The Practical Faith Academy Podcast from Cecil Taylor Ministries presents guests who have important things to say about putting your faith into practice. Cecil interviews each guest to understand their life stories and their ideas for living a seven-day practical faith.
Dawn Stephens is the principal of Central Christian Academy in Portsmouth, VA, and the award-winning author of the “Little Pot” book series, which teaches children – and adults – about the Fruits of the Spirit and how the potter (God) can grow those fruits in our pot. Those are key themes of this episode’s discussion.
Highlights of the podcast:
3:05 What does seven-day practical faith mean to Stephens
4:51 What the imagery of the pot means and how it relates to purpose
10:09 Seven steps to develop the Fruits of the Spirit within us
14:31 We don’t HAVE the Fruits of the Spirit; we GIVE the Fruits to others. We’re created to serve and pour into others.
18:03 Which fruit is the hardest for people to grow?
21:46 On God’s cycle of filling us and emptying us
26:52 The hardest part about putting faith into practice
28:16 Her best tip for developing and maintaining a seven-day practical faith.
30:01 How to keep in touch with Stephens’s work and access her free materials.
Author Dawn Stephens can be found at DawnStephensBooks.com, where she offers a free guide to the seven steps to growing the Fruits of the Spirit, as she discussed on the podcast. You can also check out her four-part Little Pot book series, as well as other books she has written.
Cecil Taylor is an author, speaker, podcaster, blogger, and provider of Instant Content to churches and small groups. Please register for Cecil’s free monthly newsletters on the Cecil Taylor Ministries home page. You’ll receive a free gift, which changes from time to time, and two monthly newsletters, Backstage Pass and Monthly Connection.
For more free content like this from Cecil Taylor Ministries, visit https://www.CecilTaylorMinistries.com/free-content. Scroll to the bottom of the Show Notes to learn about his Instant Content portfolio of books and small group video studies.
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Cecil’s award-winning books and video studies can be found and purchased through https://www.CecilTaylorMinistries.com. Every video study’s first lesson can be seen for free via the Free Content link above by clicking on “Sample Lessons.”
Cecil’s Instant Content portfolio of books and video studies includes:
- “Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice” is about Christian parenting. Cecil provides proven parenting strategies with an underlying layer of parenting in unison through all the ages and stages of a child’s life. “Unison Parenting” has been honored with the 2025 Independent Press Award for Parenting/Family and the 2025 Living Water Award for Best Nonfiction.
- “From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone” is about deepening faith. Cecil explores a dozen Bible studies of Jesus inviting people out of their com
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