So churches need to try and test the character and maturity of their deacon nominees prior to their appointment by the elders, a process that requires time and familiarity. That’s the deacon’s examination....
Biblical deacons, then, are to be examined by the assembly. That’s at the heart of the deacon’s nomination for office....
Deacons, again, are to guard the unity of the church and the ministry of the elders from the demands of practical problems. Appreciating such problems requires the careful definition of each deacon’s role....
There is only one qualification Paul mentions to Timothy that is not found in Acts 6, and it is that qualification we now turn to examine: the deacon’s purity....
This combination of a practical, nuts-and-bolts focus and a separation from doctrinal and pastoral oversight ministry might tempt a church to overlook the piety and conviction of a candidate. That would be a grave mistake....
The very fact that this responsibility requires dedicated attention should tell us that it may not come easily, and that not just anyone will be able to fulfill it. It’s no surprise, then, that the third qualification emphasized by the apostles in Acts 6 is wisdom......
Having seen last week that the first qualification of a potential deacon is a solid reputation, we now turn to look at the second qualification found in Acts chapter 6: being “full of the Spirit.” Of all the qualifications, this one is perhaps most at risk of being misunderstood in the present day. What does “filled with the Spirit” mean?...
Now that we’ve looked at the intent, mission, and objective of the New Testament deacon, it’s time to look at what kind of Christians fill this office. What are the qualifications of those called to be deacons?...
We see in Acts 6 that even in the earliest church the temptation to be distracted from this ministry is strong. The apostles put it in blunt terms: “it is not right that we should give up the preaching of the Word of God to serve tables.”...
The mission of the office of deacon is to care for practical needs in the local church....
Deacons exist, first and foremost, with the intent of fostering unity in the church. Only with that primary purpose in mind can we then turn to look at others....
David talks in First Chronicles 29 about uprightness of heart, but why does he do that? Why does the heart matter when looking at good deeds like a Temple offering? ...
The Christian life might not be romantic or nostalgic but its real. Our organic connection to Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection is better than all of the hoped for clean eating and living that hopeless shoppers pursue. ...
Human beings have an innate longing for meaning and significance. As we continue to pray after David's example in First Chronicles 29 we wrestle with the need for us to confess our mortality and shortness of days to God, and live in light of them....
Even our willingness and ability to do things for God are gifts from his hand. In this article we look at and pray in light of this truth as David presents it in his prayer, found in First Chronicles 29....
God provides all that we have. As we continue to pray through First Chronicles 29 in celebration of a year in our own building, we look at how David acknowledged God's provision of all things as an example for our own prayers....
As we remember God's provision in the life of our own church one year ago, when we took possession of a building of our own for the first time, we look at the example of David's model prayer in First Chronicles 29. In this article we consider how David opened his prayer--with blessing and praise....
Gratitude is a crucial attitude of the Christian life. As we continue to mark our first anniversary in a building of our own, we seek to imitate David's example of thanksgiving in prayer found in First Chronicles 29....
As we continue to celebrate our first year owning our own church building, we are meditating on and praying through First Chronicles 29. How does the Christian look at a text like First Chronicles 29, or indeed any Old Testament story or promise or command? The answer is the classic Sunday School answer: “Jesus!”...
As we at Calvary Grace continue to mark our first anniversary as "homeowners" in a building of our own, we consider the miracle of Israel's offering for the Temple in First Chronicles 29:1-9, and mark its meaning....
Sometimes God provides spectacularly in the life of an individual or a church. On Calvary Grace's first anniversary as "homeowners" in a building of its own, we pause to consider the example of King David's Israel after God ordains a staggering offering by his people for his Temple, seeking wisdom on how to pray after God pours out blessings....
We can’t understand the amazing prayer offered in First Chronicles 29 unless we first understand the man who offered it. In this article, we’re going to look at King David, a "man on a mission." We’ll review what brought him to that moment, in order to help us grasp why he prayed the way he did....
We’ll wrap up this newsletter series by introducing three new e-book Ministry Guides you can download to help you with this ministry, along with providing (all in one place) the links to the Study Outlines introduced over the past month...
To get you started reading the Bible one-to-one, what follows is a simple method of Bible study called the COMA method. COMA studies a Bible passage in four steps: Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application....
ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. When gathering one-to-one for prayer, you simply take turns, each praying a prayer of adoration, then each praying a prayer of confession, and so on....
Sermon listening is a central part of the Christian life, and so why not learn more about it? Christopher Ash has written a very short but very useful booklet called Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons, filled with useful tips and challenging questions that will help you “take care…how you hear” (Luke 8:18). After getting started with Gathering One2One, we strongly urge you to find and use this book....
Here’s some steps to follow, both before the first meeting, and at that first meeting together....
Try to build up one another, and build up the church, by building fellowship across the whole congregation one-to-one around God’s Word!...
When I was a child, whenever we went to visit someone else's house, my parents always used to tell my sister and me, "Don't forget to say 'please' and 'thank you'". Of course that sometimes simply meant we were polite, not truly thankful. And we can be like that in the church, polite on the outside, seemingly grateful, but quite the opposite within. So for the three weeks ...
Keep ReadingWe have already seen that the Bereans welcomed Paul and Silas, and that they heard them out with an eagerness to hear and be conformed to the Word of God. The Bereans did not treat Paul with suspicion and did not listen to his teaching as detached, guarded critics, but as those hungry for the Bread of Life....
Keep ReadingThis month I want us to take a look at money. While it is a gift from God (Dt. 8:18), the Bible is replete with warnings about the dangers associated with it. Money is not inherently sinful. Rather, we sin when we don’t see money rightly and approach it with correct attitudes. It is the love of money that is a root of all kinds of evils. It is in craving money that ...
Keep ReadingAfter commending the Bereans for their noble character, Luke then proceeds to present two closely related evidences of this nobility: their receiving the Word with all eagerness, and their searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. This week, we’re going to look closely at the former....
Keep ReadingThe very first thing Luke says about the Bereans is a compliment of their character: "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica..." First of all, it's vital to understand that the points he makes that follow...
Keep ReadingLike many others, online and in real churches, I was striving to be "Berean," but looking back now I think I was missing at least two-thirds, if not even the whole, of what Luke aimed to commend the Bereans for in this text! In other words, I had read the text, isolated "examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so," and basically ignored the rest. That's ...
Keep ReadingOne of the things that happens when you do something for a while is that you start to de-prioritize it. When life is busy, the things that used to be special become commonplace. As the old saying goes, 'familiarity breeds contempt'. ...
Keep ReadingThis concludes our look at Godliness according to Thomas Watson in “The Godly Man’s Picture”. At the end of the book (the second last chapter) he offers comfort to the godly. This is so important, because if you are a godly person you will mourn your lack of godliness. You will not focus on what you have but how far you still have to go. You may even become discourag...
Keep ReadingHaving looked at various characteristics of the godly and having been exhorted to godliness, it is now time to turn to practical helps in godliness and the idea of perseverance. All this, again, is drawn from Thomas Watson in “The Godly Man’s Picture”....
Keep ReadingChapter 6 in Thomas Watson’s work, “The Godly Man’s Picture” is one of exhortation to godliness. He accomplishes this first by contrasting the godly and the ungodly. He starts by exhorting men to seriously weigh their misery while they remain in a state of ungodliness. Here Watson would have a person consider that the ungodly are in a state of death, that their...
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