June 17, 2012 - The Deacons of the Church

Lesson and class discussion of Acts 6:1 - 8:3 using John MacArthur's commentary, led by Holly Lundberg.

Class Handout

Acts 5,6,7 Chapter Review

·         The young church experienced growing pains that caused dissention among the body.  Some of the Greek-speaking (Hellenists) Jewish widows were overlooked in the food distribution.  Complaints of neglect and discrimination surfaced.  The solution was to enlist more hands to help the Apostles with the work load. (Acts 4:34-5:2; 6:1-4)

·         Seven spiritually mature, wise men were chosen from among the Grecian Jews to oversee the food distribution to the needy and to aid the apostles in caring for the expanding body of the church.  The apostles prayed and laid hands on the men entrusting the Holy Spirit to empower them.  Their service was called Diakoneo (today = deacons) (Acts 6:5-7)

·         Stephen, one of the seven, was passionate about proving to others that Jesus was the Messiah. His preaching and testifying in the temple about Christ enraged some Jews entrenched in their religion and a plot was hatched to bring Stephen before the Sanhedrin using false accusations and trumped up charges. (Acts 6:8-14)

·         As he defended himself, Stephen’s face took on an other-worldly glow, just as Moses’ had when he met with God on Mt. Sinai.  Stephen preached an incredibly all encompassing sermon reminding the Sanhedrin of God’s involvement in Israel’s history and His never ending covenant love for them that was culminated in Christ’s work on the cross.  He tried to tie the rich traditions of the forefathers to Jesus. (Acts 6:15-7:45)

·         David wanted to build a house for God, but God told him “NO” because of His sins, so Solomon, David’s son built the Temple.  But building a house to contain God is impossible!  (Acts 7:44-50).

·         Stephen ended his sermon with an indictment of the Sanhedrin’s treatment and rejection of Christ.  When Stephen described his vision of Jesus at God’s right hand, infuriated council members dragged him out and stoned him for blasphemy.  As Stephen died, he as the Lord to forgive them.  (Acts 7:51-60)

·         The day Stephen was murdered; Saul launched a crusade to destroy the church. Men and women were jailed for the crime of following Jesus. (Acts 8:1-3)

 ·       Molech- Pagan god whose worship involved child sacrifice.

·         Remphan- Babylonian god of the planet Saturn used to symbolize Israelite apostasy

·         Saul- pre-conversion name of Apostle Paul, a Jewish Roman citizen from Tarsus from the tribe of Benjamin, "a Pharisee & the son of a Pharisee. Paul studied in Jerusalem with Rabbi Gamaliel.

·         Jacob- Later renamed by God: Israel. He is the son of Isaac and Rebekah, the grandson of  Abraham & Sarah  and the younger twin brother of Esau. He had twelve sons and at least one daughter by his two wives, sisters Leah & Rachel, and by their maids, Bilhah & Zilpah. The children named in Genesis were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin as well as daughter Dinah.  These 12 brothers became the original 12 tribes of Israel.