Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / May 27 - Acts 6

Transcript

May 27 - Acts 6 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 27th of
• 0:16
  May and you are not going to believe this.
• 0:19
  Today is ready National Hair stylist Mental Health Awareness
• 0:24
  Day. That's right, the mental health
• 0:26
  awareness of your Barber or your hairdresser.
• 0:29
  Because did you realise just how emotionally taxing it is not to
• 0:34
  cut people's hair, but all day to hear people's problems when
• 0:38
  you're not trying to deal with that?
• 0:39
  But that's what barbers and hairdressers have to deal with.
• 0:43
  We walk in and offload the dramas of our lives onto their
• 0:46
  shoulders. And research shows that people
• 0:49
  actually improve their mental health after visiting their
• 0:52
  hairdressers or barbers. And now they've also realised
• 0:55
  they need to provide extra support and debriefing for hair
• 1:00
  stylists. So next time you go to get your
• 1:02
  hair cut, why don't you say, hey, you carry a big burden
• 1:05
  listening to other people's dramas all day.
• 1:08
  How are you travelling? Let's care for those who cut our
• 1:11
  hair and care for us as well. Unless, like me, you have no
• 1:15
  hair and then you have to find someone else to care for you.
• 1:18
  But that's probably not so much about what today is about.
• 1:22
  Yes, it is good to look beyond our own needs from time to time,
• 1:26
  and that is what you're doing now.
• 1:28
  You are looking past the busyness of your day to plug in
• 1:32
  and to be a part of the rhythm of God's Word speaking to us
• 1:36
  through this incredible story. As today we hear of this
• 1:40
  incredible disciple by the name of Stephen who is fearless in
• 1:45
  the face of death. So join me friends, as we read
• 1:48
  together Acts Chapter 6. But as the believers rapidly
• 2:03
  multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent.
• 2:07
  The Greek speaking believers complained about the Hebrew
• 2:09
  speaking believers saying that their widows were being
• 2:12
  discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
• 2:16
  So the 12 called the meeting of all the believers.
• 2:19
  They said we apostles should spend our time teaching the word
• 2:23
  of God, not running a food programme.
• 2:26
  And so brothers, select seven men who were well respected and
• 2:30
  are full of the spirit and wisdom.
• 2:33
  We will give them this responsibility.
• 2:36
  Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the
• 2:39
  Word. Everyone liked this idea, and
• 2:43
  they chose the following Stephen, a man full of faith in
• 2:47
  the Holy Spirit, Philip, Procarus, Nycanor, Timon,
• 2:52
  Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, an earlier convert to
• 2:57
  the Jewish faith. These seven were presented to
• 3:00
  the apostles who prayed for them as they laid their hands on
• 3:03
  them. So God's message continued to
• 3:06
  spread. The number of believers greatly
• 3:09
  increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were
• 3:13
  converted too. Stephen, a man full of God's
• 3:18
  grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among
• 3:22
  the people. But one day some men from the
• 3:24
  synagogue of freed Slaves, as it were called, started to debate
• 3:28
  with him. They were Jews from Cyrene,
• 3:31
  Alexandria, Cecilia and the province of Asia.
• 3:35
  None of them could stand against the wisdom and the spirit with
• 3:38
  which Stephen spoke. So they persuaded some men to
• 3:42
  lie about Stephen, saying We heard him blasphemy Moses and
• 3:46
  even God. This roused the people, the
• 3:49
  elders and the teachers of religious law, so they arrested
• 3:53
  Stephen and brought him before the High Council.
• 3:56
  The lying witness has said this man is always speaking against
• 4:00
  the Holy Temple and against the Law of Moses.
• 4:03
  We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy
• 4:07
  the temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.
• 4:12
  At this point, everyone in the High Council stared at Stephen
• 4:16
  because his face became as bright as an angel's.
• 4:30
  Hello, thank you for your Word, which is so instructive and
• 4:34
  encouraging and useful. Here we see that you have gifted
• 4:39
  those apostles with healing and teaching, and you wanted them to
• 4:44
  spend their time doing that. And so with your wisdom, your
• 4:48
  Spirit LED them to appoint other people who were rich with the
• 4:52
  gifts of discernment and caring. Our Lord, you give us each
• 4:58
  something special that we can bring your community, that we
• 5:01
  can use to serve your Kingdom. But thank you that you invite us
• 5:07
  into this work, this work of building your Kingdom here on
• 5:11
  earth. What a privilege it is for us to
• 5:14
  be able to do that. And as when it seems like all is
• 5:18
  going wrong for us, we can reflect on this story.
• 5:22
  And when Stephen seems like he has been backed into a nasty and
• 5:26
  unfair corner, there you are with him, lighting his face as
• 5:31
  bright as an angel's. Ah, Lord, thank you that you are
• 5:35
  always with us, whether we're aware of it or not.
• 5:38
  There you are, standing beside us, arms wrapped tightly around
• 5:42
  us, with your provision covering us entirely.
• 5:46
  Ah, you're a good God, and you walk with us and we love you and
• 5:51
  we appreciate you. We pray all of this in your
• 5:54
  name. Jesus.
• 5:55
  I'm in.