The Ministry Of Deacons

ACTS 6:1-7 ; 1 TIMOTHY 3:8-13 “THE MINISTRY OF DEACONS”

A) A little boy just got saved and sat on a bench next to an old man who looked upset.

* The little boy said to the man, “Sir, do you need to get saved?”

* The man was startled and said abruptly, “I’ll tell you, I’ve been a Deacon in this church

for over 30 years and Chairman of Deacons for 15 years.”

* The little boy responded, “Sir, it don’t matter what you’ve done, Jesus loves you and

He’ll still save you.”

B) Today is a special day because we are going to ordain a deacon into our ministry.

* I want to begin by saying that probably no pastor in the Free Will Baptist denomination

has more encouraging deacons than this pastor does.

* These deacons are a blessing to me ... They are a constant encouragement to me.

C) They are my prayer partners ... So many times they have gathered around me and prayed

about something specifically going on in my own life or need that I had.

* I would say that probably 99% of Free Will Baptist pastors don’t have these kind of deacons.

* And that’s sad because deacons can be one of the greatest blessings to a church or they can

be one of the greatest problems.

* And unfortunately some FWB churches across the country have deacons that want to

fuss and fight and control, and not do what God tells them to do, and that’s sad.

D) So I just thank God, and you be thankful as a church, that you have deacons who want

to be servants to the living God.

* They want to serve God ... They want to serve this church ... They want to serve the staff,

and they want to do anything that they can for Cross Hill Community Church.

* So I thank God for our deacons, and we’ve got a good group of them.

E) Here in our text, we have the works and qualifications of a deacon

* The Greek word for “deacon” is “diakoneo” (dee-ak-on-eh’-o) and means, “to be an attendant,

that is, to wait upon ... Servant,” ... Therefore a deacon is a servant of the church.

* Let’s look back at Acts 6:1-7, and see the duties of a deacon.

F) This is the first mention of deacons in the Bible ... Here we learn that the first deacons

were appointed to deal with the business affairs in the church life.

* They were to take care of the material side, watching over the needy and the widows in order

that the apostles might give time to prayer and study and the ministry of the Word of God.

* Let’s study these few verses briefly tonight .......

G) v.1 ... Satan is wise and cunning, and he got the people to murmuring.

* Realizing that he could not stamp out the Gospel message through threats and persecution

from the outside, he began to work from the inside.

* So he got the people to murmuring ... The Grecian Jews against the Hebrews.

* These Grecians had been helped and should have been grateful instead of murmuring

and complaining.

THE FIRST DEACONS – v.2-3

A) Up to this time, the apostles were taking care of everything pertaining to the church.

* Not only were they preaching and teaching the Word of God, but they were also taking care

of the administration of food, clothing and money to the needy and the widows.

* But the church had now grown to such extent, that the 12 realized that they have got to make

some other arrangements if they were to carry on the ministry that God had called them to do.

B) They said in v.2, “It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God, and serve tables.”

* Tables referred to here were the tables where the money was distributed after it was brought

into the treasury ... In Hebrew and Greek, bankers were referred to as “tablers.”

* And you recall when Jesus went into the Temple in Matthew 21:12 .......

C) The word “leave” is a strong word which means to forsake or abandon.

* This indicates that the majority of the apostle’s time was taken up in this ministry.

* That’s the purpose of v.3 ... Their commission was to preach the gospel and make disciples.

* They couldn’t do this because it was being abandoned for “serving tables.”

D) Notice v.4 ....... Prayer precedes the ministry of the Word, and that is as it should be.

* No minister is capable of preaching the Word as it should be, unless he spends time in prayer.

* There should be hours of study of the Word, searching the Word to feed his flock.