Hello, everyone, and welcome to Scattered Groups. This is the next to last session of Season 4, and I'm glad you have tuned in and are participating here today in your Scattered Group. It's been a great season. We finished our book study of Philippians last time, and we're going to look at a different topic for this session and the next session. as we consider deacons. And I'm going to talk to you about deacons here in just a moment. I hope you're doing well. It's a beautiful time of year and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and the Christmas season. It'll seem busy the next several weeks and months, but hang in there. and continue to read your scriptures and pray each day and I will look forward to seeing you each Sunday in church as well as we gather for worship. But for now we'll be in the book of Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6 is our key text for today. The scattered group host may have some extra scattered group t-shirts to give away, and so if your group leader has one of those, go ahead and hand those out. Everybody please take those and use those, and I look forward to after this next to last session, next week will be the last one, then we'll be planning for next year. Should be really good, and we may mix some things up a little bit, and I'll let you know more about that. in the future. Let's go ahead and pray as we begin. Father, thank you for this time to gather in fellowship. Thank you for all these hosts who have been hosting, opening their homes up. Thank you for each participant who comes faithfully and who engages in our Bible conversation and prayer time. And we pray that you would teach us about deacons and how each of us can serve, continue to bless our church and the ministry you've called us to. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, Acts chapter 6 is our passage. There's a church in Texas who owed $260, this was a long time ago, and a note was due, it must have been on the mortgage of their building or something, and no one in the church seemed to be disturbed about it. Like, they're calling our notes from the bank, except one deacon, he was very concerned about that. He talked to the pastor about it with anxiety about the debt, and he went away and soon returned with $260 in his hands. he finished paying off that debt. The pastor wondered where he got the money, and he finally learned because this deacon was a poor man, but he had a poor man, he had a large family, he had a mortgage on his own house, and he was growing crops, but he put the crops of his cotton harvest up for mortgage to get that money so that he could make sure that the church would continue. He had a real keen sense of stewardship or managing. And out of that home came three preachers and one foreign missionary. This man was totally dedicated and totally immersed in his church ministry. Well, deacons are men called by God and recognized by the church as reputable and helpful to the cause of Christ who take on a role of serving the church. The word for deacon is diakonos. Diakonos means servant. or minister. This would be the definition of it. One who serves in an official capacity in the church as a deacon. Deacons do not hold teaching and ruling authority in the church, but exercise responsibility for the physical needs of the congregation. And this is a good definition that I'm reading here. The complimentary service of overseers and deacons is analogous to that of the apostles and the seven men in Acts chapter six. That's the passage that we're about to read. Now, I believe, and I've already mentioned it several times, there's a shortage of ministers, of pastors across America. There's already a shortage, but it's going to be intensified in the next five years by about 50%. And there's also a shortage of deacons, of men who are willing or qualified or able to serve as deacons in the churches in America. Now, some of the possible reasons there are not enough deacons would be, number one, many are not qualified, just not qualified. They do not possess the character found in 1 Timothy chapter three, and Lord willing, we'll be looking at that next time. Others do not have heart. They just did not in it. They're just not really Engaging with Christ or they're not really concerned about church life and ministry and that's a sad thing. So they have nothing extra So the first group's not qualified the others say I have nothing extra and it could be even someone who attends Infrequently or on a regular basis, but I don't want to give any more So nothing extra and then number three we could say in training Others are just not old enough yet they're not old enough yet in their spiritual walk to take on that role of being a deacon. So we could say they're in training. So why is there a shortage? Three possible reasons. Some are not qualified, some have nothing extra to give, and others are in training. Several churches have incorporation or bylaws and they have trustees in those bylaws and the trustees would manage the building and the grounds and take care of things like that alongside of the deacons. The deacons would deal more directly with people in meeting their physical needs. And some churches have that. At the Wilton Baptist Church, our deacons also serve as the trustees. So they signed the legal documents. They are the ones who make sure the bills are paid. And then also they can minister to the people. So they do things such as this. Paul and Timotheus, here's some examples where the bishops or pastors and elders are listed along with the deacons. Paul and Timotheus, the servant of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, so they're listed together on several occasions. Another example would be Romans chapter 16, verse one, and the word deacon or diakonos is used for both men and women in the New Testament. Here's an example of that. When the descriptions of the deacons are given in the pastoral epistles, the role is a male, but notice this because here's Phoebe. She's called a deaconess. I recommend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant. That's the word deacon. She's a servant of the church, which is at Centria. And so we find the term is interchangeable for men and women, but when you find the role that's described, that's given to deacons in scripture, it's given with a male designation. So deacons and pastors, they serve in different ways. The one man, Philip, he later on as a deacon, he goes on to become a well-known evangelist in the New Testament era. G. Campbell Morgan, a pastor of years back, He knew of all the activities in the church, but he detested committee work. He considered deacons and deacon meetings as committee work. He told a friend one time, I'd prefer to preach three sermons a day rather than spend half an hour at a deacon's meeting discussing who ought to keep the keys to the door. Kind of thought that was a funny thing. He didn't care for the administrative side of ministry, I guess. But deacons, along with the pastors and pastoral staff, they're all working together. And ultimately, they're working together with the church, the congregation, and in the biggest scheme of things, we're all working together and are co-laborers with Christ. Now in Acts chapter six, the word deacon is not found in English, but we find it in the word serve and the word ministration. And this passage is believed to be a good example of how to find deacons and also indicates how they can effectively serve and help their church and help those who are fulfilling pastoral ministry. So let's read the text here. In chapter six of Acts beginning in verse one, And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians, this would be Hellenistic Jews, They would be Jewish people who'd gone off or who had been carried away. Think Babylon, think of the Romans carrying people away and other empires who come in, swept the people away. And so they were Hebrew in nationality or in genealogy, but they were not Hebrew in culture. They didn't have the, they would speak Greek. They didn't speak Hebrew, for example. And so the Grecians against the Hebrews, they didn't want to have some kind of what could be considered a race difference or these different people groups fighting against each other. So there was some murmuring happening because the widows, their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Now, it could have been a language thing. I don't know if it was. It could have been they dressed differently. It could have been culturally, they were different culturally in things that they like to do and eat and the expressions they would say. But they were being overlooked. They were being neglected. The hebrews were walking around the disciples were doing the best they could to serve this church here in jerusalem and And they just they just overlooked there there was missing Sometimes we get blind spots and don't even know or don't want it. It just happens, you know something that i've talk to our deacons about, and sometimes you've heard me say it in churches, we don't want people to fall through the cracks. And it takes people helping to make sure that people don't fall through the cracks. Because I can't see everybody and know what's happening with everything, neither can our other guys. We're all doing the best that we can. But we don't want people to fall through the cracks. Not one person sees everything. some were being neglected and of the daily ministration that's the word diakono or diakonia is the way it's phrased here it's the uh the ending on it and it means service or ministry then the 12th called to the multitude of the disciples unto them and said it is not reason it doesn't make sense that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." There's the word serve again, diakoneo, it's a little bit different, tense on the ending of it there, and it means the same thing, service and ministry. So these twelve get together, and these are the preachers. These are the disciples. They were the first preachers in this church. We could call them the pastoral staff, and they said there's a lot of physical needs that are being overlooked. People are complaining some needs, some things aren't getting done, and we need some help so that we can keep praying and keep studying the Bible, for them the Old Testament, and then delivering these messages. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, that means good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, and that word business simply means need, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. That's the pastor's primary role now, I like to to work on building projects and Driving tractors and fixing things and making things look excellent. I like to do that or at least trying to make them look excellent but There's better things for the pastor of the church to do than to do those things That'd be he's studying the word. He's delivering the Bible and praying and the same please the whole multitude And they chose Stephen, a man of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Canor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they sat before the apostles. and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And notice the result then, the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples greatly multiplied, or multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." He even has some religious elites who were coming to faith in Christ. As these ministers were working together with the deacons or those serving in this function as a deacon, the church started to grow even more. So this is a very, very practical passage. Here's some observations. The physical needs were important to the early church pastors. The pastors could not effectively minister to the physical needs and the spiritual needs at the same time. You know, you can only do so much of one thing to the neglect of another thing. So they wanted to focus on the spiritual aspects while there's still physical needs that needed to be met. They ask for help from the church members and then they organize and add seven men to be the servants of the physical needs of the church. They were the ones who would see a need and take the lead. They would see things broke and fix it. They would see people in need of finances or money or food and it would help them. They would see people who were struggling and they would encourage them. and help them with the physical things. And this is needed in every church in America. Every church needs men willing to serve as deacons. So here are three observations of their search for deacons. Number one, they establish a practical plan. They're very practical. Notice how there was growth in those days when a number of the disciples was multiplied. So you have not just the 12, not just the 120, not even 1,200. The early church in Jerusalem had over 2,000 people. It was a large church and they anticipated growth. And there was a murmuring that took place. This is very practical. Some people were saying, hey, the Grecians, these Greek Talking Hebrew women are are being neglected And these widows need some help. They're overlooked in the daily service and then a 12 that be the the 12 disciples called a multitude of the disciples they got the rest of them together and and said, it's not reason, it doesn't make sense, we should leave the Word of God, leave the ministry of teaching and preaching the Bible and serve tables to do the physical needs that are still out there. So some of the best ideas are ideas of necessity, inventions of necessity. Well, the church had grown and they anticipated more growth and so they needed some help. Number two, they involve the congregation. They get the other disciples, the rest of the congregation together, and they ask them, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, of whom is a fool of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. And so they get the congregation to, pardon me, to look from among them. The deacons come from among the congregation. We can't hire somebody from another place to come and be a deacon here. as a church. It doesn't work that way. Deacons come from among the present church membership. The congregation affirms the status of these men. They recognize them. They see it. They live with them. They have witnessed them in the marketplace, and at work, and in church life. These guys can do it. They have the ability. They have the deportment. They have the spiritual nature. They have this the spirit-led type life because they're full of the Holy Ghost. And so they involve the congregation. Wilson Baptist Church is Christ-led, pastor-fed, deacon-served, and congregationally approved. That's how our form of government is when it comes to how our church functions. And this church here demonstrates a similar thing. As they're seeking the Lord, they are looking out among them, they're finding men that they can then affirm. And these are men, I think deacons are called just like a pastor's called to ministry, deacons are called to that. and prepare for that type of ministry. Not every Christian is going to be a deacon, and not every Christian will be a pastor. And so, I think there is a calling that God gives. And it could be even God uses, someone's asking, hey, can you be a deacon? Can you, or if you're qualified, can you serve in this role? And then number three. So they establish a practical plan, they involve the congregation, and then they choose godly servants. or they chose godly servants. In verse 3, these are men who are of honest report. That means good reputation. They are full of the Holy Ghost. They have a spiritual inclination to them. They're not perfect men, but they're sensitive to the Spirit of God. It's not that they get everything right. No, they do things wrong sometimes, just like any Christian man, any pastor or deacon. But they're spiritual. I mean, God's working in their life. His presence is evident in them. That could be by conviction, it could be by change, it could be by just the constant working of God in someone's life and how it's manifested in their decisions and choices. And they were also full of wisdom. The word wisdom has the idea of learning. If you know someone named Sophia, that's what the word is. Sophia is wisdom. And so they had some learning about them. They had some smarts about them. And then sometimes we don't see it, but they also were business minded. He said, whom we may appoint over this business. When you understand the word business, it isn't just the dollars and cents or isn't just the corporation type idea, but it has mostly to do with need. These are men who would see a need and take the lead. They would see what needed to be done and they would do it. We need men who see what needs to be done and does it. Sometimes, and you've been like this in your homes or at work or in society or at church, sometimes people just kind of wait around until they're asked to do something. Well, deacons have initiative. And I think all Christians should ask the Lord, help me to have some initiative. And if I see a need, then I'll respond to that need and help that person or fix that thing or pick up that garbage or feed that person or take that meal or give an encouraging word. I think that's an important way for all of us to want to develop in our life. But these guys are business minded. They could do whatever needed to be done. So every church must have some deacons, some men willing to serve. It was said years ago that Spurgeon didn't like deacons and it was a lie. People were making it up for some reason. And he had some deacons in his church that were admirable. He had some elders and other church pastoral staff, and he felt very strongly that churches should have deacons and that they should serve together. In fact, he sometimes cautioned his students not to be harsh and forward to censure or condemn a deacon whenever differences of opinion arose. He mentions one who undoubtedly was a good man, but every now and again was overcome with fits of temper. And it was a mystery to all who knew him because he was usually very gracious and kind and then sometimes he wasn't. But when he died, when that deacon eventually died, a surgeon performing the autopsy examined his head and found some bone protruding into his brain. And that possibly was the case for why he would be angry at times. There are deacons, and there are deacons. Some who execute their office faithfully and adorn it, they wear it well. And others who magnify their office, and not in a good sense. They hold the office, but they hold it over people instead of serving people. But on most days, when you call a man to be a deacon, He's gonna be a man who is willing to serve, ready to help, sensitive to the Spirit of God, demonstrating humility and grace, and he wants to be there to help out and to encourage, and to help the church, help the congregation, help the pastor, help each of them be the Christians that they can be. Please take some time to answer these questions, then pray with your group. God bless.