The Power of the Faith
" we must obey God rather thanmen !" ( Acts 5:29 ) Our beautiful church wasfounded and spread in the entire world through the apostles ’ teaching andpreaching . They spoke the word of God with great determination . They announcedthe good news to everybody everywhere . As a result more people came to our LordGod and Savior Jesus Christ . However , the enemy to our human race who does notlike people to be saved stirred rulers and nations to act aggressively againstthe apostles . They started to beat and imprison our forefathers . The tortureand hardship did not stop them from completing their holy mission . As the holyfathers say the apostles bore witness to Christ and thus obtained the crowns ofmartyrdom . They did not fear death because of their great faith in Christ theKing . Saint Stephen was anotherexample of showing his great faith . He was not an apostle but just a deaconfilled
with the Holy Spirit and had a strong faith in the Lord . Through histeaching , many unbelievers turned to Christianity . Some synagogue membersaccused him of blasphemy and stoned him . So , Saint Stephen became the firstmartyr in our faith . After Saint Stephen , many of our forefathers were asked toeither forsake
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Christ the King or to be killed , they chose to take the latter . Theevil one caused ISIS to execute the believers in Libya . They were beheaded on abeach along the Mediterranean Sea . The reason they were killed was for theirfaith and their love and obedience to the Lord Almighty . International newsreported that the 21 Coptic Christianswho were shown being beheaded in a horrific video by ISIS militants in Libyawere reportedly whispering the name of Jesus as their heads were being sliced fromtheir bodies . Their faith kept them strong to the last breath . May theirholy blessings be with us all . Amen