About this sermon
Paul writes that whoever aspires to the office of overseer desires a noble task. Following Calvin, the overseer here is the minister of the gospel, though the qualifications apply to ruling elders too, except the ability to teach. He must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, for otherwise he cannot care for God’s church. The list is representative rather than exhaustive.
Sermon transcript
standing for the reading of God’s Holy Word. We’re going to take a brief detour from our consideration of Isaiah to consider a very significant passage in one of the pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy 3, verses 1-7. One of the ways that Christ cares for his church, for his sheep, is by raising up overseers to shepherd the flock. So let us hear God’s holy word. I’m gonna read this brief chapter in its entirety, but our focus will be on the first seven verses, and you’ll find that on page 1178 in your Pew Bibles. Let us hear God’s holy word, 1 Timothy chapter three. The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care? How will he care for the God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.
Let’s pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you care for us in so many ways, and we thank you for the spiritual care that you provide for us through the church. And we would pray, Lord, that you would give us wisdom and insight as we consider this important passage of Holy Scripture, and as we consider what your word teaches us about the overseers that you raise up to serve in your church. Be with us now, open our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word and guide us, Lord, bear spiritual fruit in our lives through that which we hear this day. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this morning is Overseers in God’s Church, and there are just three words that I’d encourage the children to listen for in my sermon today, and those are the words government, overseer, and rule.
Well, dear listeners, just who is in charge of the church? Is the pastor in charge of the church? I sure hope not. Are the elders in charge of the church? No. What about the Board of Trustees? What about the biggest givers in the Church? What about the congregation? Who is in charge of Christ’s Church? Well, I think you know the answer to that question. My friends, Holy Scripture indicates that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He Himself is the sole King, the Head, and the Foundation of God’s Church. The Bible is the ultimate constitution of Christ’s Church, since the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. And therefore, it is our only infallible rule for Christian faith, for Christian practice, and for Christian obedience. Holy Scripture is the supreme norm, the primary standard of every true visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So when it comes to answering the question, who is in charge of the church, the Bible-based answer is, of course, Jesus Christ, the king and head of the church. But that raises another question. How does Jesus rule in his church? Well, dear ones, God’s Word indicates that our Lord Jesus Christ rules His Church by His Word and Holy Spirit. Now, let me pause. You see, up to this point in my sermon, most Bible-believing Protestant Christians would agree wholeheartedly with everything that I’ve said. However, those of us Christians who are Bible-believing Presbyterians will go even further than these general statements of Bible truth about the Church. All Protestant Christians agree that Christ is the King and Head of the Church, the sole King and Head of His Church, and that Christ rules His Church by His Word and Holy Spirit.
But how does that get fleshed out in the life of the local congregation? We see as Presbyterians, we believe that the Bible also teaches us that our Lord has ordained a divinely instituted government in His church, a government that Christ has entrusted into the hands of ordained church officers. Dear ones, historic biblical Presbyterianism has recognized three distinct ordinary offices in the Church of Jesus Christ. The first is the office of the ministry of the Word. The second is the office of rule. And the third is the office of mercy. The first office is filled by ministers of the Word, who are pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and so forth. The second is filled by ruling elders, and the third is filled by deacons. Though I will make you aware of the fact, as many of you probably are already aware, that many Presbyterians today see ministers and ruling elders as sharing the same office, but having different gifts and different functions within that office.
But whatever side we come down on in this intramural debate within Presbyterianism on whether there are two ongoing permanent offices in the church, namely elders and deacons, or whether there are three in the church, namely ministers, elders, and deacons, in other words, the correct view, Wherever we come down on that particular position, all Bible-believing Presbyterians of confessional Presbyterianism, all will agree that Christ has ordained a government and an order in his church, and that the form of church government which is most consistent with the teachings of God’s Word is what we call the Presbyterian form of church government. And the term Presbyterian comes from the Greek term presbyteros, which is a term that means elder. We are Presbyterians because our churches are governed by elders. That’s not all that’s involved in Presbyterian church government, but that is an essential feature of Presbyterian church government.
And I know this might sound boring to some folks, but actually when you think about it, the way the church is run is vitally important. Many of the problems that are faced in the contemporary church are problems that arise from not structuring and governing the church according to the principles and commands laid out for biblical church government that are revealed in the Word of God. As our beloved Westminster Confession of Faith puts it in chapter 30, section 1, it says, the Lord Jesus, as king and head of his church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of church officers distinct from the civil magistrate. There is a real authority, a real government that Christ has entrusted to his true visible church. Dear ones, our Lord Jesus Christ, the implication of this is that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has not given us as members of his church the right to structure the government of the visible church in just any old way that we please.
For example, by following a hierarchical business model structure for the church, as many contemporary churches do today. In fact, there are some contemporary churches that are basically religious businesses. Some of these larger churches will even have a bookstore and a coffee bar in the sanctuary. And some of these churches call their senior pastor, their head pastor, the executive pastor. And so many churches follow a pragmatic business model for governing the church. And certainly a pragmatic business model is no problem with that if you’re running a business. But when you’re running the church, you need to look to scripture and ask, is this really biblical? Nor has Jesus Christ given the members of his church the right to invent their own innovative church offices according to mere personal whim or mere human wisdom or man-made traditions, even if those traditions happen to be very ancient and revered.
Now, let me ask you this. What recently happened in the Roman Catholic communion? If you’ve been following the news, you know that recently our friends in the Roman Catholic a new pope and there was a great buzz in the media about the conclave, you know, where the cardinals get together and they weren’t allowed access to the outside world, they weren’t even allowed to take their cell phones in as they decided on who the next pope was going to be. But let me ask you this, can you point me to a scripture passage that says that there should be cardinals in the church? or archbishops, or one of the other offices that are looked to in hierarchical systems like the Roman Catholic Church, but which are not found in the Word of God. See, the point of this, friends, is that just as Christ regulates the doctrine and the worship and the ethics of his church through the Word of God, so he also regulates the government of his church through that same word.
And we, just as we are obligated to look to scripture to know what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man, we are also to look to the word of God for principles and commands on how the church is to function, how it is to run. Our risen and reigning Lord is not only sovereign over the doctrine, the life, the ethics, and the worship of his church, he is also sovereign over the government of his church. Well, Pastor Jeff, are you saying that churches that don’t observe Presbyterian church government, that they’re not real churches? No, we’re not saying that at all. We in the OPC do not believe that Presbyterian church government is essential for the existence or the being of a true visible church. There are many faithful churches out there that proclaim the gospel and administer the sacraments and exercise a discipline and order, but which do not follow a Presbyterian form of church government.
And we acknowledge them as true churches. We’re not saying that they’re not Christians or that they’re not true churches. But while Presbyterian church government is not essential for the existence or being of the church, we do believe that it is most helpful toward the well-being and spiritual health of the church. Well, dear ones, as we at Grace Church have been praying for some time that our Lord would raise up additional men to serve as ordained officers in this local congregation, especially deacons, but also we could use some more elders, and we’ve been praying for that. And also, as we as a congregation are blessed to have in our midst a number of men who aspire to the ordained gospel ministry, I thought that it might be helpful and instructive for us to briefly review a passage of scripture that speaks to the qualifications for the office of overseer.
It says in chapter 3, verse 1, he desires a noble task. So we’re going to consider the functions and qualifications of an overseer briefly today. And again, the term for overseer here could also be translated as bishop. It’s the term episkopos, and we’re going to consider that today. And friends, we learn in scripture that when it comes to the office of overseer or bishop. This is an important office that Christ has given for the government, the pastoral care, and the spiritual oversight of his church. So let’s dive in and let’s first of all consider the identity and the functions of an overseer, an episkopos, the identity and functions of an overseer. It says, the saying is trustworthy, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Overseer, episkopos, bishop in other words.
But that term bishop can be misleading. When you think of a bishop, and when we think of a bishop in our contemporary culture, what do we tend to think of? We probably think of a diocesan bishop, such as you have in the Roman Catholic communion. But that’s not the way Paul is using this terminology. He’s not referring to an administrative diocesan bishop who’s over a particular region. Rather, he’s talking about spiritual oversight at the level of the local church. Let’s consider the identity of an overseer. Who are overseers? I would point out, first of all, that This passage implies very clearly, it states very clearly, that there is an order and government in Christ’s church for there are officers that Christ raises up to serve his church. And one of those officers is, one of those offices is the office of overseer.
But when we compare scripture with scripture, we learn that an overseer or bishop, an episkopos, is also an elder, a presbyteros. Sometimes or often those terms are used interchangeably. Just to give you some examples of that, let’s turn to another one of Paul’s pastoral epistles. Let’s turn to Titus chapter one, and let me read verses five and seven. Titus chapter one. Paul writes to Titus, This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders presbuteroi in every town as I directed you. And then he goes on to describe the qualifications of these elders. But then skip down to verse seven. It says this, for an overseer, an episkopos, as God’s steward must be above reproach and so forth. Now what’s the implication here? The implication is that when Paul talks about elders, as he does in verse 5, and bishops or overseers in verse 7, he’s talking about the same office.
He’s using those terms interchangeably. We see this also, for example, in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 20, verses 17 and 28. It says this. Here the apostle Paul is speaking to, he’s addressing the Ephesian elders. And it says this, now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. So he’s addressing the elders at Ephesus. But then skip down to verse 28, skip down to verse 28. As Paul is addressing these elders, these presbyteroi, he says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you, what? Episcopoi, bishops, overseers. to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. And so you see, friends, these are just, these are some examples, but you see that an elder is a bishop, and a bishop is an elder.
Those two terms are often used interchangeably. Now, I will say this, beloved. We need to understand that there is a semantic range to these terms. just as there is a semantic range to the term elder in our own contemporary context. The term elder in the Greek can sometimes have a broader sense, such as when it refers to the Jewish elders of the people. But at other times, it seems to be used in the narrower, more technical sense of referring to ministers in particular. ministers of the word in particular. In other words, all bishops are elders, but not all elders in the broader sense of the term are bishops. And so I agree with Calvin that in this particular passage that we’re considering this morning, the Apostle Paul is using the term bishop or overseer to refer to ministers of the gospel in particular.
But that does not mean that this passage is irrelevant to ruling elders, for after all, The qualifications that Paul lists here in this passage, except for the qualification to be able to teach, those qualifications apply equally to both ministers and ruling elders, both of whom have responsibility of spiritual oversight in Christ’s church. So the identity of an overseer, an overseer here in this passage is a minister of the word who is also an elder or what we would call a teaching elder. And what are the functions of an overseer? Well, first of all, we learn that an overseer is to rule in the household of God, which is the church. And that is implied in verses four and five of our passage. As Paul describes the qualifications for a man who would serve as an episkopos, an overseer or a bishop, which again would be an elder.
He says in verse four, he must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? The implication is one of the roles and functions of an overseer is to manage the affairs of the Church of Jesus Christ. And that is a task that both ministers and ruling elders fulfill in the Church of Jesus Christ. And again, we need to remember the overall context of this passage where Paul is writing this to Timothy to give him instruction in how things are to be run and to function in the local church. As it says in verse 14, where Paul gives his purpose statement in writing this epistle. He says, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how to what?
You may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. So overseers are to rule in the household of God, and that is a function that both ministers and ruling elders engage in together. They provide spiritual rule and oversight in the church. But again, When we talk about ruling in the church, it’s important not to import worldly ideas of rulership or governance in the church. As we learned from that passage that was read earlier in the service from Matthew chapter 20, remember Jesus says that he who would be greatest in the kingdom must be a servant of all. were not to be like they are in worldly scenarios where they lord it over the people, but rather ministers and elders in the church are to care for the flock by serving them, laying down their lives for the sheep in imitation of Christ who laid down his life for us.
So overseers are to rule in the household of God, but they are also to teach and to preach God’s Word. This is implied clearly in verse 2, where it says, therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, and then able to teach. or apt to teach. This is one function, this is the one function that leads me to agree with Calvin that Paul has the minister of the word or the pastor in mind in particular in this particular context. However, once again, the ruling elders share with the pastor the responsibility of making sure that the ministry of the word is maintained and carried out in the church with purity and integrity. Plus elders like deacons should be sound in the faith and able to give the good confession to others.
Remember what does Paul require of deacons? Down in verse nine, it says, they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. If that is true of deacons who are not rulers in the church, but ministers of mercy in the church, how much more so should that be true of ruling elders and ministers? And so friends, Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be thankful that God has graciously supplied his church with teachers of the word and rulers who are given the responsibility to care for the flock of God that he has entrusted to his church. The officers of the church are one of the ways that Christ cares for his church. It’s one of the evidences of Jesus’s love for you and for me that he raises up servants of the word and church governors ruling elders to shepherd the flock for His glory and for the good of His people.
Friends, let us thank our Lord for graciously shepherding his flock through the under shepherds, the ministers and elders to whom he has entrusted the care of his sheep. And let us pray that God would enable his ordained servants, his ministers and elders to fulfill their responsibilities with faithfulness, with wisdom, with zeal and with love. Now, as an aside, before we go on to the next point, Some of you may be scratching your heads and saying, okay, pastor, you’re saying that this passage is talking about ministers, but we have teaching elders or ministers and ruling elders in the OPC. Where do we get that distinction from? Well, that distinction, the classical text that is used to support this teaching is found in this very epistle. If you skip down to 1 Timothy 5, and look at verse 17, it says this, 1 Timothy 5, verse 17.
And here, I believe Paul is using the term elders in the broader sense. He says, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Now back in chapter 3, verse 2, we learned that one of the qualifications for an episkopos, a bishop, an overseer, is that he be apt to teach. But here, in 1 Timothy 5, 17, we see that some elders devote themselves to ruling, and other elders devote themselves to the preaching and teaching of God’s word. Now, some would say that, well, this is two functions within one eldership. I believe that since Paul is using the term elder in a broader sense, that he’s using that to refer to two distinct offices, the elders who rule the church and the elders who teach.
But nevertheless, this is where we get this distinction, one of the places and one of the considerations in this distinction between ruling elders and teaching elders or pastors, ministers of the word. So we’ve considered the identity of the overseer. Let’s consider next the qualifications of an overseer. And so let’s again look at our passage for today. And again, this is a very broad brush overview today. There are so many things. We could spend a lot of time in this passage. There’s so much to uncover. But I’m just going to give you sort of a bird’s eye view of this passage, which is all I have time to do this morning. But the first qualification for an overseer is kind of a controversial qualification today. First of all, beloved, an overseer must be a man. An overseer must be male.
He must be a man. It says that an overseer, verse two, must be above reproach the husband of one wife. which some have suggested that a literal translation could be a one-woman man. There’s a lot of debate about what exactly that means. I’m of the view that this is basically saying that one who would serve as an overseer needs to be someone who is faithful to his wife, not someone who is a womanizer, for example. But notice Paul does not say or a womanizer. a one-husband man or the wife of one husband. No, the husband of one wife. Now, Paul is not saying that a man has to be married in order to be an overseer. Paul is simply recording the cultural presupposition of that day. Paul himself was a single man. Jesus Christ was single, so it’s possible for a single man to serve as an overseer, but most men in that culture and at that time would be married men.
And if they are married men, then they must be devoted, loyal to their wives. And this implies that the overseer must be a man. And this is significant because this comes on the heels of what Paul had been saying in the previous chapter about public life in the worship services of the Church, where back in chapter 2, verse 11, what does he say? He says, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. He says in verse 12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Now in the context of that chapter, he’s talking about public worship. He’s talking about exercising official teaching authority over men. And he forbids it. and he appeals to the creation order. He says in verse 13, for Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor, yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.
Friends, many would look at this assertion that I’ve made or hear this assertion that the ordained offices of the church are to be limited to men, and they would say, well, you OPCers, you’re just sexist, you’re misogynistic. But no, this is not based on sexism or misogyny. After all, the Bible teaches that both men and women are created equally in the image of God. Women are just as much God’s image bearers as men are. And likewise, when it comes to redemption, men and women are both equally redeemed in Christ. And so we are all one in Christ Jesus. We are equal in Christ. It doesn’t have to do with Men somehow being superior to women or anything like that. No, it has to do with the created order, with God’s created order. And we dare not assume that we’re smarter than God, that we know better than the God who has ordered creation and told us how to run the church.
So an overseer must be a man. Also, verse one implies that an overseer, a man who would serve as an overseer in the church must have a desire to serve in this holy office. It says in verse one, if anyone aspires to or desires the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Now I will point out that the focus in verse one is not on the desire as such, but on the fact that the office of overseer is a noble task, and thus it is a task that one would want to aspire to if called to such service. But nevertheless, if there’s no desire to serve, there’s probably not a call to serve. Reverend Robert S. Rayburn once wrote, and I love this quote, he says, only the man who loves to preach and who lives to preach will be adequate to such a work, demanding as it does the continual cultivation and full exercise of all his powers. and what Reverend Rayburn writes about preachers, ministers of the word is also true of elders as well when it comes to overseeing God’s church.
Potential pastors, elders, and deacons must have a genuine heart desire to serve in those respective offices. If you have the character and if you have the qualifications to serve in office but not the desire, well, then you don’t have the calling, at least not at that point. Now maybe you need to pray, Lord, if you want me to serve in this office, work within my heart a desire to serve. But nevertheless, one of the things that is required of one who would serve as an overseer is a desire to serve in such a position. Another qualification is that an overseer must be a man of high moral character and Christian maturity. And this is brought out especially in verses two and three. Therefore, since being an overseer is a noble task, therefore an overseer must, notice, he must be above reproach or blameless as it could be translated.
And many commentators think, and I tend to agree with this, The term above-reproach is sort of an umbrella term that gets fleshed out as Paul gives examples of what it means to be above-reproach. So being above-reproach means a one-woman man or the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. Now the question arises, is this an exhaustive list of qualifications? No, I don’t believe so. I believe what Paul is doing here is he’s giving us a representative list of the kind of qualities to look for in a man who would serve as an overseer in God’s church. This is a representative list. As you look at these various qualities, it gives you a picture of the kind of man that is to serve.
And so, for example, If a man has a reputation for having a short fuse, for having no control over his anger, his emotions, well, that would be disqualifying. If that was his reputation, if that was characteristic of his behavior, because after all, such a man must be self-controlled and respectable and so forth. If a man is greedy for money, greedy for game, in it for the money, Well, that would disqualify him as well for one who would serve as an overseer must not be a lover of money and so forth. So here we are given a picture, a snapshot of what a man, what kind of men to look for to serve as overseers. But you look at the term above reproach or blameless and you might say, oh, that’s not me. In fact, who meets that qualification of being blameless?
Does blameless mean sinless? Well, friends, I think John Calvin hits the nail on the head when he writes this. He says, there will be no one found among men that is free from every vice, but it is one thing to be blemished with ordinary vices which do not hurt the reputation, because they are found in men of the highest excellence, and another thing to have a disgraceful name or to be stained with any baseness. In order, therefore, that a bishop may not be without authority, he enjoins that there shall be made a selection of one who has a good and honorable reputation and not chargeable with any remarkable vice. Overseers, elders, deacons, no one is sinless. No one is without fault. But what Paul is saying here, beloved, what the spirit through Paul is saying is that an overseer must be a spiritually mature Christian who is above any scandalous public reproach.
Blameless does not mean sinless, but rather it refers to being a man of basic moral integrity and of good reputation, lest the church’s reputation be besmirched because of the overseer’s bad reputation. We also learned, as we saw, that an overseer must be able to teach Again, this is a requirement for the minister or teaching elder in particular, although ruling elders should be sound in the faith and also able to make a clear confession of the gospel. But in the OPC, we don’t require candidates for the ruling eldership to be seminary trained or to take Greek and Hebrew tests and church history tests and so forth. But we do expect that they be of sound doctrine and mature faith. And if an overseer, if a man is married, he must have a godly, stable family life and a good reputation with those outside of the church.
That is the point of verses four through seven. It says he must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. Which, by the way, this doesn’t mean that if a pastor or elder or deacon’s children ever misbehave, that that automatically disqualifies them. This is talking about the basic character and direction of family life. It’s the direction, not perfection, that is in view. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. Here’s the question. If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, in other words, He must not be one who is spiritually immature and not grown up in the faith, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
This is the danger of pride that comes with the office in the case of those who are not matured in the faith. And then verse seven, moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. John Calvin writes that this argument drawn from the less to the greater is in itself manifest for he who is unfit for governing a family will be unable to govern a people. So this is the basic overview of the qualifications for those who would serve as overseers in the church. And of course, this would apply to ruling elder candidates as well as candidates for the diaconate. And beloved, what do we learn from this passage in conclusion? We learn in this passage that Jesus is very concerned for how things are done in his church.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is very concerned about the life, the conduct, and the government of his church. Why wouldn’t he be after all? After all, he shed his blood on the cross to redeem his church. He is the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. He was born, he lived, he died, he rose again, and he ascended to the right hand of the Father in order to secure the salvation of his people. As our Savior is concerned for the life and conduct and government of his church, may we also be concerned for the life, the conduct, and the government of Christ’s church. Let us also pray that God, in his good and wise providence, would continue to grow this local expression of his church and would continue to raise up additional gifted, qualified, and willing men to serve as officers in this church, as ruling elders and deacons.
Amen. Let us pray. Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven, we thank you That you have not left us alone in this world, but you have redeemed us in Christ. And having united us to Christ, you also unite us to the body of Christ. And you unite us to local expressions of that body, which are governed by your word and spirit through officers that you raise up to serve your people. We would ask, O Lord, that you would continue to bless Grace Church. We thank you for the officers of this church and how you have gifted them and used them. And we would pray that you would raise up additional officers, especially deacons, but also ruling elders, to serve this congregation. And Lord, may this be to your praise and honor and glory, that your people would be lovingly and faithfully shepherded and that Jesus, our Lord, would be exalted in the assembly of your saints here at Grace Church.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, amen. As we respond to what we’ve heard from the word, let’s rise and we’ll sing hymn number 404, the church’s one foundation, 404.
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