"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."
Stephen 1
Lessons from Stephen – the ScripturesBrothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham. Acts 7:2
I was recently asked to preach in my church about Stephen, the first Christian martyr. While most of us are not endangering our lives by following Jesus, there is much that we can learn from him
Stephen was clearly an outstanding man. He is described as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” and “a man full of God’s grace and power”. 26 December is the feast of Saint Stephen, the day on which Stephen is remembered.
Stephen’s ministry was so powerful that his opponents despaired of victory in discussion and resorted to plots and violence, getting people to lie. There are several parallels to the trial of Jesus with false witnesses involved. When the death sentence was carried out, in another parallel to the death of Jesus, Stephen prayed for his persecutors’ forgiveness.
When he was on trial, Stephen, as is recorded in Acts 7:1-52, gives a potted history of the Old Testament – Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Solomon to show how Jesus was God’s messiah.
The way Stephen developed his argument showed that he was steeped and rooted in Scripture It showed that he had spent hours and hours reading and studying the Scriptures, taking his values from God’s word, centering his life on it. He had been immersed in Scripture, and was so in love with God and so motivated by love for God that he was longing for the Court to recognize the truth. He was a proto-type of John Bunyan’s character in Pilgrim’s Progress, Mr. Valiant-for-truth.
There is a lesson for us here to let the word of God dwell in us and fill us. Let us be people who read the Bible daily and let it speak to us and let it change our perspectives.
Athletes understand the importance of discipline and hard work. Sometimes we need to apply the same approach to our Christian life. We don’t just train when we feel like it. Prayer and Bible reading don’t just happen in our busy lives; they need to be scheduled. As we spend more time with God in the Bible and in prayer, we are more ready to face the challenges that our sporting life throws at us.
You can watch my sermon on Stephen.(Starts after 20 minutes 45 seconds)