God S Blueprint for the Church

MEN OF COURAGE “Removing the Roadblocks for Growth” . Acts 6:1-7 January 24, 2016 The Problem & It’s Peril Vs 1

The Purpose & Priorities Vs 2, 4

The Proposal & Prerequisites Vs 3 1 Timothy 3:8-12; Titus 1:5-9  Seven Men  Called From Among You  Be of Good Reputation  Full of the Spirit  Full of Wisdom  Responsible & Dependable

The Proposal Was Pleasing Vs 5a

The People Picked Out Vs 5b-6

The Phenomenal Progress Vs 7 MEN OF COURAGE “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing” Acts 6:1-7 January 24, 2016 A.M. Service The Church here in Jerusalem has experienced explosive growth, going from 120 to numbers that swell into the thousands, well over 5000 in just a few years. Imagine that happening here. Things had to change and grow as the church grew. Problems arose and we will see what happened and how they dealt with it.

As a church grows, it has to become more organized. Let me explain what we mean by that. It means as we add more people, we have to add more layers of making sure people are discipled, cared for, involved in serving. There has to be more structure and intentionality, otherwise the back door opens, and you have as many going out the back as you do coming in the front. The idea is that we respond as the Spirit moves, not let’s put this program in place and then ask the Spirit to bless it. Organization is never an end in itself but only a means to facilitate what the Lord is doing in His church.

The Problem & It’s Peril Vs 1 Growth Grievance Somebody needs were being overlooked. I don’t believe it was intentional, it just happened as the church grew, imagine the needs of a congregation that size. Overwhelming. There was conflict!! Here Satan attacks again, he had tried attacking from without through persecution, which only caused the church to grow faster. Then by seeking to cripple it by introducing sin, but God stepped in and dealt with that and made the numbers only increase more. Here we see they are still increasing! Satan then tries his third tactic, internal conflict. Let me put in our daily language. The disciples don’t care about us, they don’t have time for us, they are neglecting us, they don’t like us because we are different,

Notice what Luke says here, these Hellenistic widows had been overlooked in the daily serving of food, it was accidental.

The church, the NT church was not perfect, they had problems just like our church does and so does everybody else’s! Something had to be done, something had to change, so they call a meeting together of the congregation of disciples with the twelve. They sat down together, I have to believe they prayed about it. What is the priority is the first question the disciples asked.

The Purpose & Priorities Vs 2, 4 Laid it out, for us this has gotten so large, there is no way we can possibly do it all. Our primary responsibility must be to prayer and the preaching of the Word. I don’t believe that has changed one bit. Notice it is primary, it doesn’t mean that you don’t do the other things, and that you don’t work hard. They were not saying this problem was not important, or they that were too good for it, or it was too trivial for them. No, but in trying to set this right, it will force us to neglect what is the most important thing, and this being prepared, prayed up, and ready to bring the Word. A lot of preachers miss this point do this last and do all the other things first, and many congregations do as well by having unreal expectations of their preacher. First and foremost, this is my primary calling, and quite honestly it takes time to develop a message that is from the Lord and will provide challenge and inspiration, conviction and change, motivation and vision.

So what can be done. Others had to rise to the occasion, to take up the mantle of spiritual leadership in the church.

2 Now, many refer to this as the calling of the first deacons (I think you can see that here with the words used administration and the verb diakoneo meaning to serve, but the specific title is not given here. The qualifications are given for deacons in I Timothy 3:8-13 & Titus 1. Although let’s be clear, these should certainly be qualifications for those who serve as a deacon in our church now and in the future to come. But the point here is not to decide this ultimately, but to see how the blueprint continues to be filled in as leaders arise and ministries move forward.

I think that it can have a broader connotation to those who serve in spiritual leadership in our churches, ministries etc. I would pick up on the word servants. That is what is needed today in the church. Servants, people who are willing to put other’s needs before their own. To not have the mentality that I am busier than anybody else, my relatives come first, I come first, my hobbies, my sports, my whatever first, and if there is time, sure I will serve.

The Proposal & Prerequisites Vs 3 These leaders were to take charge of this ministry, the disciples were not a daily part of it, I am sure they were aware of it, but simply let people lead as they were gifted and given the responsibility. ILLUS: 4th of July

Seven Men - Does it mean that ladies cannot have leadership in the church? No, many ladies did in the NT churches. However, God’s design is that ultimately the men must take the lead. When it doesn’t happen this way, things are out of balance. Called from among you, Must be believers, and I would take this further they must be growing, walking daily with the Lord. Notice, sometimes and perhaps as our church grows, God will call people out to serve even among us. Be of good reputation Does this mean everybody likes them, no it means they are people of integrity, above reproach. They would be

3 entrusted with large sums of money to see to that this ministry was carried out. Full of the Spirit – They to be fully yielded to the Spirit’s control, which also means they were humble, willing to be lead, teachable and moldable, and that Christ has full control of their lives. Wisdom – A leader needs this as he leads. They know what they are talking about, they have experience, they have the biblical and theological understanding, but also the practical everyday wisdom to apply biblical truths to everyday life.

Responsible & Dependable

The Proposal Was Pleasing Vs 5a

The People Picked Out Vs 5b-6 We know much about Stephen and Phillip but about the other 5 we don’t know much if anything. But what we do know, is that the plan and these men found approval from the whole congregation. They were unified around the solution given as well as the men that were selected. The split was avoided, peace was abounding and Satan’s plan was once again thwarted!! The ministry continued, now even better, and the apostles were able to focus even more on their ultimate calling!! Notice they bring them before the congregation and laid their hands upon them. Signifying the identification and affirmation of the church of these men and that they were praying for them.

The Phenomenal Progress Vs 7 The Word of God kept on spreading, that might have been compromised if servant leaders had not stepped up and taken the mantle of leadership. They were willing to serve. We don’t sometimes realize the huge impact we have when we serve. It can go a long way!!

4 The disciples were able to continue to spread the Word along with the whole church. And the number of disciples continued to increase greatly, no numbers given here, too many to count obviously. Notice too, many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith!! Huge. Look what barriers the Spirit of God was overcoming! It is estimated there were 8000 priests ministering in the temple, so we can see many had to have been a large number.

Our Response to the Need 1. When challenges arise, (such as growth) let’s seek the Lord and be willing to be flexible and willing to change. Be willing to do whatever it takes to keep our unity and keep growing. ILLUS: Parking – you did that, we will have to do more as we grow. 2. Get spiritually prepared to take a leadership role in our church. Be growing, be ready when the Lord calls us to serve in that roll. All of our roles and places of servant will be different based on how God has shaped us. 3. Be willing to serve as God calls you to in the body of Christ and then GO SERVE!! Nominating Committee – selected our leaders, well I’m not on the list, I’m off the hook!! NO way!! We desire to see new ministries started, new classes started, new people trained, etc. This is just our guideline, there is a place for you. If you are not serving somewhere, now is the perfect time as we get ready to kick-off this new church year. ILLUS: Greeters – 4. Let’s pray that God will call out new leaders among us so that we can further grow to connect with our community. We need new SS Teachers, workers in the preschool area, Wednesday nights, adding 2 RA’s and then 2 GA’s, and two children’s choirs. God will call some of you to be involved in new ministries or ones that are already existing. Whether inside our church or ministries that our church is associated with.

5 The church was experiencing "growing pains" and this was making it difficult for the Apostles to minister to everybody. The "Grecians" were the Greek-speaking Jews who had come to Palestine from other nations, and therefore may not have spoken Aramaic, while the "Hebrews" were Jewish residents of the land who spoke both Aramaic and Greek. The fact that the "outsiders" were being neglected created a situation that could have divided the church. However, the Apostles handled the problem with great wisdom and did not give Satan any foothold in the fellowship. When a church faces a serious problem, this presents the leaders and the members with a number of opportunities. For one thing, problems give us the opportunity to examine our ministry and discover what changes must be made. In times of success, it is easy for us to maintain the status quo, but this is dangerous. Henry Ward Beecher called success "a last year's nest from which the birds have flown." Any ministry or organization that thinks its success will go on automatically is heading for failure. We must regularly examine our lives and our ministries lest we start taking things for granted. The Apostles studied the situation and concluded that they were to blame: they were so busy serving tables that they were neglecting prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. They had created their own problem because they were trying to do too much. Even today, some pastors are so busy with secondary tasks that they fail to spend adequate time in study and in prayer. This creates a "spiritual deficiency" in the church that makes it easy for problems to develop. This is not to suggest that serving tables is a menial task because every ministry in the church is important. But it is a matter of priorities; the Apostles were doing jobs that others could do just as well. D. L. Moody used to say that it was better to put ten men to work than to try to do the work of ten men. Certainly it is better for you, for the workers you enlist, and for the church as a whole. Church problems also give us an opportunity to exercise our faith, not only faith in the Lord, but also faith in each other. The leaders suggested a solution, and all the members agreed with it. The assembly selected seven qualified men, and the Apostles set them apart for ministry. The church was not afraid to adjust their structure in order to make room for a growing ministry. When structure and ministry conflict, this gives us an opportunity to trust God for the solution. It is

6 tragic when churches destroy ministry because they refuse to modify their structure. The Apostles were not afraid to share their authority and ministry with others. Problems also give us the opportunity to express our love. The Hebrew leaders and the predominantly Hebrew members selected six men who were Hellenists and one man who was both a Gentile and a proselyte! What an illustration of Rom 12:10 and Phil 2:1-4! When we solve church problems, we must think of others and not of ourselves only. We commonly call these seven men of Acts 6 "deacons" because the Greek noun diakonos is used in Acts 6:1 ("ministration"), and the verb diakoneo ("serve") is used in Acts 6:2. However, this title is not given to them in this chapter, although you find deacons mentioned in Phil 1:1 and their qualifications given in 1 Tim 3:8-13. The word simply means "a servant" These seven men were humble servants of the church, men whose work made it possible for the Apostles to carry on their important ministries among the people. Stephen was one of these men. The emphasis in Stephen's life is on fullness: he was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3,10), full of faith (Acts 6:5), and full of power (Acts 6:8). In Scripture, to be "full of" means "to be controlled by." This man was controlled by the Spirit, faith, wisdom, and power. He was a God-controlled man yielded to the Holy Spirit a man who sought to lead people to Christ. What was the result? The blessing of God continued and increased! The church was still unified (Acts 6:5), multiplied (Acts 6:7), and magnified (Acts 6:8). Acts 6:7 is one of several "summaries" found in the book statements that let us know that the story has reached an important juncture (see Acts 2:41; 4:4; 5:12-16; 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; and 28:31). In Acts 6:7, Dr. Luke describes the climax of the ministry in Jerusalem, for the persecution following Stephen's death will take the Gospel to the Samaritans and then to the Gentiles. It has been estimated that there were 8,000 Jewish priests attached to the temple ministry in Jerusalem, and "a great company" of them trusted Jesus Christ as Savior!