Acts 6-8

Welcome/Intro

Hey! Welcome to Prairie Lakes - and to Week 3 of our Acts series. We’ve been walking through the book of Acts and are gonna be jumping into chapters 6-8 this week.

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And hey - I know many of you have jumped into a small group for the first time as we’ve launched this series—or maybe for the first time in a long time. And for the group that my wife and I lead, we’ve joined with the rest of our church in working through some of the video content available on our website as a part of this series. Been really cool to hear from some different voices around our Prairie Lakes campuses across the state.

This week, one of our Cedar Falls staffers, Kennedi Stewart, is delivering that content for chapters 6-8. So, whether you’re in a small group or not, make that a part of your rhythm this week as we continue our journey together.

From Jews in Jerusalem to Christians Worldwide

Ok. Turn with me if you would to the book of Acts, chapter 6.

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Acts 6

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(Explain where/how to find Acts.)

One of the things that we said during the very first week of the series about why this book of the Bible was written was this:

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Acts tells the “crazy” (but true!) origin story of the Church.

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Now, the Church has been around for 2 millennia at this point. 2,000 years. We are pretty far away from our origin story.

And what that means is that things that were once “brand new” and “revolutionary” have now since become…

The norm.

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For 2,000 years now, this is what it looks like to be a part of God’s family.

Now the first place we get a sense of this 3-part definition of what it means to be a part of God’s family is really the book of Acts. People become part of God’s family as they 1) believe the gospel (explain); 2) repent and are baptized (explain); and 3) receive the Holy Spirit.

This is the way it’s worked for 2,000 years now. Super familiar to us.

But in Acts, this was brand new—and this was not at all how it had worked for the previous two millennia before then.

Back when the events of Acts were happening in real time, God’s people looked very different from this. And by “different,” I mean “Jewish.”

Here’s how Acts 6, verse 1 describes the brand new just born baby infant church:

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Acts 6:1 “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”

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So, there are some terms here (which are each categories of people) that are mostly unfamiliar to us—because they don’t really exist anymore.

But they did back then. And in fact, if you were a part of God’s family, you were either a Hellenistic Jewish (Christian), or you were a Hebraic Jewish (Christian).

But what I want you to notice in this verse what words are absent: words like “Christian.” Or “Church.” Neither of those terms are being used—mainly because those terms and categories of people don’t exist yet. Instead you have “disciples,” and two kinds of Jews: “Hellenistic” and “Hebraic.”

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At this point in the story, there isn’t really this distinct group of people known as Christians. Peter, James, John, and the rest of the Twelve would’ve most certainly seen themselves as Jews—Jews who happened to believe that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah… but Jews first and foremost. Jews, period. Because that’s what they were—and they were all living in Jerusalem.

But this is where the story starts to get interesting:

You have these “Hellenistic” Jews, which likely were Jews who had previously been scattered (through the Diaspora) but had returned to Jerusalem. But because they had lived abroad for so long, Greek had become their native language. That’s why they were called “Hellenistic.” That’s a term that described Greco-Roman people.

And so when they moved back to Jerusalem, they attended a synagogue that read the Hebrew Scriptures in the Greek translation, known as the Septuagint. Their community was primarily Greek-speaking. Their beliefs still were thoroughly Jewish, but their language (and by extension, some of their culture) was more Greco-Roman.

Now: some of these Hellenistic Jews were also disciples of Jesus. Not all of them; but some of them.

Also in Jerusalem you had these “Hebraic” Jews. These were Jews who were natives of the Holy Land. And as Jews who were Jerusalem born-and-bred, they spoke Aramaic, which was what ancient Hebrew had morphed into.. They attended synagogues that read the Jewish Scriptures in Aramaic, and built communities with people for whom that was their first language.

And some of these Hebraic Jews were also disciples of Jesus. Not all of them; but some of them.

Still, these groups shared a common belief and probably lived even next door to each other. There weren’t doctrinal disagreements between them; everyone was still proudly Jewish. They just didn’t speak the same language.

But among both groups there were a growing amount of disciples of Jesus—Hellenistic and Hebraic Jewish people who 1) believed the gospel; 2) repented and were baptized; and 3) were filled with the Holy Spirit.

So now that we have some context, let’s do a little compare and contrast:

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And let’s ask ourselves this question:

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How did we go from being mostly Jewish people in Jerusalem to a worldwide church of mostly non-Jewish Christians?

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Or, in 2024 language:

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How did we go from being mostly Jewish people in Jerusalem to a worldwide church of mostly non-Jewish Christians?

How did Jesus go viral?

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And the answer is, of course…

TikTok. (Believe it or not… TikTok actually has ancient Roman origins…)

Uh… super hip marketing campaign on all of the socials.

Actually, just a feel-good, grass-roots story that really tugged on the heart strings.

See:

We’re used to things going viral.

Funny dances and memes and slang and fashion trends. We’re used to things going viral.

What we’re not used to is one of those viral things being “the church.”

In fact, for most of us, and for most of our lives, here in America, in the year 2024, when we talk about the state of the church, we’re far more likely to be talking about its decline… not its growth.

How Jesus Went Viral

So, let’s ask ourselves again: how did Jesus go viral?

Read the story with me. Acts 6, verse 1 again:

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Acts 6:1–2 “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So 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.” (Explain)

Acts 6:3–5 “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.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.”

Acts 6:6–7 “They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

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How did Jesus go viral? How did this relatively small group of Jewish Christians in this medium-sized city who didn’t even speak the same language become a global movement with billions of adherents that has now lasted for (2) millennia?

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How did Jesus go viral?

On the pillars of prayer and the preaching of the Word of God, and through people who were:

Full of the Holy Spirit

Wise

Full of faith

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Hey:

If you’re stuck,

And it’s been a long time since your faith in Jesus produced anything that could be described as viral…

If you’re stagnant,

And there’s hardly anyone in your circle who has been impacted by your faith—or might even be genuinely surprised to hear that you have one…

Start with the Word and prayer. You’re not going to get anywhere without those. Get in the Bible. Get on your knees.

But if you’re in the Word and praying,

And you’re still stuck,

It might be because you need to respond differently in one of those three areas.

The Big 3: Holy Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith

Chapters 7 and 8 tell the story of two guys who were in the Word and praying—but who were also full of the Spirit, wisdom, and faith. Their names were Stephen and Philip—one of those 7 leaders chosen by the early disciples to lead some of the work in the fast-growing early church.

And as we read about their lives and their stories, here’s what I’d like for you to see:

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What does a life marked by the “Big 3” (Holy Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith) look like?

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Pick the story up with me at the end of chapter 6, verse 8:

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Acts 6:8 “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.”

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So, we get the first marker here:

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What does a life marked by the “Big 3” (Holy Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith) look like?

You’ll do things that can only be explained by God’s power in you.

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In Stephen’s case (and this was likely because of the specific chapter of salvation history he was living in), this meant literally performing miracles. Very much like when Jesus was walking the earth, his earliest followers were still performing healing miracles and feeding miracles by God’s power as a sign that their message about Jesus was true.

Now, we believe that God can and still does things like that today. But we’re living in a different chapter of God’s story and human history; we live in a time where some of those literal miracles might actually arouse more suspicion than credibility. Miracles like some of the ones in Acts, transported into the age of science and reason, might actually do more to hurt our credibility than help.

Nevertheless: when you’re…

Kind (when everyone else responds in anger)…

When you…

Forgive (when everyone else holds a grudge or judges or withdraws)…

When you’re…

Patient… gracious… a servant to those who don’t deserve it…

You’re doing things that can only be explained by God’s power in you.

Let’s say this even a little differently:

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One of the most miraculous signs of Jesus’ power in you is obeying Jesus when nobody expects you to.

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That’s what it means to be full of the Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith:

You stay sensitive and attentive to the Holy Spirit as he convicts you or nudges you; and you respond with repentance

You don’t allow your fears or wounds or political convictions or societal norms move you off of what Jesus has said, but instead hold fast to his commands, and

You trust that even if it doesn’t work out by the standards of this world, he’s gonna work it out

I don’t think those are the only “signs and wonders” of 2024. I think God still does literal, blow your mind, doesn’t-make-any-sense kinds of miracles.

But I do think that if more of us who claim allegiance to Jesus would live that out imperfectly but intentionally in our everyday lives and relationships, we’d see God move in miraculous ways in the lives of the people around us who have come to expect nothing more from so-called Christians other than hypocrisy and condemnation.

That’s the first sign of someone’s life marked by the “Big 3” of Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith: they do things and live lives that can only be explained by God’s power in them.

#2:

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What does a life marked by the “Big 3” (Holy Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith) look like?

2. You’ll say godly things that supposed “godly” people will resist.

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You’d think that with all these amazing things that Stephen was doing with people and for people that he’d just have a bunch of fans. Who could possibly find something wrong with helping sick people become well again?

Well, turns out… it’s totally possible.

Look at chapter 6, verse 9 with me:

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Acts 6:9–10 “Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”

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(Explain Synagogue of the Freedmen—proudly Jewish, proudly Israeli, lots of zeal, and thought they had God’s stamp of approval)

Now, we don’t have time to walk through everything that is about to happen between Stephen and this group of Hellenistic Jews. But:

They drag him before their courts and accuse him of serious religious crimes that are punishable by death (just like they did to Jesus).

And in chapter 7, Stephen responds by basically telling them the whole story of the Old Testament, all the way up to Jesus. Make sure you read that speech of this week. Stephen covers 39 books of the Bible in a single chapter.

And then at the end of chapter 7, verse 51, he says this:

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Acts 7:51–53 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

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Over the course of Stephen’s speech, he tells a bunch stories where God raises up someone to lead his people… but that person faces resistance from those same people.

Abraham leaves his family and goes to a foreign place. He dies before seeing God’s promise fulfilled.

His great grandson, Joseph, gets sold into slavery by his 11 brothers.

Later on, Moses gets ratted out by two Israelites, and then later the Israelites rebel by fashioning a golden calf idol.

Later on, God sends prophets. They get ignored, mistreated, and even killed.

And this is the pattern. God sends his laws to his people. And while they are mostly willing to make the sacrifices and build the temple, they are mostly unwilling to love their neighbor and care for poor, keep themselves sexually pure, and protect themselves from just chasing after whatever idol the world around them is chasing after.

But the minute that one of them stands up in front of their fellow God-followers and says something like,

Hey: we should love our enemies.

Or:

Maybe we can’t do anything we want with anyone we want in our sexual lives.

Or:

Maybe God is serious about us forgiving each other, or maintaining peace among one another, or calling one another to humility, or pursuing integrity, or treating one another as you would want to be treated, or telling the truth instead of kinda twisting it to whatever end you feel is justified…

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Whenever you take a stand for God’s truth,

But you make that stand to God’s people,

You can expect resistance…

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And I just want to be crystal clear about what I’m talking about here and not talking about here.

And it’s predictable, because we’re getting closer to this election. But even in just this past week, I got a letter in the mail (addressed to me, specifically) imploring me to vote and to be more clear with you on who you should vote for.

And I got an invitation in my email from a group wanting me to join them in advocating for policies that they believe are more Christian.

And it’s those kinds of “stands” that we’re more familiar with these days. It’s not take “a” stand. It’s take “my” stand. And take “my” stand “to” the rest of the country outside of the church in how you vote and which policies you advocate for.

That’s not what I’m talking about here. (And I’m not interested in doing any of that, ever, by the way.)

Go vote. But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

Stephen, Philip, all of these guys… probably all of them were Roman citizens, which granted them the right to vote. But we don’t get a copy of their voting record; we get a record of the lives they lived, and what they stood for in their worshiping community to their friends who claimed to be following God just like them.

And whenever they stood for God’s truth to God’s people, just like Joseph did, just like Moses did, just like the prophets did, and just like Jesus did,

They faced incredible resistance, (from “God’s people!”)—

Sometimes deadly resistance.

So why did they do it? Why did they stand up and call their brothers and sisters to this life of faith in Jesus and wisdom as they lived out his commands in the power of the Holy Spirit?

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Whenever you take a stand for God’s truth,

But you make that stand to God’s people,

You can expect resistance…

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Whenever you take a stand for God’s truth,

But you make that stand to God’s people,

You can expect resistance…

But you can also expect revival.

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This is how the church went from a small group of mostly Jewish people to worldwide movement of blacks and whites and Asians and Africans and Americans and Russians and Chinese and Filipinos and and and and…

Because Stephen was willing to stand up to all of these supposed church insiders,

Call them out,

Point them to Jesus,

And pay the price.

In fact, it ends up being one of the most powerful witnesses the world ever knew.

Here’s how it worked:

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All of these zealous Jewish people went on a rampage against these disciples of Jesus. And so they scattered. Ironic for many of them, as some of them had worked really hard to get back to Jerusalem. But now, they are forced to flee.

And they wind up in Samaria,

And Galatia,

And Ephesus,

And Corinth,

And Philipi,

And Jesus even grabs one of these zealous Jews, a man named Paul, who was in the crowd the day Stephen was killed, changes his heart, and sends him on this mission to the ends of the earth.

Here’s the principle:

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Often times what follows resistance is revival, because:

God has a way of using the resistance you experience

To take you from worrying to witnessing.

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Wanna know how this works in 2024? I’ll tell ya:

If you call your brothers and sisters in Christ to love in the age of polarization,

If you call them to truth instead of manipulative media soundbites,

Forgiveness instead of retribution,

Faith instead of fear,

Loving your enemies instead of demonizing them,

You know what you’re gonna get.

I’m saying:

Go get it. Go take your lumps. Go get bloodied in the name of Jesus from people who claim his name.

Go do it. Go have your biggest fears realized, because what you thought was going to happen is absolutely going to happen.

And then don’t be surprised when, because of your willingness to just that, God opens doors in relationships with people who are looking for a church and community just like the one you’re calling your community to.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stand up for Jesus to people who claim him.

But sometimes its the only thing standing in the way of revival.

That leads us to the third thing that marks those who are marked by the “Big 3:”

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What does a life marked by the “Big 3” (Holy Spirit, Wisdom, and Faith) look like?

3. You’ll explain spiritual truths to seekers who don’t yet understand.

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Take a look at this snapshot from chapter 8:

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Acts 8:4–8 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.”

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