62 - Leadership, the Holy Spirit, and the Expansion and Persecution of the Church [B]

The focus is the expansion of the church and how it was addressed by the apostles with the Holy Spirit working behind the scenes. This was not a smooth process. In fact, it led to hostile reactions, the death of Steven and persecution from the Jewish leadership. Ultimately, it forced upon the new church a scattering which led them to do what Jesus had commanded, to be witnesses in Judea and beyond. Does the process of legitimate growth sometimes bring growing pains and difficult change?

In order to confront the problem of the inequity of distribution of aid to widows the apostles were challenged to become leaders whose skills were based on Biblical principles. What are essential leadership skills? The solution to this problem is the beginning of the idea of split roles in the church, the teaching ministry (spiritual) and the ministering to needs of the congregation (physical). In both, the key idea is service based on humility. A committee of seven was selected to minister to these physical needs. What do you think were the qualifications for those seven to minister to the physical needs of the new church?