and stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen (as it was called), and of the cyrenians, and of the alexandrians, and of those from cilicia and asia, rose up...

and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. [acts 6:7] think of the roller coaster that has been the early church just in the past chapter and...

and what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and philip, and prochorus, and nicanor, and timon, and parmenas, and nicolaus, a proselyte of antioch. [acts 6:5]   "a man full of faith and of the...

therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” [acts 6:3-4]   what were the qualifications for...

now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the hellenists arose against the hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. and the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “it is not...

and every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. [acts 5:42]   they did not cease the very thing they were arrested, beaten, and charged not to do—that’s what they did not cease to do! this is an...

and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. [acts 5:40-41]  ...

33 when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 but a pharisee in the council named gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 and he said to them, “men...

27 and when they had brought them, they set them before the council. and the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “we strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood...

now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. but when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and...