Leadership Challenge: Raising up a new layer of Leadership: Deacons 2018 End of year celebration. 2019 Back build out vision. Introduction There is a particular sermon that I have preached at Coastal 6 times, almost word for word. The first time I preached this particular sermon was in March of 2002, if you can imagine. How many of you were not born in 2002? Yeah, I m old. I preached that sermon to about 70-75 adults that had just voted to dissolve their 10 year old church (Bay Rivers Community Church) and merge with another local church (Tide Water Community Church) to form Coastal Community Church. The thinking was by pulling resources of 2 small churches we could do more together for the kingdom of God than apart. 1
I preached this sermon to 70 or 75 people who had graciously followed their leadership, but were undoubtedly nervous. This crazy 33 year old Pastor, who had now been a Pastor for a whopping 8 months thought this might be a good next step. I was preaching this sermon to a bunch of nervous people. Shoot, I was nervous. I had no idea what the future would hold, but I knew we were on the move. New location, new people, new atmosphere, new church size. So much change. The idea of this sermon, is that as Christians following Jesus by faith requires change. Not doctrinal change, but change to follow the commands of Christ, faith to obey the commands of Christ, faith to fulfill the Great Commission. Listen it takes faith to give your money away to a local church, and trust that God will supply all your needs, right? The journey of faith never stops, never changes, God always wants us to depend on Him, His word, and His promises. That s what faith is. 2
In that sermon I tell the story of the growing lobster that sluffs it shell, and for a season is somewhat shell less until it s new shell is formed. Main Point: This season of shellessness is difficult for the lobster, even dangerous. That is how it is with change. Never easy, it never feels safe, it always requires a measure of risk, but it must be tethered to God s word and God s promises. The reason I have preached that sermon 6 times, and used that illustration even more, is because as a church we must always be ready and willing to change. And it is never easy, and it always feels like we are being stretched. I believe churches tend to stagnate and die when they tire of risk and change. That is why I have preached the sermon many times, to remind us as a church. 3
Transition: As we have been growing the Elders have been praying and discussing for a couple of years now, how to organize and structure Coastal to handle its growth. We have been looking at the scriptures. We have decided that it is time over the next couple years to add a Biblical layer of leadership. This layer is Biblical, and will help us continue to further the message of the gospel. Our intent over the next 18 months to 2 years is to disciple and implement the role of Deacon at Coastal Community Church. Now, to be sure, we already have many, many people functioning in a Deaconing role. What the Elders will do over the coming months and even years, is to identify, train, and then publicly recognize these people in the life and ministry of Coastal Community Church. Transition: Let s talk about Deacons. I. Why Deacons? 4
We talked about this last week when we finished by looking at Acts 6. There was a ministry service need that was taking the Apostles away from prayer, preaching, and I would suggest organizing (vision). They added men to help make sure the needs of hungry people were being met. I am not going to re-preach last weeks sermon. A. Biblical layered leadership. 1. I want you to read your New Testament and read about Deacons, and know who those folks are at Coastal. 2. The Elders looked at the scriptures and said this is the Biblical layer of leadership. Purpose of why deacons (Always keep this in mind why are we doing this not for titles sake it is so ) B. Gospel will spread. Acts 6:6-7 5
These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (ESV) Second thing I want you to see this morning II. Who are deacons. A. Word Deacon: Servant. 1. When you are reading your Bible, the English word servant and the English title Deacon are often the exact same Greek word. 2. So knowing whether the authors are simply saying a person is a servant, or a person is recognized with the title of Deacon is sometimes difficult in translation. (I will show you why this is important in a minute) 6
3. The basic job description of a deacon is found in the word itself serve, Serve Christ and serve His church. B. Qualifications of Deacons. 1 Timothy 3:8-13 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (ESV) 1. I am not going to go through these line by line. 7
2. They are actually very similar to the qualifications listed for Elders, the one difference is the Elders have to be able to handle God s word. 3. The Elders are responsible for protecting the flock doctrinally, and with that I believe vision vision grows out of doctrine. 4. Pastor Joey preached a really good sermon on this a couple years ago, and spent some time on the qualifications of deacons. 5. One thing I would point out, in church leadership there cannot be a dichotomy of the way ones faith appears at church and the way it appears at home. 6. Our government leaders get away with this (though I think they shouldn t, all leaders character should be reflected at home), but not church leaders, they must be people of 8
character at home, work, and church. Deacon characteristic highlights: 1. Not an addict to something sinful or destructive. 2. Their word can be trusted. 3. The must be a Christian, and this is proved out over time. 4. Home life matches public life. This is a quick overview of the character of deacons. What I want to spend a few minutes on (Under to the point of who can be deacons) is that I (and the Elders) have concluded that the role of deacon is open to both men and women. C. Men and Women taking responsibility for ministry. 1. I know this runs the risk of the accusation that Coastal is going liberal not true. 2. Coastal is always committed to the word of God. 9
3. We are convinced that the role of Elder and Pastor is reserved for men (Listen to my teaching on 1 Timothy 2:2 3:1) 4. So now I have probably ticked off everyone, and I suspect there may not be anyone at Coastal next week. Speak to our English translation: 1. I hate to do this because our English translations do such a terrific job of translating from the original language. 2. But this is one of those times that I think the translators allow interpretation to affect translation. 3. Let s look at 1 Timothy 3 (Quickly) 1 Timothy 3:8-10 The Apostle Paul is addressing all deacons and there qualifications. Then in Verses 11 12 he gets gender specific. 1 Timothy 3:11 10
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. (ESV) 2 Things about this verse: 1. The word Their is not in the original language it is actually the word (Usually translated) Women. a. I think what Paul is doing here is giving instructions specifically to female deacons. b. There is no definite article in the original language around near the word Women. 2. If this is addressed to Deacons wives, then Paul gave instructions to deacons wives that he did not give to the Elders wives. a. Which lends itself to the question, why would deacons have a higher standard for their home life than the Elders who have the authority in the church? 11
Illustration: So you don t think I am crazy on this the NIV has revised its wording on this passage. I Timothy 3:11 In the same way their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. (NIV 1984) I Timothy 3:11 In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. (NIV 1997) (NKJV, ESV, NLT all disagree with this, the NASB, and Revised NIV agree) Transition: Then in verse 12 Paul shifts back to gender specific in addressing men deacons (Because the spiritual responsibility of the home falls under the authority of men (Another sermon for another day)) 12
I Timothy 3:12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. (ESV) Finally Verse 13 is a summary to all deacons, men and women. In similar vein: Romans 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, (ESV) The word servant is diakonos Is this describing an action (Phoebe is a servant)? Or is this a title (Phoebe is a deacon)? It is the same word. So depending on where you land or whether or not women can be deacons changes the way you translate it Romans 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. (NLT) 13
Main Point: I have covered the thinking of the Elders of Coastal. We have produced a hand out that is at the involvement gallery and online if you want it. It will be part of the sermon notes online. Let s go through my last 2 points quickly: III. What do deacons do? A. Assist the Pastors/Elders in the ministry of the word. 1. What they do is implied in the title. 2. They serve in practical ministry ways. 3. So that the Pastors and Elders can give attention to the spiritual, Biblical oversight and vision of the church. B. At Coastal these are our Ministry Leaders. 1. We have always had people at Coastal functioning as Deacons. 14
2. We call them Ministry (BTW: At the root word of Ministry is the word, serving) Ministry Leaders. 3. This is where most churches confuse the role of Elders and Deacons. 4. Most Baptist churches in America, the Deacons actually function as Elders. 5. So what many, many Baptist churches in America have is 30 deacons trying to work in unity to give leadership and vision to their local church and this is a leadership nightmare. 6. When in fact, deacons are not decision makers, but they are ministry leaders they giving leadership to the practical ministries that need to be carried out for a church to function in a healthy way. 7. So if you come from a Baptist background, I don t want you to be confused about function and authority at CCC. 15
Deacon Ministry Possibilities (Possibilities but not limited too) Counseling Financial management Food ministry Hospitality Small group coaching Caring for the physical needs of the church body Conflict resolution Facility management Benevolence Ministry First impressions Security Legal Protection of Coastal Many more Finally IV. How does someone become a Deacon at Coastal Community Church? A. Much like and Elder, this is not a popularity vote. 16
B. Deacons will probably already be serving in a way that it is obvious they are deaconing. C. So at Coastal if will be relational, organic, and obvious to the Church Body that this person is already serving in that capacity. D. All we are doing is recognizing what God is already doing in the life of a person. E. Here is the Coastal Process: 1. The person is already serving. 2. The person will be nominated by at least one Elder of CCC. 3. Elders of CCC must unanimously agree. 4. This person must complete Coastal s Deacon training by an Elder approved leader. (Which is about a 60-65 week Curriculum) Conclusion So what? I want you to begin to pray. The Elders of Coastal are going to begin to tap 17
some men and women at Coastal that are already serving as Deacons at Coastal and they are going to invest in them for about 1 year to a year and ½. And then at the appropriate time we will set these men and women in front of the Body as Deacons. The Elders are limited in capacity at this point, so we are going to start with round 1. We will be adding deacons as we see God raising up, or there may be some people we hope to add in the second go around. Pray 18