Scripture: Philippians 1:12-19; 20-26 This Sunday we come to the final sermon in the first part of our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity. Last week, we talked about the first real persecutions endured by Christians in the early church, when Emperor Nero targeted...
Scripture: 2Corinthians 11:23-31; Romans 13:1-7 This week for our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we are focusing on the first real persecution of Christians for which we have some evidence from sources other than the New Testament. To begin digging down into this...
Scripture: Acts 2:43-47; Luke 18:18-30 Last week for our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we discussed the reason why the number of Jews who believed in Jesus began to decline in the mid 50’s, while the number of non-Jews or Gentiles who believed in Jesus...
Scripture: Romans 9:1-5; 11:25-32 Last week for our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we concluded that if James, Jesus’ brother, is saying that becoming Jewish is essential to following Jesus, then we can be pretty sure that Jesus never intended for his...
Scripture: Romans 4:9-16; James 2:14-24 Last week for our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we discussed the turmoil and infighting that plagued Paul’s early churches. We focused primarily on the inner church conflicts that arose due to the fact that...
Scripture: 1Corinthians 1:10-17; Galatians 1:6-9 This week for our series Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we are discussing the infighting the plagued Paul’s early churches. After Paul would establish a church, he would remain in a city anywhere from a few months to over...
Scripture: Acts 2:1-12; 1Corinthians 14:4-5, 18-23 This week in our series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we are delving further into the way Paul built his churches. Last week we discussed Paul’s main argument for why people should believe in Jesus—that...
Scripture: 1Thessalonians 5:1-11; 4:13-18 This week for our series Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we are talking about the earliest document we have in the New Testament, Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, which was written around 51 A.D. This letter is...
Scripture: Galatians 1:11-24; Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 This week for our new series Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity, we are talking about one of the most important figures in the early church—the Apostle Paul. Paul was associated with a group of people who were willing to go...
Scripture: Acts 15:13, 19-21; Matthew 16:13-20 This week we continue our new series, Church and State: The Rise of Early Christianity. We’re exploring the history of the early church through the documents we find in the New Testament. Last week we began this series by talking about...
