January 30, 2019: SOAP #3345:  Exodus 25-27; Acts 6

Scripture:  Acts (NIV) 6:3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

Observation:  The church was experiencing growing problems.  So many people had joined that the apostles could not properly minister to all the needs.  They needed some people to take care of the benevolence needs, especially of the Greek speaking believers, while they continued to minister to the spiritual needs.  Instead of choosing who should do this, they assigned the body of believers to make the choice.  The people chose seven men with Greek names who were “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.”

Application:  People are often known for their most dominant characteristic.  I am tall and bald with a beard, usually smiling.  Some are known for their job—a carpenter, a baker, a salesman, etc.  Some are known for their demeanor—grumpy, worried, positive, confident, etc.  The men in the scripture above were “known for being full of the Spirit and wisdom.”  It was a recognizable characteristic that was obvious to others.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, may Your presence in my life be an observable characteristic easily recognized by those around me.  May Your presence be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of me.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!