Deacons | Bob's boy's Christianity blog

English: page of the Acts of the Apostles from the last edition of the bible originally translated by Johann Dietenberger, published in Augsburg 1776 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So the phenomenal growth that the church had experienced, had become a double-edged sword, where the apostles were concerned. Growth and the salvation of men and women was indeed what they were commanded to achieve by The Lord Himself. But such great success in doing so in such a short time had resulted in numbers of people who had inevitably had problems and special needs. And in such large numbers, managing those needs had become an impossible task for the twelve who had been “called out” as messengers.

So they told the disciples to pick out seven men ” of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom” for them to appoint. Today, we refer to these men as deacons in the church. The word deacon comes from a Greek word for servant, and that is exactly what they do — they serve the church. They are not elected, neither are they “officials” of the church. Their role is a direct reflection of Jesus’ command to the apostles to serve, which he gave them in John 13:1-17 (the washing of their feet).

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility. When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Please check out my Books and my Facebook Author’s Page. You will find the links at this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books“.

Paul escaping Damascus in a basket

We are continuing in Acts this week with the selection of seven “table servants” – one of which is Stephen. Then we will read of his arrest, his appearance before the Sanhedrin, and his historic, eloquent, and aptly accusatory speech to them – a moving and unforgettable account of the bravery of this man. Then, we will move to chapter 8 to find Saul of Tarsus ravaging the church, as he persecutes and even brings about the death of more Christians – deeds that he would very soon come to great sorrow for, as he encounters the Lord. His life is forever changed, and we are all the better for it. But this week will also give us Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch; and Peter will have an important revelation. What a week in God’s word!

Summing Up

Each weekend, I am now posting a small PDF of one week of chapter summaries (on the website’s “Summaries” page), current to the beginning of the previous week. I have posted the summary for Week 38 (September Week 3) of the schedule I am following. This short PDF document contains condensed comments about Matthew 27, 28, John 20, 21, and Luke 24, with hyperlinks to the ESV version of each chapter for listening or reading, and joins the summaries for other weeks already posted there.

/Bob’s boy

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image © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog. All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility. When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com. For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.