I. Terms<\/p>\n A. Deacon (diakonos<\/i>) – a servant. This can get a bit confusing because the same word\nis used for preachers or an actual servant in different contexts.\n
B. Used for a duty or office – I Timothy 3:8, 12<\/p>\n C. Where we know the office is mentioned, it is in the plural – Philippians 1:1; I\nTimothy 3:8-13; Acts 6:1-6\n
II. Duties<\/p>\n
A. Acts 6:1-6 tells us what we know most about deacons<\/p>\n 1. The noun form is not used, but it is used in the verb form in Acts 6:1-2, 4,\nthe same as used in I Timothy 3:10, 13\n 2. The men were selected by the church and appointed by the apostles for a\ntask of service.\n 3. They were not serving the apostles. They were not taking over some of the\napostles’ duties. They were appointed to duties that were distracting the\napostles from their own work.\n 4. They were serving the church. Seeing that an obligation of the church was\nhandled.\n
B. Service is a Christian duty<\/p>\n 1. All Christians are expected to act as servants – Matthew 20:25-28; John\n12:26; Matthew 25:41-44\n
2. Service to the church<\/p>\n
a. The relief effort was an act of service – Romans 15:25; Acts 11:29<\/p>\n (1) Men were selected by the churches to serve or administer\nthe gift – II Corinthians 8:18-21\n
b. God takes note of our service – Hebrews 6:10-11<\/p>\n
c. Serve as God supplies the ability – I Peter 4:10-11; Romans 12:6-8<\/p>\n
d. There are different ways to serve – I Corinthians 12:5-6<\/p>\n 3. Examples of service – I Corinthians 16:15; Romans 16:1-2; Ephesians\n6:21; Colossians 4:7\n 4. The church is to equip its members for service – Ephesians 4:11-13;\nRevelation 2:19\n
C. Though all Christians serve, there are some who hold the office of servant<\/p>\n
D. It shouldn’t be a strange idea.<\/p>\n 1. All Christians teach and preach as they have opportunity, but some men\nare dedicated to the job.\n 2. All Christians are to watch for each other, but some men are appointed to\nthe job of overseeing the souls of the church.\n 3. In the same way, all Christians are expected to serve, but some men take\non the task or office of servant.\n
E. These are men who represent the church through their service to the church<\/p>\n 1. They are men to have taken on the task to serve the church by helping the\nchurch fulfill its duties.\n 2. They will not be doing all the acts of service. Christians still have their\nresponsibility to serve.\n
III. Qualifications – I Timothy 3:8-12<\/p>\n A. Reason for qualifications: They represent the church and they have an opportunity\nto speak of their faith – I Timothy 3:13\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFundamentals of Christianity\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Deacons I. Terms A. Deacon (diakonos) – a servant. This can get a bit confusing because the same word is used for preachers or an actual servant in different contexts. B. Used for a duty or office – I Timothy 3:8, 12 C. Where we know the office is mentioned, it is in the plural – Philippians 1:1; I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":26590,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65212","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":83966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/what-does-the-bible-say-about\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-alcohol-and-drugs\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":0},"title":"What Does the Bible Say About Alcohol and Drugs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"What Does the Bible Say About Alcohol and Drugs? by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Biblical View of Alcohol Old Testament Beverages New Testament Beverages \"Wine\" Has Not Always Implied Alcohol Not What They Told You -- Alcohol I Peter 4:3 and \"Social Drinking\" Notes on Alcohol The Question of Wine and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/growing-pains\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":1},"title":"Growing Pains","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing Pains Text: Acts 6:1-7 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property - Acts 4:34-35 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the distributions were not fair and even-handed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular it was claimed that the widows who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-i-timothy\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":2},"title":"Survey of the Bible – I Timothy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - I Timothy Text: I Timothy 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Background \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The books of I Timothy and Titus appear to have been written about the same time because of their similar content. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had spent two years in prison in Rome - Acts 28:30-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just before his release,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42082,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/pauls-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":3},"title":"Paul’s Purpose","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul's Purpose You are full of goodness\u00a0(Romans 15:14) Paul has never seen the brethren in Rome (Romans 1:10-13), but he is confident about their abilities (Romans 1:8; 16:19). He has emphasized their need to live and work as one - both Jews and Gentiles. Paul knows they are full of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65217,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":4},"title":"Teachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Teachers I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is a duty or office in the church of teacher \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ephesians 4:11-16 - Along with the evangelist, the teacher is to equip Christians for their work of service to God, to unite them in a common purpose, and to help everyone reach spiritual maturity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I Corinthians\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-isaiah\/gods-servant-isaiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":65212,"position":5},"title":"God’s Servant (Isaiah)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"God's Servant Text: Isaiah 42 The Nature of God's Servant - Isaiah 42:1-4 God's Servant has God's support, and God delights in him (I Peter 2:4). We know that this is referring to Jesus since Matthew quotes this passage and applies it to Jesus (Matthew 12:18-20; see also Philippians 2:7).\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65212\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}