Aletheia Church, Providence Ri

Saul seemed like the least likely person to become a disciple of Jesus. Not only was his story transformed by Jesus, but it built up the entire church at the time.

After taking the gospel to Samaria, God sends Philip to a desert road to speak to one man. The identity of this man shows us something about God’s heart for his mission and for the nations.

In Acts 8, the gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem. The first place it goes is very unexpected—Samaria. Will it work in Samaria? Can it overcome 900 years of bad blood?

Jesus knew Lazarus would die and yet chose to wait to do something about it. Why? He had something important in store for Lazarus’s sisters, as well as for those around the family. In this sermon, Jonathan Cothron explores what this amazing story means for our lives today.

Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000 appears in all four Gospel accounts. However, in John’s account, the people who get fed miss what the sign signifies. When they find Jesus again, he tells them what the sign truly meant.

When Jesus heals the man at the pool of Bethesda, he asks him, “Do you want to be healed?” Why does Jesus ask him this question and what does it mean for our lives?

Matthew and Luke introduce us to Jesus by telling us the details surrounding his birth. John introduces us to Jesus by calling him “the Word.” In this sermon we see how this links to the promise in the Bible of a prophet like Moses, and why this is really good news.

What comes to mind when you hear the word priest? Jesus is the promised Priest who comes to gather a kingdom of priests. In this sermon we look at what it means to be a priest and what that means for our lives as followers of Jesus.

Jesus’ arrival is the fulfillment of a promise—a promise made throughout the entire Bible. In this sermon, we go all the way back to Genesis to show the first facet of the promise—the promised Son who will crush the head of the snake.

The event that catapults the gospel of Jesus outside of Jerusalem is the martyrdom of Stephen. What does the death of Stephen teach modern-day witnesses? That the gospel is a saving truth, but it’s not a safe truth.

Shortly before describing how the gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem, Luke gives a snapshot of a problem in the church, and it’s a problem that’s cultural in nature. If the church is going to take the gospel to the Gentiles, how will they respond to this small crisis within the church?

Acts 5:41 is a bizarre verse. It says that the apostle rejoiced because they had been dishonored. In this sermon, we explore how that’s possible and what it means for modern-day witnesses of Jesus.

The story of the death of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 can feel unnerving. Why did Luke include this story in his history of the early church? The story exposes an internal threat to the church and what God does to prevent it.

So far in Acts, the story’s been smooth sailing. But in chapter four, the disciples encounter their first problem in the form of opposition. Spirit-empowered witnesses will face opposition, but facing opposition the right way will mean really good news.

When 3,000+ people were added to the group of disciples on Pentecost, what would happen? Chaos? In-fighting? Instead, we get a picture of the church that’s beautiful and completely different than anything else around.

When Jesus said that the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, what did he mean? We see on Pentecost that one of the things power meant was boldness to proclaim the gospel. That same power is available to followers of Jesus today.

Today we’re starting a long journey through the book of Acts. Acts tells the story of the church in its early days and the spread of the good news about Jesus. The first scene from Acts shows us that the same power that the church had back then is available to us today.

In America, we spend more on self-help content than any other nation in the world. Yet we’re told that we’re fine just as we are. How does someone really change? In this sermon, we explore what makes for true change.

Grace is the thing that makes Christianity different from every other belief system. In Ephesians 2, Paul paints a sharp contrast between what people get apart from Jesus and what he offers to those he saves.

The Christian faith isn’t based on a feeling but on a fact of history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this sermon, we look at just how trustworthy that historical moment is and what it means for those who believe it.