Day 36 - Lost in the Mess

Week 6: Serve and Grow

Day 36: Narrow the Focus

Today’s Big Idea: Lost in the Mess

Key Verse: Acts 6:2-3

Passage of the day: Acts 6:1-7

Thoughts to consider: It is easy to get distracted from the mission. Whether for good reason or not, the mission tends to be pushed to the back burner. Then, after months or even years of problems, challenges, and the constant drumbeat of everyday life, the mission can get lost in the mess. This week’s passage shows us one of the church’s earliest challenges. It came in the form of a problem that was not inherently bad. But it did threaten to divert the attention of the twelve disciples from their primary assignment. This is where we come in. Like the seven that were chosen to serve alongside the disciples, you have the ability to do something and do it well. When there is a problem that arises within your local church, there is a call from Acts for each to help carry the load of ministry. At Hope Church, we say that “Many hands make a lite load.” It was true for the early church, just as it is true for us today. People were called to fill a need the church is supposed to keep as one of its primary emphases, care for widows. In today’s setting, single moms, or single dads, are in the same boat. They need the help and support of a community of believers to help carry some of the load. This is where the caution comes in. In our passage for today, each person helped the whole team so that each could narrow their focus. It is the responsibility of the Pastors to pastor. But nowadays, that responsibility has spread so thin that a pastor splits their time between administrating, studying, praying, setting up chairs, and taking out the garbage. So much so that many pastors lose focus on the mission and the call to shepherd. Like the early apostles, your church has people with gifts and abilities to help carry the load of the mission. Let’s pray today, as the early apostles did, for the men and women who will help carry the load of the mission. 

Here is a hint; those people are YOU.