A look at Acts 4:32-5:11 and the price of authentic Christianity
What’s the difference between a church that changes the world and a church that’s just playing church? Between spiritual power that turns communities upside down and religious activity that merely keeps people busy?
These aren’t comfortable questions, but they’re essential ones—especially when we compare the early church’s impact to our modern reality.
This past Sunday, Greg Churchley delivered a challenging message from Acts 4:5-31 that confronted us with a fundamental question every believer must answer: When human authority conflicts with God’s authority, where will we stand?
The scene Greg painted was intimidating. Peter and John had healed a lame beggar and preached the resurrection of Jesus in the temple. Now they stood in the center of a room surrounded by every person of power in Jerusalem—the entire Sanhedrin, the high priest, the scribes, the elders. This wasn’t a casual conversation. This was the equivalent of being called to testify before Congress, except these men held both civil and religious power over Israel.
Their question cut to the heart of the matter: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”
It’s the same question that echoes through all of human history when sinful humanity encounters God’s truth. As Greg pointed out, this is the question behind the serpent’s hiss in Genesis 3: “Has God really said?” It’s the question the Pharisees asked when Jesus cleared the temple. It’s always been about authority.
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This blog post is based on the sermon “To Bless You” preached on September 28, 2025.
Listen to the full message on SoundCloud for complete context and biblical exposition.
A Reflection on Acts 3 and the Healing at the Beautiful Gate
Every year at Thanksgiving, my oldest child and I make pies together. It’s become such a beloved tradition that we now make two pies to satisfy our growing family. These aren’t health-conscious pies—they’re full sugar, utterly delicious creations. But imagine if we made them with every ingredient except the sugar. The entire character of the pie would change. We wouldn’t need to make two because nobody would ask for seconds.
Sometimes we do the same thing with the gospel message.
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📖 Listen to the Full Message: This blog post is based on the sermon “Continually Devoted” from Acts 2:41-47, preached on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Listen to the complete message on SoundCloud →
When we look into the mirror of God’s Word, what do we see reflected back? This question becomes particularly challenging when we examine Acts 2:41-47, which describes the early church immediately following Pentecost. What we find there is both inspiring and convicting—a picture of devotion that makes many of us squirm in our seats.
An 8-Week Journey from Fear to Faithful Witness
Did you know that 95% of Christians have never led anyone to Christ? This statistic hasn’t changed in two decades. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans identifying as Christian has dropped from 92% in 1972 to just 64% in 2020—and it’s projected to fall below 50% by 2070.
These aren’t just numbers. They represent souls who need to hear the gospel and believers who feel unequipped to share it.
That’s why we created “Out of the Fire”—an 8-week evangelism training that addresses the real barriers keeping Christians from sharing their faith. This isn’t about guilt or pressure. It’s about equipping you with biblical methods, practical tools, and the confidence to faithfully proclaim the gospel in any situation.
Whether you’ve never shared your faith or you’ve been witnessing for years, this series will challenge, encourage, and equip you for more effective evangelism.
This blog post is based on a sermon delivered on September 14, 2025. Listen to the full audio here.
When Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost to address the crowd gathered in Jerusalem, he delivered one of history’s most powerful and effective sermons. In a single message, about 3,000 people came to faith in Christ. What made his proclamation so compelling? More importantly, what can we learn from it for our own gospel witness today?
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This article is based on a sermon delivered on September 7, 2025. Experience the complete message with all its passion and detail by listening to the full audio recording.
If you had to pick the four most important moments in human history, what would they be? While your list might differ from mine, here’s what I’d carve into that metaphorical mountain: the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, and Pentecost. That fourth one might surprise you, but the events of Acts 2:1-13 fundamentally transformed how God works through His people in the world.
What if the secret to spiritual fruitfulness isn’t doing more, but doing less with greater focus?
In Acts 1:12-26, we find the early church in a moment of waiting. Jesus has ascended to heaven, leaving His followers with a clear command: wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, then be My witnesses to the ends of the earth. What they do next offers a masterclass in spiritual prioritization that challenges our modern tendency to pile our plates high with endless activities.
The book of Acts isn’t just ancient history—it’s the blueprint for a movement that reached across 2,000 years to bring the Gospel to us today.
📖 Listen to the full sermon: Sunday, August 24th – “Witnesses” (Acts 1:1-11)
Have you ever wondered why Christianity survived when so many other movements from the first century disappeared into the dust of history? The answer lies in a remarkable 40-day period between Jesus’s resurrection and His ascension to heaven—and the instructions He gave that would change the world forever.
A year-long journey through the Gospel of John concludes with a deeply personal question that changes everything.
The modern message often stops at “believe.”
After a year of studying the Gospel of John at our church, this truth became crystal clear: Christianity isn’t just about intellectual agreement with certain facts about Jesus. It’s about following Him—really following Him—wherever that path leads.
Howell Bible Church 