After a selection of spiritual songs on the theme of mercy and grace were sung, Mick Quirk talked about maintaining spiritual fitness and compared it to training for running the marathon.

This took place last Sunday evening in the Avenue Centre, when the pastor, Rev. Peter Richmond, talked about Stephen, one of the first deacons chosen to give food to the widows.

As a result of his preaching (the forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus Christ) and the miracles that marked his ministry, he was brought before the Jewish authorities and falsely accused of speaking against the law and the prophets. His response was a reverent, Bible-based argument. He used the very scriptures he was being accused of rejecting.

He didn't 'mince words,' however. He told them Israel had rejected the Messiah. Their bodies were circumcised but their hearts were elsewhere. They thought it was enough to have the law, but the forgot the need to obey it.

Then, as Stephen saw the glory of God in Heaven, and his face shone like an angel, it was all too much for them and they stoned him to death in their anger - the first time they had blood directly on their own hands.

Stephen had not tried to avoid trouble, and even while he was being stoned, he prayed for forgiveness for his attackers. As a result of his death, the church was scattered and many more non-Jews were able to hear the good news about Jesus. It was also a chance for Saul, the persecutor of Christians who later became the Apostle Paul, to have a change of heart.

This Sunday's service is at the Avenue Centre, Greenhill Avenue, Tenby, at 6 pm. Please telephone 01646 681805 or visit http://www.hesed.co.uk">www.hesed.co.uk for more details.