Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. This is the area where Jesus had the discussion with the woman at the well. Remember from Acts 1:8 that after Jerusalem, Samaria was mentioned. Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews and considered more or less half Jews. A lot of the Jews of the northern kingdom were taken away and replaced by others who were not Jews. They intermingled with the Jews that were living in the northern kingdom. Even though Samaria was not far away, the disciples had not come there to preach the word before this. The disciples may have even thought that it was impossible for them to get saved, just like the Gentiles. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Even though he was “just a deacon”, God worked throug...

  Good morning. Remember that Stephen had said that he had seen Jesus standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! Lord, do not hold this sin against them! That’s not what most people would say – they would say get them Lord! Having said this, he fell asleep. That is how the Bible describes Christians dying – falling asleep. Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. On that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And so finally they began doing what Jesus told them to do in Acts 1:8 - they became witnesses in Judea and Samaria. Until thi...

  Good morning. Stephen continues for a long time telling the story of Moses. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. (remember that the people asked John the Baptist if he were The Prophet). He continues on to David and Solomon and the building of the temple. Throughout all of the history of Israel that Stephen just talked about, the people did not fully follow God for very long. You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Come on Stephen – enough of this warm and fuzzy talk. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it. (in other words he’s talking about good Friday and Easter). When they heard thi...

  Good morning. They couldn’t refute what Stephen was saying so they did what people do today when they have no good response to the truth – they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. If you have no answer against the truth, you bring in a great lie to oppose it. And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to Stephen and dragged him away and brought him before the council. They put forth false witnesses who said, this man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us. And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the council saw his face like the face of an angel. The high priest said, are these things so? He was probably expecting a simple yes or no; but what he got was an earful. He begins with Abraham when he was first called by God to go ...

  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...

  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...