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Stepping
Up to the Challenge
September
22, 2002
In his message, Pastor
Nicky Joya cited the example of Stephen in rising to three inspiring
challenges of Christian life.
Quoting verses from
chapters 6 to 8 of the book of Acts, Pastor Nicky said that
Christians today are also called by God to rise up to the same
challenges and emulate Stephen's servant-hood attitude, courage to
proclaim the truth, preparedness in sharing the Gospel message and
trust in the Lord.
Stephen rose to
the challenge of service. When called to the task of
"waiting on tables," Stephen had no aversion to it. Truly,
he was a spirit-filled servant qualified for the awesome task. He
didn't mind performing tasks others would consider menial or
degrading, nor did he mind serving in the background. Stephen was
presented with the opportunity to serve and he did so without
hesitation.
Stephen rose to
the challenge of sharing the Gospel. It is one thing to
preach. It is another to do so in the face of persecution and death.
Stephen preached "in season and out of season." He was
obedient to the Lord in doing what God wanted him to do regardless of
the situation and the consequences.
Stephen rose to
the challenge of sacrifice. Acts 6:9-14 records the anger
of the mob towards the ministry of Stephen. One could sense the
intense rage of the people as they beat the man and dragged him to
their leaders in order to throw false accusations at him. But Luke
(writer of the book of Acts) beautifully describes the serenity of
Stephen's countenance - "And fixing their gaze on him, all who
were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an
angel." (Acts 6:15).
The reward for
Stephen is unparalleled. Before he died, Stephen had seen the
glory of God. "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up
to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right
hand of God. 'Look' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God'" (Acts 7:55-56)
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