Join us this Sunday, October 20, 2019 as we continue our series studying the Minor Prophets.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Join us this Sunday, October 13, 2019 as we continue our series studying the Minor Prophets.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Join us this Sunday, October 6, 2019 as we continue our series studying the Minor Prophets.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Join us this Sunday, July 7, 2019 as we continue our series studying our doctrinal statement.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Join us this Sunday, June 16, 2019 as we continue our series studying our doctrinal statement.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Join us this Sunday, June 9, 2019 as we continue our series studying our doctrinal statement.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
Many of us have grown up in different churches that view the role of a deacon differently. Our understanding of what a deacon is and what a deacon does can be a bit fuzzy.
My hope is to clear up some of that fuzziness with this really brief overview – at least as far as The Town Church understands the role of deacon and how our own deacons function.
For a more in-depth yet still one-page treatment concerning our biblical foundation and theological approach to the role of deacon, see The Town Church’s Diaconate Philosophy. Our approach is highly informed by the helpful little book Helping without Hurting in Church Benevolence by Corbett and Finkert.
Role of the Deacon
The deacon works to extend practical mercy and compassion as an act of service.
We see this in the prototype of the office of deacon in Acts 6:1-7. We also see it in the meaning for the word often translated as “deacon” from the Greek word diakonos, meaning “servant.”
The deacon’s work is no less than demonstrating the Gospel (in which Jesus displayed the ultimate example of practical love) in tangible ways. It’s beautiful! Operating from within a formal position within the Church, deacons model what all believers are called to do – love others by serving in practical ways.
The Focus of the Deacon
Because the role of the deacon is modeling the Gospel in extending mercy, the focus of the deacon is primarily people, not tasks.
Our deacons are not given tasks like maintaining our building or handling all the finances. Rather, our deacons are given people to love, out of which will arise specific tasks that need to be done.
A Practical Example
In order to get a grasp on what our deacons actually do, consider an example of our theological underpinnings all the way to the practical outworking. (Note: even though our deacons can serve within happy situations (such as the adoption of a child), often brokenness pushes us to needing help, as in the following example.)
Because of The Fall, our perfect relationship with God, others, ourselves and all of creation have been broken. Our broken relationship with ourselves can be experienced as depression and self-loathing, or even pride and self-absorption. These in turn create many different symptoms, such as loneliness, workaholism, self-harm, or the inability to keep a job.
In this scenario, the ultimate goal of the deacon is to see God bring healing to the broken relationship with self. We desire to see the Gospel transform this area! This often means addressing the symptoms, but never means only addressing the symptoms.
So if a person is dealing with workaholism and is willing to be helped, our deacons will complete an intake process first in order to gain a depth of understanding concerning the hardship and any root issues.
Based on the intake, concrete and time-bound plans will be made. Prayer support will be maintained. Practical strategies will be constructed.
Strategies may be one-time or on-going and may include both coaching as well as more in-depth counseling. It may include helping to put together healthy boundaries around the use of time as well as help getting connected to Christian community. It may include help finding a different job as well as one-on-one mentoring centered on the Gospel and the life that flows from it.
We ALL Need Help
ALL of us experience broken relationship to God, others, ourselves and the rest of creation. It shows up in many different ways in ALL of our lives. And, ALL of us at times need help from other people to address it.
Please don’t assume leaning on other people is reserved for only a certain type or degree of hardship.
It will take humility and courage, but please choose vulnerability within Christian community. Share your needs.
By the grace of God to you and me, our deacons are here to help.
(To connect with our deacons, email us at [email protected])
Join us this Sunday, May 5, 2019 as we continue our series studying our doctrinal statement.
We encourage you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship by reading through and meditating on the texts, singing through the songs, and praying that God would be at work as we gather.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34
Read John 13
Jesus is on His way home to His loving Father. He’s almost completed the work the Father had given Him to do. But not yet. So on this night before the cross, Jesus intentionally models three lessons hard-lived and never to be forgotten.
First, Jesus will be betrayed by a close friend. Jesus was troubled by this treachery from Judas, one of His own. But Jesus knew Judas was just the pawn of the enemy. Satan had waited for the opportune way to hurt Jesus and he found it in Judas Iscariot.1 Three times the text says Judas betrays Jesus, fulfilling a prophecy that had been written centuries before in Psalm 41:9.
What kind of Savior actually chooses a betrayer to be one of His own?! Answer: Jesus’ journey to the cross included suffering of all kinds, as prophesied, yet now He sympathizes with our pain in every way.
Next, Jesus does the unimaginable during supper. He washes the feet of His startled disciples. In every culture the “lesser” always serves the “greater”—servants serve masters.
What king would wash his subject’s feet? Answer: Jesus, the humble servant, on His way to the cross.
In the final moments of their last evening together, Jesus delivers another shocker: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Hidden in that moment, Jesus loves another faulting disciple, Peter. When Peter protests Jesus’ announcement that He’s departing, Peter brashly proclaims, “I will lay down my life for you.” (Peter often overpromised and under-delivered.) Imagine here Jesus’ tone of voice when He responds, “Peter, you will deny me three times before the rooster crows.”
Who would love someone who can’t keep his word? Answer: Jesus, going to the cross to pay for Peter’s sin and ours.
All of this happened on His last night with His disciples. Jesus would be hanging on the cross by 9 a.m. the next morning.
1John 13:2,11,18-30 and Luke 4:13 2John 13:34 3John 13:37
Consider your response: Can you see the faces of people on Sunday morning…children running around… friends…new people…and even the homeless? Jesus says, “…Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” How will you intentionally live out this command?
-Written by Richard Nelson
On Sunday morning, we heard an introduction to our Easter Devotional – The Way Home. We imagined John sitting down in his old age to write his account and what he so earnestly wanted to tell his readers.
In preparation for our celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are encouraging the body to read through one chapter of John each day (March 27 – April 17). In an effort to help us focus on a specific element of each chapter of John, a brief devotion has been written for each of the 21 days by 16 different people from The Town Church.
Would you like to join us on this journey? CLICK HERE and enter your email address. You will receive one devotion a day for each of these 21 days.
We look forward to reading through John with you and as we follow Jesus along the way as he leads us home.