The Role of Elders and Deacons

Most of us probably remember the rather catchy phrase used for years by the U.S. Marine Corps in its recruiting effort. And the recruiting phrase just simply stated that, we're looking for a few good men. We're looking for a few good men. I wonder in this day and age if they would have to update that to men and women. But, you know, the world's changing, isn't it? It was very effective and it appeared on television ads, radio, plenty of posters, and it recruited talented, strong, healthy young men to that particular armed service of the U.S. military.

Now, in the Bible, we have a number of examples where God has used a little tiny group to perform His will. We can probably come up with a number of examples, but just off the top of my head, you think of Gideon. Gideon's army. Too many people. Let them go home. They don't want to go. Still too many people. You remember the story of parrying it down to only a few hundred. And what a tremendous overthrow that God performed through just a few.

We could also think of a day and age when King Saul and the Israelites were there in the area of Geba. To the north, you had the Philistines set up and ready for battle. That night, Jonathan and the armor bearer took the two swords of Israel and went down one escarpment up the other side, the area of a half-acre of ground. And the overthrow that came because the Philistines thought that the Israelites were coming out of the rocks to attack them.

Let's turn over to Matthew 9. In Matthew 9, we have a statement made by Jesus Christ with respect to the harvest. And the fact that one of our prayers needs to be that God calls and draws, chooses more people, more laborers to go out and help to bring in the harvest. And it's something that's been very real in all of our years and decades of the Church of God. And we're always crying out desperately for more help, and we continue to do so.

We have to realize, you know, we look at our churches, we realize we are a graying church. I think that's common in Church of God fellowships across the country and the world. We have to... I think I'm doing something wrong, but... All right, thank you. Pardon me. We look at the ministry of the Church, and it's not like it was years ago. Now, it's kind of bittersweet. You think back like I can when you had a pastor who came into town, he's 27 years old. That should never have been happened. It should never have happened. I think back to when I was ordained as an elder, a local church elder.

I mean, we ought not ordain guys who are 25 years old. It just shouldn't happen. There was something to the statement that when Jesus was about 30, that he began his ministry. At any rate, it's what was at the time, and we had phenomenal growth through the 60s and then into part of the 70s and things like that happened. But the reality is that we're getting old. We're getting tired. And by that, I mean the pastors, the ministry of the church, by and large. But God has looked down on this earth, and here we have passed 7 billion, apparently, on this earth.

And yet the body of Jesus Christ scattered various places. It's tiny. It's small. And yet God has proven so many, many times he can do remarkable things with only a few if they're the right people, if they are part of the elite, the esprit de corps, who will follow him wherever he leads. But here at the end of Matthew 9, verse 37, then he said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Now, the rains, of course, have fallen this week. And it was a relief to me because I remember growing up that way. You've got the wheat out in the field, ready to be harvested. And when the rains came and the wheat was not harvested, it was just a sinking feeling, where you wonder how long until we can get back in there and how much damage will be done by storms in the meantime.

But thankfully, it seems that through this valley, the vast majority of the wheat was harvested. And so, pray the Lord of the harvest. I want to talk about some of the laborers that we have in the Body of Christ today. We have positions in the church, and I haven't talked about some of these local roles or responsibilities in a long, long time.

Some of the old timers used to say that Mr. Herbert Armstrong appreciated elders and beacons more than anyone else because he went so many years, completely on his own, just he and his wife working together. And if you've read the autobiography, you remember the times when they'd have campaigns and raise up a congregation somewhere, and then other doors would open and he'd move on and he'd come back and the congregations were gone.

And at any rate, he had no help, and that led to, in his thinking, the creation of or the building of Ambassador College. But let's ask and consider what is the calling of an elder? What is the calling, the role of a deacon? What duties does each have?

And when I say deacon for the purpose of this sermon, realize I mean that male and female. Because there are deacons and there are the term we have used as deaconesses, male and female. And I think as we go through and we look at their responsibilities and if we go back over the years, they truly have been, as one man called them, the unsung heroes of the Church of God. Many, many times, I shamefully have to say, my colleagues, I mean, look at two and a half years ago, too many pastors deserted their flocks.

And we've had two and a half years and we realize the United Church of God has changed no doctrine. That was all fluff. That was all selling a bill of goods. And yes, there was unethical behavior by some who stayed and some who left. But we have to admit, as Mr. Luecker said early on, it's about power. So many times it goes back to that, about power. And the less we worry about that, the better off we are. The more we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, the more God can do through us.

So many, many times we have seen high-profile individuals come and we've seen them go. But you look out in the trenches and you have rock-solid church members who dig in their heels. And you have elders and you have deacons and deaconesses and other key people who will not budge, that they know what they believe and they will not be diverted from that, come what may.

And God bless you for that, because surely most of you have done that at various times. We should first ask the little simple question, why? Why do we have these ordained offices in the church of God? And we find that answer, I think, in large part. Actually, let me first, there's a place here in 1 Corinthians 1. I want to look at with you.

But then we largely find the answer laid out in a very clear manner back in the book of Exodus. Why do we have ordained offices in the body of Jesus Christ? The offices of elder and deacon are for the overall welfare of the people of God. Yes, the one may have more a spiritual focus, the other one may have more a physical focus, but all, hopefully, and I think in reality, are willing to do either or all of the above, because there's a blending of those responsibilities in taking care of God's people.

1 Corinthians 1, verse 10, The Apostle Paul, as you may remember from the book of Acts, had given a lot of his time. He had worked diligently to be used of God to raise up this church at Corinth.

And now he's writing back to it later on. He had received a letter. But in verse 10, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

And so he strongly appeals that they be united as God obviously wants us always to be. And the unity quotient of a given congregation so many times is traced back to the solid local leadership of that congregation. I realize that the pastor's role is that of being a shepherd. And for too long now, I've been gone too much. I don't know how to change it. Nobody knows how to change it. It's what is, but it's a part of the calling God gave to us.

That when the phone rings, and here are two neighboring congregations who just had half of their brethren and their pastor who leave, many times without even saying goodbye, I was asked to go, and so I went. And then a little over a year ago, a group from over in that foreign country, where do you live, Rudy? Oh, Mississippi! A group over there, we had a Kingdom of God seminar.

We had another one. I don't even know where I am, which week, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, whenever it was, and what, 9, 10 new people. Some of them with a long history with the Church of God, a number brand new. They said, we'll see you next time.

Well, we'll see next Sabbath. So it seems that God has people over there and a few things beginning to happen and move. And in the process of time, when I show up every third week, I realize I don't have a finger on the pulse of what's going on. And we begin to have petty little things that begin to become real issues. And God's called us to do a lot better than sometimes we do. I'll have more to say when I come back in a month.

Sadly, it's going to be a month before we're back because I want to go to Tupelo, and then I want to go to Gazzon, Birmingham. At the end of the month, we've got one more child. We've gone to see our kids. And I'll never apologize for leaving to go see our children. So we're going to go see our youngest son and his wife. But then in August, I'm going to start backing away from Tupelo because I don't want to see Rudy. I mean, not because Rudy is there.

Let me know if you mind being used as a public example. So a lot of people have said it's pulling you down. And you're in Ronda Liv about 50 miles away, and they've known the people there forever. And so I'm going to just become an occasional visitor over in Tupelo and go back to Murfreesboro, Huntsville one week, and then Gazzon, Birmingham the next week. And let's all pray that God will raise up some help. But in August, I plan to be here the first two Sabbaths, and then go to Gazzon, Birmingham, and go back and forth.

Until September, when we are sent overseas for the feast. So, anyhow, I'm not even sure what the normal circuit is anymore. But I realize when a pastor has gone too much, things begin to happen, and the unity quotient. We are sheep. And when the shepherd is out among the sheep, it tends to calm and soothe the sheep.

And when he's not there, we get irritated, and little things become issues that would not normally become issues. So I would ask your prayers on that and changing that. Exodus 18. Let's go back there. The days of the church and the wilderness. And there's a tremendous amount of wisdom that came from Jethro, priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law.

He was there and he watched Moses. And he went to him, and in no uncertain terms told him, What you're doing is not good. You cannot do everything. If you try to do everything, you're going to be worn out. People will be worn out. Everyone's going to lose. Everyone will be frustrated. Let's skip down to verse 13. And so it was on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, What is this thing that you're doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me. And I judge between one another, and I make known the statutes of God in his laws. So Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you do is not good.

Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you, and you are not able to perform it by yourself. And you know the story where he essentially explained, You need to be the one leading the point and teaching the law, the statutes, the commandments. You need to seek out and find able individuals to serve under you. You need several layers. Now, a number of you surely go back to the early days at Big Sandy with the Feast, the days of the old tent.

My parents were down in 67, and my first one down there was 68. And it was an amazing thing to behold. They estimated 9,000 people on the grounds in Piney Woods and then across Lake Loma and the secondary camping area. And I remember from our campsite, I just thought it was the neatest thing in the world.

I'd walked down toward the bathhouse, and here on one of the corner camping lots was this sign. And it said, Captain of 1000. And it was one of the local elders from my home area. And I thought, this is so neat! And then there were captains of hundreds. There was a row, a street captain, captain of 10, and he'd come by and check to see if you need anything.

People who were newer just help you learn the routine. And there was a routine at the bathhouse. You know, you stand and wait. When you get your sink, you brush your teeth. You may not believe this, but I combed my hair then, too. And when you're through, take your hand towel, wipe it down, leave it looking nice for the next guy in line to come up there.

And there was an order, and it made so much sense. Now, verse 21, though, you don't take just anyone. Moreover, you should select from all the people, able men, such as fear God. I remember hearing Dr. Herman Hay in an address years ago, break off from his topic, and he just said, I have never understood how we can have the innate ability to ordain unconverted people. And then he went back to his topic. But, you know, if a person doesn't fear God, if they're not men or women of truth, they can't serve in a role or an office in the church of God.

Hating covetousness, because if they're in it to feather their own nest, they're disqualified. And place such over them to be rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and you can read on the rest of the story. Let them judge at that level. The captain of ten can't handle it. It goes up the line. If he can't handle it, it goes up the line. So only a few items get to Moses. Now, what this teaches us a number of things, and one thing it underscores very clearly, is that no one person can properly administrate and serve the people of God.

If any one person tries, someone is going to be neglected, and we'll see in a little bit a story in the book of Acts how there were certain ones who were overlooked. They were neglected, and that's where we get the role that we find as far as the deacons in the church. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 1, and let's just read verse 24, because this speaks to the reason why there is any ordination to any office in the body of Christ. And that is, and I love the way the old King James says it, that you are to be helpers of their joy.

So 2 Corinthians 1, verse 24, not that we have dominion over your faith. And you know, there have been times when you've had individuals who thought they had dominion over someone's faith, but your faith is between you and God. My faith is between me and God. No human being. When the temple of Baal was rent, that opened up a relationship very direct, very personal between the individual and God. No man, no Levitical system, no ministerial system is between the person's faith and God. But there are those positions of service. And hopefully, as it says here, but are fellow workers for your joy. Again, the King James says, helpers of your joy, for by faith you stand.

And so, we're here to help in your joy of being called, of being chosen, of being a part of the very elect in training for the responsibilities that God has for all of us in the world that is yet to come, and of course, service here today as well. But these, as his first letter said to Corinth, these local leaders are here to guard against division. They're here to serve physical and spiritual needs. And they're here to give their time and their lives for their brethren. They're here to help the joy of God's people.

And when it is any other way, it begins breaking down the very dynamics of the body. Let's focus on what is called an elder in the church. An elder. The church has used various names through the years. We used to have local elder. Then there was a further distinction. I'm going to go over to Titus 1 with you. Then there was a different distinction, a local church elder, because the local elder was oftentimes an employee of the church.

Again, this was, again, terminology changed. Before a window of time, the local elder was someone who was like an associate pastor, an assistant pastor, and he was in a salaried position. The local church elder was not salaried. He was working wherever he worked. When I was ordained, I was working. I forget where I was at the time.

I don't think I was working as an electrician, but I had my own job. Then my role as a local church elder began, and then it changed. We had different titles. We had elder. We came up somehow with the title preaching elder, which meant we had full ministerial pastoral responsibilities. We had pastor rank. A lot of those came from Ephesians 4, where there's a listing of different roles in the ministry. Of course, there were prophets, and we've had too many of those who have stood up from time to time. A little humor there, or attempt at it. Very little attempt at it. Then it goes to apostle. But the elder, let's read just Titus 1, verse 5.

For this reason, again, one of the pastoral epistles, this one, the two letters to Timothy, these are Paul's writings, Paul's letters to church pastors, hence pastoral epistles. For this reason, I left you in Crete. Check a map. Look for a long, skinny island out in the Mediterranean. That's Crete. Not to be confused with Cyprus or Malta, but Crete. That you should set in order the things that are lacking. And appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. Now, this seems to imply that there would be elders ordained, and they had responsibilities that were, shall we say, local within that congregation. And hence, I think that was kind of where our term local elder came from. But ordain elders in every city as I commanded you. Now, we're going to come back to the next verses that follow a little later, but let's back up just a little to 2 Timothy 2. And let's read verses 1 and 2, because here he talks about seeking out certain ones who can teach as they are taught. Now, if a man can't teach as he has been taught, if he's going to go out there and get out in the quigs and start preaching his own pet doctrine, if he's going to go out there before congregation and start grinding his own axe, then we need to seek him out and help him to go find a position away from a microphone. Because that breaks down. That is an assault upon the unity of the church. So in verse 1, Now, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Now, we have, for instance, a booklet called The Fundamental Beliefs of the United Church of God. And we have a variety identified as far as position on God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. And we have, oh, what are baptism? We have clean, unclean meats. We have Sabbath, the annual festivals, three days and three nights, all kinds of foundational doctrines that are addressed. And oftentimes we'll have other booklets that address, for instance, the one on sunset, the sunset God's Sabbath rest. So if we have a man who doesn't agree with some of those areas, and then begins going out and teaching his own interpretation, he's saying, or Paul's saying, find people who will teach as they've been taught. Find people who will pass along a sound doctrine. So if somebody's out grinding their axe on clean and unclean meats, or three days and three nights and they have their own ideas, then they disqualify themselves from service in the church. Now, let's go. There's one verse in Hebrews 5 I'd like to look at with you.

You know, today in the church, we do not have some of the means by which God revealed His will in the Old Testament. By that, we do not have the Urim and Thummun, whatever that was. I mean, if you read about the Urim and Thummun, some say it was this box with 12 different lights that would light up to reveal God's will. Some say it was the breastplate that the high priest wore and had these different stones of Israel on it. The Bible doesn't say we really don't know. But we do know that they could go and make their appeal to the Urim and Thummun, and somehow God would reveal His will. At other times, it's kind of like the reluctant servant Gideon. God told him what the plan was, what you need to do, and he said, well, I'd kind of like a sign. Gideon's fleece, I forget the order, but the fleece was soaked, the ground was dry, and then vice versa, or maybe it was the other way around.

God made it very clear, and so then Gideon onward and upward did what God had said.

We don't have those things. We don't have the tabernacle tent to go and approach. We don't have a high priesthood. We don't have a high priest. We have the throne of God we go to on our knees. But God has provided for a means of weighing the fruits of individuals' lives, and this is done by those who are ordained before. And there is a system that involves lots of prayer, getting lots of counsel, and it says fasting, and over time, because we'll read where it says, you don't know what ain't a novice.

Sometimes you have somebody brand new to the truth, and maybe they have phenomenal talents, and maybe they'll proverbially a golden tongue, look good, sound good, but it takes time because Christ said, you know them by their fruits, and it takes time to bear fruit. And too many times when somebody brand new has been elevated, they in time become a shooting star, never to be heard from again. I thought it was interesting, yesterday in Christian living, Mr. Stan Martin. I love listening to him. He's talking along, and just all of a sudden, he's way over here with a random thought, and then he jerks back over here with another thought, and then he comes back to his original topic.

And when I try to do that, I come back and I think, now what was I talking about in the first place? But he did that early in his Christian living, yesterday, and he said, I wrote it down, that those who want power the most are the ones who deserve it the least. How true that is. You've known people. I've known people. All through our years in God's church. We've had those just desperately politicking and clamoring for being recognized and being given power, and in due time, they generally end up a shooting star.

Hebrews 5. We're talking here about the high priest that we have, Jesus Christ, that he's of a different order. I think the writer of Hebrews is preparing the church for the fact that it won't be long that the temple is going to be destroyed. There will be no functioning Levitical system, no sacrificing. He's preparing them for the fact that that is going to happen, and we will go back to the eternal priesthood of Melchizedek in the being named Jesus Christ.

But notice what he says here, just in passing, in chapter 5, verse 4. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. And that harkens back to the Pentateuch and the story of how God told Moses. Of course, their family was of the tribe of Levi. They were not to have an inheritance in the same way, they were to serve in the sacrificial system, the service of the tabernacle.

And God said, Aaron and his sons, this will be the priesthood. All Levites, excuse me, all priests are Levites, not all Levites, though, are priests. But no man takes this honor to himself. And any time someone politics to receive that honor, then somewhere down the line, generally, we see it was not of God. And we pray that no one's hurt in the process, because when the true colors come out, sadly, more of God's people are hurt.

Let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 3. We have a passage here, we have another one in Titus 1 that we need to look at. I read these passages a lot. They are sobering passages, and they should be sobering for all of us. It may appear to be speaking about the criteria of the qualifications of whom to ordain as an elder, but we're reading about the qualifications of Christians also.

And after all, it does say, you shall be kings and priests and reign on the earth. And so it's something that, rather than looking across the church at who may be falling down, let's look in the mirror and see how we are falling down, because all of us are the imperfect, undeserving representatives of Almighty God. But we have a passage here. I have in my notes the text also in the Amplified Bible, so I'm going to be shifting over there once in a while.

Chapter 3, verse 1. This is a faithful saying, if a man desires a position of a bishop, the New King James says, the marginal note says, an overseer, he desires a good work. Now, as we pause right there, it is so difficult when you look at someone's life to assess the fruits of the life. There's a line over there somewhere that's very difficult to see.

You want someone who is willing to give his life for the Church of God. But there is that line over there that has always bothered me. And it is possible to cross over that line, and he wants it so badly that he wants it for the wrong reasons. He wants it for himself instead of to give himself for God's people.

Now, verse 2. A bishop then must be blameless. The Amplified says he must give no grounds for accusation, but must be above reproach. And so it tells us that we can't just go out here and pick somebody off the street, and they find out that the DEA is looking for that person, that they're in a couple of criminal cases, and it's looking pretty bleak. We want someone whose words and life are going to speak volumes in favor of the way that God has called us to live.

Above reproach. The husband of one wife. And, you know, that usually takes care of itself. The husband of one wife. Temperate. Amplified says self-controlled. Anyone who's going to extremes, too many times we've had ordained people in the body of Christ are controlled by alcohol rather than they control the alcohol intake. Sober-minded. Amplified says he must be sensible and well-behaved. Good behavior. Hospitable. Nothing like opening up your home. Nothing like walking in somebody else's home. You look at pictures on the wall. You look at just the memorabilia, the things we all collect.

And there's stories behind everything in that house, and we get to know each other. So hospitable. Able to teach. Now, there are a lot of different avenues we can use to teach. We have elders. In fact, we have one in Murfreesboro. Preston Fritz. Preston and Pauline Fritz. They've logged 60-some years in the Church of God.

They've logged 60-some years of marriage. And just the fact that they're sitting there and you watch what they do teaches so much. Now, years ago, Mr. Fritz, when they lived up in Paducah, he asked Mr. Rick Beam, once in a while he'd just have a brain freeze. And I think, well, what else is new? But anyhow, he'd have a brain freeze and just block up. And he asked not to be given speaking assignments. And in the years they've been in Murfreesboro, he's given one sermonette. And I wasn't even there to hear it.

I told him, open, invite any time you want to speak. Even if I'm coming up there and I'm on, it's yours. But just by being there, encouraging people, hearing their stories. Well, you remember Edgar Guest's famous poem, Sermons We See. I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. And it talks about how too fast your tongue may run, but there's no mistaking what you do and what you are.

And so there's lots of ways to teach. So we have had men ordained as elders who never speak publicly, but they teach all the time. Verse 3, not given to wine, not violent. We could probably all share stories, and we shouldn't. But there's something about playing sports. It brings another side out of somebody. I have witnessed things. I have witnessed church pastors beat red, ranting at each other, out in something as important as a basketball game. Where were we? Not violent. Not greedy for money. And we've sadly had some shooting stars who've taken people for money. But gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? And, you know, that's, again, sobering words there for all of us. That we need to rear our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, realizing we've got this window of time.

And there comes a point where they are responsible for their choices. They are accountable for what they do before God. The parent may have done a fantastic job, and the child may make choices where they walk another way. Not a novice. Lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside lest he fall into the reproach and the snare of the devil. Well, let's go back over to Titus 1. Titus chapter 1. We read verse 5. Let's continue with verse 6. We'll go back to Timothy in a little while because he continues on speaking of deacons.

But Titus focuses for these few verses on the elder, and a lot of the wording is similar. Verse 6, if a man is blameless. Now, again, unquestionable integrity and irreproachable, the Amplified says, The husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination, for Bishop must be blameless as a steward of God and not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violence, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word, as he has been taught that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

As we look at these statements about the elders, his primary duties and responsibilities would revolve around the example that is set, the teaching that is given, the public speaking, the counseling, the encouragement, perhaps involved in correction, anointing God's people, praying for the sick, showing hospitality, and the list goes on and on. But again, I remind you, those are the responsibilities of all Christians. To teach is to instruct others, God's way, and there's many ways of doing that. Depending on the person's age, health, education, we've got some men who are just incredibly proficient in areas like insurance or in law, and the church has tapped into that resource as far as using those elders and seeking out their counsel in budgetary matters or insurance matters, etc. But the office of an elder is primarily spiritual, as we'll read where the deacon came along next. But it is a position that deserves appreciation, support, and cooperation. Because, as I remember Dean Blackwell years ago said, that when pastors shepherd and elders held and deacons deek, the church is stable and the church grows. Let's go to the office of deacon, and again, I mean the male deacon and the female deaconess. And let's go to Acts 6 and read of the beginning of this particular office. Acts 6 and in verse 1. Now, in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, now we had our boom years. Many of you remember back to the 60s and then to the early 70s. Phenomenal growth. Even later on, Denise and I moved to Memphis. We had an average of 290. Three years later, we moved out and we had 400. Tremendous growth. Tremendous interest. New visit requests. People showing up brand new all the time. This was such a time. There arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists.

Helles speaks of Greek and the Greek-speaking peoples. We had a language barrier here. Now, people can fall through the cracks easily already. It's easy for pastors, elders, deacons, to not have a clue as to what's going on in someone's mind. We can't read your mind. And especially when we're gone too much. But there was a complaint because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Again, we're cutting in on the story. You remember how after Pentecost, they just stayed around. And you had some, like Barnabas, selling pieces of land to provide provisions for everyone who stayed around. Then the 12th summoned the multitude of disciples and said, It's not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Now, they're not saying they were unwilling to do so. They just realized Christ told us, You take this gospel of the kingdom and go to the end of the earth. And they weren't able to do that. And it kind of hearkens back to Moses, where he had a certain position. God expected of him, and by sitting there from morning till evening, he could not do what God had primarily given him to do. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation. So we see here, you can't just pick somebody out the street. Good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. And that goes back to the serving of tables, the distributing to different ones' needs, and reads like the taking care of the physical necessities that many had. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. They're saying, please the whole multitude they chose. So here you have the church gathered together, and they set up certain ones. And then in verse 6, of course, Stephen and Philip are the only two names that we know anything more about. The other names are just names. And in verse 6, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

Then the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. You know, the last phrase is easy to skip over. The priests, the ones who had taught the law, kind of like Paul, the ones who knew the Old Testament, as we call it, inside and outside, as they saw one after another miracle and event, they began having their minds opened. Now, let's go back over. Well, first of all, let's go to Romans 16. Romans 16.

Let's add one little thought here quickly regarding the Deaconess. Romans 16. And just reading verse 1. Verse 1, I commend to you, Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sancria. Sancria is that area down far southern Greece. But Phoebe, our sister, female, obviously, who is a servant. I didn't write it down, and you know, increasingly in church, we've got people sitting there with their smartphones and with their computers and their online, and they've got the Strong's Concordance, and they're checking to see if the speaker is on track. But I believe it's the Greek diaconos, translated Deacon. So here is a woman, and she's a Deacon. Or as the Amplified says, now I introduce and commend to you, our sister, Phoebe, a Deaconess of the church at Sancria. A Deaconess. And hence again, there are male and female Deacons. Let's go over to 1 Timothy 3 and pick it up in verse 8. 1 Timothy 3, and in verse 8 we read that likewise Deacons must be reverent. The Amplified says the Deacons must be worthy of respect. Not double-toned. Amplified says not shifty double-tonkers. Not given to much wine. Seems like a pattern here. At each address it happens to advent. And how many times? I've seen studies where among, as far as ministry across the country, tremendous amount of alcohol abuse, even among those of fellowships who teach against alcohol, and a growing amount of abuse in pornography. Strange. Now, we were somewhere. Verse 3, not given to wine. Not violent. Not greedy for money. But gentle. Not quarrelsome. Not covetous. One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his... Excuse me, I'm in the wrong... People are too nice. Tell me, you're in the wrong verse! Okay. We were in verse 8. The last phrase, not greedy for money. I think that's where we dropped off. See, I was checking to see if you were with me.

Ah, alright. Verse 9, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested. Again, let's remember, Christ said, you know them by their fruits. And it takes time to weigh the fruits of someone's life. To see what it's like when they go through the ups and the downs of life. To see how they react when they lose a job for their Sabbath. To see what it's like when they have a child that's about to die. That's when we see what's on the inside. We see below the surface. Let these first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent. Now, some would suggest it shifts to talk about deaconesses, and some would suggest now it's the spouse of the deacon, and why don't we even think of it both ways? The wives must be reverent, not slanderers. The deacon's wife or the deaconess, or we can say the elder's wife or the pastor's wife, ought not be the congregational gossip.

And I'm thankful to be married to someone who's tighter-lipped than I am. Unless I leave the house amiss. Then I deserve it, right? Okay, not slanderers. Temperate. Faithful in all things. And we shift back to deacons. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So, quite a list of qualifications to strive to live up to, and not a one of us does. But God looks at the heart, and we ought to look at the heart, too. And sometimes we have servants, and if their heart's good, cut them some slack. Give them a little. Give them a few. And their pastor, too. Cut them some slack. God's not through with any of us yet. But the deacon, nor the deacon, the deaconess is a person of spiritual maturity. And they have been weighed in the balances. And obviously their heart is such that they're willing to share themselves with the congregation, because they believe in the fact that the way of give is the only way to go. Now, their duties revolve around care of needy, widows, fatherless, shut-ins, sick. Their duties involve, well, our congregation here. We have a deacon who coordinates PA who shows up, sets it up. We have another one who coordinates different couples who volunteered to come in early, open up the building, turn up the heat. Yeah, it's supposed to be funny. All right. To lock up the building, clean up the mess. We have others who coordinate wholly the offering. We have, you know what they do, we've got some wonderful servants here. We have duties that sometimes are rotated. And most of these, nobody needs an ordination to go out and visit somebody who's sick. Nobody needs an office to be able to go and help somebody move. It's what Christians do. But the role, the office of deaconness is a calling. It is an ordination of God into an area of service. And it is something that deserves our appreciation and our support and our cooperation. Oftentimes, we have those who speak up here, and if you happen to like the sermon, you may tell them. We really, really enjoyed that. But, you know, a lot of times there are things done and we never see it. We don't see people hauling PAs and lugging them up there, and I'm glad that we have Jack and Jason and guys like that for that speaker back there. And a lot of things are done. We have many hands who rotate as far as duty, you know, they're with the snacks. And we have those who rotate many duties. And when you see somebody doing something, we probably are all deficient in just saying, thank you. I notice that. I appreciate that. We walk in the bathroom, and lo and behold, there are paper towels, and we forget that somebody put them there for us. We have individuals ordained into areas of service in this congregation. I have my trusty 3x5 card. Guess who gave this to me? Who uses 3x5 cards by the gross? Yep, yep. Peggy's pointing back there. Mr. Montana was nice enough. He's the record keeper, so he was nice enough to give me a list.

Sadly, I've lined through three names because Earl Bailey is not here, and George Weimer is not here. And we have another one who decided to attend another place. Joseph Montano, little brother of the quarterback. Now, it's a different name, isn't it? Ordained Trumpets. September 17, 1974. Tommy Keith, ordained Trumpets. September 11, 1980. Gary Beam, I'll come back to him, but Gary Beam ordained tabernacles. October 12, 1995. Ron Davenport, ordained atonement. September 16, 2002. Jim Morgan, ordained on a weekly Sabbath. December 17, 05. Then I'll go back to Gary Beam, ordained an elder on Sabbath. September 3, 2011. We appreciate you folks. And we also appreciate your spouses, because we realize you aren't in it on your own. So we appreciate, we should make Mary Keith a public example. And Thank her, and Peggy Montano, and Sue Davenport, and Nancy Morgan, and Ron Dabim. Because a part of an ordination involves a spouse having to share, maybe more than they want to, but share their husband or their wife with the congregation. And it is a sacrifice. Let's go over to 1 Thessalonians 5. You look back at the ups and downs of the Church of God. Some of us can go way back into the 70s. That was a rough decade. And we had things that have happened in the 80s. Big event in the 90s. And even as the United Church of God, it just seems like we have to try to unravel ever so often. But we had some who walked another way in 98. Congregational movements here and there back in those early years. And then once again, two and a half years ago, one-third decided to walk another way. Thankfully, we had very little impact in Murfreesboro and in Huntsville. We have a couple of sister churches that got ripped right down the middle. And for a couple of years, their hearts were still bleeding because it hurts. Whenever we have a congregation that digs in its heels and just refuses to get caught up in some movement, I think a lot of the credit goes to the people out there in the trenches. Pick up the fallen flag and hold it up for people to rally around. And a lot of times, those are the unsung heroes, the elders and the deacons and deaconesses of the church. So we read here in 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 12 and 13. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake. And I love this last phrase that's added because it's almost like the question is asked, and how can you show your love? Well, you can do it by being at peace among yourselves. The unity quotient of the body of Jesus Christ goes back to local leaders and local pillars and people like you. So, following the Battle of Britain, we all remember reading in history. Some of you lived it, but were perhaps aware of it at the time. But Sir Winston Churchill, as the tide turned and the Axis forces or the German forces were turned back, he essentially said, never in the course of human history has so much been owed to so few by so many.

And that could be said of the body of Jesus Christ all through the years. So, we appreciate the service of elders and deacons. God bless you for your service. Have a wonderful Sabbath. See you in a month.