Acts 6 & 7

• Leadership for the church (Acts 6:1-7)
  • The need (Acts 6:1)
    • Settle a problem
      • Inequity of supplying needs between groups
        • Grecian Jews were Jewish people who lived outside of Palestine and used the Greek translation of the Scriptures called The Septuagint
        • Hebraic Jews were Jewish people who lived in Palestine and used the Hebrew Scriptures
  • The solution (Acts 6:2-4)
    • The qualifications for another group of leaders
      • Full of wisdom
      • Have the Holy Spirit
    • What does this show us about the qualities needed for any work of the Lord?
    • Why did the Apostles make the statement in verse 2?
      • “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.”
      • The body of Christ has many members with different giftings
        • Every member has a gift and they need to utilize it to the glory of the Lord
        • God provides by equipping members with different giftings
        • All giftings are needed
  • The choice (Acts 6:5-6)
    • At least one Gentile – Nicolas
  • The result (Acts 6:7)
    • Harmony and advance the Lord’s work

This brings us to the end of the first section of the Book of Acts dealing with the birth of the church. From here we move on to the early church.

• The early church’s witness to all of Judea and Samaria (Acts 6:8 – 9:31)
  • Stephen is seized (Acts 6:8-15)
    • Stephen’s defense and martyrdom (Acts 6:8 – 7:60)
      • His effectiveness as a leader (Acts 6:8)
      • The opposition (Acts 6:9-10)
        • These were probably Grecian Jews now living in the area having their own Synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen
      • The conspiracy (Acts 6:11-15)
        • Either false or deceiving statements about Stephen
  • Stephen’s defense (Acts 7:1 – 50)
    • A review of God’s dealing with His people in history
      • His indictment of them (Acts 7:51-53)
  • Stephen’s death (Acts 7:54-60)
    • His vision (Acts 7:54-56)
    • Their reaction (Acts 7:57-58)
    • His intercessory prayer (Acts 7:59-60)

We will see how the death of Stephen may have impacted the spread of the Gospel to broader regions than the Gospel had gone before. While the death of Stephen is something to cause sadness, we need to remember that God can and does work this together for good to those who love Him.