Coming in at number eight in Pastor Jim's top
ten hymns that he wrote these sermons to, come
ye thankful people, come. And it's in that last
verse that it talks about that we are safely
to abide. And that's so important, I think, for
us to understand that our greatest hope in life
is that we are abiding in Christ. Let me just
put that there for a minute. And for some of
you, there might be a tension growing because
that might not be your perspective. Your perspective
might not be that the thing that I long for most
in life is to abide in Christ. Christ. You may
have so many other things that you go, no, no,
no, no. But on this earth, this is what I want
most in my life. A loving spouse, a family, a
home, a job. You can list. And all of those are
blessings. We're going to try not to overdo it,
but it is about blessings this month. And that
is all good stuff. But unless we are abiding
in Christ, this one may offend. none of that
matters. And you go, wait a minute, time out,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out. How can you
say that? Because if we think about it, that
if I am a believer, if I believe in Christ and
he is the definition of my life, then that should
impact how I am a husband and a father and a
pastor, how I can be a baseball coach in the
Munster Little League, how I can, and we can
put all of those blessings in that. Being a believer
should impact all of those things. When we abide
in Christ, we can do whatever Christ has called
us to do. Apart from me, you can do nothing.
Jesus reminds them when he does, I am the vine
and you are the branches. It's all about being
attached to the vine. And for some of us today,
That attachment is strong. That you have a devout,
faithful relationship with Jesus. You're abiding
in Christ. Just like that last verse talks about,
that abiding in Christ is the most important
thing. That should be the perspective of life.
But as we're going to see, even now, six chapters
in. Five in the start of the church, because
chapter one in the book of Acts kind of is a
preparatory time. Jesus ascends. He says, wait
for the Holy Spirit. But now we're five chapters
into the start of the church. And that hymn we
sang isn't really about crops, right? I'm sorry
if that offends any farmers that we have, though
they are important. Substitute the word crops
for our hearts. Thankfulness. Blessing. It's
a fruit of faith. When we realize that everything
we have comes from God's grace, then gratitude,
seeing those blessings, defining them as such,
naturally turns into service. If God has given
me, I ought to forgive. I should also give. As
God has forgiven me, I ought to forgive. You
see how that works? You see how our blessings
turn into call of actions every day in our life?
And Acts 6, the early church, will again face
a new challenge. We've seen them. But it's not
persecution from the outside today. It's tension
that grows inside. Welcome to Church Drama 101.
Growth brings problems. We've felt that here.
Right? Growth can bring problems. But here, it's
different than what they're dealing with. Food
isn't being distributed fairly in chapter 6,
and some widows are being overlooked. Instead
of ignoring the issue or fracturing a part, the
apostles lead on two things, gratitude and wisdom.
Gratitude that they have this opportunity to
speak wisdom from Jesus. We get that from Matthew
28, teaching them everything I have commanded
you. This fits in that. They appoint deacons
to serve so that the word of God can continue
to spread. So what this passage we're going to
break down, we're going to go almost verse by
verse, teaches us that a thankful church is a
serving church. Gratitude isn't just a feeling,
but it's a way of life. So let's dive into that
tension. We're going to start with verse 1. Diving
into the tension that growth brings. Growth brings
tension. How do I know? I've been pastoring a
church that has been growing double digits year
after year, and it's tension. We have new ideas.
We have new people. For some of you, we're getting
away from who we were back in the 1920s. And
all of these things, though the call has never
changed, the gospel has never changed, the way
church is done can change. It can shift. It can
change. In some ways, it can adapt. Ooh, pastor,
I don't know if the church has adapted. The church
adapts. We're actually going to just watch it
do it in chapter 6. We saw it twice in chapter
5. We saw it in chapter 4. The church does adapt.
It never compromises, but it adapts. Gratitude
and thankfulness is always in the beginning.
So verse 1, growth brings tension. Now in these
days when the disciples were increasing in number,
a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the
Hebrews because their widows were being neglected
in the daily distribution. Just leave that up
there, Micah. Part of the church's role was daily
distribution of food. The early church was all
about everybody, no matter their status, no matter
their nationality, we're all one in Christ starting
in the same level. You see, in those days, the
numbers were increasing. Growth here, we can
see, is a blessing. But it also brings complexity.
Guys, look around. You guys know I'm not good
at numbers, but the elders are constantly looking
at what our Sunday numbers are for church. That's
part of what the elders do, not numbers for numbers'
sake, right? And some of them have to count and
all that kind of stuff, and some have to take
their shoes off, and that's fine, but understand
that... numbers when we grow in the sanctuary,
there is kind of a rule called the 80 % rule,
right? The 80 % rule says that if you are constantly
in over 80%, your church may look so full that
new visitors or guests may choose not to find
a seat and leave because they don't believe there's
room. And if that is something that we continue
to see, we're not there yet, right? But I am
going to put yet because we're seeing our average
grow. There's complexity to it. Where are we
going to go? What are we going to do? All of
those questions can come to the surface and you
have elders and deacons and staff that have to
deal with it every day so you guys don't have
to. Growth brings complexity. The Hellenists,
which is basically just Greek -speaking disciples,
the widows felt neglected compared to the Hebraic
or the Israelite widows. This isn't anything
about prejudice, but this was a kind of a cultural
oversight. What can we pull from that? Who started
the church? It was the Israelites, right? It
was the disciples of Jesus. They were Jews. Now
you had some other groups coming. Right? This
is all one in Christ. This is all part of the
way. Christianity, the word, won't start for
a couple hundred years. But this is the people
of the way. All of a sudden, people that were
kind of like them were getting the first fruits
of things, the distribution, the food was running
out, and those that were not like them were not
getting fed. Gratitude doesn't ignore problems.
It faces them with humility and love. This could
have caused a lot of tension. One of the things
that I can't stand about the church in the United
States is the amount of schisms that we have.
What is a schism? Does anyone want to tell me
what a schism is? It's a fun word to say, especially
up here. Schism. What? Fracture, right? So if
you break a bone, Rick, do we say, man, you schismed
your knee? No, you talk about a different kind
of fracture. Go deeper. What do you mean? Thank
you. You sent it over here. Right? Good job.
Division. Schisms. A division. A breaking. You
have something going. It's schisms. It's a group
of people, not Rick's knee. Right? That just
breaks. But understand that it's schisms, and
it starts something new. Okay? One of the things
we do, and we'll do in the Connections class
on the 11th, is we go back to the great schism.
For a lunch and a conversation with Pastor Jim,
catechism teachers can't answer, what is the
great schism and when was it? I guarantee I'm
keeping that lunch for myself, aren't I? Does
anyone know what the great schism was? Micah
up top. Man, if you had a mic, I'd say drop it,
but you're up in the balcony. That would hurt
people down here. So 1054, Micah, that's a nice
lunch. We're going to do that one, right? We
will do that. It's the schism between the Catholic
Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Many different
reasons why they schism. And I hate to say it
this way, this was much bigger than just churches
that schism because of pews and chairs, right,
which do happen, unfortunately. But understand,
this was the great schism of 1054, and it birthed
the Catholic Church away from the Orthodox Church,
the Eastern Orthodox Church. So this is the great
schism for a variety of different reasons we're
not going to get into today. But understand that
they start a new path for each. And what we do
is we go then through the Protestant Reformation.
We call it that, but there were schisms there.
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, all of those that were
starting the Protestant Reformation, which was
a breaking off, a schism off of the Catholic
Church for a variety of reasons, mainly the five
solas, right? How many people know the five solas,
right? The five truths? Do I want to go through
those together? Seminarian, five solas? Go. Grace
alone. Faith alone. Christ alone. Scripture alone.
For the glory of God alone. You get extra credit
to a school I don't work at. But understand that
they said we're going to unify on those five
things against the Catholic Church. And in there
we do end up finding our Reformed Church. We
find our Christian Reformed Church. I could keep
going, but I'm not going to. Schisms and division
happen all the time with groups of people. Sometimes
it is a good thing, and sometimes it's just church
drama. So the apostles need to be wise in their
response. The apostles respond in verses 2 through
4. The apostles respond from this growing tension.
So starting with verse 2. It's coming up. In
3. Two, one. And the twelve summoned the full
number of the disciples and said, It is not right
that we should give up preaching the word of
God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick
out among you seven men of good repute, full
of the spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint
to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to
prayer and the ministry of the word. So this
is the apostles, what I'm calling the wise response.
The apostles don't get in here. The apostles
don't get what I wrote, defensive. I'm going
to put this in kind of elders, deacons conversation
because we have elders and deacons here. That
there are times people can come and they can
either email, text, talk to an elder about things
they don't like at church. Unfortunately, it
happens a lot, almost weekly. And the thing that
an elder can't do is get super defensive right
off the bat. That's not helpful. Just like it's
not helpful in your marriage, just like it's
not helpful if you're dating someone, just like
it's not helpful with your boss, or if you are
the boss with your workers. If people bring something
that is going on, an issue that they have, and
we immediately get defensive, we shut down all
opportunities for reconciliation. But the apostles,
the elders, they don't get defensive or dismissive,
because we can get dismissive as well. They recognize
their calling, prayer and the ministry of the
word, and they appoint others to meet the physical
needs. Now, there are some of you that I'm sure
are reading this going, they just passed the
buck. They should have been doing the work. Why
in the world could they not do both? It's one
of the same reasons why I am the pastor of the
church, though I sit as an elder of the church.
Elders have different roles than I do. It's why
I'm not a deacon. Because there's only 40 hours
in a work week. Ministry is more like 55. But
understand, I can't do everything just like the
expectation isn't for you to do everything. That
the church is given offices for people to oversee
the serving of the church. The diaconate is no
different. You see, this is the origin of it.
To make sure that people are treated fairly.
To make sure that people are not overlooked.
To make sure that all people have a system of
help that they can receive from the church. And
we didn't even do this. We didn't even plan for
the fact that we were giving to benevolence today
as we went through that. I love my deacons, my
worship committee, and myself. We're not that
smart. to be able to put all of that together.
But I think it's amazing. We gave our offering
today for the Benevolent Fund, which is exactly
what the deacons are going to be tasked to do
in Acts chapter 6. You see, the Belgic Confession,
article 30, tells us and uses a word, right,
that God ordains ministers, elders, and deacons
so that true religion may be preserved, the true
doctrine everywhere. Probe, why can't I say that
word? Propagated, thank you. And the poor and
the distressed assisted. Right there, the offices
of the church. Now, the call of the deacon, there's
a little bit of a deacon in all of us in that.
The deacons are there to make sure that we are
good stewards of our time, our talents, and our
treasures. Our deacons do a great job. Gratitude
here, what we see in the growth and the tension
that we need to have gratitude for, leads to
order, not chaos. Order allows mission to flourish.
Where we have order, where we have things working
and going, that God can use that. Isn't it hard
when you feel chaotic in life that things aren't
going awry, God isn't using us for anything?
Because one of the things God wants you to do
is start. Focusing in on him. Pause for a minute.
Focus on what is going on. So what are the qualifications
of the seven? We put qualifications for elder
and deacon at times in the CRC on these high,
unreachable places. If that was the case, none
of us would ever be called to them. But it's
pretty simple, just like how they picked for
Judas' seat. Someone who walked with Jesus, heard
his message, saw him die, saw him raise, saw
him ascend. That was it. It's not, oh, you went
to this seminar, you went to this training, you
did all these things. Let's see what the qualifications
were. The qualifications. Therefore, brothers,
pick out from among you seven men of good repute,
full of spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint
to this duty. Be of good repute. Have a good
reputation. When people think about these individuals,
oh, they're gossips. Oh, they're swindlers. Oh,
they're liars. Oh, they're whatever. No, when
you think of these people, they go, yeah, they're
solid. That's basically it. Full of the Spirit
and of wisdom. How do we do that in 2025? They
lead their family in the church. That's it. It's
not some deep theological thing because God doesn't
call the prepared. He prepares the called. God's
the one doing the work. The apostles seek men
of good repute, full of spirit and wisdom. Service
is not a secondary work, but it's a spiritual
work. It's a work we all have. We are all called
to this work. You see, the thanksgiving we see,
the gratitude we see for the church being provided
for by the Holy Spirit, in this calling, those
who recognize grace and are eager to extend it.
It's a beautiful thing. Right? It's not we have
to keep all of our money, we can't spend all
of our money, we have to be tight. Being tight
and being good stewards are two different things.
But understand that the deacons have that specific
role. And what do they do? They bless them. They
lay their hands on them as part of the anointing.
We do the same thing every summer after we cast
lots. The laying on of hands we see in verse
5 and 6. And what they said pleased the whole
gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full
of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip,
and Proteus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parameus,
and Nicolaus, a prophylite. I can't speak today.
Holy cow. Of Antioch. These they set before the
apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands
on them. They didn't go to seminary. They didn't
go to deacon school. What did they do? They were
men of good repute and they were recognized.
Prayer marks the ministry with gratitude. We
thank God for that. In this church, we thank
God for that. Every time we cast lots and we
pray and we lay our hands on them, we do that
as a commissioning, as an anointing, as an ordination
of the Spirit. Belgian Confession, Article 31.
Church leaders are chosen by a lawful election
of the church with prayer and good order. It's
not just, oh, the duchiest last name gets it
or they've been in the church the longest so
they win. I guarantee you when I make those phone
calls to the elders and deacons, especially first
-time guys, and I've said this before, I'll say
it again, and I let them know why I'm calling,
there's usually an elongated pause where I have
to ask, Like, press a button if you're still
alive. I guarantee it's not because they're running
around their house going, I won! I won! I won!
How many of you did that when I've called you
over the last seven years? Exactly. There's a
weight there. It's a responsibility. But it's
a good one. Because a good God is leading the
church in good order. So what is the result?
The result is verse 7. And the word of God continued
to increase, and the number of the disciples
multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great
many of priests became obedient to the faith.
The word of God continued to increase. Here's
a rub. Here's... Right now, we have churches,
and I'm just going to talk about Class of Leanne.
I'm just going to talk about the CRC, right?
Christian Reformed Church, our denomination.
We're in a class. It's a group of now 16 churches.
That we have some churches that have gotten to
a point where they can't call elders and deacons
because they just don't have enough people or
those people are not able to serve anymore. And
that's why our denomination talks about sitting
down and having conversations with those churches
going, maybe the season of being a church is
over. And you talk about a conversation that
rarely goes well, it's those ones. Maybe you're
sitting here today because you were a part of
those at one time in your church life. And over
the years, you found your way to Munster Church.
Another reason why members of Munster Church,
we need to be thankful, grateful, humble, and
slightly terrified of what God is doing here.
Because you want to know a mark of a church no
longer being a church? That there's no more people
that can serve. That's a tension. I can feel
it. Me just saying it to us right now. Because
the word of God continued to increase. The organization
didn't stifle the spirit. It strengthened it.
The spirit strengthened the work of this church
to go deeper and wider. Why? Because it was met
with gratitude and it turned a conflict into
a celebration. And everybody was distributed
fairly. Now, we're going to see, are there other
conflicts that arise? Absolutely. But what is
the Lord doing? The Holy Spirit is crafting the
church to be done in good order. And we need
to be thankful for that. Now, what does good
order mean? It doesn't mean everything that the
church does you're going to like. It doesn't
mean you get your way with every decision that
the church makes. It doesn't mean you get to
put down some I've been here this many decades
card that means anything in light of what a council
and congregation are voting or whatever to do.
Because that's you making the church about you.
We've not seen that outside of Ananias and Sapphira
a couple weeks ago, and we all know how that
ended. They died. If it's not a wake -up call
to all of us, That we need to come with a posture
to church, not of egotistical -ism, if you will,
making it about us. Not with agenda. But how
are we supposed to walk this out? It's supposed
to be walked out in gratitude. That gratitude
grows when we serve. Thankful hearts find expression
in humble hands. Let me say that again. Thankful
hearts find expression in humble hands. We serve
not to be seen, but because God has served us
in Christ. So if one of your blessings is gratitude,
keep it up. Let that be the driving force of
your life. And play it out for a minute. What
if you lived a life of gratitude in every aspect
of your life? That every morning you showed gratitude
to your spouse because they are in your life.
How would that drastically change your relationship?
That you show gratitude for your children. If
the Lord has blessed you with those, there's
gratitude for that. Though they drive you crazy,
there's gratitude for that. Coming to a church,
do you have gratitude when you come to church?
Are you sharing that gratitude? Second, that
spiritual leadership includes practical care.
The early church didn't separate prayer and service.
They combined them. Both are. We'll never be
a church that prays that the needs of people
are met, yet not try to walk in that. Are we
going to do it perfectly? No, because we're sinners
and we're not capable of perfection. But what
we are capable of is thankful expressions of
service. Third, diversity is a gift to be stewarded.
The tension between the Hellenists and the Hebrews
became an opportunity for unity. Right? It's
fun to say. It's probably not that fun to hear.
But it's true. That the tension became an opportunity
for unity. That's why as elders and deacons,
when there's tension in the church, we can't
get offended. We can't go on the defensive. We
have to understand why. Because we are serving
people. Gratitude sees differences as blessings,
not threats. Let me say that as I start landing
the plane. Gratitude sees differences as blessings,
not threats. Well, pastor, I really want to go
to a church where we're all the same. We all
look the same. We all sound the same. We all
do the same things. We smell the same. Nope.
Then this isn't the church for you. Because here
we want to celebrate that diversity. Because
all of our roads to Jesus aren't the same. They're
not. Yet what is the same? That ground right
before the cross. It's level, and that's where
we all meet each other. The tension between these
two groups were an opportunity for unity. That
tension can unify. When I sit down with a couple,
whether premarital or marriage counseling, and
again, I don't know everything. I did go to school
for it, so it helps. And I have a couple, especially
a premarital couple. I may have used this before.
It was a couple years ago. I think I was actually,
no, I was here. It was one of my first two weddings.
I'm not going to say that because people are
going to look it up. But it was a couple, right,
that I was working with here. And I remember
I came in. I said, so it was maybe second or
third meeting. And I said, so when's the last
time you guys fought? And they just kind of looked
at me and they're like, Pastor, we don't fight.
And I was like, well, you just lied to me. And
they're like, what? I go, what do you mean? We
don't fight. I go, no, you do. Tell me about
the last time you fought. And they like doubled
down. It was hilarious. They're like, we don't
fight. And so I was like, okay, trying to think
on my feet. When's the last time you had a disagreement?
Told me 13 things in the last week. I said, that's
a fight. And they're like, well, we just don't,
we don't call them fights. We don't like to use
that language. And that's fine. We just call
it disagreements. And they told me about one
and they didn't talk for a day. I'm like, okay,
I don't care what you call it, but this is how
do you work through conflict in your relationship.
They're like, oh, I guess it was a fight. We
all do it. And I don't know about you, but when
I have time, when I make Carrie mad, because
that's more time than the other way around, you
all agree, don't say amen, but understand, you
grow closer to that person through that, right?
When your guard is down or you're being vulnerable
and talking about where you're hurt or where
you're hurting and the other person is valuing
that and meeting you in that place, doesn't that
tie you closer together? And for some reason,
for some of you this morning, and it might be
the case, you go, okay, this really hurts because
we actually go like this more. And I'm going
to ask you to text me or email or call me today
so we can set you up with potentially counseling
from me or somebody else because that's not the
way to do it. As believers, when we have disagreement
and we just continue to go there, there are two
things that are happening. We're not recognizing
that we are offering part of the conflict and
we're not forgiving. That doesn't mean you come
right back like this. It takes time. But understand
that with that division, with that tension, unity
can be what happens at the end. We can grow closer
because of that. Fourth, the delegation is discipleship.
Let me say that again. Gratitude releases control
because it trusts God's provision through his
people. God is providing the needs of the church.
Providing for the needs of the church through
his people. people. In the Old Testament, how
did God do that for the Israelites coming out
of Egypt? Manna from heaven, quail. He provided
it. Here in the church, we're going to provide
it one for another. And then last one, and the
plane has landed. Thankful churches grow stronger.
If we can be a church that is truly thankful
for what God is doing in our lives and the lives
of the church. And yes, thankfulness means That
has to grow higher than your problems and your
issues that you have. Because if you're going
to center on those, you're making it about you.
This church has never been about you. It's never
been about me. It's always been about Jesus,
155 years. Some years more than others. But gratitude
creates unity. Unity creates witness. And witness
advances the gospel. Let me say that again. Gratitude
creates unity. Unity creates witness. And witness
advances. The gospel. That's why we're a church.
Elders, deacons, committees, lighthouse teachers,
everyone. It's about advancing the gospel of
the church. And that takes unity through thanksgiving.
Recognizing each other as blessings. Please stand
if you are able. And as we do, we are going to
close with that prayer together. Let us pray
together. Gracious God, you have given us everything
we need. Teach us to serve with grateful hearts
and joyful hands. Thank you for calling leaders,
elders, and deacons to build your church. Fill
us with your spirit so that thankfulness would
overflow into service. Let your word increase
in us and through us. In Jesus' name, amen.