I hope that by now, the cycle of Pure Church, Powerful Church, Growing Church, and Persecuted Church is quite apparent. Last week, we saw the Church survive a possible split or being thrown off task into tackling endless divisions and disputes, temptations to overlook some and overwork others, and a bit of temptation to cultivate […]
The audio link to the message “What About Stephen?” on Acts 6:8-15 can be found at http://youtu.be/riyuXTmIy_A . This message was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI on March 1, 2015 by Barbara Shafer.
The cycle we’ve seen before continues in the Acts of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles: Pure Church, Powerful Church, Growing Church, then Persecuted Church, repeat. The enemy on the outside of the Church is always easier to deal with than ones arising as division on the inside of the Church. Persecution and pressure from outside […]
Coping with Divisions in the Church (a message on Acts 6:1-7) was first preached at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI on February 22, 2015 by Barbara Shafer. You can listen to the audio on YouTube at this link.
Dear Church, let’s take our cue from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must not look at the circumstances of our world through the eyes of evil or ISIS. Rather we look up to God our Father and we live victorious in life and in death because of Jesus Christ. I see orange as […]
When we last encountered the adventures of the earliest Church, we saw the apostles thrown in prison as we moved from Pure Church to Powerful Church to Growing Church to the Persecuted Church. Yes, the disciples have been in prison, were broken out of jail by an angel and then dragged back into court, essentially, […]
Gamaliel’s Advice might be stated “Keep Calm. Carry On. Learn from History. God will not be mocked. Fighting against God is always a losing proposition.” Of course, we have not only History, but know that History is His Story, God’s story of redemption and love. This message from Acts 5:33-42 was first preached by Barbara Shafer at […]
The 2015 Lenten Devotionals entitled With Christ in the Upper Room will begin on Ash Wednesday (February 18th). If you’ve signed up to receive them on the Seminary Gal Home Page side bar, you will be receiving those automatically via email on Monday through Saturday, as well as the Sunday preaching messages during the Lent […]
Last week, we had a snow day with the big blizzard in the Midwest. So today we resume our Sunday preaching series on Acts of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles. As long as I am in announcement mode, by way of reminder, the 2015 Lenten Devotionals entitled With Christ in the Upper Room will begin […]
Last Sunday and next, I am away from my responsibilities at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine and arranged for my friend Rev. Bill Slater, a former missionary to Liberia and a blogger with an apologetics ministry, to preach in the interim. I do like to keep up with the sermon series we began back in […]
