This week in The Gospel Project®
for Kids, our journey takes us to Jerusalem where the early church was
booming with growth. There were two groups of Jews in the first church:
Jews who spoke Greek and Jews who spoke Hebrew. The Greek-speaking Jews
were from foreign countries, and the Hebrew-speaking Jews had been born
in Israel. Tension existed between the two groups. The Greek-speaking
Jews complained that their widows were not being cared for properly.
The
Old Testament law was clear that God commanded His people to care for
the orphans and widows. (See Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 10:18.) The early
church continued this Jewish custom, but the Greek-speaking Jews
claimed their widows were not getting their share of the daily
distributions.
The
twelve apostles were quick to address the issue. They gathered all the
believers together. The apostles explained that God had called them to
preaching and teaching. They were not above handling problems among the
people, but they wisely led the church to choose seven leaders to
oversee such duties.
The
church did not choose just anyone to serve; the men were of good
reputation, full of the Spirit, and wise. The chosen seven were Stephen,
Philip, Prochorus (PRAHK uh ruhs), Nicanor (nigh KAY nawr), Timon (TIGH
mahn), Parmenas (PAHR mih nuhs), and Nicolaus (nik uh LAY uhs). Now the
apostles were free to devote themselves to prayer and preaching, and
the widows were properly cared for.
Everyone
in the church has a role in God’s work. The apostles believed that
everyone in the church had an important job to do to serve God's people
and help spread the gospel. The seven men who were chosen used their
abilities to take care of others. Jesus wants us to serve others so that
the message of His death and resurrection can be heard and believed all
over the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment