HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

For quite a few years I taught in the Bible College at our church. One of the classes that I taught for at least five years was the Book of Acts. I learned a lot while teaching that class, and I’m grateful I did it. In Acts, there are so many amazing people whose life and accomplishments are recorded in it, but there is one who has always stood out to me. His name is Phillip and you find him come up at different points throughout the entire book (Acts 6, Acts 8, and Acts 21).

As I have meditated on Philip and the moments of his life that are recorded, I don’t think they are random. I actually think that these were strategic moments in his life and because of the sovereignty of God, they were recorded in scripture so that you and I could learn from them. With that said, over the next three posts I am going to focus on these times that we see Phillip in scripture, and as we do I believe that if we apply what we learn from his life, we will become better dads. 

In Acts 6 we see the early church experiencing explosive growth, and with that came some growing pains. One of the issues that arose was the outreach to the widows of their community. Now the Jewish way of taking care of the poor (specifically widows) was that you always took care of your own. It was not the government or church’s responsibility to take care of your family, it was your responsibility. With that said, for the widows who did not have family to take care of them, the church would assume responsibility for helping them. As the church grew, there came an increase in the number of widows that needed help and it seemed as though the Jewish widows were getting preferential treatment over the converted Jewish widows. 

The Apostles' answer to this problem was to empower seven men to oversee the feeding of this group of widows. These couldn’t just be any men though, Acts describes the type of men that the Apostles were looking for in Acts 6:3, “And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom…” Now in the natural, you would think that essentially overseeing a food program is not that big of a deal or honor but it was to the apostles and so they needed the right type of men. Phillip was one of those men that were chosen. He was a good man, he was well respected, He was full of the Holy Spirit, and he was full of wisdom, and what do we see this incredible man of God doing? Serving tables to widows. 

I think this is such an important moment for us to consider. If you don’t much of Acts, you wouldn’t know that in a few chapters, you will see this same Phillip become a traveling minister where people would be healed and an entire city would hear the message of Jesus. Philip would actually pioneer the gospel going to a group of people that no one thought would ever be saved. Philip was a great man, and yet he got his start serving widows at his church. Dad, I believe that you have a great call on your life. I believe that there is something strategic and important that God has for you to do, but I also believe that the journey to greatness begins with the serving of others. 

Jesus said that as well, He said that if you want to be the greatest then you have to learn how to serve. You’re a man and a dad and that means you are called to lead, but the goal is not to look for opportunities to lead but rather to look for opportunities to serve. Those are strategic moments for you Dad. They help form and shape who you are, which is necessary for what God has for you. We can’t look at moments to serve as beneath us or not worthy of our time, rather we must see them as necessary to the development of our character and leadership. What if you started to consistently serve in your local church? Maybe it’s helping in the parking lot or in the children’s ministry, maybe it’s helping people find a seat or holding a camera. Whatever it is, begin to inject moments of serving in your week and watch what God does in and through you. Also, this week, read Acts 6 and allow it to challenge you and your viewpoint of serving.

We’ll talk Acts 8 next week…