Acts 6:1-7
Notes
Transcript
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Working to maintain unity in a diverse community
The role of pastors and the role of deacons/lay servers
In Acts chapter 6 we see the first of many occurrences of disunity in church. We have seen sin in the church, but this is the first time there's an issue that is dividing the church down the middle and luckily they took care of it once and for all of our problems for the rest of the history of the church, in acts chapter 6 they solved racism!
Racism has been solved at the Cross. The gospel is the cure for racism. Unfortunately, racism and Bias and bigotry continue to Rear their, ugly head throughout the book of acts and throughout church history, and certainly in our country today.
There is no such thing as a perfect church. Every church is made up of imperfect sinful people, and exisits in an imperfect sinful society. So ALL sins will continue to be an issue as long as we have people in church.
This church building is sinless at about 3:00 pm on sunday afternoon
Disunity Over an Unjust System
Disunity Over an Unjust System
Acts 6:1–7 (ESV)
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
What are hellenists? Some of your translations might say “Greek Speaking Jews”
The term “Hellenists” (Ἑλληνισταί) describes Jews whose primary language is Greek while the term “Hebrews” (Ἑβραῖοι) refers to Aramaic-speaking Jews.
the diaspora
Hellenists may not have been able to speak Aramaic, The hellenists likely had other cultural differences, food, dress, accent, habits
The importance of caring for widows
The Law
Deuteronomy 10:18 (ESV)
18 He(God) executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
17 “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge,
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
19 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
The prophets
17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Jesus cared about Widows
46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”
Paul in his letter to Timothy lays out a whole program and philosophy of widow care in the church
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
If the orphan, widows, and AFFLICTED of a community and of a church family are not being helped by the church, then the church aint churching
Do you remember they had and the proceeds were being distributed?
They also basically had daily food pantry (no refrigerators, very little preservation capabilities)
The apostles were overseeing this, maybe putting people they trusted in charge of it on certain days or whatever
The system that was in place was not working. It was not designed to NOT help the greek speaking widows but it was not designed TO help them
We don’t know what the problem was, It is possible that the announcements were only in Aramaic, It is possible that the geography was off, its possible that the people running it had a bias towards taking care of the people they knew personally, It’s possible that the food they were handing out was not food the greek speaking Jews were used to eating.
BUT THEIR HEART IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE
Have you ever had someone surprise you with something and it was not what you want or like or need?
that is what a lot of systems are like, they are well meaning, they are from a “good heart” but they are not TRULY compassionate and loving if they do not consider the people they are supposed to be helping.
The Government, schools, organizations, businesses and institutions all have this problem
So Naturally we will have the same problem but SUPERNATURALLY we will overcome this problem
We have something they do not have. The Savior Jesus and the Transforming Holy Spirit
A Solution is Proposed
A Solution is Proposed
2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
They admit their mistake/negligence/wrong doing and humbly offer a solution.
This is a good lesson for anyone in leadership. Pastors, teachers, PARENTS
the instinct is to dive right into self defense, damage control and excuses
good leaders admit their mistakes and short comings
Good leaders are open to changing their ways
Good leaders delegate
It is important to notice that they are Not saying one is more valuable than the other
Caring for the widows is SO important that we do not want it to get neglected
Both are important and vital to the church
The apostles are not too good for it, it is just not the best use of their giftedness
The Importance of the Ministry of the Word and Prayer
The Importance of the Ministry of the Word and Prayer
As your pastors Calvin and I highly value the ministry of the word and prayer
My people’s greatest need is for my own holiness.
Robert Murray McCheyne (Scottish Minister)
We take that seriously
We pray for you as a group and as individuals, in our personal prayers, together as pastors, and We pray for you with our wives.
Preaching and teaching the word are to strengthen and prepare the church for kingdom living
Kingdom living is the natural and necessary result of receiving the preaching and teaching of the word
People (mostly jokingly) say “i dont know why pastors should get a full time salary they only work a couple hours one day a week”
“The pastors will take care of it”
“Why isn’t the pastor here?”
What goes in to preaching the word?
1 . A foundation of Biblical training
2. Ongoing learning, thinking, and mental cultivating
3. Sermon Prep
For both pastors, it takes 8-20 hours, typically 15. depending on the complexity of the passage, how much I have already studied the passage and the concepts in it and how focused I can get.
From Calvin: I read the book & the passage multiple times in different translations. I examine & gather questions about the text without making assumptions. Then, I look into its historical, cultural, biblical, and literary context to uncover key theological principles and arrive at an interpretation. I check my interpretation against top scholars before I craft my message in a harmonious way that is easily understood.
My process is very similar, for both of us, we are marinating the process in prayer
“waiting tables” in SLC in 2024. Cleaning the building, technology stuff, buildings and grounds maintenance, meeting people’s physical needs
Waiting the tables is a temptation - it feels good, it feels important, it feels like no one else is going to do it.
We as leaders have to be aware of the temptation to focus on those things to the neglect of the Word
The First Deacons
The First Deacons
These men are not called DEACONS but the role they fill is very deacon-ish.
διάκονος (diakonos) - a household servant
“A leader in the church who is committed to serve God through meeting the needs of the Church, characterized by a disposition of humility and self-sacrifice.” -Lexham Theological Workbook:
Qualifications:
Believers
Good reputation
Displaying the fruit of the Holy Spirit
Displaying wisdom
5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.
All these are Greek names. The solution for the injustice happening was to raise up leaders and decision makers from the group that was being disenfranchised.
Gave them power, dignity and a seat at the table
Some of the Seven were Multi-lingual
Steven: We will get more into Steven in the future but this was a spiritual force of a man.
Preached, taught, did signs and wonders with the holy spirits power
Philip: Philip is known as an evangelist, missionary to samaria, ethiopia, and caesarea
Nicolas is the first non-jewish born person who we have record of in the church.
Proselyte
6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Laying on hands Deut 34:9
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Symbolic of the support and endorsement of the leadership
The Beautiful Outcome
The Beautiful Outcome
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
2 phrases I want to point out
1
“The word of God continued to increase”
I love this phrase because it carries with the idea that as more and more people know about Jesus more and more people have the word and are able to speak the word. More conversations are centered around the word. More decisions are made based on the word, and on and on.
TRANSFORMATION
2
“became obedient to the faith.”
You cant separate belief from becoming obedient
“I love you, Will you marry me” There is an expectation of a new way of living
So What?
1:
We Need Servant Leaders
We Need Servant Leaders
We are praying that God would raise up men and women who are ready to lead.
NOT EVERYONE IS A big L LEADER
We need active energetic servers
We need buy in
For those of you who are not pastor Calvin or Me,
If I spend an hour here cleaning the gutters, It would be a good thing BUT it would be an hour that I was not studying the word, praying for you, spending time strengthening my family or proclaiming the gospel to people at the Walmart bus stop
“evangelism makes me uncomfortable” “I don’t like to talk to strangers” “I don’t have the gift”
Charitable work is a primary function of the church SO:
Charitable work is a primary function of the church SO:
Be real about needs
Be a cheerful giver
Be wise
Saturday, Aug 3rd 9:30 AM Budgeting Basics Bootcamp
Be a part of the beautiful messy diversity at Sandusky Life Church
Be a part of the beautiful messy diversity at Sandusky Life Church
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
We are a INTENTiONALLY diverse church so we will have some of the same problems
One solution would have been to say “ok, this group’s needs are not being met, lets start a different church for them” or “lets have them meet at 2:00 pm”
Another solution would be to ignore the issue.
Stay flexible, fulfilling God’s purpose is more important than success or comfort