DIY Discipleship

Intro: Max Lucado, in His Book “Grace for the Moment” says In our faith we follow in someone's steps. In our faith, we leave footprints to guide others. It's the principle of discipleship,

Oswald Chambers “ Our Lord's conception of discipleship is not that we work for God, but that God works through us.” I think that is what these D.I.Y. Believers discovered.

BACK STORY The Greek Speaking Believers were called Hellenists. They spoke a different language, lived in a different culture, and celebrated life differently, but were believers in the Resurrected Jesus, they had found the Messiah but they weren’t Jews. The Others, were of Jewish descent, worshiping in the temple, following the Rabbinic laws… followed different dietary laws, and even had a different mindset about life around them. TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES LIVING IN THE SAME SPACE.

There was a distribution made every day to the widows who were in need. It was a mandate of His Word, Exodus 22:22-23, You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” Jesus Himself, It is our privilege to help clothe, the unclothed, to visit the sick, and to come to those who find themselves in prison, Matthew 25:36

I. DIY Discipleship Opportunity came from a Problem Needing a Solution.

A. What was the Occasion?

b. Its expression was that of murmuring, murmuring is a gateway to other destructive forces, grumbling, complaining, fault finding, and always deadly. Thomas Watson's Book “The Art of Divine Contentment “Our murmuring is the devil's music.”

c. These Greek-speaking Christians began to complain…

i. The murmuring spirit keeps the eye bent on self, and on self's fancied wrongs, Its tone is complaining & wining. It is narrow, self-pitying, and egoistic. It expresses itself in accusations and reproaches.

d. With a murmuring attitude they spread discontent throughout the whole body of Christians.

e. This was the attack by the enemy to try to destroy the effectiveness of this early church. Somehow the apostles heard of the murmuring and went into action.

II. DIY Discipleship was an Opportunity For a Choice.

a. And the twelve summoned their brothers…

i. "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. But we must find a solution.

ii. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint.

iii. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4 RSV)

iv. Here we have a very clear example of the way the early church assigned responsibilities for Ministry.

III. This DIY Discipleship Moment was an Opportunity to see the Holy Spirit at Work

b. The glory of this church was that they were conscious of Man’s desire, and the Holy Spirit’s activity.

c. He was apportioning gifts, allocating certain ministries to various individuals, and sending them out, All through this book of Acts, you can see the tremendous manifestation of the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that sends Philip down to Gaza in Chapter 8. It is the Spirit that gets Saul’s Attention on his way to Damascus. It is the Spirit that sends the disciples down to Samaria. Through this whole book of Acts, the Spirit of God is at work.

c. The apostles understood that their gift was that of an apostle. They were to lay the foundation of the church.

d. The Apostles gave themselves to the ministry of apostleship, But the distribution and work of Ministry were done by others empowered by the Spirit.

IV. DIY Discipleship gave Ministry Occasions to exercise faith, not only faith in the Lord but also faith in each other. The Apostles suggested a solution, and all the members agreed with it. The assembly selected seven qualified men, and the Apostles set them apart for ministry.

b. The word is episcopate, meaning "look out" or "look over." Look over the congregation, they said, and elect out from among yourselves seven men who have these gifts.

c. There is something wonderful here. All of these names are Greek names. That means they were probably chosen from among the complaining party, the Greek-speaking Jews.

d. Apostles were saying "These seven men whom you have chosen, who have the gifts and the qualifications we outlined, are part of our ministry as apostles, and we are part of theirs. We belong in the body together, and in the body every gift is important."

V. Ministry equals Multiplication. And the word of God increased... (Acts 6:7a RSV) Everyone doing their part… God increased their work!

Illust: “A man came across three masons working away on a renovation to a structure. The first seemed unhappy at his job, putting brick upon brick, keeping an eye on the clock hanging in the tower… A man came along asked what he was doing…He responded, rather curtly, “I’m putting brick on brick waiting for that to strike 5. ”A second mason, seemingly more interested in his work, was hammering diligently… taking a little more care, when asked what it was that he was doing, answered, “Well, I’m molding this block of rock so that it can be used with others to construct something useful. It’s not bad work, but I’ll sure be glad when it’s done.” A third mason was hammering at his block fervently, taking time to stand back and admire his work. He chipped off small pieces until he was satisfied that it was the best he could do. When he was questioned about his work he stopped, gazed skyward and proudly proclaimed, “I…am building a cathedral!”