Stephen’s speech is amazing and shows just how wise these deacons were. Again, I think many today miss how key a role deacons were/could be in the church. So many of us set the bar quite lowly for ourselves and think “I’m not aiming for elder level or church leadership level, so it’s okay to just hang here where I am at.” The problem with this thinking is that our “mark” is Jesus, we are aiming to Him! We read and learn the Bible to become more like Him. We pray following His example. We love people and live a life of worship because He modeled it for us. I could go on, but the idea here is there are no “levels” but we should be pursuing Christ with all we have. He will change us, He will make us “qualified” to serve the church. Further, even if we do not aspire to leadership in the church, we should be qualified to be so if we are chasing after Jesus.

Look at how Stephen walks through the biblical narrative and shows Christ in it all! Clearly the early church sought to share the gospel from start to finish – not just “pray a prayer and get into heaven.” They sought to give some clarity as to Jesus’ claim to being Messiah. They wanted people to know and then make up their minds.

Stephen’s speech ends in his martyrdom (witness to the point of death). This is going to be a common occurrence in Acts. However, people are still dying for their faith today. Let’s pray for those putting their life on the line today. Let’s pray that they have the courage to hold to the Gospel in the face of certain death. Let’s pray for their families and the outcomes of such deaths. Let’s pray for our own boldness that we would share the Gospel and not be afraid of the consequences.