The Rev. Dr. Mike Middendorf, Professor of Theology at Concordia University, Irvine, CA, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Acts 6:8-7:53.

Witness the brave and faithful Stephen, one of the seven chosen to serve the early Church, step into the limelight, armed with grace, power, and wisdom. As he performs miraculous signs and engages in profound debates, his words and actions attract attention—both good and bad! Accused of blasphemy and hauled before the Sanhedrin, Stephen launches into a sweeping defense, retelling the story of God's redemptive plan from Abraham to Moses, leading up to the advent of Christ. This passage culminates in an explosive confrontation and the Church’s first martyr.

The Book of Acts takes us back to the earliest days of Christianity, unveiling the incredible acts of the apostles and the growth of the early church. Acts offers a firsthand account how the Apostles and Jesus’ disciples respond to his death and resurrection. It makes us witnesses to the beginning of fulfilling Jesus’s command to spread the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We encounter miracles and wonders, we see the church struggling to organize itself in the absence of Jesus, and we learn of the trials and tribulations the early Christians faced in a world that rejected them.