Amazing Grace #3

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. (Acts 6 )

As noted yesterday, the early church was marked by Great Grace.  Luke's record gives us a few more examples of that through some of the believers who were noted followers of Jesus. Stephen was one of those examples. He was "full of grace." That means he was willingly receiving the grace God offered in Christ; he was willing to let God do in him what He could not on his own. As a result he did and said amazing things: He was used by God to perform signs and to be a great apologist for the Christian faith.  In Star Wars terms: "the Spirit was Strong in this man."  This did not happen in a snap. As noted in the verses preceding this, Stephen was one of the first men chosen to be a Deacon, serving God's people under the Apostles. The qualifications for this were high; they were to be men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom (verse 3), and Stephen is singled out as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (verse 5). In other words, he was a man who had already learned to let God's grace flow through his life, allowing Christ to take control and work through Him. He was willing to be a servant. Christ, who gives us grace is the greatest servant; we are open to receive His grace when we are willing to be his servants. Recall that Christ himself had said to His disiples:  But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, (Mark 10:43)  We need God's Grace, and to be open to receiving it requires our willingness to serve Him and one another.