murmuring in the early church

To murmur is to grumble, to show discontent. It is also to whisper in low tones to express displeasure; especially when a group of people realize that things are not being done the right way or they are being discriminated against.

There was discrimination among members of the early church. This came about during the distribution of food and other things. The Jews who were from Jerusalem and Palestine (Hebrews) were given special treatment while the Jews born outside Jerusalem and Palestine ( Grecian Jews or Hellenites) especially the widows, were treated differently. They were discriminated against and were not given the food and other things they requested for. As a result, the Grecian Jews murmured and complained bitterly.

EVALUATION:

1. What is murmuring?
2. Distinguish between the Hebrews and Hellenites.
3. There was ——— among the members of the early church and this was glaring among the widows of the Grecians Jews.

SUB-TOPIC 2:  SELECTION OF DEACONS

In order to solve the discrimination and partiality problem in the distribution of food and other items among the early Christians, the apostles discussed the matter. Peter made it known, that they (apostles) cannot leave the work of preaching and ministering the word of God to serve tables and supervise the distribution of food and other things. He suggested that they should choose seven men who will become deacons to supervise the distribution of food and other things, and ensure that nobody was discriminated against. This proposal pleased the whole group

Peter stated the qualities expected of the seven deacons. These qualities are listed below:

1. They should be men of good repute, i.e. men of good character.
2. They should be men of wisdom and understanding.
3. They should be men filled with the Holy Spirit.

The following men that fit into the criteria were chosen by the early Church as deacons:

Stephen,

Philip,

Prochorus,

Nicanor,

Timon,

Parmenas

Nicolas.

Due to the selection of the seven deacons, the discrimination and the grumbling in the church stopped as there was now equitable distribution of food and other things.

EVALUATION:                                                                               

1. What step was taken to solve the problem of discrimination in the early church?
2. Mention the names of the seven deacons.

Objective Questions

1. Stephen was one of the seven ………….. appointed by the church (a)apostles (b)elders (c) pastors(d) deacons(e)disciples
2. …………….. is one of the criteria for the selection of the seven deacons in the early church (a)riches (b)possession (c)tribe (d)popularity (e)good reputation
3. The main reason for the selection of deacons in the early church is that the ……………. Widows were been discriminated against in the daily distributions(a)the Hebrew (b)Arabs (c)Hellenists (d)poor (e)Nigerian
4. When disciples told the early church to select seven men for daily distribution of food to avoid partiality, they were (a)indignant (b)sober (c)discouraged (d)sad (e)pleased
5. One prominent deacon who did not limit his work to serving the tables but also preached the gospel fervently was (a)prochorus (b)Stephen (c)Nicolas (d)Nicanor (e)Timon

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Read the next topic- (1) explain the term “persecution”

(2) Mention two instances in which early church believers experienced  persecution in the Acts of the Apostles.