In chapter 4 we learned that all Christians “had everything in common… and great grace was upon them all…. There was not a needy person among them” (4:32-34).

Acts 6:1-2
The church was growing exponentially! What began as 11 apostles became tens of thousands of believers in just a few weeks. In the beginning they focused on preaching truth and integrating new believers. Now they needed to address some practical matters. They had formed a structured program for distributing common goods to those in need, but Hellenistic Jewish widows - whose mother tongue was Greek rather than Hebrew, and who normally lived far from Jerusalem - were not receiving adequate attention.

It is understandable that the Hebrew-speaking Jews might neglect the Greek-speaking Jews. People are normally more drawn to and comfortable with people of their own language and culture. So the Apostles invited all believers to a church business meeting for instruction on how to handle this situation.

Acts 6:3-6
The Apostles recognized that the work of the church needed to be spread out. I get the sense that Bible studies and sermons were continually available, and the Apostles were uniquely qualified to carry out the ministry of the Word. That freed up Greek-speaking believers to minister to the practical needs of Greek-speaking widows in the daily distribution. 

Waiting tables and distributing supplies to widows may seem like jobs anyone could do without special qualifications. The Apostles disagreed. This tactically simple ministry had high requirements - men who were reputable, full of the Spirit, and wise. That's because this wasn't a voluntary non-profit job. It was a ministry. Nor did they hold a "Volunteer Sunday" with special "response cards" in the bulletins where people could "sign up" for what they "wanted" to "volunteer" for. They were doing the work of God, not the work of the church. So the leaders chose Christians who were spiritually mature to care for these widows.

In two congregations I've been part of in the last decade, the “Praise Team” hired some local, highly accomplished musicians to be a part of the Sunday music worship. Yes, unbelievers were hired to lead worship because of their extraordinary musical talent. I challenged one of the elders about this. He explained, “It draws more people in, and you never know who might be saved because of that – even the musicians themselves." 

Do I need to break down what is so wrong with all of that? But those two churches were not unique. Hiring secular musicians to lead worship has become commonplace because, in fact, great music does draw and keep new people. But the end doesn't justify the means.

Acts 6:3-6
In contrast to such professional qualifications, the qualified the ministers who would serve tables by whether they were of good repute, full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom.

There was no “fill out the card in your bulletin if you would like to volunteer to serve the widows.” There was certainly no thought of hiring this ministry out to a professional organization, a secular non-profit, or the government as we often do today. For that matter, there doesn't appear to be even a professional minister involved... just people filled with the Holy Spirit caring for each other. The table servers were “carefully chosen” according to their spiritual maturity. This was a ministry, not a program.

So seven reputable, wise, Spirit-filled men were chosen to serve tables. Each was a Hellenistic Jew (all of their names are Greek). 

These seven weren’t just told to "go take care of those windows over there." The apostles laid their hands on these men and prayed for their ministry before sending them out.

The Word of God continued to spread and the church continued to grow. This growth of the kingdom was so rapid because it was exponential. The same could happen today with far greater numbers if we were faithful. I no longer live in Orrville, OH, but when I did I worked out the following:

• Orrville’s Population: ~9,000 people
• Number of Churches in Orrville: 25
• Avg. # of Christians per Orrville church: 100

If those numbers are accurate (they are very close), that means Orrville has 2500 active Christians and 6500 non-Christians.

Divide 6500÷2500 and you’ll see that each Christian only needs to reach 2.6 people with the gospel. The entire population could theoretically be reached with the gospel in 1 day! Wherever you live, I’m guessing the math will be similar.

Acts 6:7-8
There's a lot I want to say about Stephen, but I’ll restrain myself until we get into Chapter 7. What matters right now is that Stephen was a Spirit-filled preacher  and miracle worker who served in the distribution to widows.

Acts 6:9-10
Stephen’s preaching stirred up controversy among a number of people. Cyrenians were from Africa, Alexandrians were from Egypt, and Cilicians were from Asia Minor. The “Synagogue of Freemen” might have been one of 3 groups:

1. A synagogue made up of Jews who were freed slaves of Rome;
2. A Synagogue made up of Romans who were freed slaves Jews;
3. A synagogue of Jews who lived and worshipped in a place in Africa called Libertina (which means “freed”)

Whomever they were, these groups debated Stephen, but their human wisdom and logic didn’t stand a chance against a believer who was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 6:11-15
"If you can’t outwit him, outnumber him." That’s the tactic of people who lack enough integrity to become wise. in character, Stephen’s outwitted opponents stirred up a riot.  My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Hood, called this playing “Let’s play you and him fight.”

Stephen's his face glowed like an angel (remember Moses?).  Everything they accused him of was a lie, but God used man’s evil to accomplish His will. In this case, as we’ll see, this situation propelled the gospel into all the world, resulting in you and me hearing the gospel and being saved!