The book of Acts tells the exciting story of the first three decades of the early church. Beginning with the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the book takes us through a roller-coaster ride of wondrous healings, explosive church growth and miraculous conversions.

But along with all this good news, there’s a darker undercurrent to the book. There is violence and opposition and death. Apostles are flogged, Stephen gets stoned to death, Saul the hunter becomes Paul the hunted, Peter is thrown into jail, James gets beheaded. And the book ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome.

The reaction of the authorities – the arrests, beatings, banishments and executions all happened because the faith being proclaimed by the first followers of Jesus was dangerous. Here’s the thing: without this persecution, the gospel would never have spread in the way it did. It is precisely because of the persecution, because of the pains and the chains and the floggings and the martyrdoms that the gospel spreads to the ends of the earth.

And today the same thing is happening around the world. Today, Christians are being persecuted and attacked, and still the Kingdom of God of growing.

This series of videos explores the dangerous faith of the first century church and that of persecuted Christians today. It’s a journey which will take us not only through the Roman world, but also to China, Colombia, Iraq, the Philippines, Pakistan… and many more places where persecution and opposition are, today, revealing remarkable truths about the strength and the depth and the greatness of God’s love.

This 8-session study includes: