Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY

Acts | Part 9 | Hunter Deel | Acts 6:1-7

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The local church works best when each member uses their gifts for the glory of God and the good of others. When people aren't playing their part in the church, something will inevitably fall through the cracks.

• Growth often exposes areas of our church that need attention
• Challenges should be viewed as opportunities to strengthen our community and service
• The apostles prioritized prayer and preaching while delegating other important tasks
• Leadership isn't about doing all the work but equipping others to serve effectively
• Everyone has a gift to use, though not everyone is called to preach
• When people do their jobs faithfully, the Word of God increases and disciples multiply
• No job is too little - each role carries eternal significance
• The church is not a spectator sport but a place where everyone participates

If you're not currently serving, we have a place for you! 


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Speaker 1:

And so this morning Hunter's going to bring the word. But I will say you know, you try to train up, you know these younger pastors and stuff, and I just want you to notice, today I've got my UK tie on and Hunter's shirt looks shockingly close to Arkansas color. So, brother Bill, what are we going to do with you? Acts, chapter 6, we're making our way, verse by or section by section, I should say, through the book of Acts, and the word of the Lord says this.

Speaker 1:

Now, in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the 12 summoned the full number of the disciples and said it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. And therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Procorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, and these they set before the apostles and they prayed and laid their hands on them and the word of God continued to increase and the number of the disciples multitude greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. It's the word of God for the people of God. You may be seated.

Speaker 2:

First words that come out of Pastor Chris's mouth and he's trying to cause trouble I will say this that I may have Arkansas colors on, but he is dressed up just like John Calipari today. Alright, enough of that, let's pray. Heavenly Father, god, I come to you today as a man who is not worthy to preach your word. But, god, I ask for your grace and your mercy, and I pray that the Holy Spirit resonates with our heart today. In Jesus' name, we pray amen. So, out of texting back and forth with Josh last night, I titled this sermon Growing Pains, and if you're apparently from the 80s, there's a show called the Growing Pains. Well, I am not from the 80s, so I did not know that, so sorry. And Pastor Chris said that obviously I know a lot about growing pains as being 6'8". So here we are. A lot about growing pains as being six foot eight. So here we are.

Speaker 2:

But you have a notepad or a note sheet or something like that. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to write down how you serve in your local church If you're not from this church, hopefully you have a local church that you do go to and what ministry do you serve in? What gifts from God do you use to help build up the body of Christ? Now, if you can't think of any, I want to encourage you today that hopefully, this message will move you to be able to serve. And if you're like, well, I just don't know what my gifts are, pastor Ron has a great little worksheet that helps you figure out what your gifts are, and it's very practical and easy to go through. But I will say this that our church will never reach its maximum potential unless the body serves. God has gifted every person in this church with a gift For the church to maximize their potential. Every member must play their part and use that gift. I want you to imagine this I'm a football guy, it's basketball season, so I just get through.

Speaker 2:

But I want you to imagine this that a church is a football team and every player has a specific position and a role to play during the game. However, if one player fails to fulfill their duties or is in the wrong position or doesn't show up altogether, I want you to think how it disrupts the entire play. I want you to think how it disrupts the entire play. For instance, a wide receiver running the wrong route or a running back not taking the handoff or the quarterback just miscommunicates the play altogether. All of these things will lead to loss of yards. As a former football coach and a player, I can assure you this that if a single player fails to perform, then the entire play is affected. The loss can be negative if the team lacks unity.

Speaker 2:

Unity and collaboration are essential for a football team's success, and the same principle applies to the church. Imagine what we could do if we would unite and work together towards a common goal. To be clear, the main point of the sermon today is that the local church works best when each member uses their gift for the glory of God and the good of others. Inside this text we see the same principle, namely, when people are not playing their part in the church, it's out of limp. Someone or something is going to fall through the cracks One day. We do all want to hear well done, good and faithful servant, and if you are serving now, then I do want to say thank you, and our church cannot operate without you, and if you are not using your gifts, then you are truly missing out, and I want to encourage you today to be a part of the success that God is doing here. Starting with Acts 6.1, it says Now, in these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenist arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

Speaker 2:

Point one for today is going to be the challenge of growth. The early church was expanding at a rapid pace. I would go back through and I'd read all the occasions, but I do feel like Pastor Chris has done a satisfactory job going through the book of Acts so far. You're welcome. The early church was growing at a rapid pace. 3,000 people were saved at the day of Pentecost and you have to think Pentecost was right after the celebration of Passover, so Jews from all over the place were coming into the city. A group called the Hellenists are from the area around Judea, and then you see another group in this text called the Hebrews. Well, they're from Jerusalem. The Hebrews speak Hebrew and the Hellenists speak Greek. You've got to think when we are in Passover, all these people are in the city and then Pentecost happens not too far after that, peter preaches a dynamite message and 3,000 people get saved, and some of those people have to be a part of the Hellenist group so they do not travel home, they're staying in the city. Could you imagine what kind of problem that would have? You have family members come over for Thanksgiving and you preach and they get saved and you're like you know what. You did a really good job at preaching. I love this Jesus guy and we're not going home. My family lives in town and I don't want that. You're welcome, mom. This has to cause a problem.

Speaker 2:

Twelve men are in charge now of not just finding a place to worship, preparing meals or the Lord's Supper. Twelve men have to now make sure that everyone who has needs is taken care of. In chapter 4 it says that 5,000 men are part of the church. Well, most scholars will say that if you include women and children, this would be up to 20,000 people inside the body. That's a lot of growth in just six chapters. So now, not only do I have 3,000 people to take care of, now I have upwards to 20,000 people to take care of. There are five pastors in this church and we pastor a church of 100-ish people and I have trouble remembering everyone's name. I'm great with faces, but names not so much. Imagine 20,000. Not only are they trying to make sure that needs are met, people are housed, communion is served and that the Word of God is being preached, to reconstruct the Jewish mindset that Jesus has now fulfilled the Old Testament. They now have to help people who are needy, especially here, at the widows, where there was no health care system, no social welfare, no insurance policies, social security.

Speaker 2:

Without the church at this time, widows, without the distribution of goods, would die. Do you see why there's a problem here? And I'm exhausted just reading that off? With growth comes challenges. So that complaint arose because some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of good. This just wasn't a logistical issue, it threatens the unity of the church. Read it again Now.

Speaker 2:

In these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint rose. Not just they walked into Peter's office and said hey, hey, peter, there's some widows here that's not being taken care of A complaint rose, bickering amongst the group Now that's a sermon for another day of gossiping and bickering and complaining. Oh, pastor, chris handled that one, but without the apostles, but without the apostles taking care of these widows, significant damage would be done. So I want you to think all this growth and everybody prays for growth, thanks of growth once revival comes, and then growth will come. And I'm going to be honest, I'm the one who's always the realist and says, well, growth is coming and there's problems. But this sermon has definitely convicted me. Through my study that's what it's good for. I want to say this Growth often exposes areas of our church that need attention.

Speaker 2:

You heard Pastor Jerry said everybody scoot up and scoot towards the wall. I came to this church 10 years ago I never thought seating would be a problem, never thought we'd have a problem in the parking lot. I never thought we'd have too many kids and not enough workers. Growth often exposes areas that need attention. But rather than viewing challenges as problems, we should view them as opportunities to strengthen our community and in service. Just think what we can do. If our mindset is not set to, how do we solve a problem? But how do we come together and capitalize on the opportunity, not just the opportunity to grow, but the opportunity to strengthen our community and service for the glory of God? Point two is the wisdom of delegation. Every leader's favorite word delegation.

Speaker 2:

The apostles recognized their primary calling to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Hp Charles says it like this a church would be just a normal everyday charity organization. But what makes the church different than every other charity organization? The gospel is the heart and soul and the center of the church. He also says it like this much other charity organizations can put a new suit on a man, but there's only one organization that can put a new man in the suit and that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is what the church and the apostles have to understand. And they had to step, put their foot down and they said serving the tables are important because if not, people die. Distribution of goods is very important, but it is not right in verse that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Because they realize that the heart of the church is to do what it's to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're not saying we would never serve tables because they have been to 3,000, 5,000, 20,000 people, but they're saying that there's things falling through the cracks, not just widows not being served, but other things are falling through the cracks and they are going to stand against and say that it is not going to be the Word of God that falls through the cracks. So sometimes it feels like that things just fall out of our hands and that we can't grab them all, but it's because the pastors of churches want to ensure that the gospel is being proclaimed.

Speaker 2:

There was a wise man once said no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Leadership isn't about doing all the work, it's about equipping others to serve effectively. That wise guy was John Calperry over there. I do take notes. Pastors have to be able to delegate and let the body serve the body. It is not the job of the pastor to be the modern day CEO, manager, marketing, professional counselor, go on and on, janitor, it's not their job, and I know that this you're saying. Well, he might only work two days a week. I've been in that man's office. He works more than two days a week Because he normally pawns some of it off on me. He can't do his job if he does everything else, because everyone in this church is called to serve. Churches around the world are called to serve, but there are few who are called to preach the Word of God and that us as a body. If an outsider would hear this, they're saying well, this sounds like they're trying to get out of a job. I can guarantee you not, because I worked on this for five weeks and he has to do his in a week. And I cried over this. I can't think of the words I'm telling you.

Speaker 2:

The church body has to stand together, serve one another, because it is the organization that sees not just the gospel by declaration, but by demonstration. The gospel is not just words that come out of a mouth, but it's by the actions that we serve one another with. Jesus did not only serve them with words and a sermon on the mount, but he also healed their physical needs, fed them when they were hungry and took care of them. Now that's a message to the pastors as well. You have to be able to delegate. You can't be holding things tight and say that I'm going to do this. Nobody else is going to touch it. There's pastors like that as well, but I'm going to ensure you that that's not how we are here. If you want a job, we'll give it to you. Everyone has a gift to serve. Not everyone is called to preach. You may not even be able to serve tables, but you do have a gift.

Speaker 2:

We had a dear lady in this church named Darlene, who served through her sickness and through her ailments. I used to co-op here in high school, so I'd come here after they would let us go from school and she'd be sitting in her office and she always greeted me with a smile. She had carpal tunnel, her hands had like the witch's fingers, you know from all the arthritis, and she was in pain. But what I can guarantee you about Darlene is she was always smiling, she always asked me how I was doing and she knew every person in this church Name, last name, address, social security number no, I'm just kidding about that one, but she knew everything about you. She'd be like do you know? So-and-so, we need to pray for them. I'm like you got a picture. Darlene would stand when she had her back problems at our door and she would lean on her cane and she would greet you with a smile and then, when she got too sick to do that, she would stand at our welcome table and sit on the stool. Once she'd welcome our new guests.

Speaker 2:

You may not be able to serve tables, but you can do something. When someone doesn't do their part, other people of the church have to do their part. Meaning I was a football coach, jerry, you're a football coach. You know this. When a lineman doesn't show up, I have to put in the backup quarterback to play line. And what happens when I do that? My quarterback dies and I'm over there screaming on the sideline do your job. And the kids look scared because I'm a giant screaming at them. Y'all think I'm joking. Where's Randy Rosenbaum? He knows I got kicked out of one time when Randy was there. I did. But when I have to say we need help in this area and you're not feeling it but you do it because you're awesome people this causes burnout Because 20% of the people do 80% of the work and that's a worldly statistic. That happens in every other organization, but sadly that has crept inside the church. Our pastors at this church can't let it stand. We want 100% of people doing 100% of the work. That's the native of the church's job.

Speaker 2:

Being a Christian is not title only, but it's by action as well. It's the life that we live and the service that we walk unto. I will promise you this if each of you will use your gifts to serve the local body on a regular basis, I promise you that you would never go hungry on a Sunday or Wednesday, ever again. Or when your family's in need and pastors have to be called to the help. I promise you that they would not. You would not go hungry, because the pastors are supposed to devote themselves to pray and the preaching of the Word, and they can't do that all the time. Pastors sometimes have to write their sermons on the way to work. That's not only dangerous but it's ineffective. It's true, that's a public service announcement.

Speaker 2:

I want to say this they chose seven men to serve, full of the spirit, wisdom and of wisdom and of good repute. I have a hard time having a good reputation amongst five people, let alone 20,000, so the church had to come among themselves, amongst 20,000 people, and find seven men full of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom to oversee this ministry. I want leaders who are passionate about the job that they're doing. No job is too little. No job is too little. No job is too big. Everybody thinks that a church functions off of two main people the person standing behind this pulpit and the person standing behind the guitar. I'm going to promise you that that's not the case. I want my children's leaders to be passionate about children preaching the gospel to children. I want my ushers to take control of the service, to make sure people are comfortable to worship God in a comfortable setting. I want my security guards to be passionate about security so I can stand here and not worry about getting shot. I don't want people to do jobs they're not passionate about, because you know why that means you're not doing the job, you're doing it just to fill the spot. But there's something that you're passionate about and if we don't have the ministry, I promise you you can lead it.

Speaker 2:

Third thing we see in this text is the result of full participation Acts 6, 5 through7. And what they said pleased the whole gathering and they chose Stephen and a bunch of people who I can't pronounce their names of, and they sat before the apostles and they prayed and they laid their hands on them and the word of God continued to increase and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. The church's response to the need and the response of the apostles was beautiful. They agreed and they selected godly men and they laid their hands on them for commission of service. So what was the result of this? Well, widows' needs were fulfilled. We don't see in the text anymore that widows went hungry. The action of the apostles solved the physical need. But we also see that a spiritual need here, or a spiritual result, occurred as well Verse 7,. And the word of God continued to increase and the number of disciples multiplied greatly. God was adding to the church day by day, because God will never let His word come back void. But when people do their jobs and their acts and service and we become the hands and feet of Jesus, the word of God continued to increase and the number of disciples multiplied greatly.

Speaker 2:

When pastors are able to do their jobs, people's lives are transformed. But it's not just because the pastor doing their job, it's because other people are serving, allowing the pastor to do their job. And you may say that's dumb. Okay, but imagine if the 12 were still serving tables and Paul walks along and now he's having to jump in and serve tables. And Paul walks along and now he's having to jump in and serve tables. We wouldn't have most of our New Testament. He couldn't have gone on missionary journeys to the point where he was hand in hand and handcuffed with guards in the Roman emperor's home or palace Because he was able to do his jobs. The well-known world at the time got to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2:

When the church functions in full participation, with every member serving in their role. The impact is profound. The word of God multiplies greatly. I've been on a football kick, so we're just going to keep going. When a team comes together unified, you see the opposite of what happened in the beginning. A team does their job, and they know their roles and they play their parts and they give effort. The plays don't go backward, but they go forward. Yards equals first downs, first downs equals touchdowns, touchdowns equals victories, and victories equals Super Bowl wins. You know, the cool thing about a Super Bowl win, though, is that everybody on the team gets a ring. You're like duh, but did you know that? The equipment manager gets a ring, and the water boy gets a ring, and the one who manages the team store gets a ring, and the people who work the front gate gets a ring, the janitor who swept up after the game gets a ring, and sometimes even the player's wives get rings. There's not a job that is too small, because I'm going to tell you right now I worked for UK and I did their front gate, and without us, people wouldn't have been let into the stadium, and without people selling team merchandise or food, people wouldn't have stayed long and without a clean facility, people wouldn't have showed up. If people weren't there on the sidelines to give equipment, then people would get hurt and then your team would have never made the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2:

It takes all the members of the team, serving in their roles, that they are called to, with their giftings, to be victorious. The church is not a spectator sport. It's not about a few doing the work while others watch. Like the early church, we are called to serve together with our gifts, and when we do the gospel, advances and needs are met and God is glorified. Call to action. The pastors here at Real Life Community Church are not meant to minister alone as a church, to walk side by side with people. Without the help of our great volunteers, people would fall through the cracks.

Speaker 2:

And if you're having trouble filling out that piece of paper I asked you to in the beginning, I'm sure we have a place for you and you can be a part of this great work that God's doing. I'm going to say this Two weeks ago we had a couple weeks ago we had a kid in our children's ministry, come to Christ. I don't know who the leader was, who taught the sermon or taught the lesson or prayed with a child I don't know who it was but you know what they did do they sacrificed being inside Sunday morning service and now there's eternal stakes on the line. I came to church Friday to work on my sermon, preached to an empty room so I wouldn't be nervous and it didn't work. But as I walked out the door my kids cried and they was like, where are you going? And I said I'm going to church. And then they got excited that they're going to church and I said I'm going to church, you're not going to church. And then they got excited that they're going to church and I said I'm going to church, you're not going to church. And then they cried again.

Speaker 2:

But the reason is is that my kids love this place and it's in spite of me. I try to get them to love things that I love and then they hate them, because that's the nature of being children. But they love this place, and why? It's because people serve downstairs and they make them love this place. You are doing something with my children that is at eternal value and please don't if you're not feeling it, because my children's stake are on the line with eternal value.

Speaker 2:

But if you're sitting in here and you have a love for children. They're missing out because eternal value is on the line. That's my kids, that's some of your kids. Someone who is grinning at the front door has a long desire to show people that life is not all frowns. And there are some people in here who may not do anything, who know that and they smile at everybody. But you, just like Darlene, can turn those persons' lives upside down, showing them the goodness of Christ as much as what you think is just a simple task of handing them a bulletin and a communion cup. It's not just that. There's eternal value. People who are doing security in this room, who play to the worship on stage, to the people who are upstairs in the crow's nest and you never see their face there's eternal value. So where can you serve and what gifts have God given you to bless the body of Christ? Let's commit to working together, each doing our part, so that the church grows strong in faith and in love.