Acts

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Acts 6:7

Up to this point we have seen the church grow, and grow quickly, as a result of miracles, preaching, and the organic life of the church. We see exponential growth again in this passage- but what precedes it? The church dealing with logistical and leadership issues because of inequality in distributing food. It doesn’t seem like those nitty-gritty issues of church life would spark revival and church growth, but we’re told that “the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (6:7). And the growth of the church seems to be directly tied to how the church handles conflict earlier in the chapter.

The way that the church handles conflict and cares for one another- especially the most vulnerable among them- matters just as much for the growth of the church and the spread of the gospel as the miracles and preaching. If we are followers of Jesus, we need to remember that how we live in community and how we love one another matters as much for our witness as our words do. After all, Jesus says “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

So how do we love one another as the church? In Acts 6 we see concern for the material needs of those around us, especially the vulnerable. Maybe for you that will look like serving in the South Food Bank or bringing a meal to someone you know has a lot on their plate right now. Perhaps it looks like giving your time or talents to serve those who have a need in an area you are skilled in (if this is you, we would love to hear from you at [email protected]). It can look like an encouraging word or a word of prayer. It can look like repentance and apology when you have done wrong- intentionally or unintentionally. Or perhaps you need to receive love and care from your church community today. If there is a way we can pray for you, talk with you, or a way we can assist you with a material need, please let us know. Let the ways we love one another as South Fellowship- both giving care and receiving it- bear witness to the world around us that Jesus Christ is worth following.

By Jessica Rust

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 NIV

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17 NIV

The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. Prov. 29:7 NIV

This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:9-10 NIV

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:1-4 NIV

Kings and judges of Israel in the Old Testament were leaders given many tasks, including military and economic and judging between disputes. But Proverbs 31 gives kings a charge, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,” Proverbs 31:8-9. This was the first order of a righteous king, judge or leader in Israel. God desired his people to treat others as He did himself. The Psalmist tells us that God, “…upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked,” Psalm 146:7-9.

Many people were drawn to the early church because of how the community of believers were loving each other, caring for each other and meeting the needs of the poor, the widows, and the disadvantaged among them. This community was living out the type of community God had always desired for his people. It is not surprising that people were drawn to this community, and the church continued to grow.

So how do we take this passage and apply it to ourselves, to our church, to our circumstances? Deuteronomy 10:16-21 says, “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” First, give your heart, mind, soul and strength to God. Second, strive to see other people as God does – all are valuable. Third, engage in caring for others. Some ideas are – helping with the Food Bank, becoming a part of an Afghan refugee team, offering to help a widow or single mother in our congregation with childcare, car maintenance, or another need.

By Grace Hunter

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said.  Matthew 4:19

When he had finished washing the disciples’ feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know all these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:12-16

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peace-makers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18

Something I struggle with as I read the Bible is how condensed it is. Time often passes in a verse or two; babies are born and are adults by the next verse. There are many names, particularly in the Older Testament, but there’s no back story or daily life recorded about most of them and there are countless people who stuck it out with God who are unnamed. Psalm 139 is a great comfort to me because I learn in it how intimately God knows and cares for me and each person before, after, and around me.

In Acts 1, as they were gathered together all the apostles are listed by name as was Mary the mother of Jesus. But other than Phillip, the only ones mentioned later are Peter and John. And then, in Acts 6 and 7, we learn about Stephen.

I like to think of him as one of the unnamed disciples in the upper room when the Holy Spirit, as tongues of flame, separated and rested on each person in there. Stephen was chosen as one of the men, “full of the Spirit and wisdom,” to have responsibility for the fair distribution of food to the widows who had joined the growing community. He is described in Acts 6:8 as a man, who, “full of God’s grace and power performed great wonders and signs among the people.”

Then, when some Jews argued with Stephen they “could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke (Acts 6:10). When he is interrogated by the Sanhedrin, Stephen gives a condensed history of the ancestry and doings of God’s people including prophecy and the final indictment of their complicity in the crucifixion of Jesus. The men listening could not bear the truth, so they stoned Stephen. His last two sentences: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”, and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

What are the implications of this story for us in our life and time? How can we relate to a person like Stephen in our relationships, responsibilities and daily routines? The scriptures above give some answers: We are called by Jesus to follow him, to serve each other as he did, and to grow in the Holy Spirit-given wisdom from above. This week take some time and ask Jesus how he would have you follow him in your relationships, responsibilities and routines as a witness of him in your life.

By Carolyn Schmitt

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”…So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:1-4 &7)There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (I Cor 12:4-6)

Most of us who follow Jesus long for explosive church growth and caring community paralleling the pattern displayed in the first few chapters of Acts. It can appear that the Church’s early phase was organic and joyful, needing no formal structure. But Acts 6:1-4 shows the everyday issue of food distribution threatened to slow the growth of the Kingdom of God. Thankfully the Apostles entrusted elements of their authority to other gifted and qualified disciples. This administrative and organizational move seems to have been the catalyst for continued Kingdom growth.

Unlike Church life some of us have experienced, the early Church gathered daily and interacted around daily basics like food preparation and consumption. This alone created a sense of community. Jesus had entrusted Kingdom leadership to the Apostles. Delegation of that leadership became necessary for advancement of the Gospel message.

If we desire Kingdom expansion, it could be helpful to contrast these two early elements of Kingdom community life with our culture’s promotion of individualism and self sufficiency. We have no doubt been further alienated from tangible community life by substituting personal interaction with online technology.

The growth of the Church has always been marked by thriving communities established in local settings. No less important are Church leaders who regularly recognize and ordain gifts of faithful members of Christ’s body to unleash the full impact of Jesus’ Kingdom in a way that pleases Him.

Those committed to church community life and enfolding others into the Kingdom actively seek to identify and develop spiritual gifts. If you are new to these ideas or have neglected them for a while, please consider contacting South Fellowship’s leaders to start a spiritual gifts evaluation and make connections that will involve you with our community of faith.

By Kathleen Petersen

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Acts‬ ‭6:1-4‬ ‭

I have a confession. I often get frustrated with how God does things in the world. I’m not proud of that, but it is true. This text reminds me of a pattern I see throughout the scriptures, which is both beautiful and frustrating. God loves to use the weak to confound the wise (1 Cor. 1:28). God tends to work through unexpected people and unexpected means.

In this passage, we find something that looks precarious from a human perspective. The church is growing fast, and the logistical bandwidth of the leadership becomes overly taxed. How will this young church deal with this challenge, especially with how quickly these issues are coming to the surface? From another perspective, the task of leadership is far too large for the growth of the church. It is overwhelming for the apostles, yet they can’t simply ignore the new challenge. They have been assigned a task that is too big for them. If I were God, I would have wanted a better strategic plan to scale the church’s growth. I would have liked a leadership development model, a mentorship program. That isn’t always how God does things. Instead, it is as if God’s Spirit thrives amid human limitations. This test is a prime example of that.

As much as we want to understand everything that God is doing and have a plan to participate, that isn’t the way God does his best work. What does that mean for us? It can be pretty comforting if we can shift our perspective a little bit. Perhaps, our feelings of insufficiency or exhaustion are fertile soil for God’s power. If you have ever felt insignificant or under-resourced, maybe you are in a prime position to participate in what God is doing.

Take a moment to write down all the skills, energy, and resources that you feel like you lack. Focus on the things that you feel are hindering your ability to more fully participate in God’s kingdom. Now ask the Lord to do what he has done so many times in the past, use your limitations to expand his work in the world. Ask him to help you to see your weakness as strength.

By Aaron Bjorklund

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. I Timothy 6:15-16 NIV

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:31-32

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. Acts 5:1-11 NIV

Joshua 7 tells us that Achan, all his family and livestock were stoned to death after he chose to disobey God and keep plunder from Jericho. Exodus 32 tells us about God’s and Moses’ righteous anger when the people of Israel decided to forget about worshipping God and made Aaron fashion a golden calf so they could worship it instead. Many people died as a result. Here in Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira are punished with death for lying to the apostles and to the Holy Spirit about a gift of money. These are difficult passages to read and understand.

When I first read the story about Achan I was quite shocked that his children were killed along with the man who had actually taken the forbidden plunder. I can remember asking my youth leader questions about Achan. Asking questions can be good. It means we are trying to understand. In each of these passages, punishment is given to the point of death for a sin that must be nipped in the bud at the beginning of something new that God was doing in and amongst His people. In Exodus 32 the people needed to understand the seriousness of how to properly worship God and not idols.

In Joshua 7 the people were being taught to rely on God to fight their battles, but He would not do that if they were not totally devoted to worshipping God. In Acts 5 the Holy Spirit has been given to every believer, but the church was just beginning to learn of the power of the Holy Spirit. The church was a new entity, perhaps only a few months old. The believers were learning how to be a community, how to worship, and what God required of them in terms of purity.

What do we do with these types of passages? First – ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what we need to know and understand. Second – we need to understand that God is Holy, just, loving, sovereign, compassionate, and omniscient. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,’” Isaiah 55:8-9. Third – realize some passages in scripture may not be fully explained in our lifetimes. God is God and I am not.

By Grace Hunter

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” Acts 5:3-4

Sometimes, when we read accounts in Scripture of a dramatic event it can be easy to distance ourselves from what is happening, I would guess most, if not all, of us have never witnessed someone being struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit- let alone two people! And yet, these are accounts of real events that happened to real people, not so different from us.

At the very end of Acts 4, we learn that “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet” (4:36-37). Presumably, the kudos given to Barnabas for a generous, selfless act played a part in Ananias and Sapphira’s decisions because immediately afterwards we are told that they, too, sold property and put some- but not all- of the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. There are many motivations we can see here: greed, perhaps? A longing for acclamation and importance among this community? Pride? All of these motivations are so commonplace aren’t they? And who among us can claim to have never been tempted by, or acted upon, these same motivations?

Experiencing these same temptations of pride, greed, and a desire for recognition and importance doesn’t mean that God will necessarily strike you down publicly. There are many people throughout the pages of Scripture who sin and don’t die a dramatic death. But we do need to remember that if we leave our sin as it is, undealt with and unconfessed, we are not far off from Ananias and Sapphira.

Pray through Psalm 51 today. Confess whatever you need to confess and ask God to “create in [you] a pure heart” (Ps. 51:10).

By Jessica Rust

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 4:36-37)

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:6-7)

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

“Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people…But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. (Matt 6:1, 3-4)

The generosity of new converts to the Church in Acts 4 is impressive; so much so that some have suggested serious Christians should relinquish all worldly assets to a communal system. However, if we focus on the gift of Joseph/Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37, we see another picture.

Joseph’s gift is described as proceeds from the sale of a field he owned – not the sale of his family home, relinquishment of his livelihood, or pledge of all future personal energy. The highlighting of his nickname Barnabas or “son of encouragement” suggests he gave cheerfully what he had decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. The first verses in Acts 5 feature Ananias and Sapphira, a couple whose giving appeared motivated more to impress others than by generosity.

If the examples of Barnabas, Ananias, and Sapphira are paired with Jesus’ teaching on giving in Luke and Matthew above, we have further insight into how to cultivate a heart of generosity.

Our first consideration is the generosity of our Father in Heaven who gives to us so we can give generously. An equally important consideration is our motivation. If our giving can be motivated by the desire to be seen by others, Jesus says giving should be in secret.

Barnabas’ joyful gift shows secret giving isn’t the only way for Christians to give in a godly way, but secrecy can temper the impulse to parade our generosity.

Recall when you have given joyfully and generously toward building the kingdom of God. Journal one or two of these memories and thank God for His generous provision for you as well as how He used your resources in the lives of others.

By Kathleen Petersen

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Acts 4:32-35

This text sounds like a utopia, and there is something beautiful about human beings living like this fledgling church. Luke includes this story for multiple reasons. The apparent historical reason is easy to see; it’s an account of how God moved in the church when it started. The less obvious reason requires a deeper understanding of the entire scriptural narrative, a deeper understanding that Luke’s readers would have.

What the early church is doing is not a strange new idea. God’s desire for his people had always been that they would be a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6). In other words, the Israelites were supposed to broker relationships between God and all of the world’s nations. Here in Acts, we find all the nations descending on Jerusalem and encountering the presence of God in and through the early church. The church was doing what the physical temple had failed to do. Luke is pitting the physical temple of Jerusalem against the spiritual temple of the church. Which temple is most accurately fulfilling God’s heart for the world?

The leaders over the physical temple were attempting to get the leaders of the spiritual temple to stop doing miracles and teaching in the name of Jesus. They were opposing the renewal that God intended the temple to bring.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a member of God’s church. You are a spiritual temple of God. Just like this early church, we are invited to be the place where people encounter the living God. We carry God’s presence in us, and that presence is meant to be shared; it is not a private shrine where we alone can worship. Take a moment to listen to this song. Maybe you can pray the lyrics of the chorus. Ask God to make himself known through you.

By Aaron Bjorklund

This is what the high and exalted One says — he who lives  forever and whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the spirit of the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestor raised Jesus from the dead –whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.  God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witness of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey him.” Acts 5:29-32

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  Acts 4:13

In a recent conversation about God being high and lifted up as well as close and all around us, the words, eminence and immanence came up. When I don’t know a word, I head for a dictionary or, these days, I Google it. Frankly, I’m not sure I really get it, but the closest I came was from a 1912 dictionary that describes someone who is eminent as high and lofty and there is no one above them. Whereas, immanent means to remain in or near.

As I read about the attitude of the important people, including Annas and Caiaphas the high priests who had questioned Jesus before his crucifixion, and others high up in the religious community of Jerusalem, it’s not surprising that they would get concerned and ultimately jealous because of what was happening as the apostles taught the good news of Jesus to the the crowd in the temple. Especially as the signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit was performing through the apostles among the people were drawing more of them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

It is also not surprising that they would get furious when confronted with the truth of their complicity in Jesus’ death, since they believed in worshiping God via an elaborate system of measurable rules that required intensive training. They resented the risk that would change things by the close relationship with Jesus and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

As I pondered- indeed, wrestled with- this portion of Acts, I realized how hard it is to take small bits of the riches of the written word of God and try to relate to a time when the people in the early church didn’t have it to refer to. The disciples at the time had to become attentive ”hearers of the Word” in order to become faithful “doers of the Word.”

In addition to reading the Bible, listening to the Bible is truly helpful. I have the You Version Holy Bible app, which has both visual and audio included for each of a variety of translations. Also, Audible and various other single translation versions are available online. Another practice may be reading the scriptures out loud alone or with someone. Try reading or listening to the Bible in a different way than you usually do this week and see how you receive the Word in a fresh way.

By Carolyn Schmitt