"I know your works, your labor, your patience...
You have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you,
that you have left your first love."
Not one generation had passed after Jesus' death before John had to write these words.
It was such a short time before the church, with the elders leading the way, was drifting away from how it was in the beginning.
Peter had a personal revelation about who Jesus was, and loved his Master more than anything else.
This made him into the rock that Jesus could build His church on.
Peter's faith was tried in many ways, but he could write to his friends:
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials."
That's how your faith is tried.
The faith that was born in Peter was something more than that which held him up when he walked on the water.
Faith in transformation in the situations of life was what occupied him;
To become like the Master whom he loved so much.
Stephen had the same conviction as Peter, and could stand tall against the authorities of the time.
Many years were to pass from the time of Peter and Stephen
until Johan Oscar Smith began to gain insight into how things were in the first church.
He had no ambitions of starting a new Christian movement
but had received a personal faith in the life that Jesus and the apostles had spoken about.
He wanted to share these experiences with others
and had a burning enthusiasm for this throughout his entire adult life.
Today the church consists of people who work together as members of a body,
joined together by a personal faith and a love for Him, who gave His life for them.
Now the work continues on the foundation that the apostles had and that J. O. Smith uncovered again.
We believe that we not only can receive forgiveness for our sins, but that we can also overcome sin by the Holy Spirit's power
Jesus is our great Master. He went ahead and showed us this way
so we can follow Him to a life that is constantly becoming more divine and more happy.
We believe in a new heaven and a new earth, filled with righteousness, peace and joy.