Good Tuesday morning this week!
Remember Sunday when I said that we haven’t been called to an easy road? Well, at home we are finally unpacking our office “stuff.” I picked up “my laptop” and headed to the church to get some work done yesterday morning and when I unpacked by bag and pulled out the computer? Sherry’s older computer! The Microsoft Office software on it must have been on a one-year subscription rather than a life time purchase. And I didn’t have my church email list to send out anything anyway! So I sat in my church office with no way to write put together my Monday morning writing. I always write it out in Word before copying and pasting to the email. So we are a little late…it’s never easy!
Sunday we read about Stephen using his spiritual gifts of serving and miracles. Doing so and standing strong in the faith cost him greatly as he was stoned. It may seem standing for Christ ended badly but I am a firm believer in Romans 8:28 that God uses all things for good for those that LOVE him and are called to his PURPOSE. As a result of Stephen’s death, a new chapter in the “church movement” is initiated! Up until now all of the church growth had been in the “neighborhood.” It is estimated that it Stephen’s death occurred 2-3 years after Jesus ascended into heaven after giving them the directive to be his witnesses. Now, the Gospel begins to fan out into Judea and Samaria.
After Stephen’s death, persecution of the followers of Christ began to ramp up. The followers, with the exception of the apostles, began to scatter out into Judea and Samaria. Along with them went the message of Jesus. From here on out, in the midst of persecution, the gospel will grow like wildfire. Each one taking the message of Jesus and sharing it in new places to people who needed to hear the message of hope. This persecution seems to be greatly perpetrated by a man named Saul who was present at the stoning. Saul is man who will one day be called to God’s purpose and fall deeply in LOVE with the Lord.
We need to be faithful at home first with the sharing of the Gospel through our spiritual gifts. If we LOVE the Lord and give ourselves to his PURPOSE – as Stephen did – great things will begin to happen. Please take some time to explore the Missions Fair this coming Sunday. Maybe your part of the mission will be the “Pew Prowlers” I talked about. That simple task will free someone else up to use their gift which will in turn free up someone else. It will be much like the apostles appointing the seven to take care of the widows. It says after that the message spread and the number of believers increased greatly.
Every one of us has a part to play and no part is too little. Please pray that God would show you your part as you visit the ministry teams before and after worship this coming Sunday.
Pastor Rick
But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. I Timothy 6:11
