Church Fights

THE FIRST CHURCH CONFLICT

The first conflict in the church concerned the distribution of food to widows.   In Acts 6:1-7, there were a group of Hellenistic Jews whose complaints drew the notice of the church leaders. They had to restructure the ministry so that the disenfranchised groups could get adequate representation and service. Here the precedent was set for church conflict to be solved. In Acts 6:2, “the Twelve gathered all the disciples together”[2], presented the dilemma, and involved the Hellenistic Jews, who felt discounted, in the rectification of the problem by allowing them to select certain individuals who they trusted to handle the distribution of food. They choose men who had evidence of being filled with the Spirit; in so doing, they were seeking the counsel of God in their judgment. The apostles then certified those who were selected with prayer and the laying on of hands showing their support for the choices of the Hellenists. This problem was not solved by one person, by one apostle, or even by a subgroup within the larger assembly. It was solved by the group of disciples in discourse and qualified by the church leadership.

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[1] Raposa, W.. An evaluation of the historical reliability of Acts based on Lucian's "How to Write History". Ph.D. diss., Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available from http://www.proquest.com (publication number AAT 3411357; accessed November 23, 2010).

[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), Ac 6:2.. All scriptures are quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted.‖

Weakness

Times of weakness come and times of weakness go. The most important thing to remember is that our strength is not what we feel. Our strength is in Christ. We can do all things through Him. Our feelings deceive us, our feelings are wrong because our feelings are not as real as He is. We are not strong when we feel strong.

We are not weak when we feel weak. We are always weak, and we are always strong. We are weak in ourselves, and we are strong in Him. The heart of the matter lies in finding ourselves in Him.

God's Voice

God wants all of us to hear Him. Moses got to hear Him frequently, and we have that same opportunity. God wants us to know Him, and hearing His voice is the center of knowing Him.

Hearing from God doesn't make you schizophrenic. It's possible to hear from Him, and the truth is those people who are doubtful of the actuality of hearing from Him have a better chance of truly experiencing His voice then those who think they hear from Him all the time. Pray for and expect the real thing. Don't fake anything or make it up. If you her Him acknowledge it, and if you don't the acknowledge that and wait for the real thing.

The last thing we need are more false prophets. We need real men and women who can hear God's voice.

Ex
7:89 Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.

5 Things About His Voice

Things you have to know about God’s Voice
 
1. His Voice is Powerful
God created the world with His Voice Genesis chapter 1. He didn’t even have to use His hands
 
2. His Voice is Majestic
Jesus is the Word. Jesus is King. Therefore, the Word is King. God’s Word runs this place, and when we know it and live by it we walk in the Power of His Kingdom. (John Chapter 1)
 
3. His Voice Never Fails
Isaiah says His word never returns void, but it always does what it says it will.
 
4. His Voice Destroys His enemies
Psalm 29 says it flashes with lighting, and destroys even the biggest trees. In Revelation, John records that Jesus destroys Satan and all his army with His Word. You can’t mess with what God says.
 
5. His Voice is Full of Glory
That’s another way for saying God’s Voice is awesome. It’s amazing, and it show’s God’s amazing-ness. For reasons, see above. (Psalm 29)
 

We are to declare the glory of the Lord. The Voice of the Lord is powerful, majestic and glorious.

Following His Voice

In Acts, Paul walked everywhere. Distances were great. It is recorded in the book that he walked over 500 miles before being given clear direction of where he was going. That means he was walking for around 25 days before he knew where he was going.

He knew God said to go, and he went. God spoke through natural and supernatural means.This is the definition of walking by faith. Paul had every excuse to stop. Walking that far was arduous and costly. Paul's companions followed him. That takes a lot of faith and commitment too.

In Acts 16:9, Paul has a dream where a man calls him to Macedonia. He gets there and is greeted by women. Paul was not deterred. He recognized the voice of God. He was following the leading of Jesus.

How would we respond to this? If I have a dream about a man, I would expect to see a man. If I didn't I would think I missed. Somehow, Paul was shaken. His faith was strong. He kept going. He never stopped.

Sometimes when we hear God it doesn't always work out like we think it will. But, if we trust Him it will be ok. And, though the leading of the Spirit may not be as often as we'd like it, or as clear as we expect. God is leading us, and we will be victorious.

The Blood of Jesus

Leviticus says the life is in the blood. Jesus gave us communion as a way to remember His blood. Jesus wants us to feed on His life.

Blood does everything. It feeds us, heals us, keeps us warm--it does everything. There is nothing more valuable to a person than their blood. Jesus gave all that He is for us. He let us blood run for us. He gave us all of Himself. Communion is a way to remember Jesus life, and spiritually feed on Him.