Presentation Transcript
Tabitha or Dorcas :Tabitha or Dorcas An inhabitant of Joppa
Slide 2:Joppa is a town on the Mediterranean about 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
In that town lived a woman named Tabitha whose name in the Greek language is translated Dorcas and means Gazelle.
She was a member of the very early church and the only female to be specifically called a disciple in scripture.
Tabitha’s story is told in just six verses Acts 9:36-42. It is a powerful story of faith, love, almsgiving, miracles, conversions and putting the Beatitudes into practice.
After her conversion Tabitha spent her life caring for the poor and hungry.
Tabitha’s story opens with her death in Joppa. St. Peter is sent for and is in the village of Lydda about 11 miles away.
When he arrives he is brought to an upper room where Tabitha is being prepared for burial.
Slide 3:Upon entering the room he is greeted by a number of weeping widows who tell of how Tabitha would sew tunics and cloaks to be given to the poor.
In her mercy she had taken care of the poor and cared for her neighbors as much as she could.
Peter told the widows to leave and he knelt down next to Tabitha to pray.
When he had finished praying he turned to her and said,
Slide 4:“Tabitha, rise up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.
He then called the widows back into the room and showed them the miracle that God had given them, she was alive!
As you can imagine the widows were delighted and told all who would listen what had happened.
Many who heard the story were converted.
Consider for a moment that Tabitha was a model of Christian charity and mercy.
Slide 5:She was reaching out to others with the same compassion that Jesus had demonstrated.
In order to be a disciple one needs to learn the lessons of Christianity, and once learned, make the lessons part of your life by following Tabitha’s example and put your faith into action.
“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:25 RSVCE).”
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