1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Acts chapter 6, verse one to seven. 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,520 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:09,760 Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,880 Jews because their weirdos were being overlooked in the daily 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,160 distribution of food. So the 12 gathered all the 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,760 disciples together and said it would not be right for us to 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,200 neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on 8 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,960 tables. Brothers and sisters, choose 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,240 seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,040 and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility 11 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,280 over to them, and we'll give our attention to prayer and the 12 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,480 ministry of the Word. This proposal pleased the whole 13 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,240 group. They chose Stephen, a man full 14 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,360 of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Precorious, 15 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,240 Naikenor, Simon, Palminous, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert 16 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,080 to Judaism. They presented these men to the 17 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,120 apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,360 So the Word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem 19 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,800 increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became 20 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:09,480 obedient to the faith. So yeah, as we come to this next 21 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,280 bit of the book of Acts, I'm going to, some people say I 22 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,040 struggle to pronounce English words correctly, but I'm going 23 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,080 to try for a Chinese word to begin with. 24 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,360 I have asked some advice for this. 25 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,520 So it was really recently about the Chinese word for crisis, 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,120 which is Weiji, I think. And so there it is on the on the 27 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,480 screen there, Weiji. And it is made-up of two 28 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,160 characters. Apparently the first means 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,920 danger and the second means opportunity. 30 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,680 So Weiji, I'll say that one last time. 31 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:51,000 So a crisis in this rendering is a time both of danger and 32 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,800 opportunity. And as I was spending time in 33 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,200 Acts chapter 6 ahead of today, I was really struck by that 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,600 definition of crisis there. The Acts chapter 6 records for 35 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,440 us a moment of crisis in the life of the early church in 36 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:11,920 Jerusalem, a moment filled with danger and with opportunity for 37 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,920 the early disciples. And we see that in verse one of 38 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:17,760 Acts 6. Again, it's a real verse of two 39 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,320 halves. This verse, the first part, the 40 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,920 first half of the verse in life looks really good for the early 41 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,080 Christians in those days when the number of disciples was 42 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,320 increasing. So the church is growing, the 43 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:30,720 number of disciples is increasing. 44 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,720 Any local church longs to say, yeah, we are experiencing growth 45 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,120 as a church. But in the second-half of the 46 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,240 verse is less positive and goes with the first half. 47 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:47,360 People are complaining, widows are being overlooked, people are 48 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,440 upset. The church is growing, but 49 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,760 conflict is brewing. It's very much a crisis moment 50 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,000 for the early church, a mode of danger and opportunity. 51 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,840 And what the early church decides to do at that moment is 52 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,000 hugely significant for the rest of Acts and indeed actually for 53 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,640 local churches right up to today. 54 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,440 We've been in the book of Acts now for a couple of months. 55 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,800 And I hope you've seen, if you've been here with us, Luke, 56 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,440 the guy who writes Acts, He refuses to gloss over or edit 57 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,040 out the conflicts and difficulties the early church 58 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,000 faced. But whenever he records those 59 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,640 difficulties, he also focuses on the way those difficulties were 60 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,800 resolved. And we've seen that a number of 61 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,240 times in recent weeks. So in Acts chapter 4, the threat 62 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,640 facing the church is persecution from the Jewish religious 63 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:39,920 leaders. And the response to that is that 64 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,760 the disciples get together and they pray for courage and God 65 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,720 answers their prayers. Acts chapter 5, he looked at a 66 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,400 few weeks ago, the threat was hypocrisy within the church. 67 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,560 Ananias and Sapphira, this married couple lying about how 68 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,480 much money they'd received from selling some property. 69 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,160 They were hypocritical, trying to appear more spiritual than 70 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,320 they really were. And the response was that the 71 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:09,400 apostles confronted directly and God judged Ananias and Sapphira 72 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:14,120 by striking them dead. And then today, Acts chapter 6, 73 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,399 the threat is disunity and division. 74 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,440 We're told that Greek speaking widows are being overlooked in 75 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,600 the daily distribution of food. And people are upset about this. 76 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,080 They're complaining about it. And their complaints are 77 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,840 directed against the church leaders here, the 12 apostles. 78 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,240 The threat here is of division and disunity. 79 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:36,560 And how does the early church response? 80 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:43,600 The response is better organization, which straightway 81 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,040 doesn't feel like a very sexy response or a very spiritual 82 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,080 response even. But that's what they do. 83 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,720 They say we need to organize ourselves better. 84 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,200 This passage enacts it. It shows us the early church 85 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,880 organizing themselves better so that their life together was an 86 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,040 effective witness to Jesus, the servant king. 87 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,120 They they recognize it matters how we live, how we function as 88 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,000 a church. If we're to be witnesses to 89 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,520 Jesus, we need to show the world that we belong to Jesus. 90 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,040 So we need to organize ourselves accordingly. 91 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,040 So we're going to look at this passage together now and think 92 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,560 what it has to say to us a church in the 21st century an 93 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,720 Ave. today. So again, as I say that the 94 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:35,800 passage begins with yet another really encouraging picture of 95 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,680 the early church. Luke tells us in those days when 96 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,720 the number of disciples was increasing, verse one. 97 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,840 So the church is growing, people are starting to follow Jesus all 98 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,800 over Jerusalem. There are so many signs of life 99 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,320 in the church there and look at how Luke describes the believers 100 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,360 here. They're described as disciples. 101 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,400 That's the first time he's actually used that word to 102 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,440 describe Christians. They're not just converts or 103 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,000 believers or church members. They are disciples of the risen 104 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,920 Jesus, followers of Jesus, apprentices of Jesus. 105 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,600 Just like the 12 when Jesus was walking around ancient Israel, 106 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,320 were were following him, learning from him, listening to 107 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,760 him. So these early Christians after 108 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,600 Jesus has ascended to heaven, are following Jesus. 109 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,760 Jesus is Lord over their lives. They're learning from Jesus 110 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:31,480 through the apostles message. They're spending time with Jesus 111 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:33,520 through prayer and the word of God. 112 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,000 They're worshipping Jesus together with the other 113 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,160 disciples. This early church is made of 114 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,960 disciples of Jesus who then go out and make disciples for 115 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,640 Jesus. And that effect, that's the, 116 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,960 that's the model for every church ever since that we're 117 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,360 made-up of people who follow Jesus. 118 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,520 Jesus is Lord, but also following Jesus. 119 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,760 Come on, we want to make disciples for Jesus, not just 120 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,960 learn more of him ourselves, but help other people around us get 121 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,520 to see him for who he is and to follow him as Lord and Savior of 122 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,640 their lives. So in so many ways, it's another 123 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,280 amazing, encouraging picture local churches today would love 124 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,440 to say, yes, we are seeing growth. 125 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,760 When it happens, we praise God for it. 126 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:25,600 But alongside that growth, there are worries on the horizon. 127 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,920 Verse one, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against 128 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,040 the Hebraic Jews because their widows are being overlooked in 129 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:39,560 the daily distribution of food. There is grumbling going on in 130 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,280 the church. What is going on here? 131 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,400 Well, actually it's important to remember the early church we've 132 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,120 looked at in these chapters of Acts. 133 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,560 It's still in Jerusalem and it's still made-up almost entirely of 134 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,480 Jewish believers, followers of Jesus from a Jewish background. 135 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,720 There aren't yet significant numbers of non Jewish or Gentile 136 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:58,640 believers. That's a few chapters away. 137 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:01,600 But that doesn't mean all the Jewish believers are the same. 138 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,880 Luke tells us here there are Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic 139 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,080 Jews. Now the Hellenistic Jews, they 140 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,760 were Jewish Christians who spoke mainly Greek and who had happily 141 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,040 adopted a lot of 1st century Greek culture. 142 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,880 They were quite at ease in that world. 143 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,120 Then the Hebraic Jews, they were Jewish Christians who spoke 144 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,480 mainly Aramaic and who consciously resisted Greek 145 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,360 culture. They probably could speak Greek, 146 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,800 nearly every Roman member of the empire could speak Greek at that 147 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,080 time, but they would largely have chosen not to. 148 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,760 They wanted to to lean into their traditional Hebrew 149 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:39,600 culture. That's the problem here is 150 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,640 you've got 2 sets of widows who looks like they have very little 151 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:47,120 to do with each other, and one set, the Greek speaking widows, 152 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,560 are being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 153 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,920 And why is that a big deal? But because we need to remember 154 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,120 what the place of widows was in the ancient worlds. 155 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:01,880 Widows in the ancient world, they were, they were one of the 156 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,600 most vulnerable people in society, women whose husbands 157 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,120 had died. And he often had no other source 158 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,760 of income. And throughout the Bible, both 159 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,800 Old and New Testament, God calls on his people to have a 160 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,080 particular concern for widows. In fact, it's the sign of health 161 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:24,160 of God's people that they look after widows and other 162 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,600 vulnerable groups. So just two passages, one from 163 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,240 the Old Testament, one from the New Exodus 22. 164 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,000 Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 165 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,040 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their 166 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,360 cry. My anger will be arised and I 167 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,040 will kill you with the sword. Your wives will become widows 168 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,160 and your children fatherless. It's really high bar here I am 169 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,480 watching how you treat widows, my people and the New Testament. 170 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,520 James one verse 27 religion that God our Father accepts as pure 171 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,920 and faultless as this, to look after orphans and widows in 172 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,720 their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by 173 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:07,760 the world Widows and how they are treated by God's people 174 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:13,920 matters enormously to God. And what is this daily 175 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,440 distribution of food where this is this is, is emerging? 176 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,440 Well, if you've been here again the last few weeks, you'll know 177 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,720 that the early church was committed to caring for those 178 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,200 people in need within the church. 179 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,720 Chapter 4, Luke tells us there was no needy person among them 180 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,440 because the generous grace of God in Jesus had transformed 181 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,360 these Christians into generous people. 182 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,760 They shared what they had. They looked out for those in 183 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,280 need. But now in chapter 6, we hear 184 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,080 that they're not looking out for everyone. 185 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,680 Some people in the church are being overlooked. 186 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:49,400 And Luke wants to see this is not a minor issue. 187 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,520 It's not unimportant. This is a dangerous moment in 188 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:55,960 the life of the early church because it threatens the unity 189 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,520 of the church and the witness of the church. 190 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,880 If friends, the unity of the church in that Jesus through his 191 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,720 life, death and resurrection brought these Hebraic Jews and 192 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,920 Hellenistic Jews together. They are now one in Christ, but 193 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,880 they're not living like it. They're making distinctions 194 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,560 between one another. That is a dangerous moment that 195 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:18,120 is damaging the church for which Christ died. 196 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:21,880 And As for the witness of the church, well, by overlooking 197 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,520 some of the widows, they are failing to love one another. 198 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,000 And loving one another is absolutely central to the 199 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,280 witness of any church, remembering the words of Jesus 200 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,960 in John 1335. By this everyone will know that 201 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,480 you're my disciples if you love one another. 202 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:45,200 If they don't love one another, the world around will not see 203 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:51,080 Jesus through the early church. And and in addition to all of 204 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:55,600 that, in the history of God's people, complaining or grumbling 205 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,040 about of lack of food is always a serious spiritual warning 206 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,880 sign. It's like a red light on the 207 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,680 dashboard that something else is wrong. 208 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,520 So in the Old Testament, after the people of Israel were 209 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,520 rescued from slavery in Egypt by God through the leadership of 210 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,040 Moses and Aaron, instead of praising God for his saving 211 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,160 power, they quickly start grumbling against Moses and air 212 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,640 and they didn't have enough food to eat. 213 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:21,240 They didn't like living in the desert. 214 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:23,640 There was all this grumbling and complaining. 215 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,840 We see that in passages like Exodus chapter 16. 216 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,080 Actually, this is a bad sign in people who've been rescued by 217 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,920 God that they're grumbling and complaining. 218 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,920 It's a serious spiritual issue for God's people. 219 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,560 So the question really is how are the 12 apostles going to 220 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,080 respond to this? Because they could respond in 221 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,040 any number of ways. They could have rushed to defend 222 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,320 themselves against those grumblings. 223 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,520 Say, stop complaining. Don't you see how well things 224 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,760 are going? The church is growing and people 225 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,960 are becoming disciples of Jesus. You're just ruining it for 226 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:01,680 everyone. They could, they could defend 227 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,360 themselves or they could have rebuked the Greek speaking 228 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:06,440 widow. Stop complaining. 229 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,800 You're just like the Israelites in the wilderness. 230 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,080 If you keep grumbling, then God's going to deal with you the 231 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:15,840 way he dealt with them. They could have rebuked those 232 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,920 grumbling. We need to see that's not what 233 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,600 the 12 apostles do. That's not how they respond. 234 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:26,960 They know this isn't a minor issue. 235 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,320 It's a serious issue. The life and witness of the 236 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,480 church is at stake. Widows are being overlooked and 237 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,480 they matter to God. One group within the church was 238 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,280 divided against another. That matters to God. 239 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,640 For the glory of God, the good of the church, and the 240 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,040 effectiveness of their witness to Jesus, the apostles spring 241 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,080 into action. And he'd pick up again at verse 242 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,560 2. So the 12 gathered all the 243 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:53,680 disciples together and said it would not be right for us to 244 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:57,120 neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on 245 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,640 tables. Brothers and sisters, choose 246 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,360 seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit 247 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,520 and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility 248 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,480 over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the 249 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,880 ministry of the Word for this moment of crisis. 250 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:21,000 What do the early church leaders, the apostles, do we see 251 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,640 here? First of all, they they gather 252 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,520 the whole church together, all the disciples. 253 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,040 Verse 2. Now that's quite a feat 254 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,760 actually. There's at least 5000 believers 255 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,080 in Jerusalem at this point. Some people estimate it could be 256 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:37,640 as high as 8000 believers. This is a huge like church 257 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,200 meeting that. It's not an easy task here, but 258 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,920 the 12 are convinced the whole church has a part to play in 259 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,920 responding to this need. Then the apostles, they're 260 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,240 really clear about what their priorities are. 261 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,960 Their priorities are prayer and the ministry of the Word. 262 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,080 See, I Look begins and ends the summary of their speech, verse 263 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,000 2. It would not be right for us to 264 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,640 neglect the Word of God. Verse 4. 265 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,160 We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the 266 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,040 Word. The apostles are clear here. 267 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,000 There would be no church in Jerusalem without prayer and the 268 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,920 ministry of the Word of God. Therefore, the apostles need to 269 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,520 prioritise those things. And what I mean by the ministry 270 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,720 of the Word of God, Well, there's a few summaries we get 271 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,720 in Acts, but if you look back just a verse before this passage 272 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,600 in Acts 5 verse 42, we get a good summary of the ministry of 273 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,440 the Word of God. Acts 5 verse 42, Day by day in 274 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,040 the temple courts and from house to house, they never stop 275 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,120 teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the 276 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,840 Messiah. So the ministry of the Word of 277 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,120 God, it includes public preaching and teaching, but it 278 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:49,080 wasn't restricted to that. We're told the apostles taught 279 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,760 in the temple courts publicly to large groups, like we're doing 280 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,000 this morning. But he also taught from house to 281 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,160 house in smaller groups, twos and threes, even one to ones 282 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,280 probably. The ministry of the Word of God 283 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,080 is public and private. It's happening all the time. 284 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,680 And what do they mean by devoting themselves to prayer? 285 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,280 Well, for the ministry of the Word of God to be effective, the 286 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,120 apostles have to depend on the living God and ask the living 287 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,800 God to be at work. Without prayer, the ministry of 288 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,760 the word is powerless to change anyone. 289 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:28,840 It's even pointless. So the 12 vie to prioritize the 290 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:34,160 word of God and prayer. And at this point we sort of 291 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,240 might make a a misstep and we might think, well, maybe that's 292 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,640 what real ministry is about. Maybe that's what real Christian 293 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,800 living should be about, prayer and the ministry of the words. 294 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,160 Nothing else matters. But that's not what the apostles 295 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,920 are saying here. I hope we can see that they're 296 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,200 saying actually the daily distribution of food that is 297 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,520 vital to the life and witness of the Church. 298 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,600 It's just that the apostles weren't the right people to make 299 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,680 that happen. It seems up to this point in the 300 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,160 book of Acts, the apostles, the 12 have been organizing and 301 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,599 leading everything. But now the apostles are clear 302 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,480 with the other believers. They can't keep doing that. 303 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:19,200 They can't do everything. If they try to do that, prayer 304 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:20,960 and the minister of the word will suffer. 305 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:26,280 Widows will go hungry, the witness of the church will be 306 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:30,200 damaged. Therefore, in this huge meeting, 307 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,560 they call on the church to organize itself better with more 308 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:40,240 people empowered to lead. Verse 3 Brothers and sisters, 309 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,480 choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the 310 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,760 spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility 311 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,640 over to them. When you see there's a really 312 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,400 big moment in the life of the early church. 313 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:58,560 It's the moment when the apostles begin to empower other 314 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,280 people to lead and serve alongside them for the sake of 315 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,800 unity and love and mission. And so at this moment in its 316 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,920 history, the whole church appoints 7 men to organize the 317 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,600 daily distribution of food. And we need to see it's the 318 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,440 whole church doing that. You look down again. 319 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,320 The apostles don't select these seven men on their own. 320 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,160 They invite the whole church to choose them to recognize who 321 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,880 these men should be. The apostles know that every 322 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,920 believer who trusts in Jesus has the Holy Spirit living in them. 323 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,040 Therefore, every believer is qualified to play a part in the 324 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:39,080 life of the local church. And what were the believers 325 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,040 meant to be looking for in these seven men? 326 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,880 Well, interestingly, it wasn't just practical skills. 327 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,800 You kind of think, well, this is for the distribution of food. 328 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,080 So the important questions are, can they cook? 329 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,160 Can they manage a budget? Can they organize people? 330 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,280 But before those things are considered, the apostles urged 331 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,880 them to ask, are they full of the Spirit? 332 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,920 Do they trust in Jesus? Is the living God clearly at 333 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,880 work in them? Do they depend on the Spirit to 334 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,280 live as witnesses for Jesus? And are they full of wisdom? 335 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,680 Can they make godly decisions for the glory of God and the 336 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,720 good of his church? Are they problem solvers? 337 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,520 Can they come up with a solution to the issues the early church 338 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:28,520 was facing? Again, this is a big moment in 339 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,160 the book of Acts. From this point onwards, the 12 340 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,880 apostles are liberated to devote themselves to prayer and the 341 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,720 ministry of the Word. The Greek speaking widows are no 342 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:43,040 longer being overlooked and new leaders who aren't apostles are 343 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,840 identified and who will play a vital role in the chapters to 344 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:48,800 come. Stephen. 345 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,480 A man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. 346 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,800 We're going to see more about him next week. 347 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,200 Philip, he will take the good news of Jesus to the Samaritans, 348 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,200 even to an African diplomat for the first time. 349 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,800 And the results of this decision, this better 350 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,360 organization we see in verse seven. 351 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:13,000 So the word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem 352 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,480 increased rapidly. A large number of priests became 353 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,960 obedient to the faith. The word of God spread, says 354 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,040 Luke. Interesting in in in the book of 355 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,880 Acts, the word of God's almost like a character in its own 356 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,800 right. The Word of God is the power of 357 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,080 God to save everyone who believes, to reach into people's 358 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,920 lives and transform them as they receive it, which all the number 359 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,800 of disciples increased in Jerusalem. 360 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,640 Jesus is calling people to follow him, and even a large 361 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,120 number of priests become obedient to the faith. 362 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:48,160 The people who are opposing the early church see their life 363 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,440 together, see the way they love each other, and they are drawn 364 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,000 to faith themselves. It's an amazing moment. 365 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,880 How does this bit of acts apply to our church family at Ave. 366 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,560 today? I think there's plenty of 367 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,960 principles here we can learn. This is a unique and special 368 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,320 moment in the life of the early church. 369 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,680 But actually Luke records it because he wants other churches 370 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,640 to learn the lessons from Jerusalem. 371 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,560 Here Luke wants to see the how a local church organizes itself 372 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,200 has a huge impact on its life together with Jesus and its 373 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,680 witness to Jesus in the world. Or to put it another way, 374 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,000 throughout Acts Luke is showing us what a spirit filled church 375 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,360 looks like. And here in Act six, we learn a 376 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,840 spirit filled church is a church where every member has a part to 377 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:43,040 play, like one of our core values at Ave., everyone 378 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,480 involved because we need one another. 379 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,840 And this passage in Acts 6, you may know, is often seen as the 380 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,240 origin story for the role of Deacon in the New Testament 381 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,480 church. That's often how Christians have 382 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,000 viewed it over the centuries. It's important to know a few 383 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,360 things on that. So the Greek word for Deacon, 384 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,760 diaconos, doesn't actually appear here. 385 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:13,160 The seven aren't identified as deacons. 386 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,120 And also a big difference between a local church today and 387 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,560 the church in Jerusalem is that the early church in Jerusalem 388 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,000 was led by apostles, not elders. Actually, elders in the Church 389 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,840 of Jerusalem don't appear until Acts 11, verse 30, when most of 390 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:31,240 the apostles have left Jerusalem have been scattered across the 391 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,080 Roman world. So there are key differences 392 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,440 between Acts 6, the church there, and a local church today. 393 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:46,320 And yet the Greek verb diaconio to serve does appear in verses 2 394 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,120 and four. And as early as the 2nd century, 395 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:55,040 early church tradition viewed Act 6 as the origin of the rule 396 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,280 of Deacon, and that rule is mentioned elsewhere in the New 397 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:01,920 Testament. It's one of two recognized 398 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,000 offices in a local church alongside the role of elder. 399 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,120 It's mentioned in Philippians one verse 1, Romans 16 verse one 400 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,320 where Phoebe is named as the Deacon, one Timothy 3 where you 401 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:16,760 have qualifications for deacons and from those passages and Acts 402 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,320 6 taken together, you can come with the following definition of 403 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:21,960 a Deacon. A Deacon is a believer who 404 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,480 serves alongside the elders in a local church to work towards the 405 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,560 health of the church and it's witness to Jesus. 406 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,720 It's an important role. Actually in a local church an 407 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,960 Ave. We don't use the official title 408 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,200 Deacon like a lot of things that can have a bit of baggage from 409 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,360 different church traditions. But we have, we see various 410 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:47,560 people taking on Deacon type roles in the life of our church 411 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,560 family. Those people include ministry 412 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,480 team leaders who meet some of the needs of our life and 413 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,000 mission together. We appointed Keith as the head 414 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,320 of our finance ministry team in January. 415 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,480 We're going to be unveiling a few more new ministry teams and 416 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,240 ministry team leaders and we're going to aim to do that every 417 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,320 month for the foreseeable future as we try and set up more 418 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,080 ministry teams to share in the work of ministry. 419 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,960 So watch this space for that. Another Deacon type rule we 420 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,480 mentioned last month at the family meeting is non elder 421 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,440 trustees, people who serve alongside the elders to oversee 422 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,920 Ave. as a charity. We're going to be hearing more 423 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,960 about that tonight as we hear about a candidate to be a non 424 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,200 elder trustee at the family meeting. 425 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,680 Now all this actually, we can't lose sight of the fact that that 426 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,240 Greek word Deacon, it just literally means servant. 427 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,360 And so in a very real sense, every single Christian is a 428 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,040 Deacon. We are all called to serve the 429 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,680 living God and to serve one another in the church. 430 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,360 But Acts 6 and those other New Testament passages tell us 431 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:56,560 there's real wisdom in having certain specific people set 432 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:01,600 apart to oversee aspects of our life and mission together to 433 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,000 help the health of the church, the unity of the church, and the 434 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,920 witness of the church. There's loads of principles in 435 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:15,600 this passage that apply to us today as we head towards the 436 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,920 finished war. Some of those principles here, 437 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,080 very simply. The 1st is that God calls all 438 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,720 his people to serve him. We are all servants of the 439 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,640 living God. We have been served by Jesus 440 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,200 through his life, death, and resurrection, and he calls us to 441 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:38,040 serve Him in response to love one another as He first loved 442 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:38,960 us. Whether you've been coming to 443 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,800 Ave. for 20 years or for two months, if I haven't used a 444 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,600 local church, the Lord is calling you to serve Him here. 445 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,440 You have a part to play in building this church. 446 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,400 Secondly, God calls different people to serve Him in different 447 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,800 ways. So the 12 apostles serve and the 448 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,480 seven serve in Acts 6. You actually translate Acts 2 449 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,320 verses verses 2 and four of Acts 6 this way. 450 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,040 It is not right for us to Deacon tables. 451 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,440 That's the verb to serve. We will give our attention to 452 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,040 prayer and deaconing the words bit bit clumsy and ugly, but I 453 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,080 hope you get the point. There's a sense of Deacon. 454 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,480 Just be a servant, but serve in different ways. 455 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,560 Both are ways of serving God and His people. 456 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,760 Both are ways of building God's church. 457 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,440 Both require people filled with the Spirit and wisdom to do it. 458 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:30,920 None of these things we can do in our own strength. 459 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,320 We need God's help in all of them. 460 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:38,320 If you're part of this church and you don't yet have a way of 461 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,720 serving, please come and talk to me or Joel or Mike or Joe or 462 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,240 your Home group leader. We'd love to talk to you about 463 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,960 ways you could use your gifts to serve and bless the rest of us. 464 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,120 And if you're part of this church and you're already 465 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:56,040 serving, remember that you serve as people who first have been 466 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:01,680 served by Jesus, whether that's in music and set up, in welcome, 467 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,760 in refreshments, in Sunday club, in crash, in service leading and 468 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,760 Ace, in source, in home groups. I really hope I didn't forget 469 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,960 one, but if I did, tell me. But actually, the Lord wants to 470 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:19,440 use your gifts for the good of his people and the good of our 471 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,160 mission together with the risen Jesus in this world. 472 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:30,360 We all have a part to play. And if that sounds very 473 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,840 idealistic, Acts 6 is also very clear about the dangers in being 474 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:39,880 part of a local church. We need to love one another in 475 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:44,480 spite of our differences. Acts 6 tells us that the unity 476 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:49,360 of the local church is vital to the witness of a local church. 477 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,280 So in the early church in Jerusalem, the potential of 478 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,720 division was between Greek speaking Jewish believers and 479 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,200 more traditional Jewish believers. 480 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,080 But there's plenty of differences and opportunities 481 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,040 for division among our church family. 482 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,560 We have plenty of differences with each other, men and women, 483 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,800 young and old, new believers and long term believers, different 484 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,120 backgrounds, different nationalities, different 485 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,960 temperaments. In the face of all those 486 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,840 differences, the Lord Jesus calls us to love one another. 487 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,240 I this everyone know you're my disciples if you love one 488 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,480 another. We are one in Christ And so 489 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,680 within the power of the Spirit. We should live like Him in our 490 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,960 home groups on a Sunday morning throughout the week. 491 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,120 We should see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, 492 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,640 united in Him, and therefore we love one another as He first 493 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,520 loved us. Another thing that strikes me 494 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:56,640 from Act 6, which I might say, but it has struck me this week, 495 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,120 leaders need to be committed to prayer and the Word of God for 496 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,960 any church to grow. For church to grow, God's Word 497 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,640 needs to be prayerfully proclaimed in public and from 498 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,040 house to house. And speaking personally, that 499 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,120 was one of the biggest challenges for me is the 500 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,720 challenge of distraction from that. 501 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:19,680 There are always so many other things to do. 502 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,840 People are amazed sometimes when I tell people I work full time 503 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:24,400 for a church. So how do you fill your time? 504 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,720 I I manage it. But actually, that's the sense 505 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:29,840 actually, people say, well, yeah, of course. 506 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,160 So prayer, I mentioned that's what you're doing. 507 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,720 But actually, I know in my heart there's so many other things 508 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,200 that feel like they need my attention, feel like I would 509 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,920 rather do then sit in a study and and and and read my Bible or 510 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,800 to meet with someone and open the Bible or to pray for any 511 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,440 length of time. The dangers of distraction are 512 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,240 enormous. They were for the apostles. 513 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:53,200 They are for every leader. And to help respond to that, the 514 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,920 whole church is needed to respond to important needs. 515 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,640 I reflect as as one of the elders here at Ave. that I think 516 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:04,920 over over the years, we perhaps have just held too much 517 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,560 centrally. We've been talking about this in 518 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,480 family meetings. We're elders, but also we in the 519 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:13,240 pandemic, we had to know everything about COVID in in 520 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,000 other ways. We had to know understand other 521 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:16,480 things. And there's a sense of just 522 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,240 actually, are we missing out on gifts in the local church, other 523 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:25,920 people we can ask to serve alongside the elders for the 524 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,200 good of the whole church, for the unity of the whole church, 525 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,520 for the effectiveness of our mission. 526 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,960 How do we do that together? We do that by gathering together 527 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,960 regularly, by sharing our needs, by praying together, and by 528 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,120 appointing and empowering different people to respond to 529 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,000 those needs. And of course, the most obvious 530 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,280 way that happens every month is our family meeting. 531 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,560 Tonight, 6:00 is the family meeting here until half seven. 532 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,720 Families are play a vital role in our life and mission together 533 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,480 in a family meeting. We worship God together, we pray 534 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,320 together, we share our needs together. 535 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,520 We explore how to meet those needs together. 536 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,960 Why not come along tonight if you're able to six O clock. 537 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,280 We're going to be praying about Sunday evenings and Ave. praying 538 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,160 about elders and trustees and other levels of leadership, 539 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,760 praying about Christmas and the opportunities that brings. 540 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,160 They're a vital part in our church. 541 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,000 Those family meetings for how we organize ourselves and use 542 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:31,080 everyone's gifts for the good of the gospel and the glory of God 543 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,440 as we leave Acts chapter 6, this, this was a real crisis 544 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,880 moment for the early church. You get to the end of verse one 545 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,960 and the story could have ended very differently. 546 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,880 Then there was division, then the church scattered, then they 547 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,840 separated from each other. Then it's separate church had to 548 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,800 set up one for Greek speaking, one for traditional. 549 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,400 It was a moment of real danger. But the apostle saw it was also 550 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,120 a moment of opportunity. And the danger was averted 551 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,920 through wise leadership, better organization and a commitment to 552 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:14,400 prayer and the Word of God. And we're facing our own 553 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,320 challenges as a church family at Ave. 554 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,360 The need for new elders, the need for Deacon type leaders to 555 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,680 work alongside the elders, the need for more ministry teams, 556 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,920 the need for a clearer vision of what the Lord is calling us to 557 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,120 be and to do in this point in our history. 558 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,880 To meet those needs, let's learn from the early church in Act 6. 559 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,280 Let's gather together, let's pray together. 560 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,920 Let's think. How do we organize ourselves 561 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:49,760 better so that our life together serves as an effective witness 562 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:56,360 to Jesus, the servant King, the ultimate Deacon, one who lived 563 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:01,120 and died to serve us, and he calls us to serve him in 564 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,960 response. Let me pray. 565 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:22,320 As we as we close, let me pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that 566 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:29,280 when you call on your people to serve one another in love, you 567 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:34,320 do that as the ultimate servant. Lord Jesus, we thank you that 568 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,120 you love your church so passionately. 569 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:42,160 You gave your life for us, and you want each one of us to play 570 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,760 a part in demonstrating the beauty of your saving purposes, 571 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,960 to proclaim the Good news you have won for us of forgiveness, 572 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,440 adoption, reconciliation with the living God. 573 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,880 Lord Jesus, thank you for the ways you led the early church in 574 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:04,120 Jerusalem to respond to that crisis moment and for the real 575 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,240 opportunity it was for that church to develop and then grow. 576 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:13,040 Lord, we we ask you at this moment in our church's life, 577 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,639 when we face challenges, there are opportunities and there are 578 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,199 dangers. Lord Jesus, in your mercy, by 579 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:24,960 your Holy Spirit, equip us with the wisdom we need, the love for 580 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,600 you that we need, the love for our world that we need to 581 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,400 proclaim boldly the good news that you have won for us. 582 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,320 And show us the part you'd have each one of us play in building 583 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,400 your church and blessing our brothers and sisters and an 584 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,639 extending your Kingdom, making more disciples for you. 585 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:49,520 Lord Jesus, with every opportunity you give us, we ask 586 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:53,280 that that you would be glorified and we would be blessed through 587 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,560 knowing you. Amen.