Dale Partridge - Why Are Deacons Vital for the Church？

00:00:00.000 Well, this morning, we are not only introducing our new liturgy, but we are also introducing

00:00:13.180 the ordination of our two deacon candidates.

00:00:17.100 And I thought it was fitting that we have a sermon on the text of 1 Timothy 3, verses

00:00:23.380 8 through 13. And I'm going to be expositing this text really from a topical perspective

00:00:30.660 about the value and purpose of deacons. I'm not going to get really into the exegetical nature

00:00:35.860 of the text, but we're going to look at that together. Now, there are some things in life

00:00:41.960 that appear ordinary precisely because they are doing their job so well. I want to say that again.

00:00:49.100 There are things in life that appear to be ordinary, but it's just because they are doing

00:00:56.020 their life. So, or sorry, they're doing their job so well there. Let me give you an example.

00:01:02.200 Think of a beautiful house. You walk into a house, nobody walks into the room and says,

00:01:07.260 what a magnificent load bearing wall that is. No, no one mentions that because no one notices

00:01:13.180 that beautiful thing. That's precisely doing its job. So well, you notice the vaulted ceiling,

00:01:19.080 you notice the flooring, you might notice the fireplace, the brickwork, you might notice the

00:01:24.880 doors that you walk into the archway, but you are not noticing the things behind the walls that are

00:01:32.800 upholding the entire frame of the construction. Behind that drywall is that hidden ordinary piece

00:01:41.420 of wood or steel that's upholding that extraordinary weight that's making that room function.

00:01:46.940 now if those beams fell or if they failed to do their job it doesn't matter how beautiful the

00:01:55.520 room is the whole thing begins to come down and I believe the church is often like that

00:02:01.920 pastors are usually the most visible features of the church people see the pastors they're

00:02:06.940 up front they're dealing with a lot of the spiritual and the more natural realities of

00:02:11.400 church life. They preach, they teach, they counsel, they're administering the sacraments to people.

00:02:18.120 They're caring for the people. They're the most vocal in the congregation. They oversee the

00:02:23.200 liturgy. They're shepherding the families. They're visiting your house. We get that. We understand

00:02:27.180 the pastoral nature of the church. And they're often seen as the men that are actually holding

00:02:32.940 everything together. And in one sense, they are, but they're not doing that completely by themselves.

00:02:39.920 Functionally, much of what allows a pastor to do what he does and to do it well

00:02:46.540 is that God has called him to pair up with another office, which is the diaconate.

00:02:53.680 The diaconate, the deacon's office.

00:02:57.500 And the deacons are often making up more of those load-bearing beams behind the walls than the pastors are.

00:03:05.120 They're dealing with some of the heavier weights of the congregation.

00:03:10.220 Charles Spurgeon once said, quote,

00:03:12.600 And I believe that's true.

00:03:29.840 Anyone who has spent enough time in the life of the church understands what he knows what he means by this.

00:03:36.600 Just for a personal example, when our previous deacon moved on, it was very quickly known to me how much that man was carrying.

00:03:46.860 It's like a load-bearing wall, and you go, hey, why don't you hold that up for a minute?

00:03:51.760 And you go, whoa, there was a lot going on upholding by that particular man.

00:03:57.740 and you start to see the sobriety about the necessity of a particular office. Now, like many

00:04:05.360 Christians, I didn't grasp the full value of deacons until a few years ago. In fact, I'm still

00:04:10.840 growing and understanding the pastoral office and the diaconate. These are things that you walk into

00:04:16.400 the deep end of the pool in greater and greater maturity. And I think that I'm not alone in that

00:04:21.820 assumption. And the same way that you might not see the value of this load-bearing wall,

00:04:25.940 you might not look around and say, you know, why do we even need this office? Why does it,

00:04:31.340 what does it really actually do behind the scenes? And I think it's similar to maybe,

00:04:36.020 you know, you might look at a husband and a wife. God created a structure for the family,

00:04:42.080 and it demands both man and woman. It demands both father and mother. And if you have a household

00:04:49.780 that does not have both of those functions, you are lacking. You are lacking. And I believe that

00:04:55.680 is exactly what we see here in our experience in a church without deacons. Now, very often the reason

00:05:03.100 a church appears to be functioning well is often because the deacons are doing their job.

00:05:12.740 Now, another reason that the church appears to be functioning well is that the pastors are doing

00:05:18.240 the job of the deacons. And that is very often the case. You have pastors that are actually

00:05:23.440 doing that work. Pastors are taking care of the building. Pastors are coordinating meals.

00:05:28.420 Pastors are helping families in financial crisis. Pastors are working through people's personal

00:05:33.340 accounting needs. Pastors are handling practical problems or they're organizing events or

00:05:37.960 volunteers. And they should not be. They should not be. Do you know why there's an average

00:05:45.940 dropout rate of pastors at five years. I'm about 10 years in, but the average pastor quits after

00:05:53.940 five years. And I would assign one of the great reasons to that is that they carry the work of

00:06:01.060 the diaconate when they ought not to. There is a very important role. Do not try to build a house

00:06:08.220 without both a father and a mother. Do not try to build a church without both the pastors and the

00:06:14.540 deacons. In any case, you will leave one office lacking. Let me be very clear.

00:06:24.860 If pastors are doing this, if they're carrying that load, the church is operating out of step

00:06:31.280 of God's design. Do you think that you can do something better than God's design?

00:06:38.720 I think people are trying to figure that out now with inventing different pronouns and inventing

00:06:44.500 different sexual designations and trying to do family in a different way and having not one

00:06:50.700 leader in the home, but we're both going to share the leadership. We've even seen companies that say

00:06:55.300 we have two CEOs and we, we try to see there's countries that are discussing about equal realities

00:07:02.040 of leadership. Whenever we depart from God's design for order, we see chaos. And whenever we

00:07:10.960 submit to God's design for order, whether it's in the church, whether it's in the state,

00:07:14.480 whether it's in the family, we start to see flourishing and harmony and peace.

00:07:22.400 So God gave the structure to the church for a purpose, and it includes pastors and deacons.

00:07:30.140 And for that reason, we should never view the office of the pastor or the deacon lightly.

00:07:38.560 Deacons are not merely helpful men.

00:07:41.140 They are not simply volunteers with a title.

00:07:45.180 They are not even assistants to pastors,

00:07:47.600 though they are certainly operating in some of the functionality of that role.

00:07:52.880 But they hold an ordained office of necessity in the church.

00:08:00.360 I can't tell you how many churches I've been to growing up,

00:08:03.200 and I don't think I ever heard about deacons ever.

00:08:08.260 We just imagine hearing about the family

00:08:09.840 and never hearing about a mother.

00:08:12.640 How successful would your household be with just the father?

00:08:16.140 You might have provision, you might have protection,

00:08:18.240 but you lack nurture, you lack compassion,

00:08:21.860 you lack organization, you lack administration.

00:08:28.540 And when that office of the diaconate

00:08:31.520 is functioning properly,

00:08:33.160 it brings tremendous health to a congregation.

00:08:36.420 I've noticed that just even the last six months

00:08:38.580 as these deacon candidates have continued to bear the weight

00:08:42.660 that the pastoral staff had been carrying in such a degree improperly.

00:08:49.920 And a church without faithful deacons is, again, like a home without load-bearing walls.

00:08:56.120 You're putting pressure upon other individuals

00:08:59.300 that are not designed to uphold that particular burden.

00:09:05.460 But when a church has biblical deacons, the whole body begins to breathe more easily.

00:09:10.920 I think especially as these men step into these roles with maturity and grow in their positions in their offices,

00:09:17.160 we're going to see greater and greater breathing, functionality, harmony, and peace in our congregation.

00:09:24.020 The pastors are able to carry the spiritual burdens that they have been called to carry

00:09:28.060 because the deacons are faithfully carrying the temporal practical matters that they are called to carry.

00:09:33.600 Think about it this way.

00:09:34.620 The pastors carry the soul

00:09:36.020 where the deacons carry the body.

00:09:38.180 We're not Gnostics.

00:09:39.840 We don't believe by any means

00:09:41.140 that you can separate the soul from the body,

00:09:43.240 that they are combined together.

00:09:44.540 Whatever you do with your soul will affect your body.

00:09:46.960 Whatever you do with your body affects your soul.

00:09:49.220 And the offices that are designed

00:09:50.660 to care for those dimensions of the whole human

00:09:53.440 is that pastors are gonna be dealing

00:09:55.360 primarily with the soul.

00:09:57.620 Does it mean we don't also deal

00:09:59.040 with the intersections of the body?

00:10:01.400 But deacons are coming and dealing

00:10:02.860 with the temporal matters of the Christian household of God.

00:10:09.800 In a sense, deacons help us make the church whole.

00:10:15.000 It's the body and the soul are both being cared for.

00:10:21.480 Now, if these men do their work well,

00:10:26.460 I believe that Kingsway, again, will be more enjoyable.

00:10:29.900 I believe our time will be more peaceful.

00:10:32.860 not because the Christian life becomes easy just because we have deacons. 0.64

00:10:39.000 It doesn't.

00:10:40.980 Not because suffering disappears and not because the problems go away,

00:10:44.220 but because when those needs arise,

00:10:47.160 there are men whose calling is to notice them.

00:10:53.260 Having somebody designed, again, like a mother in a household,

00:10:58.260 notices something in children that men often do not.

00:11:02.860 and she carries those burdens in a way

00:11:05.720 that men are not designed to do.

00:11:08.680 And the same way is true is that a man

00:11:10.820 could notice something in children

00:11:13.180 that a mother often does not.

00:11:15.760 And he is designed to carry out the work

00:11:18.680 in support of that child in a way that she is not designed.

00:11:22.360 It is a complementarian nature of working together

00:11:25.800 that God has designed both between pastors and deacons,

00:11:27.960 both between husbands and wives,

00:11:29.360 both between also the state and the church.

00:11:32.860 and when you have men who are noticing them are organizing around helping those temporal needs

00:11:41.900 and to help carrying them it is a blessing it is a great thing for the congregation

00:11:46.500 and these are the men who are willingly ready to put the worldly needs or the fleshly needs

00:11:53.380 or the carnal needs the body's needs of the congregation upon their backs they are the

00:12:00.080 load-bearing walls of some of those difficult realities that come in your life.

00:12:06.460 And scripture recognizes that this requires a remarkable set of characteristics.

00:12:12.080 Now, 1 Timothy 3, verses 8, Paul begins his qualifications for deacons, and he says the

00:12:19.700 word likewise, deacons. And it says deacons likewise must be dignified. Now, that word matters.

00:12:30.080 Because Paul just described the character of bishops and pastors,

00:12:33.700 and it is the highest set of standards of the character that you could have in Scripture.

00:12:40.740 And he just kind of says, oh, and likewise, deacons, you have to have it too.

00:12:46.480 Those character standards that we read in 1 Timothy chapter 3,

00:12:50.800 that are to be held among the bishops, that are to be held among the overseers and the elders

00:12:54.880 and the pastors in the congregation, you are also supposed to have that degree of character.

00:13:06.560 In other words, the character required of a deacon is of the same serious nature

00:13:11.920 as the character required to be a pastor. The duties are different, but they're real,

00:13:21.080 right the the authority is real but it's it's a different type of authority the

00:13:26.300 responsibilities are real but the different type of responsibilities the

00:13:30.740 spiritual maturity required for the office is very high you don't want to

00:13:35.860 just again the same mistake that we make in mega churchianity is that we just put

00:13:41.960 somebody in the elder board who gives the most money oh you're qualified to be

00:13:48.580 pastor because you know what your family is not chaotic and you have lots of money

00:13:55.700 i've seen that i've grown up in that

00:14:00.340 we don't want to do that with the dia oh you like setting up chairs you must be a deacon

00:14:07.300 no it is not that simple it is not that and in fact i believe that the reason that the western

00:14:13.780 church in America is faltering on almost every front right now is because we don't understand

00:14:18.980 the basic fundamentals of church life. If you go back just 100 years to the churches

00:14:28.680 of our grandparents, it looks much like this. If we want the world that they had, we have

00:14:36.920 to believe what they believed. We have to order our lives the way that they ordered

00:14:40.740 their lives and it was not big stage audience Christianity. You have to realize that the 0.79

00:14:48.980 culture is downstream from the church and the order of the church must reflect in the

00:14:55.980 order of the family and the order of the state. And so we must get this right. We must have

00:15:01.660 qualified pastors, bold, brave, courageous, willing to speak truths even into the culture.

00:15:06.580 We must also have deacons that are willing to serve and carry the burdens of the temporal

00:15:10.240 reality of the church and to do so with love and patience and sacrifice when those two operate

00:15:16.480 together we get functional christianity according to god's word and why must these men have great

00:15:27.520 diaconate characteristics because the work is difficult it's extremely difficult diaconal

00:15:35.600 work could be complicated people are complicated you are complicated

00:15:43.280 need is complicated suffering is complicated it's awkward it's humiliating it's humbling

00:15:53.680 families in crisis are complicated mercy ministry to the poor

00:16:00.160 to the addicted to the broken managing money is complicated

00:16:06.560 Knowing when to give somebody money and when not to give it is extreme wisdom.

00:16:12.860 Handing that over to the diaconate is a very important duty.

00:16:17.100 Knowing when someone truly needs assistance and when they actually need correction is wisdom and maturity.

00:16:24.060 And it requires deep character from the diaconate.

00:16:29.120 Knowing when a practical matter is merely practical and when it's revealing a deeper problem

00:16:34.060 that the pastor it needs to walk into that takes maturity and character knowing

00:16:40.960 when to pray and deliver the gospel or share a passage of Scripture takes

00:16:46.060 character takes maturity you should not be new to the faith you should not be

00:16:51.160 young in your experience you should be able to discern the moment should be

00:16:57.820 able to care for the elderly you should be able to care for the young you should

00:17:02.560 able to walk into your peers and have authority this requires dignity this requires character

00:17:08.800 this requires maturity the work of a deacon will expose immaturity very quickly you will falter

00:17:17.760 you will make mistakes the pastor it does the same it's like a mirror you start to see how

00:17:23.760 ugly your soul is because it presses you and pushes you and it makes you realize that you are

00:17:29.200 weak, that you need the Lord's help to be sufficient in the work of ministry.

00:17:35.020 This is why scripture says that they first must be tested to have this type of character.

00:17:43.480 Paul writes in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 10, and let them also be tested first, then let

00:17:51.900 Let them serve as deacons if they prove to be blameless.

00:17:58.620 And these are high standards.

00:18:02.260 And that is why the church should never rush men into this office or any office.

00:18:08.320 Men should not be rushed into the office of the church.

00:18:14.340 I think of the scripture that says, let few of you be teachers.

00:18:17.680 You'll be held to a higher standard, a stronger case of judgment.

00:18:21.900 This is a solemn office.

00:18:26.600 You want to know that the people that are caring for your needs are not just random

00:18:29.520 guys that will be willing to put the chairs away, but these men are designed with great

00:18:34.620 character, have been tested, and are willing and ready, capable, called, qualified to care

00:18:41.880 for your needs.

00:18:46.860 And we have tried not to do that.

00:18:48.500 We tried to make sure that these men were qualified.

00:18:50.360 We tried to make sure that these men have been tested.

00:18:53.920 Our deacon candidates have been in our care under the pastoral care for over six months

00:18:57.920 now.

00:18:58.920 We've known these men for over 18 months now.

00:19:01.120 We've worked with them, had deep discussions, not just with them, but also with their wives.

00:19:05.320 Conversations about difficulty, conversation about reality.

00:19:09.580 We've looked at their families.

00:19:10.620 We've examined their children.

00:19:14.200 We've examined their doctrine.

00:19:15.600 We've considered their temperament, their ability to sacrifice and take this office seriously.

00:19:21.820 We have considered whether they can actually carry these responsibilities in our congregation.

00:19:27.060 And through that process, they have demonstrated faithfulness.

00:19:30.360 Not perfectness, but faithfulness.

00:19:36.260 They're not the best deacons that they'll ever be right now.

00:19:41.200 Think about the attorney that passes the bar.

00:19:44.260 Is he the best attorney that he'll ever be when he passes the bar? No. Think about the pastor.

00:19:49.860 When I was ordained, I'll tell you what, I was not a great pastor. But for some reason,

00:19:54.300 God saw that I was qualified to step into that role, into the baby, the kiddie pool zone.

00:20:00.400 And the Lord has been walking me over the years, slowly into the deep end of that pool.

00:20:06.120 And that is what we see with the diaconate. It is a maturity process of walking deeper

00:20:11.380 into that experience. I've met deacons that have been 20 years deep and they have told me

00:20:16.020 extraordinary stories. Extraordinary difficult stories of seasons of life that required them

00:20:23.140 and their ministry to help them. Now that testing matters because a man can desire an office without

00:20:30.840 being called to it. A man can desire an office without actually being called to it or qualified 0.89

00:20:38.380 for it. I think that's what we've seen all over the Western church today. We have women pastors. 0.97

00:20:45.220 I desire it, but I'm not called for it. We have disqualified pastors. We have unqualified, 1.00

00:20:54.420 unprepared, not ready, too green, immature across much of America and Europe.

00:21:01.540 The desire alone does not establish the call

00:21:08.580 It's a good sign

00:21:09.840 It's a good desire to have

00:21:12.580 If you have that desire to be a deacon or to be a pastor

00:21:14.980 That is a good thing

00:21:15.820 It actually says that in 1 Timothy chapter 3

00:21:18.300 If you desire the office of bishop or desire the office of pastor

00:21:21.560 It is a good thing to have that desire

00:21:23.060 It's a noble thing to desire to lead God's people

00:21:27.240 But the church must recognize that gifting

00:21:30.960 You must recognize it in the pastor, and you must recognize it also in the diaconate.

00:21:37.200 The church must recognize your character.

00:21:40.880 The church must see fruit in your life.

00:21:46.000 And through ordination, the process of ordination, the process of examination,

00:21:53.280 the pastors and the church publicly acknowledge what God has providentially established.

00:21:57.560 I'm going to say that again. I want you to really grasp this.

00:21:59.480 The pastors and the church publicly acknowledge what God has providentially established.

00:22:10.140 They are confirming what God has put in order and put in motion.

00:22:17.780 We are recognizing these two men in their calling.

00:22:24.520 We're not by our own strength ordaining these men today.

00:22:28.460 It is the Holy Spirit's work of the ordination, though he works through the means and the hands

00:22:32.980 of men, the laying on of hands. What a blessing that is. But we are acknowledging what God has

00:22:40.080 providentially established in these two men. Now, while there is great honor in this office,

00:22:47.280 there is also great sacrifice. First Timothy 3.13 says, for those who serve well as deacons

00:22:53.420 gain a good standing for themselves

00:22:56.300 and also great confidence

00:22:58.480 in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

00:23:03.480 It is a great thing to say

00:23:05.420 that I am a deacon in the church.

00:23:09.800 Today, it's hard for people to understand

00:23:11.680 what that means.

00:23:12.480 I mean, maybe when someone says,

00:23:14.180 I'm a police officer,

00:23:15.220 you have a degree of honor,

00:23:16.260 you know that generally that is a safe person.

00:23:19.480 This is not a felon that you're talking to.

00:23:22.100 This is someone that can hold a job.

00:23:25.100 And a very similar nature should be carried with the pastoral office and the diaconate.

00:23:31.940 Is that these are men that are qualified, they're tested, they're men of character, they're men of dignity.

00:23:39.940 This is an office of elevation not only for the man, but also for his wife.

00:23:46.280 Also for his wife.

00:23:48.440 Paul says in verse 11,

00:23:49.640 Their wives, likewise, must be dignified.

00:23:57.400 Not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 0.99

00:24:03.960 Just a small set of qualifications, right?

00:24:08.240 Just think about those words. 1.00

00:24:11.180 One, these women are to be dignified. 1.00

00:24:15.940 Two, not slanderers. 1.00

00:24:19.640 I don't know about you, but it is extremely difficult to not be a slanderer. 1.00

00:24:26.480 Don't act like you haven't done it. You've all done it. 1.00

00:24:32.620 We know also that it tends to be a feminine-sided sin, where anger tends to be a masculine-sided sin.

00:24:44.180 But slander and gossip are treated more on the feminine side, though it is still an issue with men.

00:24:51.240 We know that anger and rage are more issues of masculinity.

00:24:55.600 The reality is that it's telling these wives, the wives of all deacons, to not be slanderers.

00:25:03.620 To watch your tongue.

00:25:06.840 To be sober-minded. 1.00

00:25:10.140 Telling women to be sober-minded. 0.99

00:25:12.040 it. Women are emotional. It's one of the beauties that they are connected to their husbands 1.00

00:25:19.880 because husbands often bring sobriety about reality. They help bring stability and logic 1.00

00:25:27.880 into an emotional situation. It's a very good thing to have a husband. It's a very good thing

00:25:36.120 to have a wife. But the Scripture is telling 1.00

00:25:40.160 women of deacons and of pastors

00:25:43.140 to be sober-minded.

00:25:47.740 And then it ends with this statement, faithful in all

00:25:52.080 things. That's a low bar, right?

00:25:56.260 Faithful in all things. In your parenting.

00:26:00.840 Faithful in your hospitality.

00:26:03.720 Faithful in your money management.

00:26:06.120 Faithful in your Bible reading, your devotion time.

00:26:13.780 Faithful in your friendships.

00:26:16.220 Faithful with your parents and your family.

00:26:19.040 These are high standards that are given not just to the pastors, not just to the deacons, but the wives of pastors and deacons.

00:26:30.360 And they should remind us that ordained ministry always places a burden upon the family as well.

00:26:36.840 ordained ministry always places a burden on the family as well i can tell you what

00:26:42.120 there are pastors wives conferences for a reason because it is difficult for pastor's wives

00:26:51.000 in a unique way and deacon and deacon's wives will have a similar burden to carry

00:26:57.880 when a man enters the office his wife is going to feel it his children are going to feel it

00:27:02.840 The phone is going to ring during dinnertime.

00:27:06.580 It's going to happen.

00:27:08.740 The crisis is going to happen during your vacation.

00:27:12.560 It's happened to me.

00:27:16.980 That is why we should also be grateful for the wives and the children of the pastors and the deacons.

00:27:25.580 The family members themselves are not ordained into the office, but they share in its cost.

00:27:30.360 and that is why they deserve gratitude and prayer.

00:27:36.840 When you pray for your pastors, pray for our wives.

00:27:39.480 When you pray for your deacons, pray for their wives.

00:27:41.520 It is a good and holy practice to do such things.

00:27:45.400 Now, historically, the diaconate has also often served as a place

00:27:48.380 in which future pastors are formed.

00:27:51.640 And that has especially been true of the Anglican tradition,

00:27:55.600 the tradition that we find ourselves a stream in.

00:27:57.620 the Reformed world generally, you're going to have the diaconate generally comes before the

00:28:03.380 pastorate. It was John Calvin who actually said that the diaconate is the nursery for the pastorate.

00:28:11.360 The diaconate is the nursery for the pastor. Not always so, not every time, but often case,

00:28:16.260 is that true? One of the best places to learn whether a man can shepherd people

00:28:22.080 is to see whether he can serve people. That's a great way to determine and test a man.

00:28:29.540 One of the best places to learn whether a man can carry spiritual authority

00:28:32.800 is to see if he can carry practical authority, practical responsibility. One of the best places

00:28:39.700 for a man to learn if he is ready to stand behind the pulpit is if he's willing to set up for church.

00:28:46.340 Are you willing to serve? Essentially, if you want to make sure that a man is willing to be in the

00:28:53.100 visible station of the church, is he willing first to be in the invisible station behind the drywall

00:28:58.820 upholding the beams? Is he willing to do that?

00:29:05.600 If he is, that is a good sign of a qualified man.

00:29:09.160 And I think this brings us to the most difficult part of stepping into any office, and

00:29:17.660 I'll get ready to close after this, is embracing the authority that comes with the duty.

00:29:26.120 When anybody becomes a newly installed station or office, there is a sense of illegitimacy.

00:29:34.220 Ask any police officer going from, I'm not a police officer to now I am a police officer,

00:29:40.080 walking into the legitimacy of your station, of your office, take some time.

00:29:47.680 Someone going from not being a teacher to being a teacher. Someone from not being a pastor to

00:29:52.240 being a pastor. Someone from not being a deacon to being a deacon. Someone from not being a father

00:29:56.040 to being a father. Any station requires a period of time of working through the sense of illegitimacy

00:30:02.720 and then stepping into that with confidence.

00:30:08.220 And I think there's a good sense of humility, right?

00:30:12.860 Who am I to do this?

00:30:14.460 Who am I to administer the word of God to the people of God?

00:30:21.540 And there's some humility that's good in that.

00:30:26.240 But at some point, that humility has to turn into confidence of calling.

00:30:29.700 not confidence in yourself

00:30:32.760 but confidence that God put you here

00:30:35.240 that there is a real authority that you are to wield

00:30:38.920 and that is a good thing

00:30:40.820 I think it often times takes dads a little bit of time

00:30:45.280 to get there

00:30:45.780 but you can see a seasoned dad with six, seven kids

00:30:49.500 the way that he speaks to his young children

00:30:51.380 he's confident

00:30:53.020 there's training there

00:30:54.480 compared to the young dad with a newly set three year old

00:31:00.440 And so, through the church, God has called these men.

00:31:05.920 Through testing, the church has recognized these men.

00:31:08.760 Through ordination today, the church is going to set these men apart.

00:31:15.220 And they must begin to believe that God has fitted them for this work.

00:31:20.920 And what I mean by that is this.

00:31:22.560 God doesn't bring people into positions that they're not called or designed for.

00:31:26.920 So what does God do? 1.00

00:31:28.220 God calls women to submission. 0.68

00:31:29.700 God calls women to compassion.

00:31:32.320 God calls women to nurture. 1.00

00:31:34.580 God also built your biology, ladies, to do those specific things.

00:31:40.500 God called men to leadership, to protection, to conviction.

00:31:48.760 God also gave men masculinity and testosterone and the hormones and the ability and the strength, the frame to do that.

00:31:59.700 Ephesians 2 10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,

00:32:07.160 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. God is sovereign.

00:32:12.740 Am I accidentally a pastor? No. God made me before I was even born, knit me together in my

00:32:22.600 mother's womb, gave me the characteristics and the behavior and the type of hormones and the

00:32:29.200 experiences and the childhood and the household and the family

00:32:32.920 and the time that I was born specifically to help frame me for the work that I'm

00:32:36.960 doing here. And he's done the same for the deacons.

00:32:42.660 He's done the same for you that are mothers and for fathers.

00:32:48.580 It doesn't mean that the work's always going to be easy.

00:32:52.060 It doesn't mean you're always going to feel like you're prepared.

00:32:53.940 but it does mean that you should trust God

00:32:59.520 to carry your pastors and your deacons through this work.

00:33:06.420 Today we're going to be setting these two men apart

00:33:08.360 later after our liturgy for this office

00:33:13.140 and I think we should receive it as a sign of God's kindness to our little church.

00:33:18.480 God gives shepherds to churches that have sheep to shepherd

00:33:24.660 and God gives deacons to churches who have people that have needs

00:33:30.240 we're about a hundred people we're now we're missing some families today but we're about a

00:33:37.340 hundred people and God has been so gracious to give us a new pastor recently God has given us

00:33:45.580 two new deacons here. I don't know about you, but that signals to me that God is preparing us for

00:33:53.360 growth. God is preparing, not necessarily just in numbers, for maturity.

00:34:03.820 Looks like by God's grace that he might be giving us a building soon.

00:34:06.620 these are great signs of the Lord's grace upon us it's a sign that the Lord is building this

00:34:15.940 tiny church in Prescott tons we have like eight women that are pregnant

00:34:21.680 we're going to grow this church through pregnancy it's a beautiful thing

00:34:26.200 it's a sign that he intends for this congregation to mature and so I want us to be grateful

00:34:34.300 for the season that we're in. I want us to be grateful for the men that we're about to ordain.

00:34:39.880 I want us to be grateful for the pastors and for their wives and for the deacons' wives.

00:34:43.800 And above all, I want us to be grateful to God who does not leave his church without order. Amen?

00:34:51.120 Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the work that you're doing in our church

00:34:54.220 and for the blessing that it is to have officers that care about the Word of God,

00:34:59.300 that fill the order and the stations that you have designed for your bride to operate properly.

00:35:04.760 Lord, we thank you in the name of Christ.

00:35:06.840 Amen.

Dale Partridge - October 10, 2026

Why Are Deacons Vital for the Church？

Episode Stats

Transcript