Is your faith worth dying for? Stephen is the first person to be martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ, and he was killed by supposedly religious people! Is your faith like Stephen’s? Or might it be hollow, like that of the religious people who killed him because they could not recognise that Jesus was (and is) the Messiah?

Richard Renouf talks about, 'Love stands with.'

Richard Renouf talks about, 'Love stands with.'

Is there hope for the world? Spoiler alert! – The answer is YES, but now let’s consider this question by looking at how Stephen respond to the accusations made against him by the Jerusalem Council (the Sanhedrin). They want to stop his preaching and close down the early Christian Church, but Stephen shows his accusers how they are missing out on the truths God has revealed throughout history and how this shows that even we can have hope.

Are God’s promises for me? In this study, based on Acts 7 v 1-16, we will see how Stephen shows the ruling Council that they are missing the vital truth about Jesus, the Messiah and we learn how God blesses us because of Who He is, not because we’re entitled to His blessing.

What is the biggest threat to the Church? As the early Church grew Satan found different tactics to try and undermine the witness, fellowship and unity of the believers. In this study, based on Acts 6, we see a tactic Satan still uses today to break apart churches and other groups of believers. What should we be aware of and how can we stop this happening?

Is evidence enough? Lots of people want proof, but even when proof is staring them in the face, they won’t believe. The early church had eye witnesses of the Resurrection and there were signs, wonders and miracles attesting to God’s presence and power with them, but there were still many unbelievers. In this study we look at Acts 5 v 12-42 where the Church faces more opposition in spite of the overwhelming evidence.

Does my sin affect others? Does sin matter if no-one else sees or knows about it? In this study we consider the shocking story of Ananias and Sapphira and how they thought they could say impress others in the Church by their deceit.

How and why should we pray? When the early Church face persecution they prayed and God answered. In this study we look at Acts 4 v 23-37 and see what we can learn from their praying and God’s answers.