Lugoff Bible Fellowship
Season 2026
by Larry Fraser
May 31, 2026 Rarely does a single life capture the full weight of Christian conviction, but Stephen's story does exactly that. This teaching digs into Acts 6:8-14 and what it really means to be prepared, genuinely prepared, to defend your faith in a world that increasingly pushes back against it. Stephen, described as "full of grace and power," performed miracles and debated religious leaders who ultimately couldn't counter his Spirit-filled arguments. So instead, they fabricated charges of blasphemy against Moses and God. (The irony here is striking: his accusers had elevated Moses almost to divine status, letting tradition completely overshadow living faith.) What does it actually look like to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart? Larry draws on Matthew 7, 2 Corinthians 5, and a memorable encounter with apologist Votie Bauckham in 2004 to unpack what faithful, bold witness requires today. Wisely, Larry distinguishes knowledge from wisdom, reminding us that wisdom is the practical ability to apply biblical truth with grace. Stephen had both. His commitment cost him his life, yet his faithfulness helped spark Paul's conversion. Every believer carries spiritual gifts and a real responsibility to use them.
June 7, 2026 Boldly speaking truth, even when it costs everything, is the heartbeat of this powerful exploration of Stephen's martyrdom and what it means to truly follow Jesus. From 120 disciples in the upper room, the early church exploded through Pentecost into something that stopped counting converts. Yet as the church faces its first real persecution, the message gets harder and more personal. Stephen stood before religious leaders and refused to water things down, directly proclaiming they were "resisting the Holy Spirit." That kind of courage is rare today. (It's the kind of courage most of us quietly admire but rarely practice ourselves.) Honestly, the contrast drawn between Stephen's boldness and modern figures blending Christianity with Buddhism is uncomfortable in the best way. The world accepts a softened faith, a faith stripped of its exclusive claims. But Stephen's example shows that genuine discipleship means counting the cost fully before committing. Could you actually die for Christ? Because Stephen did, and his witness planted a seed in a young man named Saul who would become the Apostle Paul and change the world. True discipleship demands surrender, not just belief. The ripple effects of faithful obedience reach further than we ever see.
June, 14, 2026 Taking Ground: Why the Church Must Stop Playing Defense Boldly, the church was never meant to hide behind walls. This sermon opens with a striking image: the D-Day invasion as a picture of what the Christian mission should actually look like, and it reframes everything about how believers engage with culture. Jeff draws from Matthew 16 to make a case that Jesus called the church to advance against the gates of Hades, not retreat into comfortable religious bunkers. Gates, he explains, represent the weakest points of walls (not the strongest), which means the church is called to push through, not hunker down. What does it actually mean to be on a rescue mission rather than a defensive one? Drawing on Matthew 10, the Jeff explains that Jesus warned his disciples the gospel would bring division, not peace, because truth is inherently disruptive to the status quo. By citing the Apostle Paul's direct confrontations in Galatians, Jeff illustrates that real love sometimes demands difficult conversations rather than comfortable agreement. Like salt irritating a wound, truth heals even when it stings. Reflecting on his 2008 return from Iraq, Jeff reminds listeners that faithfully completing your specific role matters, whether you're a counselor, worship leader, or preacher.
June 21, 2026 Rarely does a single act of faithfulness reveal its full impact in the moment. Stephen's martyrdom seemed like a defeat, yet it planted seeds in the heart of his greatest enemy, a persecutor named Saul who would eventually become the Apostle Paul, one of Christianity's most devoted servants willing to die for the very faith he once violently opposed. What does it mean to remain faithful when you cannot see the results of your spiritual work? Deeply rooted in Acts chapter 8, this message explores how Stephen's bold proclamation of the gospel, even unto death, accomplished far more than anyone could see at the time. According to Isaiah 55:11, God's word never returns empty. Stephen's Christ-like forgiveness while being stoned planted seeds of conviction that ultimately transformed Saul's heart (and consequently, the entire early church). Faithfully, Larry also challenges modern Christianity's drift toward prosperity-focused preaching, contrasting it with early believers who scattered not to hide but to keep spreading the gospel with remarkable joy despite severe persecution. True conversion, he reminds us, begins with recognizing sin, not expecting earthly comfort.
June 28, 2026 Remarkably, one of the most powerful missionary movements in history began not with a strategy but with suffering. Acts 8:5-40 tells the story of Philip, the first named missionary in the Bible, whose bold outreach to despised Samaritans and a searching Ethiopian eunuch reveals something profound about how God works through unlikely circumstances. Persecution scattered early believers beyond Jerusalem, and instead of silencing the gospel, it spread it further. Philip arrives in Samaria (a place Jews genuinely despised) and sees miracles, genuine conversions, and even a fascinating confrontation with Simon the Sorcerer, a man who wanted spiritual power as a product he could purchase and resell. Peter's rebuke was clear and immediate. Could the contrast between Simon and the Ethiopian eunuch be any sharper? Simon sought personal gain. The eunuch, returning from Jerusalem having read Isaiah's prophecy about a lamb led to slaughter, responded with wholehearted commitment and immediately asked to be baptized. Then there is Adrian Dupree's story, a child baptized simply because her parents felt it was "time," which painfully illustrates how faith can become transactional rather than transformative. The gospel was never meant to be a "come and see" attraction. It is a "go and tell" commission.
July 5, 2026 Saul of Tarsus approved of Stephen's execution and hunted Christians with violent zeal. Then a blinding light stopped him cold on the road to Damascus, and everything changed. That moment, recorded in Acts chapter 9, might be the most dramatic evidence of what genuine salvation actually looks like. What does it really mean to be transformed by Christ, or are most of us just vaccinated against Him? Deeply explored here is the theological reality that Christ identifies so personally with His church that persecuting believers is literally persecuting Jesus Himself. Saul discovered this the hard way. For three days after his encounter, blinded and broken, he refused all food and drink, simply praying. That kind of devastation and grief over sin is what real repentance looks like. Larry draws a sharp contrast with modern American Christianity (and the statistics about church-raised teenagers abandoning faith in college are genuinely sobering). Billy Graham's "vaccinated version of Jesus" analogy cuts deep here. Enough exposure to inoculate, not enough to truly transform. Saul became Paul. Authentic salvation always produces measurable life change, and justification through faith launches an ongoing sanctification that never really stops.
July 12, 2026 Rarely does a single life transformation serve as such a compelling argument for the Christian faith as Saul's dramatic conversion on the Damascus road. After spending approximately three years in Arabia being equipped by God, Saul returned to boldly proclaim the very gospel he once violently opposed. When Jewish leaders plotted his death, unnamed disciples risked their own safety to lower him over the city wall in a basket. Can you imagine the courage that took? Those believers never saw the full fruit of their faithfulness, yet their quiet obedience preserved one of history's most influential ministries. Barnabas stands out as a model worth studying closely. When the Jerusalem disciples feared Saul, Barnabas stepped forward and vouched for his genuine conversion, advocating for him when no one else would. Barnabas believed in people during crucial moments, and that kind of encouragement is rare, genuinely uncommon, in most churches today. Larry also examines Hebrews 10:23-25 (a passage commonly misunderstood and frequently misapplied), clarifying that it calls believers to hold fast to faith in Christ's sacrifice and to strengthen one another in love and good works.
July 19, 2026 Boldly praying for the impossible changed everything for the early church, and it might just change everything for us too. In Acts 9:32-43, Peter heals a paralyzed man named Aeneas and then raises Tabitha from the dead, and these aren't small moments. These miracles rippled outward, drawing entire communities toward faith. What's striking is that Peter didn't seek recognition, he simply served and gave all the glory to Christ. He stayed active during seasons of peace rather than becoming comfortable and complacent, remaining engaged rather than settling into ease. (Charles Spurgeon once called prayer "the heating apparatus" of his church, and that image is hard to shake.) Gradually, Larry connects these ancient events to a sobering challenge for today: the American church enjoys remarkable freedom compared to persecuted believers worldwide, yet somehow lacks the spiritual power it should naturally possess. Can we honestly say we are praying with that kind of devotion and expectation?
July 26, 26 What happens when the God of the universe decides to pursue someone who doesn't even know Him yet? In Acts chapter 10, Cornelius, a Roman centurion commanding one hundred soldiers, becomes a man caught in the middle of one of the most surprising moments in all of early Christian history. Cornelius was devout, generous, and prayerful (which is remarkable given he wasn't yet a believer). When an angel appeared and called his name, it terrified him. Still, his prayers and charitable acts had already come before God, and everything that followed would reshape Christianity forever. His story represents a genuine turning point, a pivotal shift that expanded the faith beyond Jewish roots into the entire Gentile world. Could you be the person God is preparing right now to reach someone unexpected? Larry walks through Peter's vision, the breaking of cultural barriers, and a personal story about a high school friend named Jeff to show how God prepares both the messenger and the listener. Deeply practical and genuinely moving, this message challenges believers to stay available, stay prayerful, and trust that God, not human effort, ultimately prepares hearts for salvation.
August 2, 2026 Rarely does a single chapter reveal so much about how God disrupts our comfortable traditions to do something entirely new. In this deep dive into Acts 11, Larry unpacks the early church's first major recorded conflict and what it teaches us about grace, obedience, and genuine faith. When Peter returned to Jerusalem after sharing the gospel with Gentiles, Jewish converts immediately confronted him. Quietly and without defensiveness, Peter explained his vision three times before he himself understood God's new direction. That kind of humble, gracious response is something worth sitting with. What does it actually look like to extend the same grace we've received to others? Barnabas (known simply as an encourager) later traveled to Antioch, retrieved Saul from Tarsus, and together they taught believers for a full year. It was there that followers were first called Christians, a community shaped by genuine transformation rather than empty attendance. Larry draws on a vivid metaphor of endless syrup to picture God's boundless grace. He also shares his uncle's experience at Cutler Hammer as a real, grounded example of faithful witness in everyday life.