It's Like Reading the Book of Acts for the First Time
Study the Book of Acts through the lens of persecution—and open your eyes opened like never before…
What will you learn?
Persecution is part of God’s plan to both grow and spread the gospel.
Who should participate?
Anyone who wants to dig deep into the Scriptures, cares about the Church—and desires to have a faith that’s not safe, settled or comfortable.
How does it work?
Each video session offers unique and in-depth insight on Christian persecution from around the world… Watch the session, then work through the discussion questions on your own or in your group.
Curriculum
Session 1
Introduction: Come Walk Into the Pages of Acts
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The Book of Acts tells the exciting story of the best three decades of the early church. Beginning with the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Acts takes us on a rollercoaster ride of wondrous healings, explosive church growth, and miraculous conversion.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 1Session 2
And His Door Is Always Open
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We’re starting off this look through Acts in an unexpected place: the end!
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 2Session 3
And a Cloud Hid Him From Their Sight
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At the beginning of the Book of Acts, Jesus gives His disciples the incredibly challenging task of taking the gospel to the ends of the world. Then He just disappears. Into thin air. And yet, this is not desertion. It’s design. It’s Jesus way of saying, “Now, you do the impossible things I did.”
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 3Session 4
God’s Temple Is Not Built With Human Hands
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In chapter 7 of Acts, the first Christian is martyred. Stephen, a Greek-speaking Jew living in Jerusalem, is stoned to death.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 4Session 5
It Makes a Smashing
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When everything goes wrong, when the growth slows, when the enemies triumph, when all the weaknesses surface, when cancer strikes, when the government tightens up the law, when the bribed judge gets away with it, when the killer walks free.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 5Session 6
The Believers Lowered Him in a Basket
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In the pitch black, a man is levered out of a window in a four-foot-wide laundry basket. As it reaches the ground, out leaps a balding man in his thirties. He scampers away into the darkness of the Arabian Desert.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 6Session 7
They Were Called Christian
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Today, the cross is one of the most famous symbols in the world. But the early church didn’t use the symbol very much. They talked about the cross, of course, about its life-and-death message. For the early church, of course, the cross was an instrument of torture and execution. They didn’t depict it in their art.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 7Session 8
They Were Tent Makers
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The Apostle Paul. That’s how we think of him. His name was Paul, and his job was an ‘apostle.’ But Acts gives us a broader picture. Paul had a trade: he was a tentmaker. This job which gave him the freedom to travel the ancient world spreading the gospel. When you have a dangerous faith, you must be prepared to live on the move.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 8Session 9
In Every City Lies Persecution
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Chapters 20 and 21 of Acts tell of Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem from Macedonia. Along the way, he stays with Christians in the places he passes through: in Troas, Miletus, Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesarea. And during the journey, he is warned that what he is planning is very dangerous—that he has enemies waiting for him in Jerusalem and that he will be arrested.
Includes: Video | PDF Study Guide
Go To Session 9Testimonials
“This study gave me a fresh perspective on Acts—one that was new to me—even though I’ve grown up in the church and read through the Book of Acts many times.”
“I always thought persecution was only used for evil, but it’s amazing to see how God uses it to spread the gospel from the early church through today.”
“Powerful. Simply powerful.”
Join the Movement
Step into the Book of Acts in a fresh way through this daring study by one of the world’s greatest scholars on Christian persecution. This perspective-changing study will challenge your faith, connect you to the early church and inspire you to walk as they did—in unity and reckless obedience to the way of Jesus.