Recent Sermons

Accused of blasphemy against God and Moses, as well as speaking against the Temple and the law, Stephen launched into the longest discourse recorded in the book of Acts. Stephen affirms his faith in God, respect for Moses and the law, and the truth of the presence of God as he recounts the history of Israel from Abraham to the Babylonian captivity.

What makes the story of Stephen so powerful? He only appears in two chapters of the book of Acts. He was not an apostle. Very little is known about his life. His ministry was short-lived. Yet, he was a man of outstanding character, bold for Christ, filled with the Spirit and made and impact for Jesus Christ.

Three words that our Lord used in relationship to propagating the good news with His disciples. Those three words outline a biblical approach to Muslim evangelism.

Things were going well in the early church. Members were being added to the church. Disciples were growing in Christ. The believers were unified and caring for one another. In the midst of all of the good things that were happening, there were real attacks on the church. The church was persecuted by the Jewish religious authorities, and it continued to grow. The church was attacked by sin an deceit from within. God dealt quickly with that sin and the church continued to grow. In Acts 6, complaints and discontent attack the church from within. Yet even this problem will be dealt with in this passage and the church will continue to go forward.

When the ministry of the church is moving in the right direction, when the members of the church desire to serve Christ and others, there will be problems and opposition from within at times – i.e. Ananias and Sapphira. Not only will there be opposition from within the church, but there will be opposition from without as well. When it comes to sharing Jesus and serving him, what does it take to stop you?

Following a time of great advancement and positive things happening in the early church, the problems of chapter five surface. When things seem to be going well, there will always be attacks on the church, sometimes even from within the church as this attack demonstrates.