The story of Acts continues this week with the recounting of Stephen’s vision of Jesus being welcomed into heaven and his subsequent execution by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy. These events trigger a great persecution of the early church and scattering of the believers from Jerusalem. However as Chris explains, this is not a defeat! It is stage 1 of God’s great plan to start spreading the message of the Gospel beyond Judea. Philip, Peter and John travel to Samaria where the Holy Spirit breaks out in a powerful way. How are we to reflect the power of the Spirit in our lives? And how did all of these events affect a young Pharisee named Saul?
Andy leads the rest of the service, speaking about his experience of God in recent travels whilst Mike leads our sung worship.