Day Twenty

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. - Acts 6:1-7

Community evolves where lives intersect in shared responsibilities, activities, and interests. Anyone can “do life” together, but only believers experience body life: the living, breathing New Covenant organism through which God provides for His people, equips us for the work of ministry, and grows us to build the body up in love (see Ephesians 4:11-16).It’s what believers encountered in the first church, when all “were together and had all things in common…and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:44, 47). In today’s passage, we see that body life doesn’t come without problems.

As the church exploded, the apostles were busy serving tables and couldn’t focus on prayer and preaching.  Others could’ve shared these duties, but didn’t, and people were falling through the cracks. It’s the age-old 80/20 dilemma where 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. The solution for the body of Christ is 100/100: all of us need all of us to do our part according to the four D words in this passage: daily, distribution, devote, and duty.  

In Greek, the word duty implies a need-driven demand or requirement; devote means to diligently and selflessly give ourselves to meet physical and spiritual needs through Spirit-empowered gifts of grace given to us by God for the common good. In this way, God’s grace to each of us supplies what duty demands.  100 percent of us need 100 percent of us to be devoted to the daily distribution of the grace given to us (see 1 Corinthians 12:7, 22-24; Ephesians 4:7).

At Champion Forest, body life is primarily experienced in life groups, where needs become known, duties are discovered, and needs are met.  We meet these needs through teaching, encouragement, prayer, presence, meal trains, phone calls, texts, play groups, and coffees.  Other body life needs are met through administrative, relational, and support activities. The Living Word of God impacts people, disciples multiply, and many become obedient to the faith in a similar way to the community described in Acts 6.

Think of community as saying, “Come unite with me.” As God continues to grow the body of Christ at Champion Forest, people are at stake. A handful of believers can’t meet the volume of coming needs. We are all indispensable. Together, let us work hard in this way, for it truly “is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35 ESV)

‍

‍

Thanks for being part of our NEXT Devotional journey. If this resource has encouraged you, help us share it. Others can join the journey by texting DEVO to 77069 to receive the daily devotionals throughout the month of February.