When the Disciples Were Increasing
August 9, 2026
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
Scripture Reading
Acts 6:7
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Discussion Questions
Where do you see God working in the church despite opposition?
When you talk with your friends and family about the church, do they seem mostly encouraged or discouraged about the church? Why?
Pastor Benjamin talked about knowing our spiritual gifts, in part, by what annoys us when we see parts of the church not working properly. How would this be helpful? How could this be unhelpful?
We’ve been talking about how no obstacle seems to stop God from building his church. That’s encouraging at the level of the church. But how should it also encourage individual believers? What similar promises do believers have in Christ at an individual level? Can you list some of them and use them in prayer?
In August, I’ll often put on a music album that came out when I was in high school, an album called “August and Everything After” by the Counting Crows. It’s a great album, but after a few listens while I exercise in August, all of a sudden I’ll be like, “Why am I so sad?” And I’ll realize it’s because I’ve been listening to good but depressing music—that’s why! Then I’ll think I should put on some Forest Frank and be happy again. I think you can understand what I’m saying even if you don’t know those musicians.
There’s a way to think about the broad church—like the whole church everywhere—and to hear all the junk that happens in all the churches and the leaders who failed and the greed and the injustices, and to hear all that on repeat and get super depressed, maybe even cynical. Maybe you even feel this in a personal way with your church experience. When you think about church, you get sad and depressed.
The book in the Bible devoted to telling the story of the church called Acts. We’re taking August to briefly study it in a series we’re calling, “More People to Love (Part II): How God Built and Is Still Building a Humble, Holy, Hungry, and Happy Church.”
Rather than playing a depressing soundtrack for a month, we mean for the series to be super encouraging—because that’s how the book is meant to be read. The author placed summary verses about the unlikely growth of the church at specific points in the book where it seemed like everything was about to fall apart. And what makes the book so encouraging is we see that it wasn’t mainly human ingenuity or human faithfulness that caused the church to thrive. It was God’s loving hand. And his hand is still working.
Let’s pray together, and we’ll look at this closer.
“Dear Heavenly Father . . .”
Last week I told a story I need to retell. About fifteen years ago another pastor sent me an email that simply read: “More people to love. Thanks, John.”
When I received it, the church I served was growing rapidly, so I created graphs and growth projections, and I sent them to the staff and elders. At that time, I was primarily viewing new people as more of a problem than a blessing. I felt the attendance line on the graph going up was also my workload. For every fifty new people, I wondered, could I really keep adding five hours to my workweek? At some point, simply trying harder wasn’t going to solve the problem of growth.
That’s when John sent his email back, just a few minutes after I sent him my email: “More people to love.” That was all it said.
When I told that story last week, I wanted to highlight the way Pastor John was ready for adventure, ready to see his story and our church’s story in light of God’s story. I think that was the right emphasis to make as we started the series.
But now, today, I go back to my statement about the “problems” created by growth. For context, in three years we went from seven hundred adults to twelve hundred. In three years we went from having only a handful of community group Bible studies to over forty. And I was the pastor tasked with leading the connection ministry.
That growth was fun. But it was starting to break things.
Last week I wanted us to feel, as John felt, the excitement of new people and the favor of God and the hope of an expanding church built by Jesus across all time and place. I wanted us to feel the joy of the promise that the church of Jesus will make God’s name great among the nations and to the ends of the earth. I wanted us to feel that excitement.
This week, I also want us to feel that it really was true that I couldn’t keep adding five hours of work for every fifty new people. Growth was, actually, a problem—a problem that forced me, as a staff pastor, to come to terms with the fact that I can’t do everything. I had to give away parts of the ministry. That was hard.
And not only did I have to give parts of the ministry away, the people of God needed to take ownership in the church and become, not consumers of ministry but the doers of ministry. And that was hard.
This is the same situation we see in Acts 6, only the scale was so much larger, and the stakes were so much higher: The leaders in Acts 6 could have struggled to give away ministry; just as the people in the church could have been content to consume ministry. And this little, fragile movement called the church could have collapsed.
But it didn’t. And we need to see why. We’ll see that by moving through the passage the way it’s presented to us. First, the problems, then the plans, and finally the results.
1. The Problems, vv. 1–2
The passage opens with the phrase “in these days.” There was a lot of growth in these days. The eleven apostles again became twelve (chapter 1). The 120 disciples became 3,000 (chapter 2). The 3,000 became 8,000 when another 5,000 were added (chapters 3–4), and that was just the men. When Acts 6 opens by saying, “in these days,” we can easily say that the number of new Christian converts was over 10,000. And that growth causes problems. Look with me at vv. 1–2.
6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
Back in chapter 2, we read that the believers shared everything with one another as those among them had needs. They just checked in on each other and helped when help was needed. Most people knew most people. You didn’t need big systems to care for people. You just said, “After work, I’m going to check on Sally.” You said, “This weekend let’s see how Joe is doing.” But then by chapters 4 and 5, when people sold fields, they would lay money at the apostles’ feet for them to oversee the distribution. I’m sure some liked it that way. But it meant that the twelve apostles were preaching and praying andproviding the practical care for the needy among ten thousand, while also going in and out of jail and recovering from beatings. Something had to give.
Thus, by chapter 6, the growth had created problems. Notice I said problems, not just problem. There is more than one problem. The first problem you noticed right away because it’s said explicitly; you saw the complaints about the distribution of food and money. But there is also the problem of who does what to solve the first problem. If we were to read between the lines a little, I suspect that some were saying it was right for the apostles to wait on the tables; that’s what servant leadership would look like, just keep working five more hours for every fifty new people. (The “vailed accusation” is a point made by John Piper in his March 17, 1991 sermon “Serving Widows, Preaching the Word, and Winning Priests” on this passage).
Let me talk for a moment about the first problem. Luke calls one group the Hellenists and the other the Hebrews. What is that about? You might be tempted to think that because Hellenist has the word “hell” in it, that Hellenist has something to do with hell. It actually has nothing to do with that. Hellenist is simply a term used to describe Greek culture and those who speak the Greek language. In this case, Hellenist would have been used to describe the Jewish people who formerly attended a Greek-speaking synagogue. The Hebrew group, conversely, spoke Aramaic, which is a Hebrew dialect.
So, in Jerusalem, which is where the early portions of the book of Acts take place, most Jewish people and most of the newly converted Christians came from the Hebrews. The smaller group—the minority group and the group who came from outside of Jerusalem—were the Hellenists, the Greek-speaking Christians.
Do you see the weight of this problem more clearly? The complaint is that the majority culture is overlooking the minorities? The Greek widows can’t hear the preaching of the gospel because their tummies are rumbling too loud. If this problem is mishandled, all the growth and all the unity of the church could evaporate in the heat of partiality.
We can see how all this happened so easily, right? I heard a pastor say something like, imagine some church prints in the bulletin the names of college graduates to celebrate the accomplishments. What happens if that spring there are some transitions on staff and volunteers, and in the shuffle they forget to include the international students? Those students would feel left out and wonder if it was intentional. Or imagine if the women’s ministry team were made up of only women who are empty nesters or have careers outside the home or are not married. When they rolled out all the classes for the fall, the women in the church who are young moms are like, I can’t do a Bible study at 8 pm on Wednesdays. Those women would feel left out and wonder if it was intentional. What if the men’s leadership team were made up of all guys with professional-type jobs and they plan a bunch of events that cost a lot of money. Of course, the leaders don’t feel like it’s a lot of money, but they didn’t stop to consider how much it seems to men in different careers. Those men would feel left out and wonder if it was intentional.
All this is bad, especially if the leadership didn’t care to make it right. And what even makes it right? There are always ways to go about fixing a problem that actually create more problems. If the apostles waited on the tables, who would preach and pray and lead? Clearly, this passage shows both word and deed are important.
So, just to state it clearly: The first problem is the charge of partiality. The second problem is how to solve the partiality without breaking something else. By the way, don’t you love the Bible’s honesty here! The Bible’s not propaganda.
I think this part of the problem is so interesting. God was powerfully working among the believers, even doing miraculous things. That’s said explicitly in v. 8: “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.” And yet, even though the miraculous power of God’s presence is among the apostles and the church to build them up, it didn’t make them something other than human. The plan couldn’t be to just make the apostles do the job, to work longer hours. The community needed a plan for the problems of growth that acknowledged their humanness, and God led them toward one.
2. The Plans, vv. 3–6
Let’s see how the church’s plan to respond to these problems. Look at verses 3–6.
3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Although they are not called this, many consider this passage the first instance of installing deacons within a church. The word deacon means servant. One pastor has said that deacons serve the church by being shock absorbers. Shock absorbers on a car are not necessarily the most eye-catching things about a car. In most cases, you can’t even see the shock absorbers unless you poke around a bit. Perhaps in some supped-up Jeep or monster truck, you can see the shocks, but otherwise, shock absorbers go about their business effectively and quietly, bringing health and stability to the vehicle. Shock absorbers protect everything else about the car, including the passengers and drivers. Deacons don’t just do tasks; they protect the fragile unity of the church.
When we look at the names in this list, we notice all the names in this list, except perhaps Philip, were Greek names. Think about that. Let that sink in. The majority of the early Christians were Hebrew-speaking. And they empower godly men from among the minority to meet the need. In fact, of the last name we read, “Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.” That means he was a Gentile who previously converted to Judaism and then converted to Christianity. So, if the other six were from the minority group, he was in the minority of the minority. But now he’s a key leader. In our context, it’s like a team of minority leaders, and one of them is a former Muslim.
The point being, the apostles gave away power in ways that were uncomfortable to them. That’s not easy to do. Oh, these leaders must have been captivated by the gospel, where they saw Jesus do that for them. Jesus gave up his rights and power for the sake of his enemies. Surely, believers now do the same for their brothers and sisters.
I’m so thankful for the many, many people who serve at our church, whether as greeters and ushers or in the nursery or in youth ministry or even those who serve formally as shock absorbers. Like the early church, we have a benevolence ministry with plans and policies and a heart for people in our community to share resources. And there’s money to give away because people like you give to that account. It’s so wonderful.
This kind of service, of people serving in their areas of gifting, doesn’t happen in every church. I remember when my brother was getting married, and I found myself sitting at my brother’s rehearsal dinner. I was newly married myself and had started the process of theological education. I was young and had so much to learn about ministry. I happened to sit at the table with the pastor who was officiating the wedding. At one point I asked him if he had any advice for me. He looked at me and said something like, “You can do everything right in pastoring, but if you can’t understand the budget and manage it and handle money well, your church won’t respect you.” Then he added something like, “If you can’t manage the books, they’ll eat you up.”
When he told me that, I remember trying not to let my face show that I thought it was the silliest advice I’d heard. Often, when twenty years of maturity and reflection happen, I think back to how I felt about pastoral ministry and all my youthful angst, and I regret my early feelings. In this case, I still feel like it’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
If I were being more charitable, I’d just say it seems more sad than silly. I mean, to a point, I get it; I realize what he’s saying. He’s saying, if a pastor has absolutely no understanding of money, and overspends and overpromises or does things that are irresponsible, then, yes, no one will respect you. That’s certainly true. When listing the character traits for a pastor-elder, it mentions his relationship to money (1 Tim. 3:1–7). And maybe this pastor had inherited a church where that was part of the church’s story, and he was responding to that need by overcompensating. I don’t know.
I suspect, however, that wasn’t the main issue. There is a part of this that I haven’t told you. In his church context, the broader denomination was in what has become a theological freefall. They are absolutely untethered from faithful gospel preaching. The word of God just isn’t that important. Sure, they were big on deeds of mercy and service and justice and loving others and being welcoming, and all the cultural buzzwords. But when preaching and the Bible lost their place, what became important was leaders who can be financially savvy and creatively keep the church afloat. This, again, makes me sad. If some leaders were called to teach the Bible, then I believe God raises up others to care for the other important aspects of a church.
For a moment, let me be practical about how you can apply this passage. What is your biggest complaint here at church? What real problems do we face? What hinders our effectiveness in reaching people with the gospel and in the maturing of Christians among us? (This is rhetorical.) Think about the problems you see. Write them on a card or in your phone and spend a week praying about them. Ask God to give you insights into the problem, why it’s hurting our church and how you can be part of the solution.
This could sound weird to say, but it’s often through our frustrations that God shows us how he has gifted us. I’m not saying all of your frustrations are of God. But hear me out. If you can walk into the building and never notice whether our grass has weeds and bald spots, if you never notice parts of the sidewalk that need to be pressure washed, if you never notice that the coffee and snacks gets put in a weird spot, if you never notice typos in the bulletin, if you never notice other Bible passages that our preachers could have mentioned but didn’t, if you never notice or care when the microphones don’t work… then that’s okay to not notice those things. But if God has made you the type of person who notices these, maybe even the type of person frustrated by these problems, then it likely means these are areas where God wants you to serve.
And if you don’t see any problems at our church, you might not actually be here. You might be here, but you’re not really here-here. And there might be a reason for that. Maybe it’s only been here a few months. Or maybe you’re not a Christian, and you’re trying to sort all of that out. That’s great. Take some time. Get to know us. Get to know Jesus. Speaking of getting to know Jesus, nothing is more important than that.
But as you stay longer, and the good news of the forgiveness of Christ lands on you more and more, and the people here become more and more your church family, then also let the problems of our community become your own problems.
3. The Results, v. 7
Look with me again at the summary in v. 7 that was read before the sermon.
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
A lot of really wonderful things are mentioned in that verse. Jesus is changing lives. Generations and family trees are changing. This verse reminds us that the problems that come with more people to love don’t necessarily mean the church is doing ministry wrong. The struggles of ministry and the blessings of God often mingle together. They did in the book of Acts, and they do here at our church right now.
And don’t miss that encouraging line about the priests. Luke writes, “and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” The fiercest of all enemies can be saved. The way Jesus builds his church is by loving outsiders until they become insiders in the power of his life and death and resurrection and the promise of his second coming.
And if this is how Jesus builds his church, if Jesus even saves priests who were so hard-hearted, it means that all the effort to reach the priests that is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and all the ministry so far in the book of Acts—the continued preaching amidst fierce opposition—was not in vain. And that’s super encouraging that nothing was wasted. Luke does not want us to miss his summary.
There’s a line from Jesus in the gospel of Matthew that should never drift too far into the background as we read the book of Acts. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples, and he tells us, that he “will build [his] church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). This is exactly what we see in Acts.
When you widen out from this passage in chapter 6 to what has come before, we see that. The persecution in chapters 2, 3, and 4, when Peter and John are beaten for Jesus, didn’t stop Jesus from building his church. When corruption plagued the church in chapter 5 when two people lied about how much they gave and tried to buy a place of prominence in the church, that didn’t stop Jesus from building the church. And when rapid growth threatened to break the unity of his church, Jesus provided a way forward.
And what we see of God doing with his church generally, Christian, you can be encouraged that he will do that with you as well. You might have persecution. You might have trials. You might get a raise and a big promotion, but that could cause challenges of a new role and growth. You might lose your job, and that causes problems. But whatever is happening, Jesus promises to draw near—if we would let him.
Pray with me as the music team returns to lead in our final songs. Let’s pray . . .
