Aletheia Church, Providence Ri

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.

In Mark 3, Jesus has an interesting response to his mom and siblings. He identifies his family members as “those who do the will of God.” In this final sermon of our Family Matters series, Pastor Quentin Bunnell explains what it means for people to “do the will of God” and so be part of God’s family.

In Ephesians 5, Paul says that marriage refers to Christ and the church. In other words, Christ’s love for his church is the paradigm for a godly marriage. Also, when we experience Christ’s love for us, it’s the very thing that empowers godly marriages.

Parents have a responsibility to disciple their kids. But how? In Deuteronomy 6, Moses explains how parents teach their children—through the things they love and the stories they tell.

We’re all children, and that means that when the Bible says, “Honor your father and mother,” it’s a message for all of us. In this sermon, we explore what it means to honor your parents and where we find the power to do it.

What makes for a godly family? In this sermon, Pastor Quentin goes back to Genesis 2 to unpack what a whole and holy family looks like.

In this final sermon of our Crazy Faith series, we’re looking at how faith works in mission. In order to take up the mission of God to make disciples of all nations, we need faith, and Paul shows us where to find it.

The author of Hebrews calls Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. In Gethsemane, Jesus held onto faith through prayer, and sometimes the only way to put faith into practice in the face of pain is prayer.

What does it look like to live by faith in interruption? When Mary experienced a life-changing interruption, her response was one of faith. We can learn about having faith in interruption by looking at her story.

When Mordecai and Esther faced a murky, uncertain situation, they got through it with faith. The way they found their confidence is the same way we can find confidence in our murky situations.

The story of Joshua and Jericho is one of the most famous in the Bible. It’s also a story of faith in practice. But why did God design Israel’s victory in such a crazy way? By looking at the story, we’ll see why.

Ruth’s story is a little different from the other characters in this series. It might not seem like Ruth’s story is crazy, but her faith is as strong as the others. In this sermon, Pastor Quentin Bunnell shows how Ruth is able to have crazy faith in dark times.

When David had an opportunity to take his destiny into his own hands, he refused. How did David know what was an opportunity from the Lord as opposed to an opportunity to refuse? Faith.