Acts 7: 1-3

The book of Acts is known as 'the birth of the church'. Acts recounts the story of

In the reading, Commitment: Stephen Knew What to Stand For and Not Stand For, Stephen is standing before the authorities who have the power to take his life. Stephen shares his beliefs and his commitment to Jesus Christ. This upsets the authorities so they condemn Stephen by throwing rocks. Even though Stephen is experiencing pain, he continues to stand his ground, and asks for the Lord to forgive those people who hurt him. It is evident that Stephen is a committed disciple of Christ. Not only does Stephen believe, he is murdered for sharing his faith. Although Stephen could easily deny Jesus, he remained still instead of running away from the authorities, putting into action his level of commitment. Stephen is so deeply enriched in his faith that he asks the Lord to forgive these people, just as Jesus did when he was crucified. Stephen loved Jesus so immensely that he risked his life to demonstrate his

He preached about Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ Jesus that died on the cross and now sits above all authority and power.

Saul was born on 5 AD in Tarsus and died on 67 AD in Rome. He changed his name to Paul after he was baptized to reflect on his new persona and to begin travelling and preaching. He was a prosecutor that would punish people who were following Jesus and his new religion back then. Paul was changed into a follower and became one of Jesus’ Apostle(13th) by having a vision from God which blinded him(also known as the road to Damascus). He was then saved by the followers of God who also helped him, and made him better. Paul changed religions to Christianity after he got a vision from Jesus. This converted him into a follower of God and he started spreading the words of God instead of patronizing the religion and the people. Paul taught the Gospel of Christ to the first century world. He is one of the most important figures in the Apostolic Age. He ministered both Jews and Romans since he was appreciated by both groups. He is also known as the 13th apostle.

The account of Saul’s conversion is such an important theme that it is reported in three different areas of the book (Acts 9:1-19, Acts 22:4-16 and Acts 26:9-19). Even though these 3 verses differ in the amount of detail they contain, they all focus on different aspects of the miraculous encounter. Charles

St. Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts 6:5 as one of the seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. The reason for the appointment of the deacons is said to have been that there was dissatisfaction among Hellenistic Jews that their widows were being slighted in preference to Hebraic ones is distribution of alms from the community funds. It is said that St. Stephen was “full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” It is also said

Paul, formerly known as Saul, is first introduced in Acts 7-8 as a persecutor of Christians, and one compliant during Stephen’s stoning. In Acts 9, Saul has an encounter with the risen Christ that changes his life forever. Throughout Paul’s ministry, whether preaching to Jews or Gentiles, he will always proclaim the resurrection. Paul is extremely important to the book of Acts as he picks up Peter’s ministry and continues to take the gospel further and further into the Gentile world. While Luke is recording Paul’s ministry in the book of Acts, Paul is also writing letters (also known as the Pauline epistles) which now make up a majority of the New Testament. It is in these letters that Paul goes into detail defending his apostleship, but Luke will also defend him by describing him as a man filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:9), an apostle (Acts 14:14), and showing the parallels between the miracles both he and Peter performed.

Saint Stephen is traditionally venerated as the very first martyr of Christianity. He was a deacon towards the beginning of the early church in Jerusalem and not much else is known about his life previous to becoming a deacon.The only primary source that contains information pertaining to St. Stephan is found in the New Testament within the acts of the apostles. It is stated in acts six that Stephen is one of the Greek speaking Hellenistic Jews chosen to participate in a fair distribution of welfare to Greek speaking widows.During St. Stephan’s time there were many dangers for Christians, some of which include crucifixion, stoning, and impalement.

Saint Andrew is one of the twelve apostles that is also known as the “Protocletus”. He was born around 5 or 6 B.C. in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. His brother, younger or older, is Simon Peter another disciple of Jesus who became the first Pope of the church. His father, John, was a fisherman. Like his father, Andrew and Peter became fisherman on the Sea of Galilee.

The first and the foremost (9:1-19) is narrated by the instigator of the Book of Acts himself and the other two that are described in verses 22:4-16 and 26:9-19, point out the dominant part of Paul’s strong opinions before Jews in Jerusalem and King Agrippa separately. They, to some extent create an equivalent historical account. The interpretations of revelations described in all three following Acts have the same judgmental narration in emphasizing the hand-picked selection of Saul by Lord himself as a devotee to the Church, its mission, and the discipleship to carry out the words of God to the far off regions of the Asia world. His appointment proved to be a momentous instrument; indeed a very useful one to spread the Words of Jesus to the entire

The apostle Paul was first introduced in Acts 9:1-4 as Saul, a persecutor of the church and Christ. After his conversion, his named was changed to Paul and his role in teaching the gospel was integral to the foundation of the Early Church. Paul’s journey to share the gospel was “fearless” (Acts 9:27) but soon there would be much opposition to his teachings and he would be forced to flee and journey to Ephesus.

An examination of the Pauline epistles should begin with an examination of the author. Saul of Tarsus was a Jewish official a Pharisee. Saul was a persecutor of Christians and an eyewitness to the stoning of Steven. “And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.” (Acts 7.58 King James Version) He had a vision on the road to Damascus and was blinded. God sent Ananias to heal Saul of his affliction. God also sent Paul a vision of Ananias to let him know that he would be healed. Paul did not learn the Gospel from other men. He received his knowledge directly from Jesus.

What truly is amazing however is the hypocrisy which so characterizes the first portion of Acts five. Here there is a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira, after many believers had shared their possessions, Ananias and Sapphira, being very knowledgeable figured that they would keep part of the money they had to themselves. But then they gave the rest and, “put it at the apostles' feet.” What is amazing then is the Peter

In Acts13:1-4, While a couple of the prophets and teachers gat together to fast and worship the Lord. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Paul, 2007, Acts 13:2). Every one had prayed for them and then Saul and Barnabas went on their way to Seleucia and then sailed to Cyprus. “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. “John was with them as their helper” (Paul, 2007, Acts 13:5). Paul and Barnabas had left the church in Syria in answering God’s calling to proclaim Christ. The Plain that Paul and Barnabas had was to go to synagogues to evangelize and preach the gospel there. But many of the Jews rejected Christ. Later on the missionaries had come to recognize that God called them to witness to the Gentiles.

The life of Stephen is such a great representation of the boldness that we are called to as believers. Acts 6 uses many words to describe Stephen's spiritual fruit: Stephen was 'full of the Spirit and of wisdom.' "[Those in the synagogue] disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking" (English Standard Version, Acts 6.9-10). Stephen's boldness seemed to intimidate those from the synagogue leading them to falsely accuse him in order to present him to the council. The scripture does not describe what Stephen may have been feeling when he was put in this situation, however, one could believe he was experiencing doubt, confusion, fear. However, whether he was tempted by these or not, Stephen