{"id":88978,"date":"2025-07-27T14:14:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T19:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=88978"},"modified":"2025-07-27T14:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T19:14:43","slug":"the-legacy-of-dorcas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-legacy-of-dorcas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy of Dorcas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>We don&#8217;t know much about her-she is mentioned in only one brief passage in the New Testament (Acts 9:36-42). But everything we know about Dorcas is good.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She was a disciple. The word disciple means learner. She had learned to live the life of a Christian. She was not simply someone who did good deeds-she followed the example of the One who &#8220;<em>went about doing good<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 10:38 NASB).<\/li>\n<li>She did good for others consistently: &#8220;&#8230;<em>this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 9:36). For Dorcas, doing good was not occasional, but a way of life. Those who do the most good in this life find a way to serve, and then they keep doing it.<\/li>\n<li>When she died, she was sorely missed. Perhaps you&#8217;ve heard this illustration: To show how much difference you make, put your hand in a bucket of water and then pull it out. The water immediately rushes in where your hand was, as if it had never been there. Although this illustration was designed to promote humility, it goes too far. Christians ought to live such lives that when they die, their loss to the church is keenly felt. Because of death, they can no longer do the works they once did. They do leave a noticeable vacancy. And like Dorcas, they are truly missed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For Dorcas, doing good meant using a needle and thread-and lots of time. For you and me, it may mean using our car, our kitchen, our phone, our computer, our cash, and lots of time. There are so many needs out there. We can fill some of them.<\/p>\n<p>So, like Dorcas, let&#8217;s do it!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson We don&#8217;t know much about her-she is mentioned in only one brief passage in the New Testament (Acts 9:36-42). But everything we know about Dorcas is good. She was a disciple. The word disciple means learner. She had learned to live the life of a Christian. She was not simply someone who&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1673,721,1672],"class_list":["post-88978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-dorcas","tag-kindness","tag-tabitha"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/making-a-positive-difference\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":0},"title":"Making a Positive Difference","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Sorely Missed \"Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah . . .\" (II Chronicles 35:25 NASB). Josiah \"pled the cause of the afflicted and needy\" (Jeremiah 22:15). He urged his wayward nation to turn back to God (II Chronicles 34-35). Josiah made a difference. When Stephen was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17737,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-it-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":1},"title":"How It Works","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 36, Sept. 5, 2008. Churches today are looking for ways to reach out to the communities in which they serve. Some look to the latest book, or the most recent demographics, the best mail lists and so on. I think sometimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/dorcas.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66329,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tabitha\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":2},"title":"Tabitha","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 9:32-43 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our text we find two stories. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The great miracle that God performed through Peter to raise a woman who had died. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This event brought many to the Lord - Acts 9:42 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t have access to miracles today; yet, we can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45406,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-ashamed-of-christ-because-it-is-hard-for-me-to-invite-strangers-to-bible-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":3},"title":"Am I ashamed of Christ because it is hard for me to invite strangers to Bible study?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was hoping to get some clarification on \"shame\" as far as one's faith in Jesus goes. I was baptized last year and have been trying to obey Jesus' teachings, but have fallen short on pretty much everything! In the beginning, I dealt with a lot of worldly sorrow,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-womans-contribution-to-the-local-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":4},"title":"A Woman&#8217;s Contribution to the Local Congregation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott from several sources More often than not, women are the lifeblood of the congregation. Attention is often given to the limitations placed on women in the assemblies of the church because of what is written in I Corinthians 14:34-37 and because of what is written in I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7895,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/women-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":88978,"position":5},"title":"Women in the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Through the ages, it has always been the men who lead the worship of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the patriarchal age, it was the fathers (hence patriarch) who performed the sacrifices to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Under the Old Law, the priests were restricted to males from the tribe of Levi. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The question is what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88978\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}