Seeds of New Growth
Witnessing to the Truth
Acts 6:7-15 The Message
7 The Word of God prospered. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased dramatically. Not least, a great many priests submitted themselves to the faith.
8-10 Stephen,
brimming with God’s grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among
the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some
men from the meeting place whose membership was made up of freed slaves,
Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some others from Cilicia and Asia, went up
against him trying to argue him down. But they were no match for his
wisdom and spirit when he spoke.
11 So in secret they bribed men to lie: “We heard him cursing Moses and God.”12-14 That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council. They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: “This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God’s Law. We even heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would tear this place down and throw out all the customs Moses gave us.”
15 As
all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found
they couldn’t take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an
angel!
God
has survived all of the perversions that humans have made of God's
love, justice and peace. Most of those perversions have been a result
of fear and an inability to trust in God's promises as told by true
believers and prophets. Many of those who rise against God fear the
loss of personal power or perhaps economic gain. Many cannot trust God
to work out major issues and feel the need to save themselves only to
fall in the folly of their plans. God worshipers threaten the
conventional wisdom and the common ways of doing things. God worshipers
have no fear because fear has been replaced by the radical trust in God
to make all things right.
Pray
Pray
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