Sunday, April 14, 2013

Reflections on Stephen



Our lesson this week comes from Acts, Chapters 6:1-7:2a and 7:44-60.

In this reading we hear the story of Stephen. Stephen is the first martyr in the church, dying because of his belief in Jesus as the Son of God. But before he was put to death he was selected as a leader to help care for those in need.

What was happening was that the early church was going through some growing pains. They kept gaining more and more followers and the apostles were spread pretty thin. So they selected some people to help care for those in need. Stephen was one of the ones selected for this task.

The story of Stephen reminds me of the diversity of gifts we are all given. Some are blessed to preach and teach, some to serve others, some to sing, some to write, some to comfort, and the list goes on and on.

The fact is we are all blessed with different gifts, so how can we put our gifts to use to further the Gospel message?

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