From Dream to Deliverance
Friday, September 24, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for providing Your church with the gifts and graces we need to see Your kingdom grow in every age! I praise You that in the early church what looked like a challenge and a growing conflict, ultimately resulted in Your message being preached in “ever-widening circles.” I pray that as I go about this day You will fill me constantly with Your Holy spirit that I may be effective in sharing Your message in ever widening circles, too! I pray that You will use me to glorify Yourself through my thoughts, words and actions. I pray that You will bless those in Your family who are struggling or suffering in any way. Strengthen us that we may be used to advance Your kingdom in every moment of life. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word For Me Today
Acts 6:1-7
1But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. Those who spoke Greek complained against those who spoke Hebrew, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers.
“We apostles should spend our time preaching and teaching the word of God, not administering a food program,” they said. 3“Now look around among yourselves, brothers, and select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this business. 4Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word.”
5This idea pleased the whole group, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (a Gentile convert to the Jewish faith, who had now become a Christian). 6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7God’s message was preached in ever-widening circles. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
Reflecting on God’s Word
What are you doing in your daily life right now to see God’s word be preached in “ever-widening circles”?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
What were the long-term results of the apostles providing new leaders to carry out the food distribution ministry?
Where was the impact of this action felt the most directly from what you can tell by reading Acts 6:7?
What would be the significance of the priests converting to Christianity?
Understanding God’s Word
Why do you suppose the addressing of this conflict in the early church resulted in such wide-spread, positive results?
Why do you think that priests were converted as a result of this action in the early church, or do you think there is a correlation between what happened in Acts 6:1-6 and what happened in Acts 6:7?
Applying God’s Word to Our Lives
What one thing will you do differently as a result of reading today’s Scripture?
Thoughts...God's Message Was Preached to Ever-Widening Circles...
The early church faced a potentially divisive issue in the neglect of the Greek-speaking widows. Instead, the apostles addressed the matter head on, called on the church to provide new leaders for the food distribution ministry—leaders who were filled with the Holy Spirit—and the next thing we find out is that the church is growing and influencing folks with God’s message in ever widening circles. What an important reality! When the church addresses challenges through prayer and with reliance on the Holy Spirit, the result is that the church gets healthier and the Kingdom of God grows. When challenges, problems, conflicts are avoided, the church cannot move forward. So often whether a problem is personal or corporate, Christians tend to “sweep it under the rug” rather than dealing with it. Today’s Scripture shows us that however great that temptation may be, we need to let God deal with the situation, and that will often mean our getting directly involved and using our gifts and abilities in response. That’s why it’s so important for each of us to be aware of our spiritual gifts and our abilities and to use them to build one another up, and to build up the body of Jesus Christ. As each of us do that and as all of us do that together the results will be the same—God’s message will be heard in ever-widening circles!