Little Country Church on the edge of town

Do do do do do do

People coming every day from miles around

For meetings and for Sunday school

And it's very plain to see

It's not the way it used to be.

Welcome to the Word for today, featuring the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel Movement.

This radio program is a chapter-by-ch by chapter verse by verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of the word for today, Pastor Chuck continues his message,

Stephen's defense as we pick up in Acts chapter 7 verse 1.

And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. Let's turn tonight to Acts

Chapter 7. In the early church, when a dispute arose among the Grecians, that is, those Jews of the

Grecian culture.

They were actually Jews, but they had followed the Grecian culture,

which was a universal culture as the result of Alexander the Great's conquest of the world.

He left little pockets of Greek culture in the major areas.

And in Jerusalem, there were many who were no longer kosher, no longer following the Hebrew culture,

but had adopted the Grecian culture, though they were still Jews.

They felt that their widows were being slighted when the church was doling out its welfare program. And so they complained to the apostles who said,

let us appoint seven men that are of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom,

to take care of this ministry of administering the church's welfare

in order that we might give ourselves continually to fasting and prayer.

...