God’s Church doesn’t have a Mission, as much as God’s Mission has a Church The greatest church ever had problems Acts 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. A healthy church is an organized organism Acts 6:5b – …and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip… Acts 6:7 – 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 The early church had a culture of priests Acts 6:13-14 – And they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” There’s a longing about our belonging Acts 7:51 - You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Acts 8:1a, 5 – And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Acts 7:56 – And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.