Sermon: Deacons
Series: The Church
Slide Introduction
Welcome everyone! I’m so glad to be with all of you this morning. I hope that this week was good for you.
Today, we’re kicking off a brand new message series entitled, “The Church.”
What we’re going to be doing over the next couple of weeks is looking at the different roles we find within the church. We’re going to spend sometime looking at the roles of leaders within the church-pastors, elders, and deacons.
Then we’re going to spend a week talking about our role as the body of Christ.
You might be wondering why we’re doing this. Well, we’re doing it for a couple of reasons (1) as a church, we have an election every year for elders and deacons, and other church offices.
So, what happens if you’re a member of Portage Christian Church, if you’re not a member we would love to extend that opportunity, as member you get to nominate people for these offices and then in November we vote on whether or not these people should come aboard as leaders or not.
So this brings me to the second (2) reason why we are doing this because no matter where you find yourself whether it’s in this church or another church you should really have a good understanding as to what the Bible says about church leadership and about those that are leading His church.
I believe that it’s incredibly important that each of us should have a good understanding on what a deacon is and what an elders is.
Now we all have our opinions on what they maybe but what exactly does Scripture say…
Because this what we see in a lot of churches today…
Well, if so and so is showing up xxx amount of times to church, or if so and so is attending all these different function, and their on this committee and this committee…
They’re the right candidate for church leadership. And while those things are important and those things do matter… that doesn’t always translate to good leadership.
So this morning we’re going to look at the role of a deacon.
And I would like to start our morning off by sharing this illustration with you…
In 1964 [John] Lester Hemingway (the little brother Ernest Hemingway) made a decision. He was tired of following the rules of human governments and so he decided create his own country. He built an 8 by 30 foot floating bamboo platform 7 miles off the coast of Jamaica and anchored it to the ocean floor with a Ford engine block.
Hemingway bragged to reporters: "I can stand on the platform, walk around on it and salute the flag…all of which I do periodically. There are no taxes here, because taxes are for people not smart enough to start their own country.”
But Hemingway wasn’t smart enough to keep his country together. Part of his country was destroyed by fishermen in search of scrap; the rest sank in a storm.
Now there are a few lessons we can take away from this story but there is just one that kind of sticks out to me. And that’s if you want things done your way…start your own country or build your own Kingdom.
And we see in the New Testament that’s what God did…
With the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, God established a New Kingdom. And out of that New Kingdom He established the church.
Slide And he gave the church a mission…“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Slide And look at this promise from Jesus: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
That right there is the mission of the local church. That is what God has called us to do. And when God set up the local church, He set it up to run a certain way.
Now what does the church need in order to carry out its mission and to function…?
It needs Pastors
It needs Elders
It needs Deacons
It needs a Body of believers (or a congregation) …that comes together to carry out the church’s mission.
And each of these groups have a different responsibility within the church…
Slide 1. The role of the Pastor is to preach and teach
They usually handle the day to day operations and the affairs of the church. They administer, they counsel, they guide, they feed and they help shepherd the congregation.
Slide So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… Ephesians 4:11-12 (NIV)
Slide 2. The role of an Elder is to pastor and shepherd the flock
Slide To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them
Slide —not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:1-3(NIV)
Slide 3. The role of a Deacon can be a little unclear
And so many churches struggle with what to do with deacon. And part of the reason for this is that the Bible is a little unclear about what deacons do.
You see, the word Deacon in Greek (diakonos) means “one who serves,” or “servant”
And many times you can find this word throughout Scripture, because it’s a common description for a servant…
Slide For example: When Jesus turned the water into wine, His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:5 (NIV)
In Romans Paul is talking about governing authorities and look at the words he uses….
Slide For the one in authority is God’s [what] servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s [what] servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4 (NIV)
Then we see in Scripture where God uses this same word to describe our responsibility as believers…
Slide Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:26(NIV)
Slide Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your [what] servant… Matthew 20:26(NIV)
Slide The greatest among you will be your [what] servant. Matthew 23:11(NIV)
So we see this word widely used throughout the New Testament to simply talk about someone being a servant or serving someone.
But then, there’s this passage in the book of Acts where a group of men perform a specific task within the church and some scholars point to this example in Acts 6 as the example of the first church deacons.
Slide 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.
Slide 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.”
Slide “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be [what] full of the Spirit and wisdom.”
Slide “We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
Slide This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, and some other men…
Slide 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. Acts 6:1-7 (NIV)
So the apostles got together and said, “Hey, you know it’s not that we mind waiting on tables and stuff, but it's really cutting into our study and teaching time.”
And it's not that these guys were above doing these things but they understood what their role was. And this other stuff was taking away from their main purpose.
So I want you to notice something here. They got 7 men. And I want you to notice what they didn’t do. Remember they didn’t have the New Testament right in front of them telling them how to do this.
But notice they didn’t pick men that faithfully attended the temple. Notice they didn’t pick guys that were like 3rd generation members. Because so and so dad help build the temple he was automatically picked. They didn’t do that.
For them they went below the surface. They picked men that were full of faith, men that were fully dedicated, men full of wisdom and were full of the Spirit. Don’t miss this…
Slide Look at Verse 5: “…They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…” Acts 6:5 (NIV)
And sometime you might find yourself asking, “How do I know if someone has the Holy Spirit working in their life. How do I know if they’re the real deal?”
Slide Well the Apostle Paul gives us a clue: “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23(NLT)
These things should be evident in the life of a Christian. Because when you see the fruit of the Spirit in someone’s life it means that the Holy Spirit is controlling their life.
And you should see these things in the life of a leader. You should be able to see: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
I would argue you should see this in the life of any leader or officer with in the church
When you look at the life of a leader you should be able to say, “That’s the guy that I want to be like.” Just like any Christian, a leader’s life should be led by the Holy Spirit.
So right here in this section of Scripture Luke gives us the first example of deacons in the New Testament that were Spirit filled men that took care of the physical needs of the church.
And then when you flip over to 1 Timothy 3, you’ll see that Paul has given us a list of qualification for men who desire to be deacons:
Slide 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.
Slide They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, the women…
[now who’s Paul talking about here? it’s either the wives of deacons…or maybe Paul is talking about other prominent female leaders in the church…but notice that he says they are to be as responsible and blameless as the prominent men…watch this]
Slide are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in [what] everything.
[Now we focus a lot on the men, the elders and the deacons, but do we ever look at the wives and hold them to a higher standard like the men? Because you can have the best of best leader but you can have a spouse that just brings them down as a follower of Jesus. It’s always important to look at the people behind the man-the wife and the children…Why?]
Slide A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well [look at what happen when we are faithful and serving well…we’ll] gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 3:8-13 (NIV)
Now, I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time digging into this passage. But there are a couple of things that I would like to point out.
And you’ll see more of this next week, but the qualifications for a deacon closely resembles those of an elder. And I don’t think that’s a mistake on Paul’s part.
Even though there titles may be different and the responsibilities maybe different the way they live their life isn’t. When someone becomes a deacon or an elder they’re already living these character qualities out.
This is who they are. This is what makes them standout. You don’t just give a title to someone and say, “Here you go, start living out these things.” That’s not how it goes. They’re already doing these things.
And while deacons don’t have the teaching requirements that an elder does. A deacon’s life should be lived in such a way that people could pattern their life after theirs.
Deacons are still called to the same higher standard that elders and pastors are. And you may disagree with that statement but God doesn’t. God holds his leaders to a higher standard than anyone else and deacons are no different.
Slide Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Hebrews 13:17(NLT)
And that’s one of the scariest verses to me to read. Being accountable to God for the way you lead his church.
But here’s the deal, for many churches, they don’t really know how to use the office of deacon.
For some, they us it as a training grounds. Getting men ready for eldership (while that’s not always a bad idea…that’s not what the office is for).
Others, it’s just something they’ve always had. The church bylaws require it so we do it and give these guys title and never expect anything from them. And the church never reaches its full potential.
So if there’s so much confusion then why do we have deacons?
Slide 1. We Have Deacons Because the Early Church Had Deacons
You can’t go wrong when you try to do things like the early church. So if they had deacons, we have deacons.
Slide 2. We Have Deacons Because They Are Servants of the Church
Slide Look at what Paul says, “They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.” 1 Timothy 3:10 (NIV)
And that’s what we see with these guys in Act 6. The first deacons of the church were selected specifically to serve people in the church. These seven men stepped up and took responsibility of making sure the widows got food.
And that’s what deacons do they serve, they help take care of the physical needs of the church. They’re always willing to come along side of the elders and help serve however they can.
Slide 3. We Have Deacons Because They’re the Ultimate Example of Servanthood
We talked about this earlier that sometimes people view being a Deacon as a stepping stone to becoming an Elder. And while that can be true. But it can also be a stepping stone for something bigger in the kingdom.
Slide these men that were selected in Acts 6 were chosen because they were “…known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Acts 6:3 (NIV)
These guys were the cream of the crop. They were the best of the best. I mean think about it, out of all the people in this church these seven men were chosen. And we are talking about a church of 5,000 people.
And it appears that these men did their job so well that it contributed to the spreading of the gospel message.
Slide 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. Acts 6:7 (NIV)
Listen that Gospel message isn’t spreading if those 7 deacons weren’t doing their job. But since they were willing to be obedient and serve in whatever capacity was needed, the gospel was able to spread.
And that is what a deacons does, they are willing to put their ego aside, they are willing to put their pride aside and humble themselves before God and say, “Use me however you see fit.”
Because they realize it's all about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
And we see this type of attitude in a couple of the original deacons…
One of those deacons was Stephen.
And Stephen was man that was passionate about Jesus. His very first sermon was also his last. His sermon was passionate and powerful that it drew such a large crowd of people.
And he was so successful at driving his point home that some of the people were so offended by his claim about Jesus that they took him outside of the city and stoned him to death.
And you might be thinking… I didn’t sign up for something like that. Neither did Stephen. But Stephen was a man full of faith and he was willing to do whatever it took to further the work of the Kingdom. Even if it cost him his life.
There is another deacon named Philip
And in Acts 8 Philip travels to Samaria and plants at least one church there. He was so faithful in serving the Lord, that God used him to convert and baptize an important Ethiopian official.
And some scholars believe this Ethiopian may have influenced the spread of Christianity in Africa. All because you had one servant that was willing to say, “God use me!”
Both of these guys had powerful ministers that are still changing lives today. I mean think about that their stories are still impacting believers today. These guys were preachers and church planters and missionaries.
But they got their start as Deacons who took food to widows in the church. Sometimes God is going to take deacons and make them into elders.
Sometimes God is going to take deacons and turn them into preachers and teachers and maybe even missionaries.
And sometimes he going to take those deacons and make them into super deacons.
Whatever you decided to do, your job is to be obedient to that calling and go wherever He sends you.
Slide Jesus said, “The greatest among you must be a [what…a] servant.” Matthew 23:11-12 (NLT)
Jesus tells us that if you want to be great in HIS Kingdom you got to be a servant.
A Deacon that does his job well, is regarded by Jesus as being one of the greatest in His Kingdom.
A great Deacon sets the example for the rest of the church. A great Deacon shows what it means to be a servant.
Let’s Pray…
