the word

1. TITLE: Building the Church of
disciples: The Word of God
ELVIS AARON AMENYITOR

2. ACTS 6:1-7
 6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews[a] among them complained
against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So
the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of
the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who
are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our
attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also
Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They
presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of
priests became obedient to the faith.

3. Scripture Acts 6:1-7
It is good to see that the gospel message of
Christianity was causing the church to grow and the
number of disciples were increasing.

4. Who is a Disciple ?
 A disciple is, basically, a pupil, a student of a
teacher.

5. Disciples
The Jews considered themselves to be
disciples of Moses (John 9:28). 28 They reviled him and said,
“You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

6. Disciples
Christians are disciples of Christ. That is, we
learn of Jesus. We seek to learn from what
He taught and did and we strive to be like
Him..

7. . Discussions:
 The Twelve recognized their proper priorities in the ministry
of the Word of God and prayer (cf. v. 4)

8. THE MINISTRY OF TEACHING THE WORD OF
GOD?
The ministry of preaching and teaching the
word of God is a ministry that is designated
as being of very high priority.

9. THE WORD OF GOD
You should understand the importance of
hearing the preaching and teaching of
the word of God.
It is in the Word that God speaks to the
minister, to the flock, and to the world.

10. The Word of God ?
The phrase, Word of God is used of both
the Bible and the person of Jesus.

11. The word of God
– The Word of God is inspired: “All scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness,” (2 Tim. 3:16).
The Word of God is truth: “all thy commandments are truth,” (Psalm
119:151).
Jesus makes free: ” . . . If you abide in My word, then you are truly
disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free,” (John 8:32).

12. The word of God
Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (John
1:1, 14).
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us

13. 1. The Word of God is a means of grace, by which God
blesses us.
 "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the
word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to
give you an inheritance among all them which are
sanctified" (Acts 20:32).
 It benefits you to hear it,
 It teaches us;
 It unites us one to another,
 It reminds us that we are each subject to the word of God,

14. 2. Subject to Authority of the word
When you voluntarily sit and, by faith, listen to
the word of God preached, you are voluntarily
subjecting yourself to its authority.

15. 3. The work of Christ on the cross
You do this because of the work of Christ on
the cross.
It is because of what Jesus has done there that
you can rightfully sit under godly preaching,
learn from it, and apply it, and it not be wasted.

16. To preach God’s word is a serious matter.
is not to be taken lightly by the preacher.
The preaching of the word of God IS the word
of God, said Martin Luther.

17. 1 COR 4:1-2
"Let a man so account of us, as of the
ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries [gospel, Word] of God. Moreover it
is required in stewards, that a man be found
faithful" (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

18. (2 Cor. 4:1-2).
 "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have
received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God
deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:1-2).

19. (2 Tim. 2:15).
 "Study to show thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needed not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

20. (1 Tim. 4:15-16).
"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to
them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue
in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save
thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim. 4:15-16).

21. (Galatians 2:20).
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

22. Ministers— Church: the glorious results were
threefold.
 1. The Word of God increased as never before. The apostles were freed
to concentrate on prayer and the Word. There was a new power in their
witnessing and teaching.
 2. The church grew. Many more people were reached with the glorious
gospel.
 3. Some priests, a great number, were being reached for Christ. Note the
words, they "were obedient to the faith." They were obedient in both
receiving Christ and in following Christ. They embraced the gospel and
lived the gospel.

23. Acts 6:3
But select from among you, brethren, seven
men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of
wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this
task

24. Acts 6:3-4
The apostles mentioned three qualifications for
those who would be enlisted to serve:
 They must have a good reputation; that is, they
must be full of the Spirit and they must be full of
wisdom (cf. v. 10).

25. Acts 6:4
4 “But we will devote ourselves to
prayer, and to the ministry of the word

26. Acts 6:3-4
Selecting seven men may go back to the tradition in
Jewish communities where seven respected men
managed the public business in an official council.
By choosing these seven, the Twelve could give their
attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word (cf. v.
2).

27. Each person has different gifts.
As a whole, this church is sufficiently gifted
to expand the kingdom of God.
You each have special gifts and abilities
given to you by God.

28. 1. First, you must desire to discover your gifts.
2. Do you even want to find out what your gift is?
3. Music, teaching, helping, cleaning, technical stuff, arranging
meetings, making phone calls, washing a vehicle, preparing a
study, language translations, etc.
2. But, HOW can you, individually and as a group,
accomplish God’s will in building the church?

29. Building the church together
Maybe you might see that someone around you in this church
has a need. Is someone in the hospital? Go visit him.
Has someone just had a baby? Then you could volunteer to
bring a meal.
Perhaps someone’s car isn’t working well and they don’t have
any money. You could get together, raise a little money, and
donate it to that person.

30. Building together
The best ministry begins right where you are,
right where the need is that God has allowed
you to be aware of.

31. Building the church together
It doesn’t matter what your gift or work is. As long
as you are doing it for the glory of God. That is
why we were created, for God’s glory

32. Isaiah 43:7
Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by My name,
and whom I have created for My glory, whom I
have formed, even whom I have made.”

33. Building together
Look around and see what you can do.
Look around and see what the Lord is doing
and join him there.

34. Building together
Second, you should use your gifts in faith.
You can only do this by keeping your eyes on the
Lord.
If your eyes are on Him and others see that your
eyes are on Him, it won’t matter if you are ‘great
or not’ at what you do.

35. Building together
Use your gifts prayerfully.
God has given each of you spiritual gifts.
Since He gave them to you, you need to
ask HIM how to use them as well as WHEN
to use them.