We Must Have Godly Servants Series

“WE MUST HAVE GODLY SERVANTS”

1 Timothy 3:1-13

FBCF – 6/27/21

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Hymn #434 in my 1956 Baptist Hymnal – “Serve the Lord w/ Gladness”:

“Serve the Lord w/ gladness in our works & ways,

Come before His presence w/ our songs of praise;

Unto Him our Maker, we would pledge anew,

Life’s supreme devotion to service true.”

There aren’t many things that bring more joy to a Christ-follower’s life than to serve the Lord. And the way we serve the Lord is by serving others in His name & for His glory.

- We don’t serve begrudgingly, but w/ gladness & thankfulness to God for sending Jesus to save us.

- Had a deacon who was elected chairman one year b/c he said, “Well, I’ll do it if no one else will do it.” Probably the worst year we had w/ deacons in that church.

One of the foundational truths for us as Christ-followers is that we are ALL called to love God & love others, which means that we are called to serve God & serve others. We don’t just SAY we love others – we SHOW them that we love them by serving them.

- 1 John 3:18 – “Little children, let us not love w/ words & speech, but w/ actions & in truth.”

- “When we try to love God w/out loving our neighbor, we cut ourselves off from the ‘pulmonary artery’ of God…Just as our blood must flow from our heart to our lungs, so God’s love must flow out to His creation.” (Richard Foster, Prayer, p. 255)

Jesus is our Master & we are His servants. Old hymn – “O Master let me walk w/ Thee, In lowly paths of service free.” Walking w/ Jesus means we are available to serve in whatever way He needs us to serve. A servant is to be immediately available to his master when he calls. Same is true for us in our relationship to Jesus as our Lord & Master. We joyfully respond to Him & gladly serve Him by serving others in whatever way we can.

EXPLANATION – 1 Timothy 3:1-13

“The importance of this passage cannot be overstressed when it comes to the building & protection of God’s church & people.” (The Preacher’s Outline & Study Bible – Thessalonians-Philemon, p. 136)

That’s why we are studying this passage as we continue thinking about “How to Do Church.” A strong church needs to have strong leaders. Not headstrong, “My way or the highway” kind of leaders. But leaders who understand that to truly lead, they must serve. Strong leaders are humble servants.

Story of DL Moody, one of world’s most famous evangelist. Held conference in the US for a group of European pastors in late 1800’s. European custom in that day was to put shoes in hallway at night for the hall servants to shine. In US, there were no hall servants. When he walked down hall of dorm, Moody saw shoes. Didn’t want to embarrass the pastors, so he gathered up the shoes & shined them himself. The European pastors never knew who shined their shoes. But this gives us great insight into one of the reasons why DL Moody was used by God in such a powerful way. He was a man w/ a servant’s heart – the basis of his true greatness.

2 offices in a NT church: Elders & deacons

v. 1 – “overseer” – synonymous w/ elder, pastor, or bishop (KJV). This position is the position that the pastors in a local church hold. It’s a position of responsibility & oversight. The Gk word – “to inspect; to look out for, to look after.” So, the elder/overseer/pastor is tasked w/ the HUGE responsibility of looking out for the church – leading it – protecting it – caring for it as a shepherd cares for his sheep. That’s why Paul said it was a “noble task” – an important task that must not be taken lightly.

v. 8 – “deacons” – diakonos – servant – literally, “table waiter.” One of main passages that tell us how deacons are to serve & what they are supposed to do in the local church is Acts 6:1-7. These men were set apart to take care of the physical needs of the church members so that the apostles could stay focused on prayer & preaching the Gospel. And when the deacons did what they were supposed to do & the apostles did what they were supposed to do, it was like a beautiful symphony w/ everyone working together in harmony. Result? Verse 7: “And the Word of God continued to increase, & the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem…” – Lots of folks got saved & the church grew numerically & spiritually!