In those days when the number of disciples was increasing…the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:1-4, NIV)
One thing that God has always wanted for his church, is that those who are in need among us never go to the wayside. In fact it is something that God has always been concerned about; that his people look after his people. It was something that God revealed to his people in the old testament (Deut 15:7,11, Prov 15:31, 19:17) and certainly something that has been carried over into the new (Gal 2:10, Phil 2:4, Jam 1:27). All this to say, there are numerous bible verses that reveal God’s heart about his people looking after his people who are in need and we must never neglect what God has said on the matter. However, this was the danger of the early church in Jerusalem. In the passage cited above, the church was increasing by phenomenal numbers because the preaching of the gospel was going out into the city of Jerusalem and Jesus was pleased to be adding to the number of the Church (Acts 2:47b). So as the church increased in number, so did the need for practical things among them. And that’s the amazing thing that we see in the early church; God was concerned that his people were spiritually fed, as well as practically fed, hence why he has given particular men for the task of feeding his people both spiritually and physically; being elders and deacons (Acts 2:42-47, 6:1-4 c.f Eph 4:11-13, Phil 1:1). All this to say, we believe that what we see in the bible wasn’t a description only, but also a prescription for the church for all time. God is always raising up particular men to feed his people from his word and particular men to take up the ministry of meeting the physical needs among us. And for our community here in Armadale at Grace Christian Church, it seems that God has given us Andy Waggnar, a man who not only desires to practically help God’s people, but also meet the standards as set out in inspired scripture (Acts 6:3, 1 Tim 3:8-13).
Now there’s a few things that our community needs to be aware of. We are not in the “business” of telling God’s people who will be serving us in this way, but recognising who God has raised up. That’s why today we will have a congregational vote. Your elders, to the best of our ability and to the best of our discernment from praying about the matter, see Andy as a man in whom God has called to service our congregation in this way. That’s why we put him forward at the April AGM and given you, the community of saints, the time to both pray about the matter and speak to the elders about the decision. Your feedback and comments have been extremely positive, and we praise God for that. Another thing that you need to know, is that Andy has been working with me for around eight months, training in both theological and practical matters. His understanding of the ministry and ideas about how we might serve our community in a more Christo-centric way has been very encouraging. I can say that he is a man of character who loves both God and people. Finally, he is a man who has been tested by God, life and the eldership of the church, which is something we want in anyone taking office in the church (1 Tim 3:10). He is a man that the eldership of GCC and the wider body of WPC see as someone who has really been called to put his hand to the plough among us.
And so church, I want you to be encouraged today as we take this matter to you, to the people of God, that as you have prayerfully considered this decision, that you would be encouraged that as the gospel has gone out into Armadale, as we have seen beautiful growth among us, that you will see that God has given us a man to help in the practical needs among us.