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At 6 verse 1. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the

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Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their

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widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the 12

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gathered all the disciples together and said, it would not be right for us to

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neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and

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sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit

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and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will

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give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. This proposal

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pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the

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Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus and Nicholas from

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Antioch, convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who

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prayed and laid their hands on them. So the Word of God spread. The number of

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disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became

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obedient to the faith. And then if we turn to 1 Timothy 3, verse 8 to 13.

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1 Timothy 3 verse 8. In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect,

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sincere, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must

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keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must

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first be tested, then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

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In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers

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but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be faithful to

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his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have

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served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in

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Christ Jesus. Good morning everyone. It is great to be together praising God

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with our voices, praying to Him, singing together. These are all wonderful graces

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that our Father God has bestowed upon us, His people. And this morning we're going

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to witness an incredible event where our Lord Jesus is going to be magnified in

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our midst because of His work that He's doing in His church here in Armidale. But

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before we look at the texts that were wonderfully read out for us this morning,

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I think we should pray. Let's pray.

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Father God, we are so thankful to be here this morning. That in your kindness, in

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your grace, in your loving mercy, you have brought us together to come around

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your Word, to hear from you this morning. And we ask by the work of your Spirit, that

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that would indeed happen. That you would change our minds, that you would cause us

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to look at Christ, our beautiful Savior, and to love Him ever so much more. And

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that you would change us, change us Father, and use us for your glory. We ask

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for this in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen. Well it's great to have you with us

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here this morning for this very special time where we will be ordaining Andy

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Wagner as our new deacon. Now before we go ahead and lay hands on this man, I

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thought that it would be a good opportunity to have a look at why Jesus

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has given this very important office to His Church. However, this morning as we

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gather, we don't primarily want to gather together to ordain a man, though it's

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very exciting to do so. But we primarily want to give glory to Christ who is

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doing His continual work among us here at Grace Christian Church and in the

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city of Armidale by making Himself known through the preaching of the Word and

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through the servants of His Church. So if you have your Bibles with you this

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morning, it's going to be very handy to have them open at the passages that were

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read out this morning being Acts 6 and 1st Timothy 3, as they show us why the

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office of deacon is such a vitally important ministry to the local church.

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Also this morning, I just want to say that I'm aiming at just two things for

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you to understand before we ordain our deacon. The first thing that I want you

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to understand is simply what is a deacon? And the second thing that I want you to

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understand is what does a deacon do? That's right, two very simple things that

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I'm aiming to help you to understand this morning before we ordain Andy. What

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is a deacon and what does a deacon do? So with that said, let's go in order with

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which the texts were read out this morning. First with Acts 6. These are the

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words of God. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the

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Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their

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widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve

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gathered all the disciples together and said it would not be right for us to

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neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on

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tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be

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full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

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and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. And then we

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see seven men that were brought forward, they presented them to the Apostles, they

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prayed for them, they laid their hands on them so that the Word of God spread. So

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the first thing that I want you to understand is that a deacon is a

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servant who has been set aside by God to, and it's in the name, to serve. Now I say

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it's in the name because in the Greek the word that sits under our English

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translation of deacon is a word that is always associated with service. That's

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what the Greek literally means. Deacon means servant when used as a noun or

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service when used as a verb, a doing word. And different forms of the word

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deacon are actually found over a hundred times in the New Testament. Now that's

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not to say the office of deacon, which we're going to look at this morning, is

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talked about over a hundred times in the New Testament. No, the noun form is only

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specifically used in a few different places, but the Greek word that is

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associated with the verb deaconing is found all over the place. And it always

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means either serving or ministering to others. Here with the passage that we

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have before us we get an understanding of just what the deacons were set aside

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to do. But first let's have a look at a bit of context. You see something

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incredible had happened in the early church. We read after the ascension of

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Jesus in bodily form that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church. Now

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we all know the story. Peter then delivered one of the greatest recorded

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sermons in the Bible to which around 3,000 people were saved and then added

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to the church. So what you have is an absolute explosion of people on a tiny

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little group of disciples that needed to get themselves into order. Quick smart.

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Just think about it. Jesus started off his ministry as a lone rabbi in Galilee.

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He then collects people from little Jewish villages to follow him as his

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disciples. But by the time you get to the end of his earthly ministry and

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crucifixion, he's all but abandoned by a few people. Granted after his resurrection

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he appears to over 500 people but then we're told in Acts 1 that those in the

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upper room, well they numbered only around 120. So that growth of 3,000 in

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one day is insane. I mean we've seen wonderful and beautiful growth here in

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the last year at Grace Christian Church. But imagine if you will if we went from

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this little flock in this room this morning to an added 3,000 in a day. We'd

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be needing to think about a whole bunch of things that go along with that. And it

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was the same here with the church in Acts. They were overjoyed that the Lord

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Jesus had added so many to their number that they broke bread in their homes.

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They ate together with glad and sincere hearts we're told. It was an occasion for

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celebration. And church when we see the Lord adding to his people it's always

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something to celebrate. But as we know more people mean more work. It's

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inevitable. Now something to note here. We don't all come from the same walks of

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life and it was the same in the early church. There were some who were very

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wealthy and who had lots so that they could sell all that they had so as to

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help out financially others in the church. And others needed to be assisted

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because not everyone who was saved into the church was materially wealthy. And

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that's fine as we know material status means nothing to God. And so there were

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very generous people in the congregation who knew that about their new found

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brothers and sisters in the Lord and they wanted to love them practically and

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make sure that they were really taken care of. There was a problem and that was

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the sheer number of people who were being daily added to the church. Now the

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problem wasn't the people in and of themselves. No that was and is and always

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will be the most amazing thing when we see people come to the Lord. Bring it on

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we say. The problem was that some in the church namely the widows were starting

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to be neglected because of the incredible rate of growth experienced in

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the church. Now I want you to notice this. The problem of neglect in context was

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between two widow groups. Now we don't have time to go into all of this this

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morning but the Jewish Christians were keenly aware that they serve the God who

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deeply cares about widows and orphans. He deeply cares about them and they must

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never never be neglected. So it seems that the Christians who had that

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background in Judaism were keenly aware of making sure that those who had no

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husband to look after them were looked after by the church. However the

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Hellenistic Jews who were Jews that most likely didn't live in Jerusalem but in

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the surrounding countries hence being Hellenistic or Greek speaking didn't

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receive the same treatment. So for whatever reason they were being

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overlooked in comparison to the widows of the Hebrews. And so we might say here

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that there was a great need for servants of the church to raise up and meet those

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specific circumstances. There was growth and that's amazing the Lord loves to add

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to his church. However the church was keenly aware that providing four people

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physically among them is also very important to our God. Not just for the

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Jewish widows but for all widows that were among them. They knew that looking

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after the vulnerable no matter how big or fast the church was growing was

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extremely important to God and so they had to do something about it. And nothing

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has changed. Nothing's changed. So being aware of this the 12 gathered all the

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disciples to sort the problem out. Now as we're starting to see here the

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problem wasn't that the church was being neglected spiritually but that some were

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starting to be neglected physically. And there was a danger here that they were

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becoming aware of. They were in danger of neglecting the word and prayer so that

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people could be physically provided for. And so instead of just continuing to

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focus on spiritual matters the Apostles those who were responsible for feeding

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and leading the flock looked to hold the two things together. Say it plainly. They

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looked at not neglecting those in need among them because they knew that God

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cares for those in need. However they knew at the same time that they were

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not to neglect the preaching of the word and prayer. We see it right there in

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verses 2 through to 4 of Acts 6. In other words those who were and are

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responsible for serving the church in the ministry of the Word couldn't leave.

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They shouldn't leave that great responsibility in order to meet the

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needs of those among them physically though in no way are physical needs ever

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to be neglected. I mean that's incredible if you think about it. On the one hand

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it lets you know how important the preaching of the Word of God is for the

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people of God. But on the other hand it tells you that people's physical needs

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are important as well. And so those who would be chosen for this great service

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are not just waiters but very much chosen to be put in the position of

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supporting the elders in the ministry of the Word among them. Let me explain what

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I mean by that. Physically helping the people of God is a very important thing

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to do and the Apostles knew that but they also knew that their primary

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responsibility was to teach the people of God, to give themselves over to prayer

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and provide leadership. However because of the sheer growth of the church they

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couldn't do some of those, they were starting to see that there was a danger

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of not being able to do those things they were called for. So they appealed

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to the church for specific men to take on the task of looking after God's people

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in a physical sense so they could continue looking after God's people in a

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spiritual sense. We're starting to see something here. This isn't an either or

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situation and that is so important to understand and apply to us here at Grace

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Christian Church. Brothers and sisters we have to be so careful of not leaning

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one way or the other. I mean if we were all about serving the community of

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Armidale and making ourselves the best community centre that this city has ever

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seen at the expense of neglecting the Word then all we're doing is turning

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ourselves into a social justice club where we don't actually have any good

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news to tell anyone or disciple anyone in. Waving people to hell whom we are

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fed, clothed and watered. Is there a great need in our community? Absolutely and does

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God care about those in need among us and out there in Armidale? Absolutely but

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not at the expense of His Word being neglected because it is the gospel that

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is the power unto salvation for everyone, everyone who believes and faith comes by

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hearing and hearing by the Word. The Word is preached and it is vitally important

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for both the people of God and the community around us. It's vitally

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important. Let's think about it like this. Notice that people don't come to the

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Apostles, present the problem and they say you know people's souls are more

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important than their bodies. Let's just leave them. Let's just see how they

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figure it out. You know she'll be right man. And I know we might find that

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amusing however there could be strong conservative churches that do a great

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job of telling it like it is and and knowing what they know in phenomenal

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ways. Their doctrine is pure. They hold fast to the truth of the gospel. Amen.

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They turn a deaf ear to the people around them because they turn a deaf ear

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to the homeless, the starving in their cities and they're not passionate about

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meeting real concerns with the people around them. In this text we see there is

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a danger and the Apostles beautifully bring out something here. The church can

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become so fixated on doing church that we can become inward-looking and forget

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about people's real physical needs. But neither one of those pictures is

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biblical when it comes to the church. In other words it's not an either-or

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situation. It's a both-and. We proclaim the gospel with boldness. We protect the

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gospel and it is the news of salvation for everyone. However at the same time we

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give our lives and our love to make the gospel known among our own people and to

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those who are in great need with all we say and with all we do. It is a beautiful

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picture and that's what we see here. The Apostles say we're going to give our

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whole attention to the preaching of the gospel but we are going to raise up a

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whole class of office in the church whose fundamental job is going to be to

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serve those real tangible needs that are among us. I hope you can see something

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here brothers and sisters. Deacons they are so much more than waiters. Now they're

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specific men chosen by God. They're confirmed by the people of God chosen to

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meet the needs of people so that the word can still be proclaimed with boldness

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without hindrance. They are a vital part of the ministry of the church. Now as we

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can see in the text before us these seven men aren't called deacons here but

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undoubtedly they act in that role serving the needs of the people so that

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the elders among them could lead the church. It's a beautiful picture of the

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church in action not just in word which was growing the church growing the church

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but indeed which was assisting and loving the people of God with real

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tangible love. It's a beautiful picture we have here. So what are deacons? Well

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they are servants chosen by God for a specific role which are confirmed by

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the people so that they might meet physical needs of people and thus

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support the elders in the ministry of the word. It's what they are and that's

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what they do. To put it plainly deacons are specific servants that serve in a

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specific way. There's more to say on this and it's already been said a couple of

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times this morning. They are so much more than waiters. Now deacons are men who

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hold fast to the truth of the gospel and meet certain Christ-like character

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qualifications. If you have your Bibles let's have a look at 1st Timothy 3

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verses 8 through to 13. We're told in the same way deacons are to be worthy of

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respect, sincere not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They

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must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must

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first be tested and then if there is nothing against them let them serve as

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deacons. In the same way the women or the wives are to be worthy of respect not

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malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must

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be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.

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Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance

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in their faith in Christ Jesus. Now as I said before the Greek that sits under

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the word deaconing is tied to serving and ministering and that's what we all

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do. It's been said wonderfully from this pulpit this morning. That's what we all

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do for one another in the body of Christ. Yet as we've also seen this morning

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certain men are called and put aside to function in the role of deacon. Now the

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way in which this service is carried out varies from time to time and from church

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to church because not all situations are the same for all time. I mean we don't

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have an axe six situation on our hands here this morning I hope. But in saying

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that the qualification of deacon well that's permanent for all time. Permanent.

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And it's here in these few verses that I've just read that we have those

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qualifications spelt out for us. In other words what we have here is what the

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church is to look for in a man who would serve the church in this way. Now I want

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you to note a couple of things here before we have a look at this list. First

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I want you to notice how the passage I just read began with in the same way. Now

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what Paul is focusing in on there is just like the elders of the church the

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deacons are to reflect the character of Christ as well. In other words like

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elders deacons are to be godly self-controlled Christian men qualified

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by their desire to serve and by their embrace of the gospel of the Christian

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faith and their proven character. They desire to serve that's important but

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notice this they're also characterized by a character that's being shaped by

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the grace of the Holy Spirit. And this is evident for the church to see. I want to

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say it like this there's a list of qualifications that the deacon it's kind

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of got to have on his CV so the church can see the grace of God working in that

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man's life and recognize him for that role. Second there are differences with

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the elder in that the deacons are not set aside to lead or to teach. That's a

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role reserved for the elders of the church. As we've seen this morning the

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deacons assist the elders so that they can be given over to prayer and

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preaching while the deacon meets the practical needs of the people. I want to

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illustrate this and it's like walking a tightrope and your grace is the net

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that is under my feet right now. But I like to think about it like a band that

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plays well together to make beautiful music. That means the deacons aren't the

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roadies that kind of linger to the side while the show goes on. I like to think

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they're more like the rhythm section that serve the more frontline instruments

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of melody and voice but are still instrumental to the band. To put that

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another way elders and deacons work together in complementary roles. The

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elders lead the people with the voice while the deacons assist the people with

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the hands. And I think we're meant to have a picture of two ordained officers

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serving the people of God in word and deed and when working together it

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creates a beautiful song for the people of God to sing along with. So with that

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said let's have a quick think about a few things that we've read in these

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verses this morning and I want to make some general comments for your

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consideration. First the deacons need to be honorable men. That means that they

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are genuine authentic men that are not given over to gossip or slander. We also

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want to see that they're controlled meaning they don't flip out in anger or

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have a problem with addiction so as to hinder them from displaying the mercy

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the grace and the love of Christ to all those around them inside and outside the

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church. Second they're to be a sacrificial

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giver. What I mean by that is that they're not looking to the office for

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dishonest gain. As we saw in Acts 6 the role requires that they're going to have

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some part in the distribution of funds and supplies and we don't want someone

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in that role who's lining their own pockets. We are all called all of us to

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be generous people. God wants you and me to be generous with what we have which

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means that the deacons will have a certain amount of responsibility with

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what you give your sacrifices which are given in order to help people. We want to

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be able to see what is given being used in the most God-honoring way. Third

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they're to be devoted to the Word of God. Now as I said before that doesn't mean

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that they have to teach the Word of God but it certainly doesn't mean that they

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shouldn't teach the Word of God either. In fact one of the seven that was named

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this morning if you read on in Acts he goes on to be an evangelist and we see

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that he wonderfully explains to the Ethiopian eunuch who Christ is and how

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one might be saved. And so we want men who are not just in love with people and

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wanting to help them but in love with God and wanting to know him more and

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more and when not if when the opportunities present themselves that

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they're able to lead people to Jesus in a way that is right and true. We all need

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to know the Word of God and we're all called to share that truth with others.

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This includes the deacon however he's not expected to stand up from week to week

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and deliver the Word of God. Fourth and certainly not least he is to be a good

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husband and a good father who leads his children in a godly way. Now church does

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this mean that all these character qualities exist in a man without sin?

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Absolutely not. Otherwise we would have no deacons. In fact you wouldn't have

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elders. If Paul wanted this perfectly figured out the church would have gone

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2,000 years without deacons if it was required that they met all these

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qualifications perfectly. No we're all in the same boat when it comes to sin.

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We're all in the same situation when it comes to pouring our hearts out to God

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when we fall short. When we make mistakes and we all do. The Bible isn't asking for

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perfection here but is giving us the church the elders things to look for in

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a man who is day by day season by season looking more and more like Christ. We're

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not looking for perfection here at Grace Christian Church. That's not the point of

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what Paul has given us here but it is to say when we raise up leaders in this

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church we want men who are working with the grace of God to reflect his glory as

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best as he can. And so we have these things given to us by God so that we can

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know what to look for in certain men among us whom God is raising in our midst

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to serve us in this way. Church I began our time this morning by telling you

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that I essentially wanted to answer just two questions and those two questions

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were simply what is a deacon and what does a deacon do. Well hopefully you've

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seen as we've looked at these passages that have been read out this morning

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that deacons are servants chosen by God for a specific role which are confirmed

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by the people of God so that they might meet the physical needs of people and

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thus support the elders in the ministry of the word. In other words deacons are

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specific servants that serve in a specific way. But I also began our time

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this morning by saying to you that we don't just want to ordain a man among us

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no we want to glorify Christ who is doing his continual work among all of us

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here in this church and in the city of Armidale by making himself known through

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the preaching of the word and through all of us his servants. And so I want to

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leave you with something this morning leave you to ponder this we see it in

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John 13 you might already know the story but towards the end of Christ's earthly

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ministry he washes his disciples feet and then he says to them I'm going to

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give you a new command simply this love one another. Now we might ask the

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question is that really a new commandment well if you know your Bible

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you know what Jesus is doing here he's driving home an Old Testament truth a

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truth that was given to the people of God from the very beginning in Leviticus.

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However what does Jesus go on to say? He doesn't just say love one another he

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goes on to say love one another as I have loved you because of this love

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everyone everyone will know that you are my disciples. In other words as we the

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people of God filled by the Spirit of God live to serve and love one another

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not just in word but in deed we will be witnesses to the world around us that we

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are truly disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this this is a truly

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phenomenal grace a phenomenal grace that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit.

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We are all sorts of people from all sorts of places with all sorts of walks

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of life we come from different backgrounds different economic

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circumstances different experiences different nations different cultures yet

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we all have one Father in heaven we all have one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we

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all have one Holy Spirit we've all been gathered as the people of God through

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the life death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we've all been gathered

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in him because of the grace of God alone the grace of God alone his unmerited

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favor on us alone but there's more right now in this very place in this very

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community right where you sit this morning there is a love that's being

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poured out by God's Holy Spirit that goes deeper than any physical bond it is

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truly by the grace of God that any of this has come about it is the Lord Jesus

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Christ we need to hear this this morning it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has been

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pleased to add us to his church so that we might shine a light in this world

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brothers and sisters the deacons they take the command of that love and they

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work at making it visible in the life of the church they are men who are raised

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up among us who lead us in showing what tangible love to the congregation

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really looks like so that we might learn that we might love and that we might

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witness to the world around us our Lord Jesus makes it clear and we see it in

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the gospel love is tangible the gospel isn't God telling us he loves us alone

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he's shown us he's shown us in the Lord Jesus the love of God for his people is

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tangible and in God's kindness he raises deacons to give us a picture of that

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gospel centric sacrificial love as I've said this morning already the deacon is

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vital to the fellowship of believers he complements and he supports the elders

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in the ministry of prayer and the preaching of the word and church we are

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so blessed that God has given us a man in this local congregation to help us in

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this a specific servant to serve us in a specific way let's pray

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Father God we began our time this morning by asking that you would hold

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the Lord Jesus Christ high among us and so that we would look to him and we

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thank you that the gospel is something a love that is so tangible a mark in

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history a real-life event that we can look to and see both your wrath on our

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sin and your love poured out simultaneously father we thank you for

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the Lord Jesus there are no words to express there is no worse to express the

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Lord Jesus father you are a good awesome God we ask that you would please use

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this community that we would love one another in the way that you would want

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us to love each other and that we would be witnesses to this world around us

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Lord we know there are many going to hell around us please use this church

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for your glory and for the sake of Jesus in his name we pray amen