River Valley Church New Testament Soap Sprint Sample

Instead of stopping the gospel, persecution caused the message of Jesus to spread beyond Jerusalem as believers were forced to flee the capital city. One of the most influential voices of the early church emerged on the scene; he was a Pharisee and a staunch opponent of Jesus' followers, originally known as Saul. Saul's perspective was radically transformed by an encounter with the living Lord, who mercifully rerouted him and called him to proclaim the truth about Jesus' identity as the Son of God. Saul became known as Paul and travelled with Barnabas on the first recorded missionary journey. In this chapter, we also see what was a shocking development for contemporary Jewish believers: Gentiles (anyone who is not a Jew, and thus was considered outside of God's chosen family) also experienced the Holy Spirit in the same manner as the Jewish believers.