<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Acts 6;1-7<div><br></div><div><b>1. &nbsp;Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.</b></div><div><b>2. &nbsp;And the twelve summoned the body of disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.</b></div><div><b>3. &nbsp;Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty.</b></div><div><b>4. &nbsp;But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”</b></div><div><b>5. &nbsp;And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephan, a man full of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.</b></div><div><b>6. &nbsp;These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.</b></div><div><b>7. &nbsp;And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>The early Church in Jerusalem continued ministering not only in Word, but also in deed. &nbsp;Widows were being cared for out of the gifts being laid at the apostles feet. &nbsp;I prefer to think of the Church&nbsp;in terms of a loving family caring for its’ weaker members,&nbsp;rather than a model for a system of&nbsp;national economic socialism.</div><div><br></div><div>There is no mention of material&nbsp;care outside of the ‘family of Believers’.</div><div><br></div><div>One other observation: &nbsp;The Church structured her ministry ‘organically’, responding to recognized need, rather than mechanically, according to an&nbsp;imposed form, always for the purpose of ‘increasing’ the Word.</div><div><br></div><div>I once had a member who wanted to create a laundry list of&nbsp;Boards and Committees, each with a Chairman and scheduled meetings, based upon some form outlining church governance which&nbsp;he had obtained from the District. &nbsp;The available number of people of good repute in our new little congregation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, was extremely limited. &nbsp;&nbsp;Many of the Boards and Committees had titles and specific&nbsp;functions which were&nbsp;taken from some other&nbsp;large corporate church. &nbsp;Such order probably served that&nbsp;large congregation well, but for us&nbsp;it was like putting on clothes belonging to someone three times our size. &nbsp;&nbsp;We were<span>&nbsp;a small</span><span> mission congregation just getting on its feet, everything had to be done informally&nbsp;by a very few people.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Churches do not grow by building a building or creating an extensive detailed constitution. &nbsp;They grow out of the Word. &nbsp;Notice how the growth of the Church in Jerusalem happened. &nbsp;<i>“And the Word of God increased.” &nbsp;</i>(v. 7)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>If we as individuals and we as congregations desire to grow in numbers and in Christ-likeness, the ministry of&nbsp;Word of God must increase among us. &nbsp;Everything flows to us from God through the Word. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The Ministry of the Word of God, in our own personal daily reading, meditation, and memorizing of the&nbsp;Gods Word, must increase. &nbsp;The Office of the Ministry must be devoted to proclamation, and administration of the Sacraments which are the Visible&nbsp;Word of God. Husbands must minister the Word to their wives&nbsp;and children through daily reading and prayers. &nbsp;Extended families must be&nbsp;lovingly exhorted and admonished by Patriarchs and Matriarchs&nbsp;to&nbsp;daily be in&nbsp;Word and prayer.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Especially, pastors and&nbsp;parents must model in their own personal life’s what they desire to see manifested in the lives of their children and congregations.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The Deacons appointed to the care of the widows were not silent as they supplied them with food and ensured their protection, they also in a secondary sense preached as they served. &nbsp;We will see this in upcoming Verse(s) of the Day.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, grant us wisdom to be branches attached to the Vine by the Word. &nbsp;Grant us thirsty repentant hearts, minds, souls, and spirits which drink in the living waters of Christ by the Word. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span>Bless us and our congregations to grow in all ways pleasing to you. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Acts 6;1-7
1.  Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.2.  And the twelve summoned the body of disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.3.  Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty.4.  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”5.  And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephan, a man full of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.6.  These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.7.  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The early Church in Jerusalem continued ministering not only in Word, but also in deed.  Widows were being cared for out of the gifts being laid at the apostles feet.  I prefer to think of the Church in terms of a loving family caring for its’ weaker members, rather than a model for a system of national economic socialism.
There is no mention of material care outside of the ‘family of Believers’.
One other observation:  The Church structured her ministry ‘organically’, responding to recognized need, rather than mechanically, according to an imposed form, always for the purpose of ‘increasing’ the Word.
I once had a member who wanted to create a laundry list of Boards and Committees, each with a Chairman and scheduled meetings, based upon some form outlining church governance which he had obtained from the District.  The available number of people of good repute in our new little congregation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, was extremely limited.   Many of the Boards and Committees had titles and specific functions which were taken from some other large corporate church.  Such order probably served that large congregation well, but for us it was like putting on clothes belonging to someone three times our size.   We were a small mission congregation just getting on its feet, everything had to be done informally by a very few people.
Churches do not grow by building a building or creating an extensive detailed constitution.  They grow out of the Word.  Notice how the growth of the Church in Jerusalem happened.  “And the Word of God increased.”  (v. 7)
If we as individuals and we as congregations desire to grow in numbers and in Christ-likeness, the ministry of Word of God must increase among us.  Everything flows to us from God through the Word.  
The Ministry of the Word of God, in our own personal daily reading, meditation, and memorizing of the Gods Word, must increase.  The Office of the Ministry must be devoted to proclamation, and administration of the Sacraments which are the Visible Word of God. Husbands must minister the Word to their wives and children through daily reading and prayers.  Extended families must be lovingly exhorted and admonished by Patriarchs and Matriarchs to daily be in Word and prayer.
Especially, pastors and parents must model in their own personal life’s what they desire to see manifested in the lives of their children and congregations.
The Deacons appointed to the care of the widows were not silent as they supplied them with food and ensured their protection, they also in a secondary sense preached as they served.  We will see this in upcoming Verse(s) of the Day.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, grant us wisdom to be branches attached to the Vine by the Word.  Grant us thirsty repentant hearts, minds, souls, and spirits which drink in the living waters of Christ by the Word.  Bless us and our congregations to grow in all ways pleasing to you.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”





Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
