“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,
the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked
in the daily distribution of food.” 

Acts 6:1

OBSCURE AND DULL, you may think of this passage. After an arresting headline, why choose this banal bit of early Church narrative for the eNews, for a sermon? Much more exciting stuff is there in Acts, what with all the signs and wonders. But I assert: this is as important as the rest. This was an existential moment for Jesus’s beloved community, the new and growing Church in Jerusalem. It was a moment between CHAOS and COMMUNITY. 

“Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” This was the title of Martin Luther King Junior’s final book, published in 1967, prior to his assassination in 1968. This book was not about the distribution of bread between two tiny subsets of Jews, who had formed a small religious sect in the first century AD, becoming the first generation of the Church of Jesus Christ. But King’s prophetic question for Americans of the mid-20th century, and this New Testament paragraph in Acts 6, are totally related. We, too, are in an existential moment, faced with CHAOS. We can instead, faithfully choose the hard, and rewarding struggle, to achieve COMMUNITY. This is what Jesus calls us to.

What does this require of us? It means paying attention to, listening to, and acting, on behalf of the Hellenistic Jews in the margins, who are asking for fair distribution of bread.

Young Church

  • Godly Play: Parable of the Sower
  • Big Kids: ZOOM Meeting at 11:20 am on Sunday

SERVE TOGETHER SUNDAY: JANUARY 31st

Why partner with Aurora Commons? What are the ongoing needs? To gain a better understanding of the issues faced by our unsheltered neighbors and those trying to help, listen to Outsiders, a podcast produced by KNKX.

BEYOND SUNDAY

  • Four separate Small Groups meet via ZOOM on a regular basis – “Guys Group”; “North End Moms”; “Crown Hill”; “POD-19”; email office@emmausroad.net for info
  • New Horizons Dinner – served every first Wednesday; email office@emmausroad.net for info.