Alright. If you take your Bibles, turn to first Timothy chapter three. First Timothy chapter three, and we'll begin reading at verse eight. First Timothy chapter three verse eight. We again, Paul is writing to Timothy to give him some guidance and instruction in guiding the church there in Ephesus and helping to establish other churches and to to help them in finding pastors and deacons, which he addresses in the passage here this evening.

So first Timothy three verse eight, likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double tongue, not given too much wine, not greedy or filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Let those also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanders, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well, for they that have used the office of deacon, well purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So if you hold your place there and turn back to Acts chapter six.

Turn back, if you would, to Acts chapter six, and we'll read about the first deacons that were chosen in the church in Jerusalem. So Acts chapter six. There was a an issue in the early church. Some of the widows and needy of a certain group, the Grecians they're called here, the Hellenistic Jews, were being at least the complaint was they were being overlooked. They were not being taken as well care of as well as the other believers in the church.

And so the apostles, rather than trying to deal with this all themselves and figure out who's right and who's wrong and how do we how do we get sure that all these widows and these orphans and these people, the apostles decided, you know, it isn't right that we should take all of our time away from preaching the word and studying the word in prayer to do with some of these temporal needs. It wasn't that they were important, they were important, and thus, they came up with a spirit filled, spirit led solution. They said, let's choose several people out of the church that can oversee this issue, can oversee this need to make sure that everybody is treated fairly, that the needs that people have are met to the best of our ability so that the apostles and elders could focus on the work of evangelism and teaching. And so that brings us to Acts chapter six, and we'll read there. In those days when the number of disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows neglected in the daily ministration.

Then the 12 called the multitude of the disciples under them and said it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the same pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip and Prochorus and Canaan, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, the proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased, the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of priests were obedient to the faith.

So this would seem to correspond with the same group of people that we're talking about, that Paul is talking about in first Timothy chapter three that we call deacons. Now, the word deacon in the Greek is diakonos. Diakonos is in other places translated servant or or minister. The the literal meaning of the word deacon is servant. It is someone who serves others is a deacon.

That's the meaning of the word. Here in first Timothy chapter three, rather than writing the meaning of the word servant, because it relates to a specific office of the church, it is translated instead deacon or literally transliterated, which means they took the Greek words and they wrote them as a what? As an English word. So rather than diakonos, they knocked the os off the end, which is a typical Greek ending, and diakonos became deacon. Okay?

Same thing with baptizo, the word for baptize. The word literally means to dunk or immerse, but we don't read that in the Bible when it says they immerse them or you need to be immersed. What we read is you need to be baptized because they took the Greek word and they transliterated it into English. So baptizo becomes baptized. K?

Similarly, as the word deacon here. The church office is often confused with that of an elder. The word deacon as I mentioned means servant and deacons were first chosen in the church that we read here in Acts chapter six. An elder is more similar to a pastor position in the word of God. It is more of a leadership and teaching and preaching position, office in the church where deacon is a servant office in the church, serving the people as we're reading here in Acts six, serving them, helping to take care of their their temporal temporal needs.

And so the two are not the same thing. In some churches, they have pastors, they have elders, and they have deacons. Typically, in Baptist churches, we have pastors and we have deacons and elders and pastor, we kind of lump into one group, which seems reasonable interpretation of scripture. However, sometimes deacons also sort of function similar to elders in other churches. But we see here a pretty clear description of why the first deacons were chosen which gives us a pretty good idea of what their ministry in the church is to be.

They were chosen to assist the apostles by taking care of the temporal needs of the congregation and thereby properly recording and handling the monetary affairs of the church as they were distributed in taking care of the needs of the congregation. So that seems to be the primary function is serving the congregation in these temporal things so that the apostles could focus on the spiritual things, not that there isn't a good bit of overlap between the two. We also see that some of these deacons took on greater and greater ministry and became preachers and evangelists and that type of thing such as Stephen and Philip. They grew in their ministry and God called them to also to a preaching and teaching ministry as well, although that isn't specifically the ministry ascribed here in Acts six. Paul's instructions, here we read in first Timothy three, give us some qualifications, some character traits, some things that need be true of those chosen to be deacons.

And as we said earlier, as I mentioned when we were going through the first part about bishops or pastors, is that although these things are explicitly given as qualifications for those seeking the ministry and office of a deacon in the church, these should be true of every Christian, generally speaking. There may be one or two things that are more specific to the ministry of deacon or pastor. But for the most part, these things that are required of deacons really are expected of every believer in Jesus Christ. And as we go through this list, guess what? We're going to see a good bit of overlap with the previous list with bishops repeated in regards to deacons as well because both ministries are important and the character and trustworthiness and spiritual maturity of both groups are important to the functioning of the church and the functioning of the church to the glory of God.

So, back to our list here, first Timothy three, likewise, must the deacons be grave, okay? That sounds grave, doesn't it? Alright. Or serious or or reverent. The word grace means it means honorable.

Having integrity and an appropriate attitude toward the sacredness of the ministry. Having integrity and an appropriate attitude toward the sacredness of the ministry. That doesn't mean solemn. Okay? It doesn't mean deacons can't have a good time.

It doesn't mean they can't enjoy their ministry, that they can't enjoy other things in their life, but it does mean that they have an appropriate level of reverence for the ministry because, you know, it's ministry to people. You know, you fix cars and, you know, that's a good thing. And indirectly, you minister to people through fixing cars. But, you know, if you if you goof up the the transmission, it'll have to be fixed again. Not not a big deal, though it may cost a little bit of money.

But in regards to the ministry of the church, it directly affects those created in the image of who? In the image of God and whether your ministry is primarily teaching the word or whether it is serving in the name of Jesus Christ, the temporal needs of others. And while doing so, also encouraging them and ministering to them spiritually as well. These these are important. There should be a degree of reverence that is appropriate to the the ministry and the attitude of those doing this.

In Ephesians chapter five verses fourteen and sixteen, It says, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. God, I think, wants us to enjoy life. God wants us to be full of joy and peace. But with an understanding that this life, a, is not all there is, with an understanding that this life is like a what?

The Bible says it's like a a vapor. It's here for a moment and then it's gone. And we're giving we've been given a precious, precious treasure gift from God this time that we have. And we must not squander what we have been given on frivolous things. And that is something that we as Christians should all endeavor to have before us, to live circumspectly with our eyes wide open, cautiously thinking how the things that I am doing do affect other people.

But it's something that is vitally vital and necessary in the life of one chosen to be a deacon and one involved in ministry, that they have a a certain appropriate degree of reverence and honorability in this. So be grave is the first one here. So the next, it says, not double tongued. Not double tongued. Now that's that's one that isn't listed in the previous list, though we might could find it covered in there in some way for bishops.

But specifically not double tongued or not two faced. Telling one person one thing and the and another person another, telling another person something to appease them, to gain their favor, or to undermine the authority or reputation of others. This is particularly an important attribute of a deacon and one which, if ignored, can bring much harm to the church. The deacons serve the congregations. They're also deacons serve the pastor.

They're an extension of his ministry to help to provide for things that the pastor cannot. And it is important that the pastor and the deacons are working, what, together. Yeah. It's important that they're working together and not against one another. Now, I've been blessed.

I've been here twenty years, and I have very little issue with my deacons. I've had some wonderful deacons who I I knew had my back. They were supported. They didn't always agree with me. Sometimes they voiced their disagreement in our deacons meetings or one on one in person, but they were careful not to voice their disagreement in what?

In public. They were careful how they voiced their disagreement, and they were not undermining the ministry of the pastor or the church by going and talking to other people. Sadly, sometimes it is the case, and I have personally seen it, not here so much. Praise the Lord. That you have deacons that want to get people on their side.

And they say one thing to the pastor's face and in the meeting. And then when the meeting's over, they they hear somebody that's disgruntled, and they go and they they take their side. And they justify it by saying, well, I'm just trying to see it from their perspective, and I'm trying to make them feel good. But be careful that you don't say one thing to one person and another thing to another person that makes you, what, two faced or or double toned because you're not being we're not being honest. And again, should that just only be true of deacons?

Obviously not. That should be true of pastors. It should be true of deacons. It should be true of Sunday school teachers. It should be true of of the members of the church.

That we're honest. That we do not say one thing to one person, another thing to another person. Trying to gain their their favor or get them onto our side. The tongue is a wonderful thing. The tongue can also be a terrible thing.

And it is important that those that are called into offices of ministry in the church that they are careful with their what? That they're careful with their tongue. In James chapter three, we'll just I'll just read this quickly for you. Just a quick reminder here. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

The word master there is more in reference to a teacher. For in many things we offend all, if any man offend not in word, same as a perfect man, a mature man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body. Behold, also the ships which though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm or rudder whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things.

Behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind, but the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

Now, that doesn't mean by God's grace and strength, you can't tame your own tongue, okay? But generally speaking, man's tongue is a mess, okay? And causes a world of hurt and trouble. He goes on to say, therewith, blessed we God, even the father, and therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed the blessing and cursing, my brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. And so that's what James has to say about the tongue, a little warning and a reminder of our need to keep it under God's, under Holy Spirit control. And that's something that should be recognizable in one seeking to minister in the church.

If not, then that can cause division. And the Lord does not love division and contention. Number three, not given too much wine. Okay? That's right.

Now back to first Timothy chapter three. Not given too much wine. So I think we covered that pretty well in regards to our list on bishops. Again, alcohol is meant here by wine and it's not merely drunkenness that's in view but the common habit of drinking alcohol which to some degree inhibits our mind and behavior which works not with the Holy Spirit, but works what? Against the Holy Spirit.

Thus, be not drunk with wine or as in excess, but be what? Filled with the spirit. And then number four, not greedy of filthy lucre. And again, we covered this in the list regarding bishops. The word lucre there means what?

Money. It means it means money. Is money evil? Is money bad? No.

Money is necessary. Money is a is a is a tool to be used in service of the Lord. Money, can be a very good thing. The problem isn't with the money, the problem is with the word that precedes that and that's the word greed. You don't want somebody leading your church or serving in capacity as a deacon who is greedy of money, whose life is all wrapped up in that next dollar, whose whose goal and ambition is all tied to their material possessions.

Because, well, ministry ministry is not about taking, it's about what? It's about giving. And somebody who's all about the acquisition of things and more and more and more money just for the sake of money to indulge particularly the flesh is not somebody who should be in place of ministry in the church, particularly particularly with deacons. Why? Well, back to Acts chapter six.

What were the deacons going to be taking care of in the church in Jerusalem? The widows. And how were they going to take care of the widows? They were going to have to handle the the money. Yeah.

They were going to be you don't want people greedy of money handling the church funds. Why? Because all of a sudden, the church funds start to to disappear, and the church funds get directed to something else. No. You want honest, people not greedy of money who you can trust handling the money of the church.

That is vitally important. So thus, those not greedy of filthy lucre. And then number five, the next one. Okay. We find that in verse nine, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

Now, this is this is not found in the list regarding bishops earlier in the chapter. The mystery of the faith. What is the mystery of the faith? Well, that's the doctrine of salvation. Okay?

The mystery of the faith. What is a mystery? Well, in Paul's epistles, he in several times alludes to the mystery. What is he talking about? He's talking about the mystery of the church.

He's talking about the mystery of the the new covenant. In the Old Testament, God dealt mainly with a nation, the nation of Israel. Okay? And he gave them a covenant at Mount Sinai that they were supposed to keep. It involved many laws that they were supposed to keep, to set them apart, from the world and unto the Lord that they served.

And they were to keep those laws. And again and again and again, what happened? They failed to keep those laws. They failed and they failed. And they they went as far as to turn completely away from the Lord to idolatry again and again into all types of immorality and treated their faith flippantly.

And it brought them great chastisement and chastening from the hand of the Lord. But one day, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth who? His son. Now, were there passages in the Old Testament that referred to the coming of the son? Yes, there were.

There were quite a few. But yet many of the details were were hidden from the Jews and did not come to light until the Messiah came. And he died on the cross as the scriptures foretold, and he rose again as the scriptures foretold. Look in Isaiah 53. You will find it all right in that chapter alone.

And he didn't come just to die for the sins of Israel. He came to die for the sins of the what? Of the world to institute a new covenant which one enters, not by the keeping of the law, but by grace through what? Through faith. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his his mercy saved us.

For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works which any man should boast. And this offer, this invitation to become part of God's family and God's kingdom was extended not only to the Jews but to the to the whole world. For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the what? To the Greek.

That one day in Christ, Jew and Gentile alike believers, saved and redeemed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, would one day praise the Lord in heaven and in his new Jerusalem forever. The mystery, the mystery of the faith, the doctrine of salvation and of the church. Sincere and genuine in the faith and the ministry of the gospel without pretense or hypocrisy. This would be one it would not make sense to choose one to be a deacon who was not grounded in the what? In the faith and in the doctrine of salvation, in the in the fundamental doctrines of the faith.

You don't want to have somebody ministering as an extended arm of the church who is either terribly ignorant of the doctrines of scripture or, God forbid, should, be teaching something contrary to those that they are that they are ministering to. This is important as well. You we need people in ministry, whether it be teaching Sunday school classes or or whether it be keeping the grounds up or whether it be ministering to the widows, every now and then, Pam is out here working on the bushes and somebody wanders into the parking lot. And Pam, she just utterly ignores them and doesn't have anything to do with. No.

You know, sometimes she has an opportunity to to talk and minister to them. It is a good thing if she is fairly well grounded in her faith and her knowledge of scripture because, you know, the pastor isn't here all the time. So Pam gets to share with somebody the gospel of Jesus Christ or other other things from the word of God. And and that's important. It's important for our deacons to be grounded in the what?

To be grounded in the faith. Sincerely, to have a good sound testimony of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You certainly wouldn't wanna make someone a deacon and a part of the ministry in the church that had a kind of a, you know, wishy washy testimony and didn't know if they were were saved or not or if they understood the basic doctrines of the faith and particularly the doctrine of salvation and the gospel. And that is important. Number five, proven and found what?

Let also first be proved that is tested then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. As in the case with bishops, they must be not be an unproven novice but one having been observed for a time being found being mature in the faith, trustworthy, and of impeccable character. Not somebody who just showed up this week and said, Hey, I want to be a deacon. Okay, that's wonderful. We'll make you a deacon.

No. What does Paul say? You need to give them time. You need to first what? Prove them.

Test them. Now, we're not proving them or testing them in regards to whether they're going to heaven or not because, praise God, that's not my job. That's His job. It's my job to give the gospel, to preach the word. The Lord is the ultimate judge.

But as a pastor, I want to make sure that those that we involve in the ministry of the church, particularly pastors and deacons, that they are of a sound character. And that these this really overlaps with the verse preceding it as well. That they're mature in the faith, they're trustworthy, and having been tested over time, show themselves to be of impeccable character. Now blameless doesn't mean perfect because not one of us is perfect. Your pastor is not perfect.

Your deacons are not perfect. Trust me. But we have deacons of good, sound, character, who are trustworthy, have shown themselves to be trustworthy, to know the word and to love the word. And praise the Lord, we have these to join in the ministry of the church because we need them. Your pastor needs them and appreciates them.

There's a room down at the end of the hall. Go down there sometime and see and look and see what all I did. I I what did I do? I painted two door frames and ran around the yesterday answering questions, but really didn't get a whole lot done. There's not much in that room down there that I did, and there's not much in that room down there that I directly oversaw.

I have a couple of deacons that did that for me. And that frees me up to spend more time on preaching the word, on studying, on prayer, and ministering to people rather than painting walls. Now, actually, I kind of enjoy painting walls. I'm kind of slow at it. If if you if you want the if you want one little wall painted and you I have an hour or so, then I'm your man.

If you want a room painted in a couple hours, well, you need somebody that is a little quicker than I am with paint because every little spot I'd make make sure I got it completely covered up. Anyway. And then when I get done and the other person gets done that's going three times as fast, guess what? Their wall looks the same as my wall, so hey. Anyway, but those things those things are important.

It says here in Acts chapter six and verse three regarding the first deacons that were chosen. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. So they weren't looking at just somebody who had money skills. They weren't looking for somebody who just showed up and volunteered for the job. They were looking for someone who had been tested and proved themselves to be of honest report, to be full of the holy spirit, the holy ghost, and to be people of wisdom.

Because if you put people in leadership in the church, in the servant leadership of the church who are like this, then things are going to go great. If not, then you're going you're going to find trouble. And praise the Lord God has sent us some wonderful people. Also, it regards here in verse 11 and verse 11, it also mentions, it says, even so must their wives be grave, not slandered sober, faithful in all things. So, it not only not only describes the character of the deacons, but also it mentions their wives.

Should they be married, whether it be bishops, pastors, or whether it be deacons, though it's mentioned here specifically in regard to deacons. Does the character of the wife any any bearing on the husband? Yes, it does. K? Does it have any bearing on the ministry of the husband?

The answer to that is yes. Yes, it does. Because, essentially, if one is married, it's not just your ministry, it's it's our ministry. This isn't just my ministry, it's our ministry. My wife is just as vital in many ways to this ministry, or Al would say more so, than I am.

And so, it is vitally important to those that are married that their wives be of sound character, that they work hand in hand in the ministry of the Lord because that that causes their ministry to flourish. And rather than them trying to juggle so much responsibilities, okay, I've gotta you know, they work on those responsibilities together as a what? As a team. They are unified. There's not contention and competition over, well, you spent too much time at church, you know.

And by the way, a deacon stood still too much time at church if he's not careful. However, he mentioned some things here about the character of their wives. Grave, again, mean reverent and honorable. Not slanderers, meaning not gossips or busybodies. Okay?

Now don't look at me. I didn't put this in the list for the wives and not the list for the husbands. Okay? God put it here. Ask him why.

He chose to put it here and not there. Though I think double tongue does sort of cover some of the same area here as as slanders or gossips. But women like to talk to women about what's going on in their lives, you know, and that's okay. You just have to be careful that you don't start to become a what? A gossip or a slanderer.

And that's true of men as well. It's not that men never talk to men or men never gossip because they do also. But this was a particular concern of Paul and as led by the Holy Spirit here. If the wives of the husbands are not careful with their tongue, it can also undermine the ministry of their husbands and the ministry of the church. It can cause dissension and rather than everybody working together as a team, it becomes a problem.

I am very thankful that my wife has very, very little issue ever with gossiping and passing along things that I tell her. And, you know, because of that, I know that I can share some things with her, and I don't have to be concerned that it's just gonna go around the church. You know how that happens. Some, you know, you somebody finds out some pretty soon. You know something, you tell one person, pretty soon somebody else comes up to and tells you something that says a little skewed and another person comes up.

Well, how did that happen? Well, it just gets what? Passed around. You know, the what what's that game called? The the telephone game where you sit in a circle and one person whispers and one person's ear and the way you whisper in another person's ear.

And by the time the story gets back, it's not the same story as it was to start out with. So we all need to be careful with what we say particularly about other people because there is a place and a time. Usually, that place and that time is talking face to face with the person if you should have an issue with them and not to other people who can't fix the problem. And so that's obviously important. Sober, meaning temperate and self controlled, that would kind of be the opposite of immodest.

It kind of goes with the idea of being modest as well. Modest not so much in dress or appearance per se, but modest in character. Okay? And then faithful. Faithful, trustworthy in all all things.

So generally, a faithful, trustworthy person that can be counted on, that that does the things they say they're going to do. And, boy, if these things are true of the husband and the wife, it strengthens their their ministry. It strengthens their home. It strengthens their ministry in the church. It strengthens the the deacon's ministry in the church because, really, with a husband and wife, it is a team effort.

He then says again, going back to the other list, husbands. Let's see here. Verse 12, let the deacons be husbands of one wife. We covered that in the previous passage under bishops that that could be talking about only having one wife at a time. I don't think that's it.

That could be saying that they cannot be divorced. I think that may be it. But what is certainly true of the passage, it it is saying that deacons should who are married should be faithful to their faithful to their wives. That's the kind of person they ought to be. If they're not faithful to their wives, then are they fit to be deacons?

The answer to that is no. If they have divorced their wives, then no. Because they need to be people of character who can be trusted to give sound advice and be a good to be particularly a good example in the church. And then the last one here, ruling their own houses well, ruling their children and their own houses well. And again, that is a reflection of the previous list concerning bishops as well.

Same as bishops, the home is a testimony to their integrity and ability to serve and to lead the church, and conversely, a red flag should it be fraught with problems. If there are extensive issues in the home, then those issues are going to bleed into the what? They're going to bleed into the church. If they are not fit leaders in the home, then they're not going to be fit leaders where? In in the church.

And so this is something also that needs to be true of those that are married and have children. Not every deacon has children. Not every deacon is married, but those that do have children should their children should be well trained and well led, and they should be faithful and a leader in their home, not only to their children but also to their wives. Paul concludes in verse 13, for they that have used the office of a deacon, well purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. In other words, being a deacon is not something that is for everyone.

Being a deacon is not the only area of ministry or service in the church. But should the Lord call you and should the church call you to that ministry, it is a good one. It is a a ministry that Paul encourages those two in the church to consider. Paul ends this section by encouraging those who are chosen to this ministry to serve well, honestly and wholeheartedly, pointing out that those who do gain to themselves a greater degree of confidence and boldness in the faith. And we see this reflected in Acts chapter six and Acts chapter seven.

So one of the deacons first chosen in the church was who? Starts with an s. Stephen. So, Stephen was chosen to be a deacon. Not at first chosen by the church to be a preacher or an apostle but chosen to serve in regard to making sure that the temporal needs of the membership of the church were taken care of.

But yet, having accepted that calling, God called him into more ministry and he became a a sound and holy spirit filled preacher, proclaimer, teacher of the word of God. So much so that his boldness in declaring his faith got him what? Got him killed. Oh, so that's that's a good thing. Yeah.

Yeah. Doesn't sound like a good thing, but that's a good thing. His faith, he was so bold in sharing his faith and stating the truth that he wasn't going to back down from saying that which was right even when it cost him his life. Philip, one of one of the other deacons went on to become a teacher and a prophet in the early church as well. And they gained in confidence and boldness as they ministered, first as a deacon and then in these other ways also, though it doesn't say that all of them became preachers or evangelists.

But Paul is encouraging Timothy to encourage them that this is a good ministry and to thank the Lord for it and to do it wholeheartedly unto the Lord. Let's close in prayer. Lord, thank you for, your word and thank you Lord for the opportunity you've given us all to serve in different areas and ministries, of the church. Praise the Lord. We don't have to qualify as bishops or qualify as deacons to be used of the Lord to minister in different areas of the church and to minister to other people.

Lord, we thank you that you are a God of mercy and that you're a God of grace. And, Lord, that no matter where we have been in Jesus Christ, we can be made a new vessel fit for the master's use. We thank you Lord for that this evening and we we pray not only for our deacons that they would continue to serve the Lord with a whole heart, continue to grow and mature in their faith, to be blameless in their their character and activities, and to serve the Lord with all their heart. But Lord, that all of us would examine ourselves as we seek to serve you, that we might be proven as well to be blameless in our heart and in our in our actions, our words, our attitude that we might be used in whatever area of ministry that you have called us to to bring glory to our Lord and savior. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.