Text: Acts 6:1-7<\/p>\n
I. The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property – Acts 4:34-35<\/p>\n A. Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the\ndistributions were not fair and even-handed.\n B. In particular it was claimed that the widows who were from the Gentile nations\nwere being slighted in preference to the native-born widows.\n
C. The twelve apostles summoned the congregation<\/p>\n 1. It was not proper for them to neglect their duties of teaching the gospel to\noversee the needs of the members\n 2. They requested the congregation to select seven men whose duty would be\nto oversee the distribution of food.\n
a. They had to be of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, and wise.<\/p>\n
b. Later these men were called “deacons” or “servants” of the church.<\/p>\n
c. Specific qualifications were given: I Timothy 3:8-10, 12-13<\/p>\n 3. Specific qualifications were also given as to whom was responsible for\nwhich widows – I Timothy 5:3-16\n a. The widow’s family had primary responsibility for the care of the\nwidow\n
(1) It is part of the honoring of mother and father<\/p>\n
(2) Only a widow without family was cared for by the church<\/p>\n b. Since the widow was supported by the church, she in turn had to be\ngood representative of what being a Christian was all about.\n
c. She also had to be too old to work or remarry (over 60)<\/p>\n
D. The congregation agreed and selected seven men.<\/p>\n
1. Two: Stephen and Philip will come up again later in the book of Acts.<\/p>\n 2. They were brought to the Apostles, who laid their hands on them as a\nblessing to enter the work.\n
a. Seen in other times as Acts 13:3<\/p>\n b. Sometimes it was done to bestow the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but\nsince these men were already filled with the Spirit, this was such a\ncase.\n c. Timothy was later warned to be careful who was supported by the\nlaying on of his hands – I Timothy 5:22\n d. Laying on of hands was an old practice, seen in Numbers 8:9-10;\n27:18-20; Deuteronomy 34:9\n
(1) In represented the giving of authority to a person<\/p>\n (2) Even those who would serve under them showed their\nblessing and giving of that right by laying on their hands.\n
II. The church continued to grow in Jerusalem<\/p>\n A. Members were even being found among the priests, which you can be certain\nupset some of the rulers.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tActs of the Apostles\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Growing Pains Text: Acts 6:1-7 I. The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property – Acts 4:34-35 A. Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the distributions were not fair and even-handed. B. In particular it was claimed that the widows who were from the Gentile nations were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10021,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10128","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/searching-for-my-friend\/growing-pains\/","url_meta":{"origin":10128,"position":0},"title":"Growing Pains (Searching)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing Pains by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Satan is never content with trapping a person in a single sin. 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Lesson 1 Introduction and the Ascension of Jesus\u00a0(Acts 1:1-11) Replacing Judas\u00a0(Acts 1:12-26) Lesson 2 Baptism by the Holy Spirit\u00a0(Acts 2:1-13) Peter's First Sermon\u00a0(Acts 2:14-36) The Establishment of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10128,"position":2},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Acts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Acts Text: Acts 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Acts is a continuation of Luke\u2019s earlier account - Acts 1:1-3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All early manuscripts use the title \u201cActs\u201d or \u201cActs of the Apostles\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author is not named, but continuation and the style makes it clear that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65192,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/church-local-tasks\/","url_meta":{"origin":10128,"position":3},"title":"Church (Local) Tasks","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Church (Local) Tasks The local church \"sounded forth\" the word of the Lord in its own and adjacent regions (I Thessalonians 1:8) It taught its members to edify them (Acts 20:28) Its members worship together (I Corinthians 14:26; 11:17-34; 10:16-17) It supported preachers at home and abroad, sending directly to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65212,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":10128,"position":4},"title":"Deacons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Deacons I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Terms \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Deacon (diakonos) - a servant. 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