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Does this sound familiar? Things are going great in the ministry God has you in, or the church you go to is really flourishing then all of a sudden you’re hit with great opposition! That happened to the early church as we’ll hear today on Abounding Grace. As we turn together to Acts chapter five pastor Ed Taylor points out how great progress always brings great opposition!

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There was a wonderful unity in the early church, those who were materially blessed, shared with those who weren’t. But in the midst of this unity came hypocrisy - as a husband and wife named Ananias and Saphirra conspired to give the church the impression that they were giving all they had from the sale of a property. God disciplined them by taking their life. Today on Abounding Grace pastor Ed Taylor investigates the effect this had on the church at the time and the effect it should have on us today.

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Last time on Abounding Grace you may recall God sent a big message through the smiting of Ananias and Saphira, that hypocrisy is not to be taken lightly! Following their deaths, you might think that the church would go down in numbers and it would have a negative impact. But the exact opposite occurred. It resulted in large numbers coming to Christ and a good number of miracles too! Today pastor Ed Taylor speaks of the purity, unity and power that returns to God’s church. We’ll be in Acts five.

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On a number of occasions in the Bible we read of those who were struck down by the Lord. The passage before us describes a couple that were living a life of hypocrisy. Another way of putting it is they were giving the appearance of something they were not! This displeased the Lord greatly and He ended up taking their life as a result, sending a powerful message to those that follow!

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In Acts chapter five we’re encouraged by the generosity of Barnabas who’s giving inspired more giving. But Satan used all of this as an occasion to inspire something else. It’s then, Satan recognized, he couldn’t beat the church, so he joined it. It’s an ancient tactic he still employs today. Join us and see how God deals with hypocrisy in His Church.

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Previously on Abounding Grace you may recall our attention was on the love we’re to have as believers. But now our focus shifts to the soon return of Jesus, and you’ll see how the two are related in a moment. We’re to love like Jesus, until He returns. But in order to do this, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. He’ll help to stir love up in us.

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We’re about to continue our study of Acts called, Be the Church! There’s a lot of injustice and unfairness in the world as we know it. And when it touches us personally we have some decisions to make on how best to handle it! What do we say and do next? Today in Acts chapter four we’ll learn a thing or two from the experiences of Peter and John. Their lives were on the line, and they were told by the religious leaders not to speak the name of Jesus ever again! See how they handled it!

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Imagine being in a position where your life was on the line and you were commanded not to speak the name of Jesus ever again. How would you handle that? Today on Abounding Grace we find Peter and John in that very situation. How they handled it all will prove to be very instructive to us for those times we’re facing threats and intimidation.

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In the world today if you have an upper class background, good education and a lot of money you can go far! But you may be pleased to know, that’s not required to be used of God. We’ll learn today on Abounding Grace the Lord often uses common, ordinary people who have no formal education or money behind their name. And isn’t that refreshing and encouraging? That comes to light through a study in Acts chapter four.

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We’re making our way through Acts in a series called, "Be the Church." In your service of the Lord have you ever felt totally inadequate or maybe due to a lack of education you feel like you’re unqualified to be in ministry? Today we’ll meet a couple of apostles that were uneducated and untrained, but God used them greatly!

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