About this episode

This episode explores the challenges faced by the early church and the lessons they offer for modern congregations.

May 3, 2026 When Bold Faith Meets Real Opposition Rarely does genuine faith go untested, and this sermon captures the exact moment when the early church moved from easy celebration into something far more demanding. Peter and John had just healed a forty-year-old lame beggar at the temple, only to be arrested and threatened by priests who felt their authority slipping away. What happened next is remarkable. Rather than retreating, the apostles gathered with fellow believers and prayed, not for safety, but for boldness to keep speaking. That response, that choice to ask for courage instead of comfort, defines everything about how the early church operated under pressure. What does it look like when a community chooses obedience over approval? The sermon also walks through the sobering story of Ananias and Sapphira, who sold property but secretly kept part of the proceeds while claiming to give everything. Their deception carried immediate consequences. (It is the kind of story that makes you pause mid-sentence.) God, the speaker explains, fiercely protects the purity of his church, and that protection is ultimately an act of love. Drawing from Acts as both mirror and roadmap…

More episodes of Lugoff Bible Fellowship

• SS: Dedicating Jerusalem and Living Set Apart · May 5, 2026 · 20 min
• Restoring Bold Biblical Teaching in Modern Churches · May 5, 2026 · 49 min
• SS: God's Record of Faithful Service in Jerusalem's Restoration · May 5, 2026 · 22 min

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