Acts 6:1-15 [NLT]But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”
5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9 But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11 So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
I love Martin Luther’s explanation to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.” He asks, What does this mean? Then he answers: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.
He then asks, How does God’s kingdom come? God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.
God’s kingdom comes. His message of salvation and the reign and rule of Jesus is spreading and will continue to do so until the end of time. We are evidence of that reality as God’s Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts and brings life and hope to us. We see evidence as God’s Holy Spirit works in the lives of others to change hearts and eternal trajectories. We see evidence of that as God moves people to jettison their own selfish needs in favor of serving others. We see evidence of God’s kingdom coming as people who lose loved ones do not lose hope and rejoice in God’s promises and faithfulness here and now and anticipate the perfect joy in the life of the world to come.
The early Christians saw God’s kingdom come as the Word of the Lord grew and the 120 became the 3000. The 3000 became 5000 believers. And here even the priests were being converted to faith in Jesus. God was on the move.
To some extent this seems to be a lesson in the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Maybe there is someone in your life who is dedicated to being very far from God, rejecting Jesus, and wanting nothing to do with his reign and rule. Perhaps they are dedicated to an entirely different religion. In that case, I encourage you to pray with me, “Thy kingdom come.” Let the reign and rule of Jesus take ever deeper root in my heart and may it also take root in the hearts of those far from him. The latter part of that happens when we embrace Jesus’ reign and rule, his grace and forgiveness, love and faithfulness more fully in our hearts, and are emboldened to share that witness with those far from God.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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