table talk

who leads the church?

jesus is the head of the church; he places elders to lead in teaching and deacons to lead in serving His local churches in submission to him.

How is the Church structured? The local church was given a structure to more orderly live together. Jesus is the head of the Universal church and every local church. Elders are the undershepherds in charge of leading God’s people and watching over the teaching and life of the local church. Deacons are the servants who ensure the local church runs smoothly through their service.

Head

Read Acts 6:1-7. Why was the office of deacon created? What does the work of deacons “serving tables” look like in our current context? Notice, also, that the Apostles were not saying that the work of deacons was a lesser task compared to their work of prayer and the word. Instead, they are saying both tasks are too important to be neglected.

Heart

Many find the Bibles commands to submit to authority difficult. Where have you struggled to submit to God’s authority in the past and where has that shown in your relationship with the human authority God has placed in your life? How did God help you in this area of your life (or do you still need to repent and grow in this area)?

1 timothy 3:1-13

Our culture seems to value skill and talent above character. This tendency can even express itself in the church in how we evaluate elders and pastors. We value preachers that are skilled at communicating, who can entertain us. How might this section of Scripture correct us in this tendency? Notice that the one qualification that could be considered a skill is “be able to teach” though even then it only says, “able to teach”, with no qualifier on how skillfully or persuasively they teach.

Hands Feet

Each person is called to join in God’s work in a local church. How have you joined into the work God is doing in our church?

If you are not yet using the gifts God gave you for “the common good” in our local church begin serving in some way with the church this week.