STEPHEN—THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR
Do you know
Who the first
Christian martyr was
His name was Stephen
In those days
Some of the Jewish women
Were being overlooked
In the distribution of the food
The apostles gathered
And chose seven men
To oversee the food distribution
One of those men
Was Stephen
Stephen was a man
Full of God’s grace and spirit
And performed many miraculous signs
Some opposition
Arose to Stephen
But since
They couldn’t fairly battle Stephen
Because of his wisdom and spirit
They persuaded some men to lie
And say—Stephen was blaspheming
About God and Moses
Stephen then testified
To the whole Sanhedrin
About the Lord’s covenant through people
Like Abraham and Moses
Stephen said to the Sanhedrin,
“You always resist the Holy Spirit”
And about Christ,
“Was there ever a prophet
Your fathers did not persecute
They even killed those
Who predicted the coming
Of the Righteous One
And now you have
Betrayed and murdered him
-You have received the law
That was put into effect through angels
But have NOT obeyed it” Acts
7:52 & 53
The religious community
Became furious at him
And gnashed their teeth at him
But Stephen remained full of the Holy Spirit
And said,
“Look I see heaven open
And the Son of Man
Standing at the right hand of God” Acts 7:56
At this
They began yelling at him-rushed him
And began stoning him
Stephen prayed,
“Lord Jesus-receive my spirit
Lord-do NOT hold this sin
Against them”
Acts 7:59-60
At this-he died
Dear Lord-we pray
That when people lie about us
And betray us
During the ordinary course of our lives
That we have
The FAITH of Saint Stephen
And clutch even tighter to you
And have the courage
To live that faith
Just as your humble servant-Saint Stephen
In Jesus ‘name-we pray
Robert P. Wallman
5-16-12
MISC. WITNESS 6-19-14
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