Sermon – Maintaining a Mission-Minded Focus
Scripture Lesson: Acts 6:1-7 “But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” 5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them. 7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.”
Introduction: After dealing deception within, the church in Jerusalem must deal with discrimination. In the fast-growing church, makeup of Hebrew speaking Jews and Greek speaking Jews, the Greek speaking Jews felt neglected and overlooked. Ultimately, the apostles are responsible, because they had oversight of the ministry and administered the common fund (4:34-35). They have more work than they can handle alone. Since they are Hebrews, it is easy for them to be unaware that the Greek-speaking widows are being neglected. As soon as they learn that the immigrant widows are being neglected, they immediately take steps to correct the problem. They charged the congregation to choose seven men for this special work.” (6:2-6)
When the neglect comes to light, the Twelve gather the church together and tell the members that the apostles can no longer manage the food distribution program. They simply lack the time to do it right. The apostles are too occupied with evangelistic work to “wait on tables”. They ask the group to choose seven men to handle the daily distribution. The apostles will turn the responsibility of the “soup kitchen” over to them. Maintaining a mission-minded focus can help any ministry stay on course. Organizations of all sizes, religious and secular, acknowledge the importance of mission directives, setting goal and strategic planning to focus their time, energy, money, and human resources to accomplish the mission. Maintaining a mission-minded focus allowed the apostle to guide the Church through its present difficulties.
Satan was launching an attack against the leadership of the church to hinder the growth and productivity of the early church. In doing so, he wanted to distract the disciples from their most important task of prayer and ministry of the word. Maintaining a mission-minded focus helped the apostle stay on point. How they spent their time, resources and energy would be crucial in supporting the ministry and mission for this new Church. Jesus taught the importance of the ministry of prayer and faithfulness to God’s Word in order to hear God’s voice and lead God’s people.
It’s no secret that believers have so many things going on in their lives at any given time. There are a lot of good things that make demands on your time, resources, and energy. Dealing with personal responsibilities, family issues, employee expectations, job security, unexpected, long lasting pandemic effects, it’s easy to become overwhelmed as we try to find the best balance. Our lives are all full of things needing to be accomplished. The spiritual, mental, economic, social, and vocational demands are fighting for our attention. All maybe be genuine, but all are not created equal. Some things are more important than others and require more focus. Those things are more important, and more mission driven. That’s where maintaining a mission-minded focus comes in.
As believers who glorify God, His mission should always take that number one spot in our lives. Regardless of what’s going on in our lives or what has happened to our schedule, we must stay on point. Many are experiencing seasons in which our schedules, routines, and plans are in a constant state of change. In cultural moments like these, we need to realize that even if the events of our lives are changing, our priorities can remain firmly in place. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6. When he talked about the anxieties of the heart, he said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, And all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
As we’re adjusting to the changes of life, it’s important that we keep our priorities straight. When we keep those priorities straight, we can experience life the way God intended. With every decision we make, we need to make sure that maintain a mission-minded focus. If we allow our decisions distract our focus from God’s purpose, our mission diminishes, opportunities loss and we need to rethink our priorities. We all need to do a priority check every now and then. We need to consider how much time and attention we are giving to each area of our life. If our priorities aren’t lining up the way they should be, don’t be discouraged, simply refocus. God wants to do a work in us and through us. Let’s return to prayer and the Word, asking the Lord to help us realign our lives with his goals. When our priorities look like God’s priorities, we will find that our lives are balanced in the best way.
Establishing and maintaining a mission-minded focus was the secret to the disciples staying on course and of the success of the early church. There is no way to avoid the challenges in the life of a fast-growing church. Challenges will come. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit can lead us safely through the challenges of life and ministry. The early church needed the Holy Spirit's guidance as they faced the challenges of ministry. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the early church had successfully overcome outside persecution and inside deception. Now, the Holy Spirit must guide the church in resolving inner conflict among its members. Any growing church will face new challenges. We must always remember that growth brings changes, changes bring challenges and unresolved challenges become problems. These Spirit filled leaders were able to keep the church focused, united and on mission. The people came together to address the conflict which resulted in more cooperation and additional church growth.
1. Maintaining a Mission-Minded Focus Means Resolving Inner Conflict. “But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.”
These church leaders had an open-door policy. The membership had the liberty to bring their concerns forward. The leader addressed the conflict openly. Satan was attempting to use conflict to divide and conquer. Satan’s efforts are often successful when the church allows unresolved conflicts to distract them from their focus. When the focus is lost, the mission is abandoned. All of Satan's efforts to hinder the church through persecution failed. Instead of hindering the Church, the church membership increased and grew. Real growth demands change. It is impossible to experience real growth without change. Change has a way of creating challenges, conflict, and confusion. The early church experienced all three. The church attracted persons from all walks of life. Although, the church still primarily made up of Jewish Christians, there were both Hebrew speaking Jews of Palestine region and Greek speaking Jew who had lived in other parts of the Roman Empire within the congregation.
Perhaps, Greek speaking Jews, being strangers in Palestine, felt that they were being overlooked and underserved. They were probably not as well-known as the Hebrew speaking Jews from the region. We have no reason to believe that the neglect was intentional. Mistakes will occur, and if not rectified they may create ill will and division. The leadership recognized that this conflict could become a major distraction. They chose to address the conflict head on. When internal challenges arise in the church, decisions must be made, and actions must be taken to quickly resolve the matter. What persecution and hypocrisy had failed to do, Satan attempts to accomplish through internal conflict. Conflict within the church is one of Satan's choice weapons to bring disharmony and disunity in the church. This conflict seems to have stemmed from perceived favoritism within the church. It was probably unintentional and unrealized. Anytime some are favored, others will feel slighted. The quickest way for Satan to hinder the work of God is to create conflict which involves actual or perceived favoritism. For an Old Testament example, when Joseph was favored by Jacob, his father, he was despised by his brothers. One of man’s greatest struggles is to resist that feeling of being overlooked or unappreciated. Remember the more Joseph dreamed of exaltation, the more his brothers despised him. They hated him for his coat of many colors, his dreams, his father’s favor, and his confidence in God. Jacob never addressed the conflict and conflict turned into a problem.
A New Testament example is found in Luke 15, when the prodigal son returned home, his father ran to meet him, showered him with kisses, killed the fatted calf, put a ring on his finger and clothed him in the best robe and threw him a party. His elder brother, who had not transgressed at anytime, felt slighted, became angry and resentful and would not go in. The father went out and immediately addressed the conflict. This father was open to resolving the conflict. Maintaining a mission-minded focus means resolving inner conflict quickly and openly.
2. Maintaining a Mission-Minded Focus Means Showing Concern for All. “And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” 5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).”
The Apostle showed concern for all. The feelings of the Greek speaking Jews were real. People may not remember what you said, but they always remember how it made them feel. Today, the church still has two groups within her, one who feels favored and one who feels slighted. Whenever the church fails to address the issue, confusion, conflict and disunity may occur. The Greek speaking Jews approached the disciples with the problem. The disciples immediately addressed the problem. This conflict could be addressed because the church had created a climate of openness and inclusion. Each member felt appreciated, and that their opinion mattered, and they were valued. The disciples appeal to the church for assistance in this matter. The leadership understood the power of conflict and its ability to short circuit momentum and sap energy from the Church.
Conflict is an old tactic of the enemy to divide and conquer. Satan used the same tactic in the life of Job. Job was a perfect and upright man who worshipped God daily. God allowed Satan to tempt Job. Satan attacked every external thing in Job's life, his flocks, herds, and material blessing. Then Satan attacked Job's family, his children, and his wife. Finally, Satan attacks Job himself, first his body, his mind, and his integrity. The enemy was allowed to try Job’s inner strength and fortitude. Could Job maintain his focus under all this pressure? Will Job curse God and die? Will Job throw in the towel and quit? Or will he maintain his integrity. Job maintained his integrity and his focus and said, "Though he slay me yet will I trust him."
These disciples had confidently dealt with the storms of persecution against the church, but now they must deal with resolving inner conflict without losing their focus. Long after we overcome outside pressure, we may find ourselves dealing with inner conflict. Satan’s attack intensified as the number of disciples were multiplied. When the will of God was being done and the purpose of God was being fulfilled, expect some murmuring. The church that began on one accord, with all things common, one spirit, one heart and one mind, had now replaced the voice of praise with the sound of murmuring. But the Apostles showed a high level of concern for all. The challenges were met, and the conflict resolved, and the church increased. if people feel free to bring their concerns forward, show a high level of concern without criticism or complaint. Everyone is important and valuable in the kingdom. Maintaining a mission-minded focus means resolving inner conflict quickly and openly by showing concern for all and valuing all, but also by delegating authority to others.
3. Maintaining a Mission-Minded Focus Means Delegating Authority.
“These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them. So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.”
The day of Pentecost has changed the landscape at Jerusalem. Many Jews had been converted to the Christian faith and remained in Jerusalem without any means to meet their basic needs. The disciples had begun a voluntary feeding program to ensure the basic needs of the congregation were met. They used the freewill gifts to minister to the widows and other needy persons. Charity programs can easily move from receiving assistance to demanding their rights. We must be careful to maintain an attitude of gratitude even when we feel slighted. Their concerns were real and needed to be addressed. Conflicts will not resolve themselves. Unresolved issues will create problems that cause distractions. The apostles recognized this conflict as an attack of Satan to distract the church from its mission. If Satan can distract the apostles, the church will lose its focus and eventually lose ground. If the apostles neglect their God given assignment of prayer and preaching the gospel to wait on tables, the mission will be aborted. The Apostles delegated this assignment to others. Suppose the apostles had abandoned their post and began serving tables, what would become of the church and its mission? If the Apostles are overloaded with menial task, their prayer life and time in the word of God will suffer. When prayer and the word are neglected the work of the church suffers. How did they address the problems? The Apostles delegated the authority to others. The church accepted the assignment and did the work.
The Apostles saw this challenge as an opportunity to involve more people in the work of ministry. Others within the church were selected by the church for the necessary ministry of serving tables. The Apostle set the parameters and qualifications for the selection. Then they encouraged the church to choose seven men from among them, men of good report and full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom and honesty to set over this work. The Greek speaking Jews complained, noticed seven men with Greek names were selected and presented to be set apart for this special work. The apostles prayed, laying hands on them and sent them forth to do the work.
If the Church is to grow in ministry and outreach, members must do more than complain and point out the problems. The members must become a part of the solution. The apostles celebrated their selection and eagerly sent them to do the work. The proper delegation of authority allowed the leadership to give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The apostles stayed focus on their mission. The church growth was enhanced. The kingdom of God was more established and continued to expand.
Ministers of Gospel should not and must not neglect their duty for any reason. It is nice to feed the hungry, and meet the physical needs of the community, but not at the expense of neglecting prayer and ministry of the word. The church can only increase as the minster’s prayer life and study of the word of God increases. These disciples realized that they were not called to do ministry alone, they didn’t have to change the world single handedly. The body has many members given to assist them in this great work. If Spirit empowered leaders faithfully touch others with the anointing of God, the anointing will flow until the movement can be felt around the world. Don't ever feel like your part is unimportant or insignificant, with everyone doing their part, the mission can be accomplished. The disciples made a conscious decision to stay focused. "And the saying pleased the whole multitude." Yet even when the multitude is not pleased, leaders must stay focused. The multitude of our text was pleased because they understood the mission of the church. They understood the assignment of the apostles, so they glad accepted their delegated authority and carry out their responsibility. Maintaining a mission-minded focus means resolving inner conflict quickly and openly by showing concern for all and valuing all, by delegating authority and sharing the load of ministry. One final point is to strive for unity.
4. Maintaining a Mission-Minded Focus Means Striving for Unity.
Why didn't the early church suffer a church split? Why didn't the Greek speaking Jews leave and start their own Church? After all, they felt slighted and overlooked. They seem to have really understood the mission of the Church. They would not dare do anything to hinder the church from fulfilling its mission and answering its call. Many people today had felt slighted and left their church family after becoming bitter and resentful. They have become angry with the church and even angry with God. Some despise God’s favor of others. Others abandon their ministry gift to the church, without considering the impact on the church. They simply forget about fulfilling their calling and accomplishing their kingdom mission. They decide to live outside the will of God. I don’t know if many believers ever really understood the mission of the church.
There was harmony and progress after the conflict was resolved. The selected seven eventually became preachers of the gospel and greatly aided the leadership in the work. Not only vast multitudes of common people, but many priests and religious leader became obedient to the faith. Never underestimate the value of unity and harmony. Misunderstandings may arise among the most loving and devoted followers of the Lord Jesus, yet If it is addressed quickly and effectively, hurts can be healed. Cool heads, honest hearts, active love, and godly wisdom causes unity to prevail in the church. This is a beautiful model for resolving conflicts. Those in the majority and well-favored group should model love, kindness, and inclusiveness to others. We should never sow discord and division in God’s church. We dare not hinder the mission of God’s church for personal reasons. Those who feel slighted, in the minority, must seek resolution without lusting for power. The lust of power and position can be so strong that division and misunderstandings become inevitable. It can be avoided.
The Apostles demonstrated a great measure of trust and confidence in those selected by the Christian community to serve over the temporal affairs of the church. The word of God increased, and many priests were added to the faith. When ministers of the gospel are wholly and earnestly devoted to their appropriate duties and faithfully assisted by brethren in the church who are holy, wise, able, and active, unity will prevail, and the church will prosper and grow. Notice many were added to the church, many common people, along with the educated, intelligent, and influential people embraced the faith and joined the cause. The influence of a unified church will be unlimited. Maintaining a mission-minded focus is the secret to staying on target, on task and on the mission. Amen.
