Courage, Conviction, and Costly Discipleship
September 20, 2026 Roughly twenty years after Pentecost, Paul and Barnabas returned to the very city that had just tried to kill them. That kind of courage is what this message is really about, and it raises a vital question for every believer: what does genuine, fruit-bearing discipleship actually look like? After being stoned and left for dead in Lystra, Paul recovered and went back. He went back to strengthen new believers, establish church leadership through prayer and fasting, and build something that would last. That commitment to depth over numbers shaped everything the early church did. Larry, reflects on his third quarter of life, connects that ancient courage to present-day church challenges. He addresses twenty years of drift in American evangelical churches toward cultural compromise, including the issue of women pastors (a topic he handles carefully, insisting on kindness without hostility). He draws from Acts 14:21-23 and the parable of the sower to explain why rocky soil and thorny soil believers eventually walk away, and why genuine faith always produces visible fruit. Slowly but surely, Satan offers believers a comfortable "deal" to stop engaging in spiritual battle. This message pushes back hard against that temptation.
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