Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

When Every Part of the Body Does its Work…

When Every Person Pulls Their Own Weight…

When Every Member Does Their Share…

The Body Grows and is Built Up in Love

Christianity is Not a Spectator Religion

We Don’t Have Priests and Laymen

There Aren’t Producers and Consumers

We are All Priests

We are All Meant to Be Producers, Workers, and Servants

And When We Aren’t All Doing Our Part…

The Body Doesn’t Grow Like it Should

The Church Isn’t Built Up in Love Like it Should Be

And Practically Speaking, Things Fall Through the Cracks and are Left Undone

We’re Doing a Series Titled: Imitators

In This Series, We are Looking at Imitators of Jesus in the Book of Acts

Our Goal is to Learn How to Be Imitators of Jesus as Well

The Past Couple Lessons Have Dealt with the Early Church’s Benevolence

They Took Care of Each Others’ Needs

They Did So By Giving Money to the Apostles to Distribute to the Needy

But as the Church Continued to Grow, this Became an Increasingly Difficult Ministry for the Apostles to Oversee

This Led to Some People Getting Neglected and Slipping Through the Cracks

So the Apostles Had to Come Up with a Solution

Their Solution was:

The Seven

Acts 6:1 (NASB95)

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

The Church was Growing, Which Means the List of Needy Christians was Growing

At this Point, There was a Daily Distribution of Food Amongst the Needy in the Church

Widows Were Among the Most Needy

But, Unfortunately, Some of the Hellenistic Widows Were Being Overlooked

Hellenism Refers to the Spread of Greek Culture

So Hellenists in this Text Refers to Jews Who Speak Greek and Likely Participate in Greek Culture

Some of These Greek-Speaking Christian Widows Were Being Neglected When it Came to the Daily Distribution of Food

Acts 6:2 (NASB95)

So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

Once this Complaint Reached the Ears of the Apostles, They Had a Decision to Make

They Called the Jerusalem Church Together

Their Decision was:

It Would Be Better for Them to Focus Their Full Attention On Preaching the Gospel…

Rather Than Trying to Preach and Serve Tables (Feed People)

The Apostles Didn’t See a Need in Having Their Thumb in Everything

The Church Needed Table-Servers

But the Church Also Needed Gospel Preachers

And One Person Can’t Always Do Both

We Have the Wrong Mindset When We Expect One Person/Group of People to Do Everything

People Eventually Get Burned Out and Things Eventually Get Neglected

This was Happening in the Jerusalem Church

But the Apostles Had a Solution

Acts 6:3 (NASB95)

“Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

The Apostles Told the Church to Choose 7 Men to Be Over the Daily Distribution

These Men Had to Be of a Good Reputation

People In and Outside the Church Know These Men to Be Good, Righteous Men

They Were to Be Full of the Holy Spirit

They Walk with the Spirit and Allow Him to Transform and Produce Fruit Within Them

They Were to Be Full of Wisdom

To Best Oversee Such a Ministry Would Take a Great Deal of Wisdom

Acts 6:4 (NASB95)

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

With this Important Ministry Under the Authority of the 7…

The Apostles Would Now Be Free to Devote Themselves More Fully…

To Prayer and Preaching the Gospel

Now Both Ministries are Being Done with the Full Attention of Those Overseeing Them

No More Divided Attention

No More Things Slipping Through the Cracks

Acts 6:5 (NASB95)

The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

The Church Liked this Idea and Found 7 Men that Fit the Qualifications the Apostles Gave

Acts 6:6–7 (NAS)

And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

After Appointing the Seven to This Ministry…

Do You See What Happened?

The Gospel Continued to Spread and the Church Continued to Grow

Application

This Passage Reminds Us of the Importance of Delegation

It’s Not that the Apostles Were No Longer in Charge/Authority in the Jerusalem Church

But They No Longer Had to Be Directly Involved in Every Ministry

The Elders, Deacons, or Preacher are Not Supposed to Be Directly Involved with Every Work of the Church

Neither is Every Member Supposed to Be Directly Involved with Every Work of the Church

Paul Talks Several Times About the Different Gifts and Abilities in the Church

These Diverse Gifts/Skills/Personalities/Passions in the Church…

Are for the Purpose of Having Diverse Ministries in the Church

Every Individual Needs to Take Their Gift/Skill/Personality/Passion…

And Join a Suitable Ministry…

Or Lead a New Ministry

The More Servants We Have Willing to Serve…

The More Ministries We Can Accomplish

And the More Ministries We Can Accomplish…

The More We Will Edify One Another and Reach Our Community with the Gospel

And the More We Edify One Another and Reach Our Community…

The More We Will Grow

But I Believe All of This Has to Start with What We Read in Acts 6

We Need More Participation and More Delegation

I Talked to the Elders a While Back About Starting Committees Here:

Having One or More People in Charge of Each Individual Work/Ministry

For an Example of What I’m Talking About…

We Already Have Several of These Going

Tammie Sells and Judy Boles are in Charge of the Christian’s Closet (One of Our Community Outreach Ministries)

Barbary Carwile is in Charge of the Food Groups for Different Occasions

Brent and Sada are in Charge of the Pantry

Connie Brown and Dale Flatt are in Charge of Bus Transportation (Need More for That)

Ralph and Jogenna McDonald are in Charge of Our Yearly Easter Fellowship

Jason and Connie Brown are in Charge of the Yearly Christmas Fellowship

Jack Pigg and Dale Mabry are in Charge of Building Maintenance

Diana Webb and Naomi White are in Charge of the Ladies Bible Studies On Wednesday Mornings

Phyllis Cherry and Jogenna McDonald are in Charge of the Ladies Day Out

These are Specific Ministries that are Delegated to the Oversight of a Few People

Without Them, Imagine All the Things that Would Never Get Done

So My Hope is to Get as Many People Plugged into Different Ministries as Possible

The Goal Would Be to Have Every Christian Involved in Ministry in Some Way

Norah and I Have Already Been Working On a List of Works that Need to Be Overseen

There Will Be a Sign-Up Sheet with a List in the Foyer Soon

I Will Probably Also Be Asking the Elders and Deacons to Help Speak 1 on 1 With Everyone…

To See How We Can Help You Get Plugged into a Ministry

My Hope is that Each of Us Will Take the Initiative Help Oversee at Least 1 Ministry

If Every Individual Helped Meet 1 Need Each…

There’s No Limit to What We Could Accomplish Here

The Purpose of the 7 was:

To Meet One Need of the Church Without Neglecting Another

The Apostles Delegated the Work to Other Trustworthy Christians

And Because They Did:

People’s Needs Were Met

The Gospel Continued to Spread

And the Church Continued to Grow

I Want Those Very Same Results Here at Livingston

But It’s Going to Take the Very Same Process:

Getting More People Involved in the Many Ministries of the Church

I Hope this Church Will One Day Be Known as the Church…

Where Everyone is Involved in Ministry

Where Everyone is a Servant

Where Jesus is Glorified Through Our Many Works