Be Still And Know

Acts 6:1 But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. If you have ever been part of a church – or indeed any other organisation – you will know exactly what is meant by “rumblings of discontent”! They are an exhausting but inevitable part of life. On this occasion, the problem was a practical one, but it was clearly causing great unhappiness. The church in Jerusalem was composed of Jews from different backgrounds. Some of them had always lived in the Jerusalem area and spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, but there were others who were from neighbouring countries and largely spoke Greek. Some of the latter had come to live in Jerusalem towards the end of their lives, were far from their families and so were particularly vulnerable. The response of the apostles gives us a good model as to how to handle rumblings of disc