Ministers of Prayer and the Word

Listened to a sermon this morning by J.D. Walt. He was speaking on authority--the kind of authority that is the combination of spiritual and political (meaning among people, but not government). He mentioned Acts 6, where the Twelve set aside seven to keep the widows from being overlooked when food was distributed. The Twelve do this so as to continue ministering in prayer and the word. While at times pastors can be tempted to follow this example, Walt relayed the message he had heard in an earlier sermon: While only one of the Twelve, Peter, is later mentioned in Acts, two of the seven come up, Stephen and Philip. Walt used it to illustrate the old saying for preachers, "If you're not among the people six days a week, you won't be with them on the seventh."