Deacon Ordination Service: 

Ordination Service Introduction: 

What is a deacon? The word in Greek literally translates as “a servant.” But how did this term come to refer to an office of the church?  The answer to this goes all the way back to Acts 6, when a certain problem arose in the early christian churches. As the apostles were serving the church body, certain people complained that they were being overlooked. This was not the result of neglect on the part of the disciples, but rather it was just a reality of their human limitations. The needs of the people were too great. 

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 from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Acts 6:2-4, ESV

The body elected seven men, who were then ordained for service by the apostles. These men became the first deacons. As the church grew the office of deacon became more and more essential to the growth and health of the church. 

In essence the office of deacon is a sacred office of service, not to relieve the pastor of service, but to assist him so that the needs of the church 

In his 1 Timothy 3:8-12, the Apostle Paul gives nine qualifications of a deacon. 

In the list there are three disqualifications.

1. A deacon must not be double-tongued. They should not be the kind of person who will say one thing while they mean another. Deacons must not be two-faced and insincere, but rather a person who is trustworthy in word and in action. 
2. A deacon must not be weak-willed, especially when it comes to the consumption of alcohol. Anyone prone to drunkenness or a loss of sobriety should not be a deacon. 
3. A deacon must not be greedy or a person who profits off of dishonest gain. Someone who is a lover of money, or who has a history of mishandling finances should not be a deacon. 

But a deacon is not just someone who stands firm in the face of temptation. They must also serve as examples of faith and christian service to the body of believers. 

Paul lists three qualifications, each of which must be met by the candidate in order for them to be worthy of ordination. 

1. A deacon must be dignified. They must be someone who is honorable, respectable, and well esteemed. 
2. A deacon must be sound in faith and life. They must hold firm to the true gospel without wavering, and their lives must reflect the beliefs they profess. 
3. A deacon must be blameless. This is not to say sinless, which would disqualify everyone but Christ himself, but someone whose overall character has been examined, tested, and proven to be worthy of the calling. 

And for deacons who are married and have children, an additional three qualifications are given.

1. The spouse of a deacon must prove themselves dignified, not slanderous, sober minded, and faithful in all things. An honorable man or woman with a dishonorable spouse should not be considered for deaconship. 
2. Likewise, if a deacon is married they must be faithful to their spouse. A deacon who is not faithful to their spouse has disqualified themselves from service. A deacon’s marriage should be a model of the beauty of Christian marriage, setting an example for others in the church. 
3. Lastly, if a deacon has children, they must manage their household well. They must never allow their service to the church or their community to compromise their primary responsibilities at home. They must be found to be raising their children in godliness, to the best of their abilities. 

It is my understanding the following candidates have all met this criteria and have been approved by the church body for ordination: [Names Omitted]

I am going to ask for those who are up for ordination to come forward. 

I will now ask for current deacons to come forward and lay hands upon these candidates. I will also invite any friends, family, or members of the church who feel lead to come and lay hands as well. 

I will open us up with prayer and then allow for a few minutes of silent prayer over these deacons. I will then close out our ordination with a closing prayer, so that we can transition to our time of communion. 

Ordination Prayer (Beginning): 

Let us pray. Father God, we come before you this morning to ordain these men and women for your service. We pray that these servants in your kingdom would be Christlike in their service to you. Just as Christ humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant, may these deacons seek to humbly serve your church. Help them to be an example to us all in love and in works of service. May we, in turn, be grateful to you for providing us such faithful men and women. May we never take their service for granted. This we pray. 

Ordination Prayer (Concluding):

In your goodness, Lord, help these servants to be equipped for all you call them to do. Give them humility, and a heart for service. Help them to remain spiritually disciplined, morally upright, and continually filled with your indwelling Holy Spirit. Be quick to restore these servants whenever they fall short of your great calling, and help them to serve our church with love and grace. We ask these things in your Son’s precious and holy name. Amen. 

The Heart of A Disciple: Spirit Filled 

Scripture Reading:

• Acts 1:6-8
• 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2

Opening Prayer:

Father God, we thank you for the honor and privilege it is to gather here this morning to worship you. Be with us as we hear your word preached. May we be encouraged and strengthened through your Holy Spirit, so that we would have a renewed passion for the gospel of Christ which unites us all this morning. We ask these things in your Son’s precious name. Amen.

Introduction:

Last week we continued our sermon series, “The Heart of A Disciple” by focusing on the call of obedience. We learned through the example of Abraham, that walking with God sometimes means obeying even when we do not understand. As we learn to trust in God’s goodness and to take steps of obedience, we will bear much fruit in our lives. We also learned that the faith to surrender all to God doesn’t come from our own strength. It comes from abiding in Christ, and growing in a deeper and more obedient walk with him day by day.

This week we will build upon this by focusing on the idea that a disciple of Christ must be focused on the mission of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The Task At Hand

Try to place yourself as one of Jesus’ disciples in Acts 1.  Imagine that you and the rest of the faithful followers of Jesus are gathered together with the risen Lord. The man you believed to be the Messiah had days before been arrested, crucified, and buried for three days. But then, just as he said he would, he arose from the grave and now you were standing in his resurrected and glorified presence! Then one of the disciples asked Jesus the question that would probably have been on your mind if you were standing there that day, “Are you now going to restore Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

Remember that the disciples were looking for an earthly kingdom. Now there is an earthly aspect to Christ’s kingdom, but there is also a spiritual element as well. Christ’s kingdom is wherever the Lord’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), and so there is a sense in which it is both already here and still to come. We who have received the Holy Spirit and are walking in obedience with Christ are a part of God’s Kingdom, right here and now. At the same time, we are also called to do our part to usher in the Kingdom to its fullest. Jesus answers the curious disciple’s question about dates and times of the coming kingdom with a reminder to keep our attention on the here and now. 

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:7-8, ESV

The disciple wanted to know “when,” but Jesus tells him not to be overly concerned about “when.” Instead we need to be focused on the task at hand. We need to focus on the “now.” Our Heavenly Father has a fixed time when the Kingdom of Heaven will be fully realized, but the day and hour are not our primary concern. Jesus then tells his disciples where their focus should lie. We are told that the disciples will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and only then will they be able to be Christ’s witnesses. 

There is a human part of all of us that wants to know what is coming next. We want to know what the future holds for us, but God is not always interested in revealing such things to us. I believe the reason is that God desires for us to walk with him in faith, knowing that believing when we do not see or understand, is the greatest expression of faith and trust. 

As most of you already know, a little shy of a year ago God blessed my family through the birth of my beautiful baby girl. Leona is the joy of my life, and right now she’s at a precious age where she is just beginning to try to crawl and take baby-steps on her own. She is not quite able to get around independently, but she’s definitely trying. During this stage she is prone to tumble and fall, but when she does she cries out to her daddy. When I hear that cry, I stop whatever I’m doing to rush over to her and pick her up and set her right. 

When I set her down to go and tend to something in a different room she will sometimes break down and cry because she can’t see me anymore, but if I call out to her from another room the sound of my voice is sometimes enough to calm her down. She knows her dad is with her even if she doesn’t see him. 

Recently we’ve learned a new game where I sit on the edge of the bed and she sits in my lap. I hold my arms out in front of her and she leaps out of my lap and into my arms. Every time I catch her and pull her back to my heart, and after she is done giggling she wants to take another leap of faith. Leona has tumbled before, and I think she knows that if her dad doesn’t catch her the fall is going to hurt, but she takes the leap because she sees her dad’s arms and hears his voice and knows that he loves her and that he’s not going to let her fall. 

And every time we play that game, every time she cries and I come to pick her up, and every time I’m there to guide her steps, I am teaching her to love and trust me. When I pick Leona up in my arms and put her in her stroller or her car-seat, she doesn’t know where we are going, but she knows her dad is with her. She focuses on my presence and knows she doesn’t need to be afraid. I could take her anywhere and she’d be content so long as I was there to take care of her. 

This is the attitude I believe God calls us to have. We might want to know the future, but Christ calls us to focus on the task right in front of us. We might be concerned about tomorrow, but Christ says focus on my presence with you today. One day Christ will return to establish the fullness of the kingdom of God on earth, but for now we focus on preparing people for the kingdom by inviting them into the kingdom that already exists. This is the great commission we have all been given, to make disciples in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. It’s a great commission, a seemingly impossible task, which is why Christ promised us a helper who will equip us with the power we need to play our part. This helper is the Holy Spirit. 

Holy Spirit Power

If we have been born again in Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit, and within us dwells the power and presence of God Himself. As born again disciples of Christ, we have been given a mission by God. Our mission is to reach the lost by bearing witness to the truth about God and Christ. Our mission is to share the good news of salvation with those who are still lost in sin. The task to make disciples is great, but the power we have received is infinitely greater.

The Holy Spirit comes upon us and equips us to carry out the mission of God. When the disciples began to experience the power of God through the Holy Spirit in their lives, they began to lose all fear of earthly powers who tried to stop them. They experienced God’s presence and so they could take leaps of faith knowing that God was with them. They could call out to the Lord and have complete confidence that their heavenly father heard their prayers. With this confidence they changed the world. 

When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, when we experience salvation in Christ, we are told that we will be “witnesses.” When a person is genuinely saved and truly filled with the Holy Spirit, his or her life becomes a witness to the Lord. Witnessing is not just something we do, it is who we are.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away; behold the new has come.  

2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV

If we have received the Holy Spirit then we will have a desire to share the good news, and we will increasingly live a life that testifies to the truth we profess. This is true wherever we go. If we are in our hometown (our Jerusalem) we are a witness to Christ. If we are traveling to neighboring communities (our Judea) we are a witness to Christ. If we travel to places that might be hostile to us (our Samaria) we are witnesses to Christ. And even if we travel to the very ends of the earth, even there we are witnesses to Christ.

As a Christian, you are never “off-duty.” We aren’t given the choice of saying “these aren’t my people” or “they aren’t my responsibility.” If God has placed people around you, it is your job to show them Christian love and a Christian witness. Now if you are like many people, you hear this and you think “that sounds exhausting.” Trust me when I say that I have been there before, but what I have learned is that when we see the great commission as a burden, a chore, or a task we would like to pass off to someone else, that might be a good sign that we are either trying too hard to do this out of our own strength or we have forgotten how good the good news of Jesus Christ truly is.

As we learned last week we bear fruit by abiding in Christ. We live the life of a witness through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our effectiveness doesn’t come from how strong, or talented, or intelligent, or winsome we are. Our effectiveness comes from God working in and through us in big and small ways every day. So if you find yourself exhausted, burned out, checked out, or weary I encourage you to lean into the Lord for strength. Rest in Christ and find renewed strength in the Holy Spirit. I also encourage you to take the time to remind yourself just how good the message of Christ is.

The Good Message

As we read in 2 Corinthians, the message of Christ is a message of new birth.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV

But what does it mean for someone to become a “new creation”? It means that our whole life is changed. Our spiritual nature is transformed, our minds are renewed, our hearts are transformed, and our behavior is changed. We were dead to God, but when we come into Christ we become alive to God. There is a relationship between God and man that did not exist before. We can truly pursue righteousness for the first time. Whereas we were doomed to die and then face the judgement for our sins, as a new creation we know our debt is paid and what awaits us is a glorious eternity in the presence of God.

This is the best news the world has ever received. It is the truth that turns the world upside down and changes the way we think about everything. It almost seems too good to be true, but it is the most true thing in all of creation. Listen to how Paul describes this reality bending truth:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV

What amazing grace we have through Jesus our savior. The one who knew no sin exchanged our sin for his righteousness.

Imagine that at birth you were given a pristine white jacket. As soon as you were old enough to understand you were told to protect that jacket at all costs, because one day you would be called to join the King in his Kingdom and no one without a perfectly pristine jacket could enter the king’s gates.

Now imagine that every sin you have committed, every wrong you have done, and every good you failed to do was a stain, a tear, or a scuff on your once pristine jacket. Some of us have jackets so stained and torn that they are unrecognizable. Even the best among us would have to approach the king’s gates, not dressed in pristine white, but in filthy rags.

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

Isaiah 64:6, ESV

We grieve that we will never be able to enter the king’s gates. We are ashamed of how below the king’s standards we have allowed ourselves to fall. We are in fear of what the king might do if we come to him in this shameful estate.

Imagine that as we stand outside the gate, the king’s son approaches you, dressed in pristine white. Though he walked the same roads you walked and encountered the same obstacles and temptations you faced, somehow he came through without a scuff, scrape, or stain. You feel your shame worsen because his spotlessness only highlights your wretchedness. Then he does the last thing you would ever expect.

He takes off his perfect pristine jacket, holds it out to you and says “I will trade mine for yours.” This is the gospel. That the perfect son of God was willing to take on your sin, and clothe you in his righteousness. He takes your guilt, your penalty, your shame, your sin, and he exchanges it for his righteousness. He became sin, we inherited his righteousness.

And because Christ paid our cost and made us holy, we are now reconciled with God our King! Is this not good news? How can we truly believe this and not have our lives radically changed as a result? How could we keep such news to ourselves?

Our ministry is to join in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation:

 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 

2 Corinthians 5:18-20, ESV

We have a message of reconciliation, of peace, or salvation, and new life. We have been made righteous through Christ, and have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the task before us.

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:1, ESV

Prayer of Decision:

Father God, we thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ that we celebrated today. We thank you for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to do all that you commanded us to do. As we enter this time of decision, open our hearts to your will. 

Closing Prayer:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever he may send you. 

May he guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. 

May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. 

May he bring you rejoicing once again into our doors.