and you're like,

I just don't know how,

seems a little bit cliquey,

I don't even know how to get into it.

And I'm like,

that's not the heart.

I can assure you,

that's not the heart.

We are not just a church

for young working professionals

who are cool.

Otherwise,

Nathan wouldn't be here.

We welcome all.

But I don't know how to do it sometimes,

because there's just too many people.

You know,

you walk in,

and I see you,

you're a new face.

And I think I was telling Shigala

the other day,

I have this weird ability

where when I'm on a Sunday,

I actually know

who's come to church

and who hasn't.

Often because I have the opportunity

to stare at you all

for 40 minutes

and see who's sleeping

and who's not.

But somehow,

I just kind of seem to know

because I see in your face.

And sometimes I see you

and I'm like,

oh, I see you.

But by the time service finishes,

you've gone

because it's too overwhelming.

So you have to go

and there's no one you speak to.

And I'm like,

I wish I could speak to you.

And I know that for some reason,

the Chinese culture

we have seemed to have

more introverts than extroverts.

So all of this is just terrifying,

which is why we came up

with the WhatsApp QR code.

It's like,

okay,

if it's too hard for you

to say hello here,

that's okay.

Please WhatsApp us

and we'll talk,

we'll have an introverted conversation.

But eventually,

we have to meet each other

face to face

because we're the gathering.

You don't come to the gathering

and you don't gather.

That's,

go find another church.

But I feel how hard it is.

I get it.

I'm going to point out Caleb

because it's just to embarrass him.

Caleb came,

he landed in Hong Kong

a week and a half ago

and last week he came to church

for the very first time

and didn't know anyone.

Now,

all of you have been there

at some point.

You all came for the first time

at some point.

Apart from Hank.

Hank built this whole place

and he's been around

for a hundred years.

But,

you feel that.

And Caleb,

after the service,

I know I'm embarrassing you here,

I'm not really sorry.

And he just came right up

and he said,

hey,

it's my first time.

I was like,

oh,

thank goodness for you

that you would come

and speak to me

because if you had just drifted off,

I wouldn't be able

to get to know you.

I wouldn't find out

that actually he's

going to be teaching

in my kids' school

that actually he went

to the same church

as Gabe in Toronto

and I'm like,

oh,

that is so cool.

Please come back.

Please have lunch.

And we got to know each other

and you got to know

different people.

But I'll tell you,

I do not underestimate

how hard it is

for someone to walk

into a room like this

and say hello

to someone you don't know.

Can we make that the norm?

Can we try to?

Can we try and say,

hey,

how are you?

What's your name?

You look different to me.

You sound different to me.

I'd like to get to know you

because you can see

it is so hard.

It is so hard to do that.

Anyway,

there's a problem.

They can't be the ones

that do it.

So verse three,

they say this,

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.

Can you point,

can you bring out

seven people

who are actually

already serving,

who have a good reputation,

so they're not shady at all.

They are known people.

Can you have them come out

so that they can help

distribute the food,

help to serve the food?

And that is the beginning

of the word deacon.

Now,

our church,

we have a board of deacons

who are here to serve.

They may not be the ones

ministering and preaching

the word of God

week in,

week out,

but my goodness,

they spend a lot of time

serving in many different ways.

Now,

this isn't the official start.

It wasn't saying,

Stephen,

from this moment forth,

you shall be called

Deacon Stephen.

It wasn't that.

In fact,

the term was just used

to describe someone

who is serving.

I think the actual

deacon name title

came later.

This was just Stephen

and a group of other guys

who were of good repute

and were filled

with the Holy Spirit

who were chosen

to come and actually

help out.

And who did they pick?

They picked seven guys

who had Greek names.

Why?

Because that was the need.

Greek-speaking widows

didn't get food.

Let's get the guys

that are in

so who can understand

the announcements

and who can speak to them

and so they can know

what their needs are

and that they can then

serve these widows.

Isn't that just good to hear?

And it's interesting.

What they didn't say

was can we pick

seven people

who are quick thinkers,

are fast on their feet

and good with their hands

and hold plates really well.

It wasn't a competence test.

It was a character test.

In Young Life,

when we look for people

and hire for people,

we often go with the four Cs.

Do you remember

what the four Cs are, Gabs?

No?

First, no.

That's why he's not working

with Young Life anymore.

Do you remember, JJ?

Huh?

No, the four Cs

of a potential candidate.

This is a great show

for Young Life staff,

by the way.

Christian.

Christian.

No!

I mean, yes.

I mean, yes.

That is a prerequisite.

Calling.

Thank you.

It's slowly coming back.

Calling is the first one.

I've often said,

don't go into ministry

because you're going in

for the money

because you've just made

the terrible decision

in your life.

That is not why you do it.

You go there

because God has called you to.

That is, that's it.

Because it's way harder

than you ever thought

it would be.

So you only,

because calling is the thing

that you're going to hold on to,

is the pillow

that you're going to hold on to

when you're crying at night time.

Calling.

Aaron, can you help me out here?

Competency.

So that is one of them.

We're not going to pick someone

who is going to be terrible

at the job

because that doesn't serve them

and it doesn't serve the people

they're trying to serve.

So calling and competency.

Another one is chemistry.

People just want to be around you.

They need to be,

they need to like you.

If you're a complete jerk,

we're not going to hire you

if we're honest

because that just doesn't work.

And the final one

is character.

Yeah, character.

Because you need to be just,

and I often said this,

it's not about gifting.

It's not about being so good

at doing something

so you can do it.

Here's the problem

with church though.

We have needs.

We have music team needs.

We're stuck with Paul

leading us on worship every week.

We need someone

who can play the guitar properly.

You can play the guitar properly.

You're barely Christian.

Why don't you do it?

That's not what we need to do.

We look at the person's heart.

We look at the person's character

and go,

is that person a man

of good repute

filled with the spirit?

But there is such a temptation

just to put people

who are good at things

into places

just to do things.

And the cheesy quote goes,

we put people

into places

where their gifting takes them

but their character

cannot keep them.

And then that's destructive.

And then we see things

falling apart

and we wonder why.

For deacons,

the apostle Paul later

in 1 Timothy 3

has a list,

has a CV,

has a job description.

So later when I invite Tony up,

you can just evaluate him

and judge him

on that list,

1 Timothy 3.

The problem is

we often in the church,

we look for people

who are smart,

accomplished,

gifted,

and we put them

into positions of leadership

but we don't check

1 Timothy 3

and then we wonder

why our churches

are falling apart.

We have to have people

who are godly,

men and women

who are serving.

There's no point

having an amazing musician

like Paul

but if he doesn't even come,

he only comes to church

25% of the time

then I'm not going to have him

just play that one week

because that's not

what we're looking for.

It doesn't matter

if you have someone

who's really good at speaking

and they're not willing

to stack chairs

after service,

that's no good either.

Never trust anyone

who's not willing

to stack chairs.

I am so,

so serious.

We grew up in a church

where there was no one,

the pastor is basically

the pastor,

the janitor,

the administrator,

the treasurer,

everything.

And every Sunday morning

he'd do the chairs

and clean up afterwards

and then we come to Hong Kong

where we have a team

that we've hired

to do those things

or at least on the other side.

If you've not been

to the other side,

it's a wonderful church.

We're in a gold building

over there

with tons of people

who are hired

to kind of look after us

and they're great people

but the danger is

we just get them

to do everything

and all the responsibility

goes away from us.

So when we started

this place,

they were like,

do we need to send

side staff to come over

to help you set up

the chairs?

I said,

absolutely not.

Don't deprive us

of the gift of service.

Don't deprive us

of the chance

to be able to serve

other people.

So worship starts

at 10 a.m.

when the life groups

take turns

and I'm like,

I watch everyone

do the chairs

and for some reason

it's the same every week

but it looks equally

confusing every week.

But I'm like,

that's worship.

That's worship.

Actually,

Mel's one of my favorites

because she's really

serious about it

and she's like

putting the chairs

in the right places

and I'm like,

that's so good

seeing someone worship

through setting up chairs.

Please don't deprive us

of that gift.

And then

verse 4,

chapter 6,

verse 4,

he says this,

but we will devote

ourselves to prayer

and to the ministry

of the word.

If I look

at a modern day

pastor's schedule

and I did a survey

on where they spend

most of their time,

it'll be with deep,

great sadness

that we'll say

not much of it

is to do

with ministering

the word.

The pressure

on a modern day

pastor is huge.

If you look at

the book of Ephesians

and the fivefold offices

and all the different

roles that are played

in the church,

there's an apostle,

there's a prophet,

there's an administrator,

there's all these

other things

and yet in the church

we only hire pastors.

And so the pastor

is asked to be

your math tutor

for your kid

and also asked

to be your marriage

counselor because you guys

are going through

a tough thing

and is asked to be

the one who's going

to help you

take you to the doctors

as well.

And suddenly

the pastors

are doing so many

other things

and we wonder

why they're burning out.

And then we wonder

why the flock

is not healthy

because the pastor

is not doing

what he's supposed

to do

or she's supposed

to do.

What it's supposed

to be

is there are people

who are doing

different things.

So let me just

side note here

don't put all your

expectations on our pastors.

Don't put your

expectations on me.

I can guarantee you

I will disappoint you

at some point.

But also

if you're sat there

going man

James is really

hopeless at that

but wait

that's my gifting.

Then please don't

just sit there

and go

he sucks

at that.

Come and help.

My job

my commitment

to you

is to be devoted

to the ministry

of the word

and to praying

for all of you

and to caring

for you.

All the other things

I'm going to need

your help in.

Again mission statement

two.

It's also

1 Corinthians 12.

Everyone has

a different part

to play.

If you're not

playing the part

you're missing out.

And you might say

oh but I'm so busy

I'm too tired.

Do you know

my work is just

and I'll say this

I know it's hard

but you know

if you don't do it

I know it's hard

and I get

Hong Kong schedules

especially

that's tricky.

That's tricky.

But if you don't do it

actually you deprive

yourself of the one

place where you can

be filled with life.

Because it is better

to give than to receive.

Try.

Do whatever it is

that you can do.

I was talking to Julian

about this and

Julian currently is

climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

I didn't know

there was no

height restriction

so you can climb it.

So he's climbing it

right now

and actually

bless him

I love him so much.

One thing that he's doing

he's in the field of law

just like Nathan here is

in Hong Kong

and super busy

and he's like

James I so want

to do this

and do this reading plan

and go and serve here

and do this and that

but I'm coming home

at 10

and I'm doing emails

until 1.

I just

I want to

but I can't

and I say

there is so much grace.

If you have little

just do little.

If you have more

do more.

The key is

don't hold back

from him

and in giving

you will receive.

That's how you get fed

and that's how you get filled

and it's funny

as soon as they assigned

other people to do it

verse 5

the whole gathering

is pleased

and so everyone's happy

because everyone's

doing their role

instead of

10% of the people

doing 90%

of the work

and 90%

of people

being unhappy

now we're starting

to distribute

the work

in the right way

and everyone's happy

isn't that amazing?

Can't wait

to the day

where we can say

and the whole

and it pleased

the whole gathering

because everyone's

doing what they're

supposed to do.

That's the dream.

That's the vision

and so they bring

these guys out

I'm not going

to read their names

these

then they set

and they laid

hands on them

they laid hands on them

this wasn't

hey can you help

there's a bunch

of hungry people

can you help

go now

feed them

no it's

hey this may look

like feeding people

physical food

but this is so much

more than that

so they commission

them and lay

their hands on them

and give the favor

of God

and the power

of God

onto them

because even you

feeding those widows

even you stacking

these chairs

is an act of worship

and is filled

with the spirit

moving

that's it

there is no task

that is too small

for God to use

there are not only

three jobs

in the whole of the church

whether it's preaching

or leading worship

and welcome team

there are way more things

that we can do

to serve

and they are all

supernatural

they are all

spiritual

and then what

the word of God

it continued to increase

and the number of disciples

multiplied

not that Stephen

then became

not that Stephen

then hit a million followers

not that then the hype

around him

got bigger and bigger

or the disciples

got bigger and bigger

it's funny

you look at the book of Acts

those 12

their mentions

get less and less

because it's not about them

it's about the spirit

of God

moving

and the word of God

spreading

and so we see that now

anyway

that's me talking

for now

I want to invite you

invite Tony up

to interview him

a little bit

because Tony

is one of our deacons

here in the church

and so can we give

a round of applause

to Tony

to come up

I think Nathan's

going to grab another one

for us

so this is Tony

Tony how long

have you been a deacon

at this church for

I started when I was 32

so I think this is

coming up to be

my 30th

30 years

of being a deacon

can you raise your hand

if you are

under 30 years old

okay

he's been

he's been being a deacon

more than many of you

have been alive

that's how faithful

this man have been

and it's not just him

I didn't know Agnes

was going to be here

this Sunday

because I would have

dragged her up

and of course

Hank over there

has been a deacon

how long have you been

a deacon for Hank?

15 years

so you're like a youth

compared to Tony

so my jokes of our age

should go to this guy

over here

the deacon I wanted

to bring up

was actually Adrian

wife of Rocky

and she of course

is on the more

youthful side

compared to

the three musketeers

that I just mentioned

just to show you

that there's

but these are the

four deacons

that we have here

in the English gathering

they are part of

a wider church

deacons board

that I want to

just talk a little bit

about

but maybe the first

question for you

is

what made you say

yes to being a deacon

the first time

and why do you

keep saying yes

to being a deacon

for the 32nd year?

before I forgot

let me just

debunk a myth

that often

was associated

with deacon

deacons don't get paid

so that was

that was the

somehow the question

that always pops

in people's mind

and say hey

you know

are you getting paid

so that's not

the motivation

to say yes

well

if that doesn't

convince you

I don't know

why will

we'll take

applications

for deacons

just at the

right over there

you do not get paid

will you reiterate

in fact

in the early stages

we're the ones

that actually

have to

to give more

just when

we're running

out of cash

why did I say yes

I think it was

just a

very short history

I

came to

Kongfok

in

80

at

year of 84

when this started

and then I left

for

living in the

US

in 89

I think

yeah

and then I came

back in 92

came back in 92

that was when

I was 32

and

Kongfok

has

split up

I think that was

the right word

into three churches

and

so the

amazing works

of God

was in play

and we

we now have

Kongfok

Tongfok

in Tonghawan

and then

Jinfok

in Jinshaji

so the three

suddenly

got

inspired people

I think there was

a little bit of

argument in the

background

so

the church

got split

into three

all my friends

and people

that are like

me

actually

early 30s

by the way

so if you're sat

here in your

early 30s

that was

Tony

it looks like

it was a long

time ago

but I just

want to relate

to you

this is you

this could be

you

so I left

for three years

and then I

came back

with the

family

and all my

friends were

in Tongfok

so the

natural thing

to do

was to join

my friends

in Tongfok

right

and then somehow

I had a

lunch with

another

sister in

Christ

and she

said

look

and I was

sharing

I was like

you know

I didn't know

what happened

suddenly all my

friends got

split into

three churches

and I didn't

know what to

do and I

need to go

maybe pick

one out of

the three

and somehow

through the

conversations

he said

well so

which church

do you think

needed you

most

and not

in a

kind of

condescending

way but

it was just

saying okay

you pick a

church not

because you're

comfortable with

people or

because you

know it's

close to you

and all of

that

you may want

to pick a

church that

can benefit

from your

presence and

that you'll be

able to

contribute and

all of that

so that was

the reason why

I stayed

and they

needed a lot

of people to

help because

our lead

pastor went

to Tongfolk

Peter

most of the

other deacons

the senior

ones also

you know

got kind

of split

so there

was a big

void in

terms of

leadership and

I said yes

and say okay

although if I

have no idea

I was the

youngest guy

I have no

idea what

to do but

I'm happy

and willing

to try

yeah wow

and I for

one I'm super

glad that you

said yes

that time

and the church

you've seen

you've overseen

the church in

so many

different ways

and of course

so yeah

I did my

fair share

of stacking

chairs

you did your

fair share

of stacking

chairs

I love to

cook for my

family so I

think I had

that attribute

of serving

food

yeah so

that's what

qualifies you

to be

yeah and

then

when you

are part

of a

family

you know

church is a

family

and you see

all the ups

and downs

of how family

grew and how

they argue

with each

other and

all of that

that's how

I felt

I was

very very

much

close to

God and

although I

still don't

know what

he wanted me

to do

on a daily

basis

but I

felt like

I'm close

to him

and I

felt that

through church

I'm able

to do at

least part

of the plan

and the

purpose that

he's given

me

and this is

not just

for the

English side

by the way

again I'll

say this

is just

there's a

much bigger

side behind

us which

is the

Chinese

church

and often

I get

asked by

my friends

at international

church

why are you

still at

a Chinese

church

they're

just

archaic

and red

tape

and conservative

and old

fashioned

and all

these things

and I'll

say something

very simple

I'll say

but that's

just where

my family

is

I don't

think

Christina

and I

would have

survived

in Hong Kong

without Agnes

Tony and

Hank

that's it

there's not

really much

else

and actually

it looks

bad on the

outside

sometimes

when you

look at

people

and you're

like oh

just old

fashioned

Chinese

churches

these are

just

these people

are the

most selfless

faithful

people

that I've

met

and so

they are

here to

serve

and so

if anyone

ever thinks

oh is it

an evil

empire over

that no

it is not

an evil

empire

sometimes

it can

look scary

I'll tell

you now

Hank

does look

scary

he looks

hard on

the outside

but he

is so

soft

so soft

on the

inside

we need

to know

that

and I

wanted

the chance

to introduce

you

and actually

maybe we

only have

two or

three more

minutes

so maybe

the big

question I

have for

you is

what do

you wish

people here

would know

about the

wider

church

what do I

wish

I

want to

I want to

just

spend a

little time

on the

evolution

of church

so when

we started

a little

time

yes

in a

minute

so we

started out

about 40

years ago

and it

was as

big as

gathering

at the

time

and then

it grew

and grew

and grew

we now

have

three different

congregations

English

Mandarin

and Cantonese

Cantonese

being the

longest one

and obviously

the most

people

around

1500

I guess

so we

would do

that

1500

2000

if you

count all

the online

attendees

for church

so there's

a

evolution

of that

I want

this group

to

at least

appreciate

how God

puts in

all the

blessings

and the

support

where we

grew from

a church

of this

size

into

a church

of the

size

we are

and

I

had the

privilege

of

getting

the

English

ministry

started

seven

years

ago

so this

is like

2.0

gathering

it's

2.0

English

ministry

and so

I wish

that

the history

and all

the blessings

that God

has put

into the

Gong Fu

family

would

continue

continue to

flourish

in different

ways that

that's beyond

our imagination

and understanding

I wish

you all

knew

and

how all

the ups

and downs

I always say

to new

pastors and say

hey that's not

the worst

I have seen

worst

honestly

every time I

talk to Tony

it's kind of

like a therapy

session

and he's like

it could be

worse

it has been

worse

it has been

much worse

so when

God is

putting us

through these

trials and

tribulations

there is a

reason

right

and the

Bible says

that as

well

but it

is never

I mean

you would

feel that

he had

never

abandoned

us

and so

I think

gathering

is going

to go

through

some

hard times

you know

a very

jammed

place

and

Angus

is always

working on

air conditioning

and all of

that

and people

complain about

our screen

so

maybe there's a

reason why

God

want us to be

in the

cramped

area

so when we

do get a

bigger area

or like you

said

you know

there's a way

to evolve

and maybe

that's the

reason why

is there

so I wish

you all

can appreciate

that

and

help out

as James

has said

thank you

Tony

thank you

for all

that you

do

can we

give him

a round

of applause

maybe this

is a good

time to have

some practical

sharings

we are still

looking for a

place

Hank is

working

Tony's been

here for

so so long

Agnes

incredible

woman

I'm fairly

certain that

she reads

the Bible

more than

I do

partly because

she signed

up to a