Does God call call women to be deacons in His Word- Of course, there are those who would say yes simply because they want to break the -patriarchy- of the church. Still, there are those with honest questions about this verse, including women who wonder where they should serve. Considering the amount of discussion related to this verse, we're going to spend the morning trying to understand it. Once we do that, we can consider how it applies to the greater passage about deacons as well as to our church life.

This war is good for absolutely everything. Satan has always wanted to rule heaven, so he makes one, final play there. His final defeat means he will no longer disturb those who find their dwelling there and signals his complete defeat. Reflecting upon this coming battle should cause us great rejoicing, so let's consider the war in heaven -vv. 7-9- and the hymn of heaven's victory -vv. 10-12-.

From our Sunday morning Bible readings.

We continue our look at these two books.

Why does it seem like the history is full of antisemitism and, well, anti-christianism- This chapter describes the conflict of the ages, with these verses in particular succinctly summing up history for us. So, this evening, we're going to note on the first side of the conflict, the pregnant woman -vv. 1-2-, and on the other side of the conflict, the red dragon -vv. 3-4-. We'll then note the point of the conflict- the Christ -v. 5-, and finally, we'll consider the ongoing results of the conflict -v. 6-.

Last time, we considered what deacons are. Since deacons are ministers, they must be qualified to hold this spiritual office. We begin to see that today. We'll note that deacons must be men of dignity -v. 8-, men of faith -v. 9-, and men beyond reproach -v. 10-.

From our Sunday morning Bible readings.

We begin our look at Ezra and Nehemiah

How can you know that God will forgive you when you die- As we continue in our study of the Apostles' Creed, the question of justification is key, paramount to the state of our eternal souls. This is a question we need answered, a matter we need settled.

Deacons occupy the second office our Lord authorizes in His church, but Scripture has much more to say about their qualification than the office. In fact, ironically, most of the New Testament uses of the term do not refer to the office. Yet, as we consider all the data, who deacons are supposed to be becomes clear. So, we're going to consider what the term means today, begin considering the office, and look at the qualifications. What we'll discover today is not just what should mark an individual for this office, but what should mark each of our lives.