Stephen was held in high regard in the early days of the Christian church. Luke tells us Stephen was "a man full of God's grace and power" who "did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people" (Acts 6:8, NIV).

Stephen is trying to get through to people who have hardened their hearts against Christ. So he takes them back in...

Peter and the other apostles now knew precisely what their purpose in life was.

As they told the not-so-friendly Sanhedrin, Jesus is their "Prince and Savior." He had called them to repentance and given them forgiveness for all their sins. They had been privileged to see Jesus crucified and then resurrected.

There was only one...

Peter and John had healed a crippled man at the temple in Jerusalem. This gentleman was over 40 and had been crippled since birth. And everyone knew him well because he had been a fixture at the temple gate.

The Jewish rulers, elders and teachers of the law were not happy about this. They thought they had stamped out this Christianity "...

Church comes in for some pretty tough criticism at times. And to an extent, it's probably understandable. The hard knocks and the accusations are not always without some basis in the facts.

But church can be beautiful. Very beautiful.

Luke gives us a peek into the life of the very first church that sprang into existence in...

What’s impoverishing you these days? What’s making you feel needy, or captive?

When I think of these questions, I can’t help but be reminded of our Resilience and Recovery Ministry at CrossWalk. This ministry has been a huge blessing to our congregation.

And I think I know why.

As David says here in Psalm 69, all...