Strength to Strength

On the one-year anniversary of  S2S Books , the Strength to Strength team met to discuss the latest news and updates. Sam is headed to Europe in 2025, leading a new initiate called “Kingdom Connect,” which is an effort to bring together European kingdom Christians. S2S Books is collaborating with the Salt team from Christian Aid Ministries to bring new  Salt & Light courses  to the market. Joi...

Gregory Weaver . Jesus told his Jewish audience, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” What did Jesus imply with this statement? In this book, Gregory Weaver examines how Jesus and his apostles understood the promises made to Abraham. Rediscover the historic view of the promises to Abraham, and see how dispensationalism is exposed as a modern, errant innovation....

November 23, 2024 Strength to Strength welcomed Zack Johnson to discuss truth-telling and swearing of oaths. Can the imitation of Christ truly involve oath-taking? This talk traces the evolution of oath-taking from the Old Covenant through the teachings of Jesus and James, the nuances in Paul’s writings, and the convictions of early Christians like Maximilian. It explores why James highlighted Jes...

Strength to Strength welcomed David Bercot to discuss the purpose of studying the doctrine and practice of the earliest disciples of the faith. Jude, the brother of Jesus, tells us: I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 3b NKJV Why can we not just read our Bible and be confident we’ve got it right?...

November 2, 2024 Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Melody Schrock to discuss beauty, designed by God, created for our enjoyment. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we have a worldview of beauty. Beauty was God’s idea and He has a standard. As women, we are image bearers and we display the beauty of God, but how? When people see us, are they drawn to us or to worship of our Creator? What does it...

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Mary Z. to share a testimony of living a life of wholehearted, passionate service to God. We are created in the image of God. Mary will be sharing about how believing that with all her heart, changed her and led her to where she is today. Living on foreign soil for most of the past seven years has given her deeper insights into the heart of God and His will fo...

Alan Kreider. How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church...

October 12, 2024 Strength to Strength  welcomed four brothers to discuss what their lives look like being a disciple of Jesus. They will share with us ways to pray and partner with them in their work. The unsung heroes of Jesus’ kingdom are the faithful disciples who serve their Lord without fanfare or applause. Whether you are a warrior in secret prayer, a widow who casts in the last two mites, o...

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Tania Taylor to discuss how our communities can be a piece of heaven on earth. Getting the bigger picture of our calling as sisters, to further Christ’s kingdom through the local church body. One of the biggest threats to the church in any given age or place is that of nationalism. How easily we can become sidelined and distracted by the transient problems and...

Strength to Strength welcomed Brandon Byler to discuss God’s kingdom and earthly kingdoms, specifically American politics, and how followers of Jesus should relate, especially in a hotly-contested election season. In this meeting we’d like to consider several questions: Why have Anabaptists typically shunned national, political involvement? What sort of attitude should we have toward American lead...

Strength to Strength welcomes Wendell Martin to share lessons from his personal story of difficult experiences. When bad things happen in life, we might console others or ourselves with reassurance that “it was God’s will” or that everything happens for a reason. But is everything that happens the will of God? Can I trust the goodness of God in spite of all the evil in the world? An interactive qu...

Strength to Strength welcomed Dylan Heidrich to share his spiritual life journey. In this episode, Dylan shares his journey from growing up in an atheist household to being baptized in a Baptist church at 18. He reflects on his transition to house church life, his desire for missional living, and how discovering the early church led him to kingdom Christianity. An interactive question-and-answer p...

Strength to Strength Sisters  welcomed Linda Amendt to take a closer look at what winning on this battleground may look like. “Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.” “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” —Proverbs 23:7 Linda will share a bit of her journey in relation to her learning how powerful our thoughts are and where they can l...

We, as the admin team at S2S, met virtually to have another Roundtable discussion. We discussed some of the latest happenings, reflect on things such as the recent Kingdom Fellowship Weekend, and have a guest on to hear his story. Evan Smith joined us to tell his story about journeying into the kingdom of God and with fellowship with other kingdom minded folks.

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Marji Wagler to discuss marriage as God intended. God designed an other-centered union for a me-centered world. "With the unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit which isn’t wrought up or anxious… adapting themselves to their husbands." -adapted from 1 Peter 3:3–5, Amplified Bible That inner person is reflected in your words and even your body l...

Strength to Strength welcomed Justin Zehr to discuss Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus. In this talk we’ll be taking a look at the miracle of New Birth and the metamorphosis of one who is transformed into the likeness of Christ. The miracle of one who is dead in sin and trapped in the state of fallen humanity then becoming a new creature in Christ through the new birth. We are going to let a littl...

David Bercot. There are hundreds of commentaries on Romans in print today, and thousands have been written over the centuries. So what is the point of still one more commentary? The reason is that this is not “still one more commentary.” In this commentary, the reader will be seeing Romans through the eyes of the Christians who lived in the first few centuries after Romans was written. Some of the...

Strength to Strength Sisters  welcomed Renee Miles to discuss how God’s instruction for sisters’ headcovering compliments His design for womanhood. There is an agreement among Christians that the verses in 1 Corinthians 11 are talking about a head covering, but this is where the agreement ends. Beyond that there is much debate and differences of opinion: Is it a practice for today? Is it an actual...

Strength to Strength welcomed Josh Wray for a discussion about discipleship modeled after Jesus. As disciples of Jesus, we are invited to follow Him in fellowship with other believers. Through the joys and challenges of interacting with other disciples, we are being conformed into the image of Christ. In this message, Josh will share what practical discipleship has looked like in his life, and his...

Sherilyn Shirk . This delightful children’s book is a full-color, beautifully illustrated treasure for young children aged 2–10.  “You Are Precious in His Sight”  was designed by a mother of six, and dedicated to foster children. It introduces the child to Jesus as the Creator and Designer of all things good. Further, it assures the child that the hurts they face were never God’s intention, and th...

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Renita Petersheim to discuss a biblical view of what it means to be a person and why it is integral to our faith today. In Genesis 1 and 2, when God created the earth, particularly mankind, He pronounced “very good”. Sometimes that is hard to believe as we experience life through our bodies, personalities, sexuality, and stories. We’ll talk about the incongrue...

Strength to Strength welcomed Glenn Martin for a discussion about the yoke of Jesus. What does it mean that Jesus’ yoke is “easy” and his burden is “light?” In this Talk, Glenn discusses how our perception of God and the motivations for our obedience affect our joy – or lack thereof. Many Christians believe there is “pie in the sky by and by when I die,” essentially supposing that while life is de...

Strength to Strength welcomed Benjamin Harris to discuss artificial intelligence, and how to relate to its implications as it affects everyday life. Artificial Intelligence is ushering in a new era of questions, both in the workplace and in our lives. We’ll briefly work to separate the reality from the hype. Finally, we’ll touch briefly on how AI can be a double-edged sword in our lives and things...

Strength to Strength Sisters welcomed Beth Byler to discuss God’s design for women to be nurturing those around them. Do women naturally nurture? What is God’s call to us as women as we raise children, minister to our husbands, or reach outside our homes? How can we nurture each other as sisters? Can we nurture if we aren’t being nurtured? We want to raise children that are emotionally secure and...

Strength to Strength welcomed Shawn Miller to discuss how the Gospel’s central tenet has been shaken, and how we can rebuild with a better understanding. To be a “kingdom person” means to be under the reign of God. Like earthly nations, Jesus’ kingdom has four components including a leader, constitution, domain, and citizens. However, in contrast to the nations of the world, Jesus’ kingdom is inte...