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Of our deacons.

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And it's been a while since
we've touched on the subject of what

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a deacon is.

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And there are only two offices
found in the New Testament in a church.

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That's the office of a pastor.

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The Bible refers to the office
of a pastor as pastor or bishop or

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elder, all the same office,
just different aspects or different

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dimensions of the pastoral ministry.

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And then the office of a deacon.

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And in 1 Timothy chapter 3,
and we'll begin reading there, maybe

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verse 7.

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Let's begin.

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In verse 8 we see the
requirements of a deacon.

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So we're going to be in two
places tonight.

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We're going to be here in 1
Timothy 3.

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And then we'll turn over to
Acts chapter 76 and cover that.

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Look there with me.

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1 Timothy 3 8.

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Likewise must the deacons be
grave, not double tongued, not given

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to much wine, not greedy of
filthy lucre, holding the mystery

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of faith and pure conscience.

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And let these also first be proved.

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Then let them use the office
of a deacon.

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Being found blameless, even so
must their wives be grave, not slanderous,

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sober.

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Not sober as in drunk, just to
kind of let you guys know, faithful

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in all things.

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Let the deacons be the
husbands of one wife, ruling their

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children in their own house as well.

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For they that have used the
office of a deacon well purchase

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to themselves a good degree
and great boldness in the faith which

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is in the Lord Jesus or in
Christ Jesus, these things write

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I unto you, hoping to come
unto thee shortly.

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All right, let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, as we look
tonight to make some nominations

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for deacons and for trustees,
I pray God that you would give wisdom

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and Lord, we would see once
again the importance of this office.

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And Lord, I pray God it would
never be taken for granted.

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Lord, we thank you and we love you.

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In Jesus name, amen.

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As you think about the office
of a deacon, we think about the qualifications.

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The term deacon means servant.

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It means servant.

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As you look throughout this
particular list of requirements,

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you see that he must be grave,
he must be honorable or honest.

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It says not double tongued.

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It means not telling a
different story, always being honest

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and telling the truth or not
telling the same story to the audience

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in one place one way and then
going to another audience and telling

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the story a different way.

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Because I've never seen
anybody ever do that before.

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Politicians.

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I'm referring to politicians.

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Y'all didn't get that?

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I wasn't referring to our deacons.

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Brother James doesn't do that.

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So not double tongued.

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We see politicians do it all
the time.

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Greedy of filthy lucre.

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And again, not given to greed.

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Blameless.

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That means above reproach, not slanderous.

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Again, not false accusers.

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And devilish.

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They are to be faithful.

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And that's a pretty easy word.

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Trustworthy.

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True.

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Talks about them ruling their
own house.

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Ruling their own house.

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Standing before presiding, to
practice, to maintain their own home.

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It really, again, has to do
with maintaining and ruling their

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house and providing a good
home for their wife and kids and

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that they are able to have
their children, you know, halfway

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decent.

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Never seen that before either,
have we.

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I'm going to tell one story
because it also says this of a pastor.

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And I think a pastor or deacon
ought to be able to rule their own

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house.

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Well, that would be an example
of a dad.

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Hello.

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Example of a dad.

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Example of a godly Christian dad.

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A godly Christian husband.

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I'll never forget I met a
pastor years ago.

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This was a long, long time ago.

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None of y'all would ever know
who this guy is.

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And he took a church, small
church in the country, and right

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away they had a little boy who
was probably three or four.

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Right away, this little boy,
when dad was preaching, they're talking

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about an auditorium that
wasn't, you know, the size of the

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coffee shop, you know, 30 by 50.

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He just let that little boy
run around during the service.

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Just run around like a heathen.

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And I'm telling you, over a
period of just a few months, it was

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very evident that this man and
his wife had no handle on their child.

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And the kid was pretty small,
but, you know, three or four, that's

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just so wrong.

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And it wasn't just him running around.

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There's so much more.

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I could tell.

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But it lend itself towards
negative from church members and

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visitors, and just it became a
huge issue as they just let this

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kid do whatever he wanted to
do, not just at the church building,

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but everywhere else.

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So I say all that to say a
deacon should be a good example.

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Should be somebody you go to
and get advice about raising kids.

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And like Brother James, I'm
just going to use an example.

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Two small children.

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What a good example.

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We have a good example.

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I don't know about my dad.

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I don't know if you could ask
him anything.

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But, you know, Brother Barker,
before they left, to me, just kind

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of stood out tonight of being
sure of those things.

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I think it's.

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This has always been pointed
out that when it gives the requirements

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of a pastor, it never talks
about the pastor's wife, except to

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say that the pastor should Be
the husband of one wife.

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By the way, it says the deacon
should be the husband of one wife.

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And for a hundred millennial
years, that particular verse has

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always been interpreted that a
man could not be a deacon or a man

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cannot be a pastor if he's
divorced and remarried.

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That's the way it's been
interpreted forever up until the

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last 50 years.

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And then I believe, again, I
believe like so many other things,

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it's one of those areas where
people began to compromise and gave

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into it and doesn't make it right.

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So here at Heritage Baptist
Church, you may nominate somebody

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and you may not even know
they've been married and divorced,

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but they will not be able to
serve as a deacon if they've been

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married and divorced.

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And I don't believe a pastor
should be able to as well.

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I do thankful.

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I'm so glad God forgives and
able to go on and serve in many other

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capacities.

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And I'm thankful.

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In our church, we've set up
trustees, and that's a legal matter

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with the state of Texas.

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If you are incorporated, then
you have to have trustees.

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Some churches choose to make
their deacons trustees.

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We chose to make them a separate.

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A separate thing.

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Now, again, it's not a
biblical office.

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The trustee's not a biblical office.

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And nowhere in the Bible does
it make the deacon responsible for

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the finances.

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You can't find it anywhere in there.

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It never says the deacons are
responsible for the finances.

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And that has been something
that churches and evangelical churches

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and even Baptist churches have
done over the years.

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And so what we decided was,
and I believe it's worked really

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well, is we have trustees that
are separate from the office of deacon,

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but they serve on the finance team.

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They don't come to our deacons
prayer meeting every Sunday morning.

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They're not part of the
benevolence committee.

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They're not part of making
spiritual decisions per se.

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When it comes to the church,
the deacons are.

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That's what the deacons are
there for.

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Amen.

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But it doesn't mean that we
can't elect men to help and give

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wisdom and direction.

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The era of finances who may
have been married and divorced, you

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say, well, you just compromised.

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No, I'm saying again, very
clearly that the deacons handle the

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spiritual matters.

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The deacons meet with me every Sunday.

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We talk about not just people
who are sick and whatever, but we

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also talk about the buildings
and what's going on.

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And I keep them updated, and
I'm so thankful for them.

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We pray together.

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It's a blessing We've been
doing that now since the church started

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having our deacons prayer
meeting every Sunday.

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So deacon, what is a deacon?

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A servant.

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That's what the word deacon means.

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That is the definition, a servant.

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And there's a.

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When we first started
Heritage, we made it clear that.

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That deacons were going to deke.

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If they were going to be a
deacon, they were going to deke.

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They just weren't going to
serve on the finance team and make

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some kind of financial
decisions for the church, but they

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were going to deacon.

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I'm so thankful for deacons
over the years who have been that.

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And I have some of you sitting
out here.

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What a blessing to see men serve.

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To serve, to be servants.

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If you turn over to Acts
chapter six, do that with you.

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Acts chapter six.

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And look at verse one.

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So we see.

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I believe, I believe this is
the choosing of deacons.

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There are a couple of pastors
who believe contrary.

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Acts chapter six and verse one.

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So we see the deacons are to
serve and perform such tasks as would

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free the pastor for the study
of the word of God and for prayer.

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And that is found here in Acts
chapter six very clearly, verse one.

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And in those days when the
number of the disciples were multiplied,

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there arose a murmuring of the
Grecians against the Hebrews, because

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their widows were neglected in
the daily ministration.

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Then the twelve called the
multitude of the disciples unto them

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and said, it is not reason
that we should leave the word of

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God and serve tables.

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Wherefore, brethren, look out
among you seven men of honest report,

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full of the Holy Ghost and
wisdom, whom we may appoint over

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this business.

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But we will give ourselves
continually to prayer and to the

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ministry of the Word.

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And the saying pleased the
whole multitude.

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And they chose Stephen, a man
full of the whole of faith, of the

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Holy Ghost, and Philip of
Procurus, and Nicanor and Timon,

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and Good Job, with all these
names, Parmenius and Nicholas, a

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proselyte of Antioch.

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My Bible has the little, you
know, stashes and loopity loopies

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whom I didn't.

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I didn't go to a school.

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So verse 6.

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Whom they set before the
apostles, and when they had prayed,

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they laid their hands on them.

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So we see here the choosing of
the, I believe the first deacons.

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And I want you to understand
the distinguishing distinguish between

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a pastor's calling and a
deacon's calling.

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A pastor is called by God, a
deacon is called by the congregation.

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And there is a difference.

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And a lot of times we come
across men who may have been ordained.

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I Don't believe in the
ordination of deacons.

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But that's my personal
opinion, and I believe there are

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biblical reasons for that.

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But every once in a while I
come across somebody who say, well,

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I was ordained a deacon at
this church.

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So if I come and join your
church, I'm automatically a deacon

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because I was ordained over here.

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I said, no, that congregation
chose you.

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It's different than the
calling a pastor has where God calls

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a pastor.

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Does anybody see that Kind of.

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There is a distinguishing,
distinct difference between the two

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callings.

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Just because you were deacon
at one church doesn't make you a

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deacon of the other.

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This congregation would have
to choose you.

243
00:13:10,979 --> 00:13:12,587
And that's what we're
nominating tonight.

244
00:13:12,683 --> 00:13:15,563
The church is going to decide,
or at least nominations are going

245
00:13:15,571 --> 00:13:16,263
to decide.

246
00:13:16,411 --> 00:13:19,295
And then it says whom we may appoint.

247
00:13:19,487 --> 00:13:21,999
And so those nominations are
taken up.

248
00:13:22,039 --> 00:13:23,311
We take those nominations.

249
00:13:23,455 --> 00:13:27,551
Myself and the deacons go over
those nominations and make sure they're

250
00:13:27,615 --> 00:13:28,079
qualified.

251
00:13:28,159 --> 00:13:31,487
And then we approach them if
they want to serve.

252
00:13:31,663 --> 00:13:34,431
And I have some every year
that say, well, I really don't think

253
00:13:34,455 --> 00:13:37,419
it's good timing for me or
whatever the case is.

254
00:13:38,999 --> 00:13:43,167
We had a couple of men in the
church over the years who had married

255
00:13:43,183 --> 00:13:44,959
and divorced early, early, early.

256
00:13:44,999 --> 00:13:47,059
I'm talking about when they
were 18 or 19.

257
00:13:47,239 --> 00:13:50,011
And nobody in the congregation
knew about it, but I did, and they

258
00:13:50,035 --> 00:13:52,283
were very honest with me about it.

259
00:13:52,451 --> 00:13:56,235
So though they were nominated,
they couldn't serve as a deacon.

260
00:13:56,347 --> 00:13:58,875
And so I had people come up to
me and go, preacher, I nominated

261
00:13:58,907 --> 00:14:01,403
this guy, and he's such a
vital part of the church.

262
00:14:01,531 --> 00:14:04,139
I said, well, you know,
sometimes there are just things that

263
00:14:04,179 --> 00:14:05,739
they may not have accepted the nomination.

264
00:14:05,819 --> 00:14:07,867
Of course, I never said, would
not reveal.

265
00:14:07,963 --> 00:14:09,799
It's not my job to do that.

266
00:14:11,379 --> 00:14:13,979
So keep that in mind too, as
you make your nominations tonight.

267
00:14:14,059 --> 00:14:18,949
You, the man you nominate may
not make it onto the actual ballot.

268
00:14:19,369 --> 00:14:25,201
As we think again about the
word deacon, the Greek word is used

269
00:14:25,305 --> 00:14:27,265
several other times in the New Testament.

270
00:14:27,377 --> 00:14:31,217
It's used in John chapter 2,
in verse 9 when the Bible says, talks

271
00:14:31,233 --> 00:14:35,025
about Mary says, and his
mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever

272
00:14:35,057 --> 00:14:36,545
he saith unto, you do it.

273
00:14:36,617 --> 00:14:41,319
That word servant there is the
same Greek word that is, that is

274
00:14:41,359 --> 00:14:43,159
interpreted deacon.

275
00:14:43,319 --> 00:14:45,591
There are many other places in
the Bible where it does that.

276
00:14:45,615 --> 00:14:46,295
In the New testament.

277
00:14:46,327 --> 00:14:49,431
In Romans 15, verse 8 says,
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a

278
00:14:49,455 --> 00:14:53,303
minister of the circumcision
for the truth of God.

279
00:14:53,431 --> 00:14:55,591
In other words, he was
laboring for the salvation of the

280
00:14:55,615 --> 00:14:56,087
Jews.

281
00:14:56,183 --> 00:14:57,383
That same word minister.

282
00:14:57,471 --> 00:15:02,087
There is the same Greek word
used for deacon, and I got several

283
00:15:02,143 --> 00:15:04,259
here listed over and over again.

284
00:15:04,879 --> 00:15:08,935
It refers to the same Greek
word as servant.

285
00:15:09,047 --> 00:15:12,499
In fact, most of the time it's
servant or minister.

286
00:15:12,799 --> 00:15:18,279
And it has again, to do with
one who serves and ministers to others.

287
00:15:18,399 --> 00:15:23,351
And that is the primary
responsibility of a deacon, is again

288
00:15:23,455 --> 00:15:24,327
a servant.

289
00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:28,087
We see here From Acts chapter
6 that the Deacon is there to help

290
00:15:28,143 --> 00:15:29,047
and to do.

291
00:15:29,183 --> 00:15:33,911
And so in Acts chapter six, we
see the Grecian widows were not receiving

292
00:15:33,975 --> 00:15:35,975
equal treatment in the daily
distribution of feud.

293
00:15:36,007 --> 00:15:42,081
In other words, there was
some, you know, partiality on some

294
00:15:42,105 --> 00:15:43,425
people's parts.

295
00:15:43,617 --> 00:15:45,377
And so that was causing a problem.

296
00:15:45,513 --> 00:15:49,281
And so this office of the
deacons was instituted in order to

297
00:15:49,305 --> 00:15:52,017
make sure that the widows were
taken care of.

298
00:15:52,153 --> 00:15:56,337
We have a widow's list, and we
give those to the deacons.

299
00:15:56,433 --> 00:15:58,609
And we need to do a better job
in some of these areas.

300
00:15:58,649 --> 00:16:00,833
We have a shepherd's list that
we give the deacons.

301
00:16:00,961 --> 00:16:03,867
And again, on my part, doing a
better job of keeping getting these

302
00:16:03,923 --> 00:16:07,355
lists to the deacons and
making sure that we all keep track

303
00:16:07,427 --> 00:16:08,799
of our widows.

304
00:16:09,619 --> 00:16:12,891
It says also there was a
conflict in the fellowship, and so

305
00:16:12,915 --> 00:16:16,811
deacons are in the
congregation to help with those conflicts,

306
00:16:16,955 --> 00:16:20,731
to help keep him at bay.

307
00:16:20,875 --> 00:16:24,107
In other words, the deacons
ought to be part of solving the conflicts

308
00:16:24,203 --> 00:16:26,359
and not the problem.

309
00:16:27,619 --> 00:16:28,721
Nobody.

310
00:16:28,915 --> 00:16:29,769
Okay.

311
00:16:30,109 --> 00:16:32,549
I'm thankful we've had such
wonderful deacons over the years.

312
00:16:32,589 --> 00:16:36,613
The apostles could not take
time for their ministry, for praying

313
00:16:36,661 --> 00:16:38,853
and teaching if they were
distributing food.

314
00:16:39,021 --> 00:16:41,941
And so again, these men were
put in charge of that.

315
00:16:41,965 --> 00:16:42,309
We have.

316
00:16:42,349 --> 00:16:43,189
We do have.

317
00:16:43,309 --> 00:16:45,973
And it's been a long time
since I've explained about our benevolence

318
00:16:46,021 --> 00:16:47,221
fund, how that works.

319
00:16:47,365 --> 00:16:50,997
Benevolence fund basically
works this way because of our size

320
00:16:51,013 --> 00:16:51,733
of our congregation.

321
00:16:51,781 --> 00:16:57,329
For the most part, we help
those only talking about with help

322
00:16:57,369 --> 00:17:01,857
with bills or with maybe even
cash sometimes, that are in members

323
00:17:01,913 --> 00:17:04,753
of the congregation, those who
are outside the congregation.

324
00:17:04,801 --> 00:17:07,713
We support the community
storehouse in Keller, and we send

325
00:17:07,761 --> 00:17:10,705
them there, and we get lots of that.

326
00:17:10,777 --> 00:17:11,441
We send them.

327
00:17:11,465 --> 00:17:14,433
We support that ministry in
Keller for that specific purpose

328
00:17:14,481 --> 00:17:16,993
so that we can send them
somewhere where they can actually

329
00:17:17,081 --> 00:17:18,269
get help.

330
00:17:18,729 --> 00:17:22,279
Not just everybody, understand.

331
00:17:22,659 --> 00:17:24,939
The community storehouse does
a wonderful job of keeping track

332
00:17:24,979 --> 00:17:26,747
of those individuals.

333
00:17:26,843 --> 00:17:28,187
They have a list, man.

334
00:17:28,243 --> 00:17:30,363
They have all sorts of
resources to help them.

335
00:17:30,451 --> 00:17:33,531
Not again, I'm going to use
the cliche, not just to give them

336
00:17:33,555 --> 00:17:34,939
a handout, but a hand up.

337
00:17:35,059 --> 00:17:38,027
And they do a phenomenal job
of that.

338
00:17:38,163 --> 00:17:40,011
And so our support of them
helps with that.

339
00:17:40,035 --> 00:17:44,171
But Inside the church is
helping congregates who need the

340
00:17:44,195 --> 00:17:44,667
help.

341
00:17:44,803 --> 00:17:49,188
So the first time somebody
needs help, for the most part, I

342
00:17:49,228 --> 00:17:51,812
handle that, or one of our
staff members handles it.

343
00:17:51,980 --> 00:17:55,284
If somebody needs more help
than that and they come back again

344
00:17:55,356 --> 00:17:58,116
for more help, I would
generally say to them, if you want

345
00:17:58,172 --> 00:18:02,612
help this time, you will need
to talk to the deacons.

346
00:18:02,660 --> 00:18:03,604
They are the benevolence.

347
00:18:03,636 --> 00:18:05,128
And there's actually an application.

348
00:18:05,548 --> 00:18:11,284
I will tell you, no one's ever
filled out an application because

349
00:18:11,356 --> 00:18:16,179
for the most part, those who
do that are just looking.

350
00:18:16,799 --> 00:18:18,311
They don't want to be accountable.

351
00:18:18,375 --> 00:18:21,511
Because in the application,
that's going to make you, yes.

352
00:18:21,575 --> 00:18:23,159
Meet and then put in.

353
00:18:23,199 --> 00:18:24,279
Put a budget together.

354
00:18:24,399 --> 00:18:26,663
It's going to make you do the
Dave Ramsey thing.

355
00:18:26,831 --> 00:18:29,831
And there's just people who
don't want to be accountable for

356
00:18:29,855 --> 00:18:30,631
their monies.

357
00:18:30,775 --> 00:18:34,055
Why should we give you money
if, you know, you're spending it,

358
00:18:34,207 --> 00:18:35,623
you know, on cigarette.

359
00:18:35,671 --> 00:18:36,519
I'm just kidding.

360
00:18:36,679 --> 00:18:39,095
If you're spending on
something that you don't absolutely

361
00:18:39,127 --> 00:18:39,699
need.

362
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:40,767
Right.

363
00:18:40,903 --> 00:18:43,263
And so we want to be a good
steward of God's money, which is

364
00:18:43,351 --> 00:18:43,935
which you.

365
00:18:44,007 --> 00:18:45,567
Which you have contributed.

366
00:18:45,743 --> 00:18:48,319
And so I can tell you it's
been amazing over the years.

367
00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:53,935
In 2007 and 8 are when the
crash happened in 2008, and nobody

368
00:18:53,967 --> 00:18:57,967
knows this, there's members
here tonight whom our church stepped

369
00:18:57,983 --> 00:18:59,059
up and helped.

370
00:18:59,559 --> 00:19:01,439
I'm not talking about just
with a few bucks.

371
00:19:01,519 --> 00:19:03,375
I'm talking about really helped.

372
00:19:03,567 --> 00:19:07,189
And that has come back to us
thousand times over.

373
00:19:07,489 --> 00:19:10,949
Helping people who genuinely
need the help.

374
00:19:11,569 --> 00:19:16,185
And then those who don't
usually filter out because they don't

375
00:19:16,217 --> 00:19:18,041
want to fill out the application.

376
00:19:18,185 --> 00:19:21,641
They don't want to be
accountable for a budget and so forth.

377
00:19:21,705 --> 00:19:22,713
Does everybody see that?

378
00:19:22,801 --> 00:19:24,969
Hope everybody's good with
that, man.

379
00:19:25,009 --> 00:19:26,617
I believe we should help people.

380
00:19:26,673 --> 00:19:27,829
My wife has to.

381
00:19:28,129 --> 00:19:31,129
And we set the deacon thing
up, the Benevolence Fund, because

382
00:19:31,169 --> 00:19:32,669
guess who's a soft touch.

383
00:19:34,309 --> 00:19:34,957
It's me.

384
00:19:35,013 --> 00:19:36,669
It's me, it's me.

385
00:19:36,789 --> 00:19:40,893
And so it helped me be able to
tell somebody, hey, I don't.

386
00:19:41,021 --> 00:19:44,861
I can help you the first time,
but you're going to have to go to

387
00:19:44,965 --> 00:19:46,861
these men to help the second time.

388
00:19:47,045 --> 00:19:48,861
I haven't told y'all that in forever.

389
00:19:48,925 --> 00:19:51,249
So that's kind of how
benevolence is handled.

390
00:19:52,069 --> 00:19:55,837
I pray someday we don't have
to have a women's clinic anymore.

391
00:19:55,853 --> 00:19:58,813
They got one down the street,
but I pray someday here on our campus,

392
00:19:58,861 --> 00:20:01,811
we can have place to help,
like community storehouse.

393
00:20:01,875 --> 00:20:03,715
There is nothing in Haslett.

394
00:20:03,827 --> 00:20:06,771
There's nothing in Justin that
I know of.

395
00:20:06,875 --> 00:20:07,635
There's nothing.

396
00:20:07,747 --> 00:20:08,355
There's.

397
00:20:08,467 --> 00:20:10,355
I'm telling you, there's
nothing here in this big circle.

398
00:20:10,387 --> 00:20:13,251
If we had it going right now,
that ministry going right now, it

399
00:20:13,275 --> 00:20:15,651
would be another great,
wonderful hook in the water.

400
00:20:15,755 --> 00:20:18,083
We could help a lot of people
and see a lot of people saved.

401
00:20:18,211 --> 00:20:19,859
And that's my hope.

402
00:20:19,899 --> 00:20:20,483
Someday.

403
00:20:20,611 --> 00:20:23,331
But until then, we'll help
those who are doing a good job of

404
00:20:23,355 --> 00:20:23,491
it.

405
00:20:23,515 --> 00:20:27,981
So again, choosing out these
seven men from the congregation to

406
00:20:28,005 --> 00:20:28,717
do the work.

407
00:20:28,853 --> 00:20:31,613
Seven men who were qualified
men of honest report, full of the

408
00:20:31,621 --> 00:20:32,893
Holy Ghost, full of wisdom.

409
00:20:33,021 --> 00:20:36,461
So you want to nominate
somebody whom you would see as a

410
00:20:36,565 --> 00:20:40,013
good Christian man, somebody
you would look up to, somebody you

411
00:20:40,101 --> 00:20:41,649
would go to for advice.

412
00:20:42,229 --> 00:20:43,169
Amen.

413
00:20:43,589 --> 00:20:47,021
So that kind of excludes maybe
somebody who might be, you know,

414
00:20:47,045 --> 00:20:48,169
18 and a half.

415
00:20:52,319 --> 00:20:54,391
Seven men were chosen by the way.

416
00:20:54,415 --> 00:20:58,263
They were chosen by the
church, they were chosen by the congregation.

417
00:20:58,311 --> 00:20:59,511
Everybody saw that, right?

418
00:20:59,695 --> 00:21:01,419
Appointed by the apostles.

419
00:21:02,159 --> 00:21:08,071
It says again that they prayed
for them and again their plan blessed

420
00:21:08,215 --> 00:21:10,167
the congregation and blessed
the Lord.

421
00:21:10,343 --> 00:21:14,487
Every church and its
ministries within the congregation

422
00:21:14,663 --> 00:21:19,109
needs again deacons to help
the pastor.

423
00:21:21,369 --> 00:21:26,709
I'm telling you, there's been
times I can remember Brother Juan

424
00:21:27,209 --> 00:21:30,709
Rodriguez, when he was here,
you know, running down to downtown

425
00:21:32,569 --> 00:21:36,017
All Saints, that's what it
used to be called, and making hospital

426
00:21:36,073 --> 00:21:38,589
visits for me when I couldn't
do it, when we didn't have a staff.

427
00:21:38,969 --> 00:21:42,977
And so either I did it or one
of the deacons did it, or, you know,

428
00:21:43,033 --> 00:21:44,209
it sometimes didn't get done.

429
00:21:44,249 --> 00:21:49,471
And I appreciate men in the
past who stepped up and made many

430
00:21:49,495 --> 00:21:52,335
of these calls and many of
these hospital visits.

431
00:21:52,527 --> 00:21:53,775
And I don't want to sidetrack.

432
00:21:53,807 --> 00:21:56,127
Brother Cox, Brother Cox,
you're amazing.

433
00:21:56,303 --> 00:21:58,479
And I appreciate the ministry
Brother Cox has here.

434
00:21:58,519 --> 00:22:01,263
He does most of those visits
and does such a wonderful job.

435
00:22:01,351 --> 00:22:05,219
His wife doesn't think he's
amazing, but he is amazing.

436
00:22:06,919 --> 00:22:08,543
That is not true at all.

437
00:22:08,711 --> 00:22:09,679
I'm picking on Ms.

438
00:22:09,719 --> 00:22:10,339
Cox.

439
00:22:11,489 --> 00:22:13,929
I want to remind you, too,
that a staff run church is a staff

440
00:22:13,969 --> 00:22:14,585
ruined church.

441
00:22:14,617 --> 00:22:17,789
And yes, I borrowed that from
Paul Chappell, but it is true.

442
00:22:18,289 --> 00:22:21,913
It's important that every
staff member understand and realize,

443
00:22:21,961 --> 00:22:25,749
and I try to repeat this to
our staff, that your goal, your job,

444
00:22:26,369 --> 00:22:29,709
your purpose as a staff member
is to get more people involved.

445
00:22:30,449 --> 00:22:33,081
You should be able to look
back as a staff member, go, what

446
00:22:33,105 --> 00:22:37,705
all volunteers do, I have
behind me, because a staff run church

447
00:22:37,737 --> 00:22:38,989
is a staff run church.

448
00:22:40,209 --> 00:22:41,869
We can't accomplish the task.

449
00:22:42,209 --> 00:22:45,449
We need deacons and we need
trustees and we need Sunday school

450
00:22:45,489 --> 00:22:49,417
teachers and we need everybody
jumping in, helping as many hooks

451
00:22:49,433 --> 00:22:51,705
in the water as possible to
reach people for the gospel of Jesus

452
00:22:51,737 --> 00:22:51,929
Christ.

453
00:22:51,969 --> 00:22:52,729
Amen.

454
00:22:52,889 --> 00:22:53,749
That's it.

455
00:22:54,049 --> 00:22:55,869
We want to keep people out of hell.

456
00:22:56,609 --> 00:22:58,329
People are dying and going to hell.

457
00:22:58,489 --> 00:23:02,309
We'll do everything we can to
reach people for Christ.

458
00:23:02,849 --> 00:23:06,789
So as you pray tonight and
make your selections, choose mental

459
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:15,303
of good report, proven men,
capable men that they may work, serve

460
00:23:15,351 --> 00:23:19,659
in the church, ministering and
meeting the needs of the congregation,

461
00:23:20,479 --> 00:23:26,019
men who are, who don't mind
working as a team.

462
00:23:26,319 --> 00:23:29,735
And I've never had a problem
with that over the years working

463
00:23:29,807 --> 00:23:30,419
together.

464
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,529
I tell our staff, especially
our pastoral staff, hey, we're working

465
00:23:34,569 --> 00:23:35,297
together on this.

466
00:23:35,353 --> 00:23:36,749
This is us working together.

467
00:23:37,769 --> 00:23:39,069
Be part of a team.

468
00:23:40,329 --> 00:23:41,969
All right, let's all stand.

469
00:23:42,009 --> 00:23:44,529
We're going to have verse
invitation tonight and pray about

470
00:23:44,569 --> 00:23:44,969
this and.