The Deacon's Heart

Scripture Reading

Will you please open in your Bibles with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. We're going to be looking this morning at verses 8-13. 1 Timothy 3 verses 8-13. You'll find that on page 1053 of your Pew Bibles. First Timothy chapter three is our second topical installment on the office of deacons. This afternoon we'll have our last sermon on this topic. Quite a different sermon this afternoon.

But what's been happening in Ephesus where Paul has sent Timothy is really a church that's Out of sorts. There's all sorts of things that are wrong, and there's all sorts of immorality happening in the church. And young Timothy is sent there to put the church straight. It's almost like in our denomination, when you have the presbytery say, okay, something's going wrong in this congregation, so we're gonna send outside elders in to help set things right, because something's off here. And one of the key things that's off, not just the heresies and the behaviors of what's going on, but it's even happening in the leadership of the church. And so there's a direction for how are elders and how are deacons supposed to be? And so really that's the context that we jump into our passage today. So look with me, if you can, at first Timothy chapter three, beginning at verse eight.

Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested. Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own house as well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Prayer for Illumination

The grass withers and the flower fades, but brothers and sisters, the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Lord, we come to a passage that's very well known to us. As many of us have heard this passage and read this passage time and time again, Lord, it's easy for us to turn down the volume, to let our minds wander, to give ourselves license to just become familiar. But Lord, we do pray that we would receive your word with faith and love. Lord, we pray that we would diligently attend to it and that your Holy Spirit would so bury it in our hearts this morning that it would become like living water even to us that we might practice these things in our lives. Lord, please help us. Do not let us be dull, but enlighten our eyes, soften our hearts, teach us your ways. We pray in Jesus's name, amen.

Sermon

In the context of what's going on in Ephesus, like I've said, there's a lot of controversy that's going on. 1 Timothy 1 verses 3-4, Paul wrote to Timothy, as I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine. nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." There are people who are in the church, even teachers in the church, who are teaching myths and endless genealogies. There's all sorts of people who are vying for all sorts of... I've got this doctrine and I've got that doctrine. Some of them are licentious and some of them are most likely Judaizers. Well, you've got to be of this tribe and of this clan. Where's your family from? What tribe are you of? Are you of Benjamin? Are you of Asher? Are you of Levi? And he's saying, that's not what's supposed to be the main thrust. The main thrust is the Gospel. It is not fables and endless genealogies. But it's the Gospel.

Those things, what does he say in verse 4, that cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. He wants the people in Ephesus to be built up in their faith. That's what he's saying. And then in verses 18 through 20 of chapter 1, again he goes on and he says, I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected, concerning faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Paul even calls out two of these false teachers in the church, and he says, I sent you there, and it's going to be a battle. It's going to be hard, but you've got to get even the leadership set straight in the church.

And then he prays for him in chapter 2. And then at the end of chapter 2, verses 8 through 15, he gives different types of order within the church. There's general conduct in the worship of God for both men and women that he's telling them they've got to pay attention to. And then the leaders, as we turn to our chapter this morning, he turns to the leaders.

This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. And then he gives the qualifications for what a bishop is to be like. And these are character qualifications. And then we get to our passage this morning. 1 Peter 3, verse 8, likewise, deacons. I'm going to tell you this morning we're going to be doing a lot of exegesis, and this is an important step in what we're doing here.

But this is going to be, even though it's a topical sermon, you're going to need to have your thinking caps on. We're going to need to think through these things together and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us. What are we to be looking for as we think about electing deacons this afternoon? What is it that God requires?

See, we may come to this office of deacon, we may have all sorts of preconceived notions. What should they be doing? Who are they? And even what type of people they should be. But it's not up to us. We don't get to make up the qualifications or the job. We follow King Jesus. We say, okay, what does God say in his word? And if he says it in his word, that's what we look for. Because we follow him.

And so we come to 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 8, and we see a whole list of qualifications for deacons. And I want to put a caution here real quick. Because there's a way in which we can come to the qualifications of deacons, and we could so think that these are so elevated, so out there, almost untouchable, that it makes it that we're almost looking for a perfect person.

But these are mature Christian virtues. These are not marks of somebody's made it in their sanctification. They no longer sin and they no longer wrestle with things. It's not what this is getting at. But many of the sins or many of the qualifications that we have here are seen as fruits of the spirit of a mature Christian. They're not calling for us to find the absolutely perfect person. or find somebody who were holding an unattainable standard.

And I need to warn you that this has happened in congregations before, where they can't vote for anyone because they see these qualifications as so untouchable that you actually end up in a church where if Paul told Timothy these standards, there wouldn't be any elders or deacons in the church in Ephesus. Because guess what? I promise you, if you test any single person for every one of these qualifications, you're going to find some taint in all of them.

Why? because none of us have perfectly made it in our walk of sanctification. Each one of us is still being purged of our sins. And so as we look at these qualifications, we're looking for signs of a mature Christian. We are looking for the signs of a godly person. But as one commentator said, they're reasonable, attainable, and we're looking for personal integrity, not for perfection.

And so what are these qualifications? Well, look with me first at verse eight. Verse eight gives us, sorry, verses eight through 10 are gonna give us, first of all, one positive qualification, followed by three negative qualifications. So what's this first positive qualification, verse eight?

Likewise, deacons must be, this is a positive, they must be reverent, dignified. Somebody who fears the Lord and carries themselves with a sense of respect that they are the King's servant. One of the things I found so comforting to myself when I first became a Christian and became a member in a reformed church was seeing church officers who in my mind seemed dignified. There are people that I thought, I want my children to follow after this person. This is this idea of reverent, is that there's somebody that people are going to look up to. They're role models in a sense. Why? Because it seems like they are living their lives in a way that fears God and loves others.

So as you think about somebody that you would elect as a deacon, look for somebody who is dignified or reverent. But notice, This is quickly followed up in verse eight by three negative qualifications. Likewise, they must not be, must not be what? Not be double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money. Why is this important? What does this mean that they must be not double-tongued?

It's the idea of mixed up with hypocrisy with their speech. I was talking with my kids about this the other night as we were going through the list of people and asking, who would we vote as deacon? And we were praying about this as a family. And one of my kids pointed out, they said, that kind of seems like hypocrisy. And it is.

Somebody who says to somebody to their face, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll help you, but then turns around and tells the deacon board, yeah, that person doesn't deserve our help. Or we'll look at the other person and we'll say something nice to their face But then now the other side of their mouth speak evil against them. We must not vote for a deacon who's given over to slander.

But the positive attribute of this would be that somebody is a straight talker. That somebody says something and does it. That somebody, if they speak kindly and with confidence about somebody before their face, they're the type of person that's going to speak kindly and confident about that person behind their back. They're a person of integrity.

But notice also in verse eight, not given too much wine. This doesn't require that this person doesn't ever drink. This is not a requirement for total abstinence, but this is saying that the person's not drunk, that they're not habitually going, that they're not the type of person that you wonder, am I gonna smell whiskey on their breath in the morning?

I gotta tell you, we live in the type of culture where, when we were running our photography business, one of the things I would often have to send to couples is, here's kind of what bridesmaids should be expected to do, and here's what groomsmen should be expected to do. And here's some of the things that maybe as a groomsman you don't want to do. And it was sad that one of the things I had to say to groomsmen was, try not to let the groom get drunk before the wedding. Many weddings have been ruined because, as the man saying his vows, there's alcohol on his breath.

Vote for a man who you know is going to be sober. Sober in his thinking. Clear thinking in his reasoning and understanding. Not going to wild drinking parties or not indulging in beer and liquor and alcohol. This is somebody who seems to have self-control even over their own drinking.

And then also in verse 8, notice the third negative qualifications, not greedy for money. not greedy for money. Some of the translations would say for dishonest gain or something like that. This is the idea that it's not that this person doesn't know how to handle money. It's not that this person doesn't even have money themselves.

Many deacons that I have known who have served faithfully and well are well-off people. They make a good income, they've done well for themselves, but they have not centered their life around the desire to accumulate more and more and more for themselves. And they especially haven't done that in ways that are immoral. So look for someone. Look for someone who's not greedy for money, who doesn't put profits above people. This is the type of person we're looking for.

This is actually a really important one because see there was a servant that's mentioned in the New Testament that was even with Jesus. And as there's a story of Jesus when he's about to go to the cross, there's a woman who comes up to Jesus with a precious bottle full of nard worth like 300 days worth of money. And she takes it and she breaks the nard and she pours it over Jesus. And there's one disciple who incites the anger of the rest.

Why such wastefulness? We could have taken this and we could have sold it and given it to the poor. And it was Judas Iscariot. Who outwardly with his mouth could convince people and trick people that we could take this money and we could give it to the poor, but in all reality, all the money that was going into the purse, he was skimming it out for himself. Greedy for dishonest gain. And then notice verse 10. But let these also first be tested. Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. This idea of being tested is again the idea of actually putting a metal through the fire and seeing what comes out.

What type of dross is there? It's the sense that you as a congregation, as you look upon this person's life that you may be electing as a deacon, you've seen them go through trials, you've seen them go through difficulties, you've seen them go through things in their lives, and you're able to say, you know, I've seen this person, and it seems like their character is genuine, and their faith is real. And so after they've been tested, now there's also a formal aspect to this, and this is one of the reasons why the elders will later also examine both their character and their doctrine to see, are you really who you say you are? Do you match these qualifications of a mature Christian? And after they are put through that fire, notice what it says, being found blameless.

Again, this is not saying that there's somehow 100% perfect pure life, but that if you go to a precious metals dealer and you're actually able to buy different metal that's graded. You're able to go and it's stamped on there, 99.9999% pure gold. But if you're in the market for less pure, you're able to buy 90% gold. Well, what level of purity is blameless? Well, we know that the level can't be perfection as in what Jesus looks like because we wouldn't have any elders or deacons in the church. But the question is, when we look at their lives, does this look like pure gold?

Does this look like they truly have faith in Jesus Christ and a conduct of their life that the overall general tenor of it is that when you talk to people in the community, that they say, oh yeah, that person's really honest. That person really loves people. Actually, I'm not gonna mention the person's name, but just yesterday, I was on a hunt with a whole bunch of people that were non-Christians, and as I was on the hunt, I was talking about one of you who's an officer in the church. And as I was talking about this person, because it was just a mutual connection, they said to me, oh yeah, that person really loves people. They're really smart and they're really honest.

And the guy I was talking to, I got the sense that I'm not sure he was a Christian. But as the rest of the world looked on this officer in our church's character, I got the reputation from a non-Christian in the community that this officer in our congregation was one that in their eyes, that was a good guy. You must see those who are tested.

And now notice we come in verse 11, likewise. Likewise. Now, I'm going to say here as we come to this verse in verse 11, that I come to this verse to you with a lot of hesitation. Resonance. I don't want to beat a dead horse here. And I don't want to drive a wedge within the unity of the church. And I need to say, right at the out front, This topic in verse 11, we're going to get into the two different interpretations of verse 11.

There are men that I highly, highly respect and esteem. Scholars and theologians and historians in our denomination that disagree. And yet I love them. And they are brothers in Christ. And there are brothers in Christ who agree with me, and to be honest with you, I don't like how they get to their positions. Because they don't come to it from a biblical understanding, but from a philosophical one. And it puts me in an awkward place here.

Because I am convinced, 1 Timothy 3 verse 11, from the scriptures alone, that when it says, likewise their wives must be reverent, that that is a wrong translation. Actually, some of you may have different translations, and it may say, likewise women. Or you may have a footnote down at the bottom that says, likewise women deacons, or something like that. A lot of translations have to do this, because the issue is, if you look in the New King James Version, my family was even wrestling with this at family worship the other day.

Likewise there, T-H-E-I-R. Notice how it is printed in the New King James Version. It's an italics. Because there isn't there in the Greek. It's just likewise women. And it is interpretive. What does this mean, likewise women? Because igini in Greek is completely determined by context. Whether it's to be translated wives or women.

Actually, if you want to look with me at 1 Timothy chapter 2, Verse 9, the exact same Greek phrase happens in 1 Timothy 2.9. In like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. The exact same Greek words, γίνει κας ο αστός, in chapter 1, or chapter 3, verse 8. is used the exact same way. And yet you're able to see even in the New King James, how is this interpreted?

Likewise women, likewise wives, which one is it? I'm convinced it's likewise women. Because I think it's the same field that we're talking about, but a different class. And this is a class of women who are deacons. And again, I'm going to say. I'm going to read to you what one of the most conservative evangelical scholars on this, Bill Mounts, who does not agree with this being women deacon, what he says about this. Both interpretations, whether it's their wives or women, both interpretations have strong points and both are possible. Now, he disagrees with me and he would say, no, this is their wives. He would say this is their household. And I would say, likewise, women deacon. And he says, both are possible.

And this is why I think in the Christian church, if pastors and elders are honest with each other, that we are able to still hold together, even in the same congregation and denomination, because all of us are saying, hold on, our minds are bound to the very word of God and the historical and grammatical context in which it was given. And both of us are holding to that same faith but coming to different conclusions. And that not ought to rip apart the fellowship of the church.

And so, if these are women who are to be deacons, if that's the first option, which is the one I'm proposing to you, I'm gonna say that once again, this is not popular in today's reformed world, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily wrong or unbiblical. And the only reason why I'm, and this is me being defensive here, the only reason why I'm even saying this to you today is because my conscience is bound by the word of God. I was telling one of the men in the congregation today, part of me wishes I had never even entered foot into this conversation because it always brings tension into relationships I have because it's an unpopular exegesis. But just because it's unpopular doesn't mean that I can't believe it if it's there.

And for years, For years, this is again just me being defensive as your pastor and explaining to you, I was not for women being deacon, especially in the RPCNA because I had heard the line, this is straight from one of these books that I now wish would be pulled out of publication. A man wrote, it came about, RPCNA, women having deacon, because of the influence of 19th century feminism. And in the book that he wrote against women in the RPCNA serving as deacons, not a single time, not even once, did he mention in that entire book any quote, any quote whatsoever, what Synod actually said why women should be allowed to be deacons.

Not a single time. And so for years I was drug around with his interpretation of the facts without reading their thoughts themselves. And so, I don't know, maybe one of you sits here today and you think, well, I just can't get there, and that's fine. We can disagree on this. Many people in the church do, but for 134 years since that decision, we have not devolved into theological liberalism or allowing women to be pastors or elders. Why? Because we hold to the scriptures, and 1 Timothy chapter 2 forbids it.

So, if this is women who are deacons, what are they to do? Well, they are to be reverent. The exact same word for those in verse 8. They've got to have a good reputation. They can't be slanderers. The word here is where we get our word diabolical from. Diabolus, right? They can't be slanderers. They can't be like the devil, constantly hurling accusations and gossiping, bad-mouthing about people. They've got to be sober or temperate.

One of the sad things that happened in the pandemic is there was a huge rise of alcoholism in our country. Did you know that? That the rise of alcohol sales in America spiked during COVID and it hasn't come down. And there's a whole trend, thread, whatever you want to call it, on social media about mamas who get drunk early in the day.

No. No, that's not the type of person we're looking for. But rather in all things, they are found faithful. They deal in an honest way. This is exactly what I think Romans 16, one and two is getting at with Phoebe. She's the type of woman that Paul can write a letter of recommendation to the people in Rome and say, this lady, she's a deacon in the church there, and she's trustworthy. Help her in anything that she needs, because she's been a great help to all of us.

But if you're looking at this and it's the qualifications of a deacon's wife, then I'm going to lay the burden on you. If that is your conviction from the Scriptures, that this is a deacon's wife, then you have a double duty. You have to evaluate both the man that you want to vote as a deacon, and you have to evaluate his wife. You have to do that if you're going to hold to this in the biblical consistency here.

If you're going to say that verse 11 and 12 is all about a household code, then you must evaluate both the man and his wife. If this man's wife is reverent. If this man's wife is not a slanderer. If this man's wife is sober and temperate. If this man's wife is faithful in all things. Verse 12 continues.

This deacon, and the New King James leads out an important word there, likewise deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own households well. This idea that he's got to be the husband of one wife, if we elect a man to be a deacon, he's got to be a one woman man. Again, in Rome, it was very common for men in the society that they would have a wife, But they would also have a concubine for care, and a mistress for fun, is what one of the Roman authors wrote.

And Paul says, uh-uh, not in the Christian church. That's not acceptable. One woman, man. You've got to have eyes and a heart for one girl only, and that one girl better be your wife. That's what Paul is getting at here. You better love your wife like Christ loves the church.

But notice also, he's able to manage his home. ruling their children and their households well. This is this idea that their kids, this dad in the household, if he is a dad, seems to have his children who love him, listen to him and follow his lead. And so if you're thinking about who you would vote as a deacon and this guy is a man, then you have to ask yourself, are his children unruly or is children obedient? One of the questions you might wrestle with is, what happens if a man has grown children, and his children are disbelieving, and his children are rebellious? Does that disqualify a man from being a deacon? And I would say, hold on, maybe.

Because the question I ask is, why are those children rebellious against the faith or disbelieving, because we don't want to tie ourselves into a type of legalism that says, okay, hold on, if his children aren't believing, then he definitely messed them up.

And we reduce salvation to nothing more than a dad's parenting or oversight. Are the children unruly and disobedient because their father was a poor Christian model of Christ? Or because the Holy Spirit didn't draw them to himself? Sadly, and many of you know the pain and the burden of this. Sadly, not all of our children will embrace the covenant and don't walk in the faith despite their parents' prayers, despite their father's teaching, despite their being in worship regularly and the model they set before them.

Why? Because the children do not have the Holy Spirit and have rejected and turned away in spite of their father, not because of their father. So avoid oversimplification or legalism here. And again, I'm going to bring up the caution just one last time. As we have gone through some of these qualifications, you're not looking for a perfect person, but you're looking for a mature Christian. So what are the duties? What are the duties that are included in this?

Well, this is one of those difficult things. I remember just a few, I think it was last year, we had one of the members of the congregation. He said, hey, can we have, just tell us what deacons are actually supposed to do from the Bible. And see, that's a really hard difficulty.

Because did you notice, it hasn't told us what the deacons are supposed to do. It told us the character qualities of the type of person they're supposed to be, but it doesn't tell us Here's job A, job B, job C. And actually this right here, what we have, 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 through 13, is the fullest, most comprehensive section we have on deacons. And so anything that we're going to get from the deacons here, we have to get through by theological inference. And I think there are some things that we can get to here. And so first duty, I would say, is that we notice that unlike elders in verse 2, right, elders have the qualification that they must be able to teach, that qualification is not held in the deacons, which means they most likely are not a teaching office.

Also notice that the qualification here talks about them being reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money. These are trustworthy people that can be handled with the business of the church. And if we believe that there's a sense in which Acts chapter 6, where the apostles told them to choose seven godly men, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, who could lead them in this service to the widows, then we find that, okay, it seems like they're most likely handling the goods for the poor. And then when we get the idea from the household code, specifically verse 12, that they're faithful to their wives, and they're managing their home well, They get the sense that they are devoted people who are able to do things decently and in order with a sense of respectability.

And so those are some of the duties that I think we can kind of get at here. We could go to other places like First Corinthians and we can see the different gifts that are given. And there are different people who have gifts of healing and administration and ministry to the poor and those who are needy. And so we see, okay, maybe those are some of their responsibilities as well.

But now I wanna move on and look at the reasons for this whole section. And it's at this point you might, if you're one of those diligent Christians who had your Bible open right in front of you, you might say, you know, I think our pastor is a dumb daft. He completely skipped over verse nine. This guy, he's what a dummy. No, I'm doing that on purpose because I think that's the heart and the main qualification of what's going on here.

Verse 9, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. A deacon must be first and foremost one who is holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Because you see, all these other characteristics are outflows of this faith that they hold. But what is this mystery of the gospel? Colossians chapter 1 verse 25 through 29, I think, helps us most clearly get at this.

Colossians 1.25-29, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known What are the riches of the glory of His mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily. The mystery of the gospel that these deacons must hold to. We must be looking for someone who understands that this is something that was hidden from times past.

That they understand that in Genesis 3.15 when God said that a seed would come from the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, they know that that's talking about Jesus. Even though it was hidden from a long time ago. That they're the type of person that understands That the sacrifices in the Old Testament never could take away blood, or the blood could never take away sin.

But that everything was a type and a shadow of the ministry of Jesus that He would fulfill. This mystery of all the washings and the tabernacle service, and even the promise to David that somehow, someday, He would have a son to sit on His throne and rule forever. They understand that that's talking about Jesus. They understand the mystery that people scratched their head about for hundreds of years, looking at Psalm 2, going, how in the world is God going to have a son that he will give all the nations to?

And the Christian who we should be looking for is the one who says, I know who that is. It's my Savior and my King, Christ Jesus, my Lord. You're looking for somebody who is holding to the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is salvation in Jesus Christ. That though we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, and this is the demonstration of God's love. Look for a deacon, first and foremost, that is holding on to the mystery of the faith.

And as they hold on to Jesus Christ, that then that transforms their lives. You're able to see that the love for Jesus Christ changes how they interact with others. That the love of Jesus Christ changed how they deal with money. That the love of Jesus Christ changes their hearts and motivates them for how do they treat the poor and the downcast and the widow and the sojourner. That their love for Jesus changes how they deal with things like wine.

You're looking for a deacon who has holding on to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Because from that they love their family well. They have a good reputation in the community. They have a testimony in the church of serving others. Because with this type of faith that shows itself out in good works, there is a great reward.

And that's what Paul gets to at verse 13. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. It's James, the brother of Jesus, who will challenge people. Show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works. We're looking for a deacon that it seems like their works are proceeding out of their faith. You're looking for a deacon who, as you look at Jesus, and he said, who do you think is more honorable? The person sitting at the table or the one who serves. But I am one amongst you as one who serves.

You're looking for someone to vote for who looks like they're seeking that eternal reward of looking more and more like Jesus. Because as these people serve their King, their Lord Jesus Christ, they do have a great reward. Notice what it says. They obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith.

There are certain things that deacons get to do that are amazing blessings. Getting to help people in some of the most traumatic and difficult times in their lives. Getting to show their faith and show the rallying of the people behind people by good works. By supplying for the poor and for the widow and those who are distressed. They get to display their faith in a way that most of us, we try not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing.

And yet they get this blessing of being called by God to live out their life of service for God's glory. And every time one of these deacons cares for someone in their need, there's a great benefit they have even in their own souls. that God is truly working in them and is blessing them and their faith is strengthened more and more and they can be more bold in their faith that works itself out in good character and in good works. So there's a great blessing, not a pride, but a humble following of Jesus.

Closing Prayer

May God bless us with wisdom and insight to be able to find those types of people in our congregation who would serve King Jesus in that way. Let's pray. Father, we plead with you for wisdom. Lord, we thank you that there are people like this in our congregation, which is a proof of your Holy Spirit working in our midst. Lord, we thank you For almost two centuries now, you have faithfully supplied this local body with servants for your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the deacons who have served in the past. We thank you for those who have served so faithfully now.

And Father, we pray that you would please bless us with wisdom. that we may be able to select those who would serve for your glory and for the furthering of your kingdom out of heart of love for you and for others. Lord, please protect us, guide us. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. May your kingdom come and your will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.