Power to Serve

The church grew quickly by hundreds, and even thousands.

In a few years, the early church grew beyond its capacity to properly administer itself.

The beginnings of the church sounds idyllic

· They met together frequently for encouragement.

· They attempted to make sure that everyone was taken care of.

· They shared everything in common.

· People of different traditions came together to worship God through the ministry of Jesus Christ.

They had their first internal dispute.

They were Greek-speaking Jews who came to believe in Jesus.

They complained their widows were not receiving food like the Hebraic Jews.

Taking care of the widows and orphans was mandated by the Law in Judaism.

They had their key differences:

· Hebraic Jews focused on Temple worship and sacrifices, circumcision, and food purity laws.

· Hellenistic Jews were descendants of the diaspora, who had lived outside of Israel and spoke Greek, many worshipped in the synagogues.

· Hellenistic Jews sought to move away from those traditions.

Cultural differences have affected the church since its beginning.

After hearing the Hellenists complain, the twelve recognized their responsibility to act.

Even with all their good intentions with the distribution of resources, some were being overlooked, and it probably felt dis-empowering.

There are often disputes among people with different experiences.

No one has had the same life experiences.

We often need to hear from those who have not had the same experience as us.

Different people, different needs OR might they have similar needs no matter the difference?

If we create a system for filling needs, but it doesn’t serve everyone, does it truly work?

When we feel overlooked or dis-empowered, we might start to feel like no one cares.

Sometimes, we need to rethink what we are doing to ensure everyone is taken care of.

//This is the wisdom that shines through in leadership of the early church disciples.

The twelve might not have been able to determine whether the complaints were true, but they made sure to build in greater accountability.

The twelve disciples met together often in those days, and after hearing the complaint.

They assembled the people together, clarified their role and intentions, and empowered the dis-empowered to serve.

The twelve disciples had walked with Jesus and heard his words directly, so their primary task was to convey all they had seen and heard; attending to prayers and serving “the word of God” as Jesus did.

With great wisdom, the disciples empowered the Hellenists to pick faithful people to serve them.

These new leaders of the church were recognized as being full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

Today, we might ask why these qualifications were even necessary, but we could point back to the complaint.

If the leaders were full of faith in Jesus Christ, and believed in his sacrifice on the cross for every one of them, would they withhold food?

If the leaders were full of the Holy Spirit, would not the full love of God empower them to ensure everyone was fed, and provide Godly conviction in even considering it?

Together, would they not hold each other accountable to the proper daily distribution of the food?

Even if we might not see these qualifications as necessary to physically distribute food, through the wisdom of the Spirit, they were deemed necessary to shepherd the unifying spirit of the early church.

Anytime anyone was commissioned to serve, each were prayed over by them all, that God would lead them.

When they resolved the complaints, not only did the number of disciples increase but a great number of Jewish priests came to have faith.

Stephen had been one of those called to serve, and he became one of the first Hellenists who did great signs and wonders like one of the Apostles.

Stephen became an evangelist, speaking with the wisdom of the Spirit, which the opposition could not refute.

Stephen had been justified by God, empowered by God, and proclaimed the message of the love of God come through Jesus Christ.

How can we recognize who is faithful in their service?

We recognize them by the wisdom of God and fullness of the Holy Spirit at work in them.

These are things that can only be seen when the Spirit of God is at work in us.

Christ said we recognize who are his by their works, whether they do the will of the Father (Matt. 7:20-21).

Without the Spirit at work in us, we become fruitless.

But with the Spirit, our works become fruitful to overflowing - with hearts full of love and at peace with God, our self-giving honors God and restores relationships.

Our fruitfulness becomes apparent when we discern the needs and find our calling in addressing them with Godly wisdom.

The Spirit empowers us to honor God and serve others with God’s perfect love.

This is the life lived in the freedom of the Spirit.

In this way, others can see the glory of God shining from us, like the faces of angels.