Acts 7:54-60

Acts 7:54-60 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. This is the first martyr for the Lord. A martyr is someone who dies for their faith. Stephen, one of the original deacons, was a wonderful testimony for the Lord. But the Jewish religious leaders couldn’t stand him! They couldn’t answer his words and that made them angry. They heard all that they could stand and went out of control. They stopped their ears and gnashed their teeth on Stephen like wild animals! Were they ever out of control! In the Old Testament sinful people were stoned. That meant that the authorities threw huge rocks at them until they killed them. Stephen was executed by stoning. But Stephen was faithful to Jesus right up until the end of his life. And he saw Jesus, his Lord, standing beside God the Father in heaven. And they were welcoming Stephen into heaven! I hope that I can be faithful to God until the end, no matter when or how it is. God has been so good to us. The least that we can do is to serve Him.

Acts 6:1-7

Acts 6:1-7  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Here we have the first deacons in the church. The apostles were just too busy and some important things were not getting done. God had called them to the preaching part of the church and they were neglecting that in order to do other things. So they told the people to find seven good men to do the other work - things like taking care of the widows – and the apostles could focus on praying and teaching the Bible. In the church, everyone has their own job to do. The preacher does the speaking, but he can’t do everything. Someone else has to pay the electric bill and the water bill. Someone has to get the gas in the church van and someone else has to get the snacks for the nursery. Everyone has a job to do. But if someone doesn’t do their job, the preacher will have to do it. He is the only one left. But then on Sunday, if his sermon is kind of boring, whose fault is it? It is the fault of whoever didn’t do their job that the preacher had to do. He should have the time that he needed to prepare a good message. We all need to do our part so that the church can work well. We need everyone!

Acts 5:40-42

Acts 5:40-42 ... and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. If you got a spanking, would you be happy? Well the apostles were beaten and they were happy! But They had been beaten because they were preaching about Jesus. Jesus had just been beaten, mocked with a crown of thorns, had His beard ripped out, and then executed in the most painful way. So by comparison, the disciples’ beating wasn’t all that bad. But the real reason that they rejoiced was that they were honored that they could suffer just a little bit for Jesus, their Savior. Do you love Jesus? Are you grateful that He suffered for you? Are you willing to stick up for Jesus? I hope so.

Acts 5:17,18,28,29

Acts 5:17,18,28,29 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Peter and John were in trouble again. In the book of Acts we are going to find that the Jews kept trying to get the apostles to shut up about Jesus Christ. But they just wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus. Jesus had done so much for them that they just had to speak out for him! And just like the apostles, Jesus has done wonderful things for us. What has Jesus done for you this week?  What has Jesus done special for someone in your church this year? Let’s thank Jesus for his great love and help for us.

Acts 5:1-5

Acts 5:1-5 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. Yesterday we discovered that the New Testament church took care of one another. Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of land and brought the money that they had made to the apostles. But they lied to the apostles. They said that they were giving all of the money that they had sold the land for to the church. But they hadn’t. They agreed to keep back part of the money for themselves. And that was O.K. The land was theirs and the money from the land was theirs. But the problem was that they had lied about the land and the money. And that was wrong. Peter told them that they hadn’t just lied to them, the apostles, they had lied to the Holy Spirit – they had lied to God. And that was a big deal! God killed Ananias right there on the spot. In the next verses, his wife, Sapphira came in to the apostles and told the same lie. And she fell down dead too! God was showing the new church that honesty before God was important. Being honest with God is still important!