Today, please read Acts 6, 7, and 8:1. This is a pretty exciting day!  The book of Acts is so rich.  What’s your highlight?  Let’s visit:

I love this part:

“So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, ‘It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we’ll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word.’ ” Acts 6:2-5 MSG

I think this is important to notice: the Twelve had an assigned task: prayer and preaching.  They saw other things that were equally as important, but they couldn’t do everything, so they assigned the new task to other trustworthy followers.  What a great example to us today: we don’t have to do everything.  What we have to do is the assignment that God gave to us, and then work together with other believers to make sure that everything is taken care of. I wish I had time to stay here!

“Stephen, brimming with God’s grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them.” Acts 6:8

As Stephen is clearly doing the work assigned to him, some people got jealous.  (we could stay here too, but….) They lie and Stephen is arrested.  At his trial, address, he tells the history Israel! Did you keep thinking: “Hey! I remember that!”  Stephen puts his work in the context of their spiritual legacy, so powerful. 

We hear of a young man that will become important to us later:

“Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.” Acts 8:1 MSG

These events set off a “great persecution”, and the disciples were “scattered throughout the regions”. Scattered like seeds – and now let’s see how the gospel spreads!