Matt Smethurst is managing editor of The Gospel Coalition. He has served as both a deacon and an elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and is now in the process of planting River City Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Check out the River City Baptist Church here.
Go get a copy of Deacons.
Listen to his conversation about his book with Crossway.
10 Quotes from Deacons
A church without biblical deacons may exhibit signs of health for a while, but over time its health will suffer. (pg. 21)
When deacons flourish, the whole congregation wins. (pg. 22)
Deaconing is not training wheels for eldering. (pg. 33)
Deacons are like a congregation’s Special Ops force, carrying out unseen assignments with fortitude and joy. (pg. 39)
Public ministry is impossible without private service. Had the seven not freed the apostles to focus on teaching and prayer (Acts 6:4), the gospel would not have spread (Acts 6:7). (pg. 56)
Deacons serve at the elders’ pleasure not because elders are ultimate, but because Jesus is. (pg. 80)
No doubt locations and circumstances vary greatly, but the common denominator – the heartbeat – of diaconal work remains the same: self-giving service for the good of Christ’s church and the glory of his name. (pg. 116)
The world has always measured greatness by the standard a person receives, not by what he gives. But Jesus radically reverses our fallen logic. (pg. 122)
Deacon, your office has an expiration date, but your status as the King’s servant will never end. (pg. 127)
Faithful deacons should see their fingerprints in the unity of their congregation, for which Jesus prayed (John 17:22). (pg. 132)
The King’s Table 