[:en]Thoughts from Acts 6 [:]

[:en]The Choosing of the Seven (vs. 1-7)

As the member of believers increased, the widows of the Grecian Jews were overlooked in the daily distribution of food as against the Hebraic Jews.  So the 12 gathered and told the brothers to choose 7 men from among them to be responsible while they would focus their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.  So they chose Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas from Antioch and laid hands on them.

Stephen Seized (vs. 8-15)

Stephen was full of God’s grace and power of the Holy Spirit.  He did wonders and miraculous signs among the people and spoke with wisdom.  Opposition arose from members of the Synagogues of The Freedman.  Theses were a group of Jewish laves who had been freed by Rome and had formed their own synagogue in Jerusalem.  They falsely accused Stephen of speaking blasphemy against Moses.  They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

Expect false accusation, opposition and persecution when you are doing God’s work.

Things to Ponder:

  1.  As a leader, if you find yourself burdened by many responsibilities, prioritize your God given abilities and find others to help.
  2. If you are not in leadership, offer your gifts to God in various ares of the church ministry
  3. The men chosen to handle the food program must be respected, full of the Holy spirit and wisdom.  When we choose people to carry church activities, we must look for spiritually mature and wise men and women who can carry the responsibilities.
  4. The priorities of the apostles were to prayer and ministry of the Word.  Pastors are to minister His Word and not expected to carry administration burdens.  The work of the church must be distributed among its members.

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