And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8 ESV)

Where do you most feel the presence of God? Is it in a specific church? Is it while singing a specific song? Is it out in nature? For the Jews of the first century that was an easy question to answer. The presence of God was located in the temple in Jerusalem. It was a monument to his grandeur and glory. It contained the holy artifacts. And it was the spot where all proper worship took place.

So you have to imagine that it was disruptive to be told it was nothing more than an edifice that would be destroyed. And that it would disappear, and with it, also how you would relate to God. But that’s exactly what Jesus said. It was of no surprise then that a charge of sedition and blasphemy was leveled against him. But what did he mean? It was a couple of years later that Stephen announced similar ideas. And it caused the same level of disruption. But before we cast stones, might we be guilty of the same thing as the first century Jews? Isn’t church where you go to be close to God?

This week we head back into Acts 6-7. We will be looking at the charges and sermon of Stephen. Take a few minutes to read through the chapter. It has a ton of connections with the Old Testament story-line. We will try and connect as many of the dots as we can. Your familiarity with the passage will help. Also, this week we will be celebrating communion together.