A Church Tested

"'But you are a stubborn people, you hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spririt just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law through the angels but did not fulfill it.'

"When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God's right hand, so he declared: 'I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.'

"But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying: 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice: 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And when he had said this, he died.

"Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria."

ACTS 7:51-8:1

"Lord, do not allow us to buckle down amidst persecutions and trials,
either from within or from without."

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