According to the New Testament, a deacon is devoted to do anything to serve his church in such a way that it promotes and guards the undistracted study and preaching of God’s Word and prayer by the church elders.  Nine Marks author, Jamie Dunlop puts it this way, “A deacon is two things: a shock-absorber and a servant." Deacons are shock-absorbers as seen in the seven men chosen by the church in Jerusalem to care for widows, who seem to be precursors to deacons, were chosen to preserve unity at a time when botched administration was creating fissures in the church (see Acts 6:1-7).  And deacons are servants in that their very name means servant, and their precursors in Acts 6 were chosen to handle the practical needs of the church. That way, the apostles could devote themselves to leading the church through prayer and the ministry of the Word.

This Sunday, we are so blessed to install the following men into the office of Deacon: Phil Claybrooke, Marques Jones, and Josh Snider. Please keep these men and their families in prayer and express your appreciation for their many labors of love!