Week 3 Day 3 - Two Ordinances and Offices


-T-
Day 3 Two Ordinances
Baptism (Matthew 28:19)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Communion (1 Corinthians 11:26)
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

    We already discussed the two ordinances on days 4 and 5 of week one. The following is the Baptist Faith and Message summation.
    “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It testifies of faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Baptism is prerequisite to church membership.
    “The Lord’s Supper (Communion) is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.”                                                                 (Article VII, 1963; 2000)

Day 3 (Continued)Two Offices
Pastors (1 Timothy 3:1-7)
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

    While some churches have elders, separate from the vocational pastoral staff, and different from deacons, the ministerial staff of our church have been called by a search committee and are considered the role of pastors we discussed last week (week 2 Day 3). A search committee is named by the nominating committee, approved by the church and once a candidate is approved by the committee, the staff member is then elected by the church. The pastoral staff generally has been ordained and sense a call into the vocational ministry.
    The LifeGroup leaders for our adult classes also have a role of overseeing their respective portions of the flock, but not in an ordained role. By being accountable in attendance to small groups, leaders are able to be equipped to help the ministerial staff in overseeing, shepherding, and feeding the church.
Deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-15)
8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
    Every week, FBC Killeen highlights a “deacon of the week”. As needed, our church seeks out nominations for deacons to be ordained. Deacons are assistants or helpers to the pastors and to the church. Acts 6 does not use the noun “deacon,” but does use the verb for deacon, which meant “serve”.
    Deacons serve in assisting in the ordinances, ministering to the widows of the church, meeting monthly for reports of the operation of the church, and evaluating annually the ministry of the senior pastor. At least one deacon serves on each committee of the church.

For Week 3 Day 4, click here

No comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome to Membership

An Overview   “Members Only”   “Membership Club”  “Membership Rewards”  “Member dues”   Everywhere we turn, we are bombar...