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And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people

  Good morning. The congregation selected seven men to be what we now call deacons. My Bible says that they all had Greek names. Remember that they were to take care of the Greek widows. One of them was Stephen, who would soon be martyred. Another was from Antioch, which is the city from which Paul and Barnabas were sent out. A third one of the seven was Philip, through whom later great signs and wonders would be performed in Samaria. They didn’t just vote for them and immediately put them into office. They brought them before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. As a deacon, he wasn’t just a glorified janitor. But some rose up and argued with Steven. When you’re doing God’s work, it b...
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Therefore select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

  Good morning. When we think about the early church, we tend to think that everybody was perfect; they knew all there was to know about the Christian life; and everything was love and harmony. But in reality that was not the case – it was O.J.T. Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews (they were born outside of Israel and spoke the Greek language) against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. In the Christian life, this is where the rubber meets the road. It’s easy to be spiritual when miracles are happening daily. It’s much harder to be spiritual when we have to interact with other believers. Of course today they would be accused of being racist. So the 12 summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, it is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.  Just like in churches today, especially smaller ones, the...
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So they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name

  Good morning. OK so everybody was upset. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel (Paul’s mentor), a  teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. He then gives two instances of men who had followers. When they died, their followers dispersed. So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God. They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. In other words, this is a warning of what will happen to you if you don’t listen to us. And so the apostles went away bawling and squalling – not! So they went on their way from the presence of the c...
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The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a prince and a savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

  Good morning. So what did they do now? After all, they had told the apostles to not preach any longer in the name of Jesus, but they had done so. Then the captain along with the officers proceeded to bring them back without violence ( for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned). When they had brought them, they stood them before the council. The high priest questioned them, we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. You got that right, Bo. But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. That is so very true, but sometimes it’s hard to tell when it’s really God and not just our own desires. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a prince and a savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we ar...
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But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out he said, go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life.

  Good morning.. So everyone was glad to see people being healed, right? But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates that is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. That’s like a Pastor being upset because a different church is growing with God doing wonders there, and his is declining. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. The same thing happened to Peter again later; but apparently he forgot about this situation. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out he said, go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought. Surprise! But the officers who came did not find them in the p...
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At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.

  Good morning. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. It does not say whether the signs and wonders were helping God’s people, or if they were helping nonbelievers, and that brought them to Jesus. My guess is that it was both. You don’t need a great health insurance, if you have God healing you. Notice that they were all with one accord. Sadly that is not the case in today’s churches. But probably as a result of the death of Ananias and his wife, none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Forget about sending in money for a prayer cloth; it o...
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And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it

  Good morning. I pray that everything is all right with your family. And as he heard these words,  Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it – ya think? Based on Peter’s words to the wife later, I don’t think Peter was expecting this to happen. If that happened today, a lot of congregations would be shrinking 😳 . The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. Notice that there was no ceremony, and no one gave a eulogy. I don’t know if that was the custom or if it was because of the way he died – probably the custom. They needed to bury people right away because there was no embalming. Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. What, no one cellphoned her 🙃 ? Notice that it took three hours. Whether that is because it was a long way off, or it took a long time to dig a grave we don’t know. Responding to her, Peter said, tell me whet...
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