¶ Intro / Opening
🎵 Music
¶ Church Growth and Emerging Conflict
Well the apostles had just been flogged. And they'd been threatened again and then released. And so what did they do? They well, they walked out of the Sanhedrin rejoicing, and then they went right back to teaching and proclaiming Jesus in the temple and from house to house. Every single day. Nothing could stop them. And so the church was growing rapidly, the spirits moving, lives were being transformed. But as it turns out, growth brings its own challenges.
When you go from one hundred and twenty to over five thousand in a matter of weeks, systems break down, cracks start to show, and sometimes the most dangerous threats to a movement don't come from outside, they come from within. Let's read Acts six. one through seven. In those days as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.
¶ Apostles' Delegation and Servant Selection
The twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.
Uh brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and Wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word, And this proposal pleased the whole company, and so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmanus and Nicholas, a convert from Antioch.
And they had them stand before the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them, and so the word of God spread, and the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. Okay, so the church was exploding, and Luke tells us the number of disciples was multiplying. This was exponential growth, but with growth, Came growing pains. A complaint started bubbling up from the Hellenistic Jews.
Greek speaking Jewish believers who had come from various regions around the Mediterranean, and they felt their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The Hebraic Jews were running the operation, a kind of ancient food pantry ministry. And whether intentionally or not, some people were slipping through the cracks, specifically the Greek widows
And widows in that culture were extremely vulnerable. They couldn't work, they had no social safety net, and so the church had taken on the the really the beautiful responsibility of caring for them. But as the church's numbers swelled, the system couldn't keep up. And and so this wasn't a petty complaint. It was a legitimate concern about real people with real needs being neglected. It it may have even contained veiled accusations of racism.
But notice how the apostles handle it. They didn't dismiss the complaint. They didn't get defensive. They also didn't abandon their primary calling in order to solve it themselves. They said it would not be right for us to give up preaching the Word of God. to wait on tables. So they doubled down on a total clarity of their calling.
The apostles had been commissioned by Jesus to pray and preach and build the first church. If they got sucked into every operational need, the core mission of the church would suffer. And so if there are any pastors listening, I would challenge you to try to stand up before your church today and tell them it wouldn't be right for you to serve the needy because you need to preach more.
But what we have is a total commitment to the church body acting like a body. The work needed to be done, and so they empowered others to do the work. Church leaders, we need to learn from this moment. Select from among you seven men of good reputation full of the spirit and wisdom. Notice the qualifications for this ministry role.
These needed to be spirit filled, wise believers because hands on serving is spiritual work. Feeding widows isn't less important than preaching sermons. It just requires different people. Every member of the body matters. And the leader of the food pantry ministry required the same Holy Spirit who fills the apostles and preachers and prophets. And notice who they chose.
All seven with Greek names, which I butchered the pronunciation. It tells us seven servants were uniquely qualified to help with this ministry to the Greek widows. Again, instead of leaning toward control, the apostles release authority to people who understood the problem firsthand. That's wise leadership.
¶ Mission Acceleration and Personal Application
And just look at the result. Luke tells us the word of God spread. The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. When the church handles internal conflict well, when leaders stay focused on their calling and empower others to serve, the mission accelerates. And we hear even priests and religious professionals who had been entrenched in the old system, well they started coming to faith too. That's the unstoppable spirit at work.
So what might a s step of ordinary obedience look like today? Well here let me give you a takeaway. The early church grew because everyone played their part. The apostles focused on prayer and preaching, the seven focused on caring for widows. Nobody tried to do everything, nobody dismissed any role as unimportant. And so let me ask you, where are you serving right now?
Because if you're not plugged in anywhere in your church, this passage is your invitation. The church needs people who are full of the Spirit and Wisdom. To show up and serve in a whole variety of roles, whether that's teaching kids or welcoming guests or setting up chairs or caring for people in need. Don't wait for a glamorous assignment. Just look around and ask, what's being overlooked that I could help with.
And if you're a pastor or church leader who's doing everything yourself, take What do you need to relieve? So you can focus on what you're doing. Empowering others is an abandoning response. It's multiplied. Let's catch up again tomorrow.