Acts 6:8

Plain English Version

God helped Stephen to be good to everybody, and he gave Stephen the power to do great things, to show people that God was great.

Cross References

John 4:48

Jesus said to him, “If I just talk to you people, you don’t believe me. You only believe me if you see me do something powerful.”

Acts 6:10

But God’s Holy Spirit helped Stephen to think properly and gave him the right words to say. His words were so strong that those men couldn’t win any argument.

Acts 6:15

All the men in the Jewish Leaders Council looked carefully at Stephen, and they saw that his face was shining, just like the face of one of God’s angel messengers.

Acts 6:3

So, friends, you pick 7 of your own men to do that job. They can give the money and food to the widows. You have to pick men that other people say are good men. They have to be men that God’s Holy Spirit controls properly, and they have to be men that always think properly. We will let those men take over that work. They will give money and food to the widows,

Acts 6:5

All the Christians agreed with those 12 men. So they picked Stephen. He was a man that really trusted God, and that God’s Holy Spirit controlled properly. And they picked Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas. Nicolas was from a city called Antioch. He was not born a Jew, but he turned to God and started to follow the Jewish ceremonies, and after that, he believed in Jesus.

Acts 7:55

But the Holy Spirit controlled Stephen. He looked up into the sky, and he saw God there, shining very bright, and he saw Jesus standing at God’s right-hand side.

Acts 8:6

God gave Philip a lot of power. A lot of people saw him do powerful things, and they listened to him, and they thought carefully about his message.

Ephesians 4:11

And Jesus Christ gives these special gifts to his people, so that they can help other people in the church. These gifts are the powers he gives to Christians. He gave some of his people the power to be his special workers, and he sent them out to other people to tell them his good news. And he gave other Christians the power to tell God’s messages to people. And he gave some of them the power to help other people to believe in Jesus. And he gave some Christians the power to be pastors, to look after Christians and teach them God’s way. God gave all these powers to his people to get them ready, so that they can work together for him. God works like that, so that his people get stronger, and so that more people join his family. We are like the body of Jesus Christ here on earth, and he wants that body to get bigger and stronger.

1 Timothy 3:13

If church helpers do their job properly, everybody will say that they are good people, and God will be happy with them too. Then they will not be too frightened to tell anybody that they believe in Jesus Christ.