Shepherds Appoint Deacons to Serve the Needy
Christian congregations have two kinds of servants:
elders and deacons like Stephen and Phoebe.
Those who teach children should read study #71 for children.
Prayer: “Lord Jesus, raise up deacons in your Body and help us to appoint them and encourage them as they serve the needy.”
1. Prepare with the Word of God to appoint and encourage deacons.
Find in Acts 6:1-6 [Answers are in italic] …
· The main work of elders and the main work of deacons.
[Elders serve the Word of God; deacons meet practical needs.]
· How believers get appointed as deacons.
[The congregation chooses them and the leaders lay hands on them.]
Find in Romans 16:1-2 what the Apostle Paul thought about deacons …
· Can a woman become a deacon? [Verse 1.]
· What kind of reputation did Phoebe have? [Verse 2.]
Find in Philippians 1:1-2 two kinds of workers in the Church of Philippi. [Elders and deacons].
Find in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 …
· Some qualifications for choosing deacons [Verses 8-11.]
· Some rewards of serving as deacons [Verses 12-13.]
Find in 1 Peter 4:8-11 …
· Two classes of spiritual gifts. [Speaking and serving.]
· What command of Jesus do deacons obey. [Love.]
· What God gives to those who serve as deacons. [Grace and strength.]
2. Plan with your co-workers to appoint and encourage deacons.
Pray with your colleagues that the Lord will raise up deacons who will serve the needy with joy and strength from the Lord.
Assess the practical needs of the believers and the community that could be met by your congregation.
If you have heard complaints from some believers, then talk together about what could be done to solve their problem, and who will help.
Talk together about practical things you all do for the congregation, such that you and your co-workers are too busy to learn the Bible, to pray for all the believers, and to plan how to help the congregation to grow.
Talk together about believers who have gifts and passions to help others. Then pray for those believers by name.
Contact those believers and talk with them about their vision to help meet practical needs of believers and community members.
Be careful: do not plan how to get the believers to work without pay in your garden or business.
3. Plan with your co-workers the up-coming worship time.
Read or tell the story of the first deacons in Acts 6:1-6.
Have the children present to the adults the skit and questions that they have prepared.
Review with the believers what the New Testament teaches about deacons who serve the needy, citing some passages from part 1, above.
Read or tell the story of Dorcus Acts 9:36 – 42. Talk about how the Lord Jesus loves to serve his people through those who enjoy serving the needy.
Let the believers share testimonies about how they have been served by other believers.
If a believer has accepted to serve as a deacon, then you and the elders can lay your hands on them during the worship meeting, and pray for them.
To introduce the Lord’s Supper, read or cite from memory, Mark 10:43-45.
Memorize together Mark 10:45.
Form small groups of two or three people, to pray, confirm activity plans and encourage one another.