1. What is God’s will for my life? That’s a common question.
• What am I on this earth for? How can I make a difference?
• We know the Bible says…
Jer. 29.11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
SO OUR PRAYERS ARE OFTEN, “What are THOSE thoughts Lord? What is my future? Am I going in the right direction?”
• How might I obey you? In what you’ve called me to accomplish in my family, in my generation, in my life!
• That’s the heart of a Christian… Of YOU & ME?
Our hearts long to be used of God and to see our lives make a difference in this world for Him… And so often they do!
NOTE: The pastoral epistles are key books for the Christian…
• IN them we get the definitions & descriptions of the spiritual man, the spiritual woman growing up in the Lord.
• So the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is still relevant to all of us, regardless of our age.
• We’re all growing up in the Lord…
NOW When you ask children that question, you’ll hear…
• I’ll be a doctor, a lawyer, a veterinarian, construction worker.
• OR a fireman, a police officer, a Baseball player, a
• In that list of dreams & desires, never do we hear, “I just want to be a servant.”
• No kid really wants to grow up to be a servant… a slave. Why?
• There’s no power. There’s no prestige.
• A servant doesn’t get a lot of attention, a lot of praise.
• It’s not often that we hear of an AWARD WINING servant.
• Or a TV show called “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous’s Servants”
• It’s just not the way of the world gang… But Listen to Jesus.
Jesus… the greatest, the first above all others, shares with us the key in life… the way to be first, is to be the servant of all.
• Look at Mark 10:42ff
NOW THIS WEEK’S STUDY is a companion to last week’s, a Part 2 of “Looking for Leaders”.
• We started out looking at the role of “elder, pastor, overseer”
• We’ll finish that this morning and then move on into looking at the role of deacons – Spiritual Servants in the Church.
• But don’t let the titles throw you, they are both vital roles in the ministry and essential to the health of any church.
• PICK UP WITH 3:1… summarize them…
1. (3) Not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome.
a. So he can’t be a guy pushing people around, arguing, causing strife. IT just doesn’t work that way!
b. There’s nothing uglier than to watch a servant of the Lord strive and fight, and hurt others…
c. So the elder, the pastor, the overseer reflects the gentleness of the Lord Jesus Christ… a peacemaker.
2 Timothy 2.24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
2. (3) Not greedy for money, not covetous.
a. These speak to the motives of the man… why is he overseeing
b. Not covetous, not always wanting more but is content.
c. Let’s turn to John 21.15-17
d. Feed them, don’t feed on them.
e. Tend them, don’t take advantage of them.
f. Nourish them, don’t neglect them for yourself.
3. (4-5,7) Rules his own house well.
a. The church of God is a family… brothers & sisters in Lord.
b. SO How’s your home? Your family? Your Kids?
c. The validation of your ministry will not be in your degrees, or your GPA, but it will be in your home.
d. Now be careful… it doesn’t mean that your kids will be perfect, sparkling examples 100% of the time.
e. They will make mistakes and test the waters…
f. But is your home in order, following the Lord? That’s key.
SO IF you REALLY WANT to know about me in the ministry, don’t listen to the CD’s or tapes, or even watch me here… talk to my wife.
• She’s taking names on her waiting list right now.
And it’s not just home either… look at v7…
• A good testimony among those who are on the outside.
• What do your co-workers think? What will your boss say of you?
• Do you pay your bills? Are you on time and trustworthy?
• Will they claim you’re a hypocrite?
4. (6) Not a novice.
a. The idea here is that they need to be spiritually mature.
b. Launching someone into a place of leadership too early can easily & quickly, & often permanently, destroy him…
c. It’s easy to get puffed up and begin to believe all the good things people say about you.
d. PASTORAL PRIDE has destroyed countless men.
e. AND on the other side, it’s easy to become easily discouraged when people say all the bad things about you.
f. It takes a spiritually mature person to resist the pride and resist the self-condemnation and walk in consistent service.
II. (3:8-16) DEACONS
1. (8) Likewise deacons…
a. Now the role of deacons in the church is one of service.
b. While the elder, the overseer takes more of an oversight role spiritually, the deacon’s focus is service.
c. NOW Next to DEACON you can write, “one who waits tables”, or “an attendant”, or “someone who runs errands”
d. Right away, you’ll notice that the position of deacon is highly needed and highly favored in the church.
e. Like Jesus said, it’s great to be a servant…
f. We’re first introduced to the role of deacons back in Acts 6 as there arose a dispute among the widows there…
SO WITH great growth, comes growing pains… the church is on the verge of a serious division!
• But they face the problem head on and appoint ‘deacons’ to bring unity and peace to the situation.
• The BODY problem was given to the BODY to resolve.
• So what does the deacon do?
• He facilitates, he designates, he accommodates, serving in often unseen roles giving his life / her life for others.
SO MUCH IS involved with the overseeing, the teaching, the pastoring of the church… that there are those who are called to serve in the practical things of the church… the deacons.
2. (8) Reverent, not double-tongued.
a. Elders & Deacons are those that say things… often in the context of pointing others to Jesus Christ.
b. If you’re not respectful and don’t take spiritual things seriously, then your words will betray you.
Luke 6.45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
3. (8-9) Not given to MUCH wine, not greedy for money.
a. Again a high standard on alcohol and how he carries himself.
b. Is he in it for the money? Or even some personal gain.
c. Can he rest at night with a clean conscience, knowing that he has done all that God has enabled him to do.
NOTE: DEACONS are vital in the church, the multitudes of servants.
• We tend to categorize & elevate certain ministries…
• “That’s the best place. Oh I wish I was doing that.”
• But here the call of the servant, the table server, the chair stacker, the greeter, the usher, the coffee preparer… is high.
• Any ministry in the church is a service to the people of God.
• Every Ministry among the family is used to elevate Jesus Christ.
• And the qualities that God is desiring are high… and might I add, attainable.
APP: I DON’T BELIEVE IT WAS GOD’S HEART to include this section so that many of you would be discouraged & never want to serve.
• OH my struggle here… can’t do it.
• Oh, my weakness there… can’t do it.
• Oh, I can’t ever get to that place… I’m just going to sit here and not move an inch. Forget it!
• NO, we see these areas so that we might pray, and attack, and crucify, and rely on the Holy Spirit.
APP: I know I’m talking directly to some of you right now.
• You’re been in a holding pattern for too long now.
• It’s time to get up and give yourself to the Lord in service.
• To address some of these issues that are highlighted.
• To go forward without delay… running with the baton!
• Holding the mystery of the faith with a clean conscience.
4. (10) Tested!
a. Timothy, watch them and watch their life.
b. Don’t launch them into service right away, but give it some time so that you might see their manner of life.
c. Assign a few tasks here and there and watch how they do.
d. Will they stick around? Is there commitment in their life?
e. Later in 5:22, Paul says. “Do not lay hands on anyone hastily…”
AND SO MANY OF YOU know already that we ask that you wait 6 months before really committing to serving in the ministry here.
• So your decision isn’t one of haste or obligation, but one that comes from the clear leading of the Holy Spirit.
• That gives you time to seek the Lord for this new fellowship.
• It gives you time to settle in and settle down and get the feel of what God is doing through the ministry here.
• But it also gives us time to get to know you, watch you, hang out with you so that these characteristics might be made evident.
• So we’re cautious in this area, knowing that we’re told to let the deacons first be tested… and found blameless.
5. (11) Wives be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful.
a. Now the word Paul uses for wives, is actually the word for woman in the NT.
b. It’s the same word Jesus used when He spoke with the woman that was caught in adultery.
c. SO, many have concluded that this is a reference to the role of deaconess.
d. Women who meet the practical needs of the fellowship…
e. And throughout our church there are countless faithful women serving, blessing the Lord and the church!
f. Women like Phoebe who Paul mentions in Romans…
Romans 16:1 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,
And the qualities are the same… reverent, not slanderous or a gossip. Temperate, even tempered… faithful in all things.
6. (12) Rule their own house well…
a. Again, the home life is important for the elder, pastor, overseer, and in the lives of the servants, the deacons.
b. It is NEVER OK to neglect your family, to serve the family of God. It’s counterproductive to the will of God.
7. (13) Obtain Good Standing
a. Now, as you serve and you give and you watch the Lord work wonders in your midst… you receive this good standing.
b. There is that respect & admiration for those that are faithful in the ministry and have set the example.
c. That’s why not a new convert can serve here.
d. That’s why he or she must first be tested.
e. But not only a good standing with man, more so, a good standing with God.
f. The faithful servant is laying up for himself treasures in heaven!
8. (13) Great Boldness.
a. With that good standing before God & man comes this powerful boldness in the things of God.
b. It’s true, faithful service imparts a vital boldness and confidence in your life.
c. Look at Stephen in Acts 7-8, the church’s first martyr.
d. He began as a deacon serving tables in Acts 6.
e. Then there is Phillip, the great evangelist… where did he start? Serving tables alongside of Stephen.
f. AND Even Timothy, the pastor in Ephesus, started out serving alongside Paul as his assistant, his servant.
III. (3:14-16) IMPORTANT CHARGE
1. (14-15) I hope to come soon.
a. So Paul writes these things because he’s not there.
b. He wants to be there, but until he arrives, Timothy this is it.
c. These are the ingredients for a healthy, growing, and effective church.
THE CHURCH, the house of God.
• It’s not the building is it, as some would suspect today.
• The church, it’s you and me, together, the family of God.
• Yes we meet here locally, but then the church spans out into all the Denver Metro area and beyond throughout the week.
THE CHURCH is a group of ‘called out ones.’
• The Greek word here is: ‘ekkleisa’ 115 times in the NT
• ‘a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into a public place.’
• We are members of the church because Jesus Christ has called us out of the world, into the public place, the church!
1 Cor. 1.2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
• Wow! I’m a part of the Body of Christ. I’m in His church!
• Thank you Lord for saving my soul, thanking You Lord for making me whole.
NOW… Jesus said He would build it…
Matthew 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Saul of Tarsus tried to destroy it…
Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
But it’s increased all the more and we are in His church today!
AND it’s His church that is the PILLAR & GROUND of truth.
• OH How OUR WORLD NEEDS STABILITY & TRUTH.
• It doesn’t come in the opinion polls of man, does it?
• It’s not what’s hip and current, the latest fads in society.
• It’s not the talk shows, the experts, the professionals that give stability as pillars, and offer direction in the truth.
• It’s in the church, with Jesus at the head!
• And the church, is you and me… abiding in the Lord.
FINALLY… v16…
• By the time we end this chapter, some might be disappointed.
• You look at the lists. You look at your life. You compare and find just how far you fall short.
• How can I be godly? How can I do what God has asked?
• Know Jesus… God manifested in the flesh. Put your faith in Him.
NOTE: God, became man… the doctrine of the INCARNATION.
• By the time that John wrote his letters, there was already those in the church who denied the deity of Jesus, that He is God!
• He was justified in the Spirit, as the Spirit of God descened there at the water baptism of Jesus.
• Seen by angels… they will testify to his awesome power.
• Preached among the Gentiles… and believed upon!
• Finally he ascended into heaven to return again soon.
• There’s no controversy here, not argument. Jesus is who He said He is and worthy of all our commitment and love.
How do I? How can I? Look to Jesus, He’s your strength!
• Follow Jesus, He’s your example. Trust Jesus, He’s your help!
• Let’s close with John 15
