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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, March 7, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Governing the Early Church Bible Verse:Acts 6:1-7 "Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the HellenistsThe Hellenists were Greek-speaking Jews. arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. " Message:
If you have ever belonged to a church, this should sound familiar; it is the first recorded dispute in church politics. The Hellenists were not Gentile Greeks, but Jews who had lived outside Judea long enough to adopt the Greek language and culture. They were readily accepted into the church, but they were “different” from the native Hebrews.
Saying that their widows were not being served was a serious matter. Women did not own land and widows often had to earn their food by gleaning fallen grain from fields that had been harvested—hard work for little reward. But the first church lived as a commune and widows were fed just like everyone else.
Holy Ghost
Serving at the table, in this passage, does not mean cooking, serving, and cleaning up after meals. Rather it refers to sitting at the table conducting church business. Those who served at the table were the first vestry.
So the dispute was resolved, basically, by putting Hellenists in charge of practical things. The apostles had no lust for power; just the opposite. They gave the Hellenists the power to decide how and to whom food would be served. The apostles were more needed out in the field converting new members, not in the home office. Would that intra-church political disputes were always settled in this spirit today, following Christ’s command that “if a man asks you for your coat, give him your cloak also.” (Matthew 5:40)
In a general election, seven of the Hellenists are elected. Seven, because that was the customary number of men who served as the local council of a Jewish community — it was what they were accustomed to. Christianity was still a Jewish sect.
The apostles were not loath to work, in addition to their preaching. Many of them must have supported themselves during their ministry; we know, for example, that Paul made tents in order to support himself on his journeys. It was rather a matter of allocating resources: the apostles were most needed out in the streets, bringing in new members, or to spend their time in prayer and teaching.
But notice, the men chosen from the Hellenists were no less filled with the Holy Spirit than the Hebrew Christians. We are introduced here to (St.) Stephen, a man of such enormous importance to Christianity that more than two chapters of the Bible (Acts 6, 7, and part of 8) are devoted to his story.
Meditation : Prayer : Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.....Amen |
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