Title: Raising Church Workers
Acts 6:1-7
13. 3. 17, Afternoon (Educational Sermon for Executives)
The history of the church in the book of Acts can be called “the history of revival.”
However, in the Acts Church, persecution or difficult problems were the process of revival. Like “Tribulation brings perseverance, perseverance produces refinement, and refinement produces hope.” All things worked together for good.
It is no wonder that problems arise when churches are revitalized. What matters is “how do you solve the problem”. If we persevere in the midst of tribulation, look to God and pray, and solve our problems with faith, our problems will change and become a blessing.
If the church revives, problems may arise. However, when problems arise, if we persist in a worldly way, the church will be divided and suffer pain, and we will not be able to enjoy God's blessings. However, it teaches us that when we solve problems through faith and prayer, the problems become a blessing, and it is a great help to the revival of the church.
1. The problem that arose in the Jerusalem church
The early church focused on preaching the gospel and doing almsgiving.
There were two types of people in the church at that time: Hebrew Jews and Hellenistic Jews. The Hebrews were born in the mainland Palestine, lived in the Jerusalem area, followed Jewish customs and spoke Aramaic, a dialect of Hebrew.
The Hellenistic Jews are descendants of people who had migrated to a foreign country long ago, and have recently returned to Jerusalem. They spoke Greek, the world's official language at the time. Hellenistic Jews did not speak Hebrew very well. As a result, Greek widows were often excluded from the church's almsgiving. Naturally, resentment and complaints arose from the Greek widows.
God does not take pleasure in murmuring and complaining. Even though the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt for 430 years, those who constantly complained and complained to God while they were passing through the wilderness could not enter the land of Canaan and died in the wilderness.
David felt his life threatened by the persecution of King Saul. Even at that time, David did not tell anyone about his grievances and pain in his heart, but confided before God (Psalm 142:1~2). In the church, God is not pleased with any complaints and grievances. Rather than complaining and murmuring against people, like David, He wants you to come before God and pray to have problems resolved.