A person does not have to read very far into the book of Acts before we find the church being persecuted. At first, this persecution seemed to be limited to just the apostles, but in Acts 6 this changes. Stephen was taken before the council and charged with blasphemous words against the temple and the law. From this time onward all Christians faced persecution, sometimes openly like Stephen, but many times by family and friends no longer associating with those who became Christians. Before the persecution that came upon the church after Stephen's death, the followers of Christ seemed to be largely just in Jerusalem. After Stephen's death this group of followers of Christ were scattered abroad and to their credit, according to Acts 8:4, they went everywhere preaching the word. The remainder of the book is centered upon the spread of the gospel throughout Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. Even into the very heart of the empire, in Rome, itself we find Christians. One apostle stands out in the second half of the book of Act as the one who took a very active role in taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Saul, or Paul as he was later called, was sent by the Holy Spirit on the first missionary trip with Barnabas at his side. Later these two men split up and checked on the congregations that had
begun during this trip. Paul continued to go into new areas preaching the word until his death.,

First Century Christianity
By Paul D. Fisher

The growth of first century Christianity was very remarkable, from just a handful
of believers to a world religion in just a few short years. Christianity should of course be,
centered on Jesus Christ who is the builder of His church. The first c, en~ Christians",
"took the message of the gospel to everyone who would listen to them, even in the face of",
"persecution- The first congregation of Christians was at Jerusalem, just as God's word",
"foretold in Daniel 2 and elsewhere in the Old Testament- This congregation grew very",
"quickly and soon faced persecution. This persecution was so intense that many people",
"had to leave Jerusalem. Instead of having the results of stopping Christianity,",
"persecution many times just spread it farther throughout the empire of Rome.",
"What caused those people to continue to preach the word in face of persecution?",
"They truly believed the message they had was important, that it was from God and that",
"the soul of everyone they came in contact with depended on them teaching that word!",
"Over the centuries, especially in the last twenty or thirty years, this urgency to spread the",
"word has slowly been replaced with apathy by many Christians. So much so that in many",
"places the church no longer grows in anyway but older and less in number.",

"    Brethren, we need to realize what we are not doing, that our very souls are in"
"jeopardy of being eternally lost because, by and large, we do not seem to care enough to",
"spread the gospel. I know what many of you are thinking, "Paul you just do not know",
"how hard we used to try, but our friends and family just won't listen!" Ask yourselves,",
"did Jesus' earthly family and friends listen to Him? NO, for the most part they did not!",
"That did not stop Him from preaching. It did not stop the apostles from preaching even",
"when the leaders of their own country turned against them. Brethren, it is time to stop",
"making up excuses for why we are not growing and go out to people and preach the",
"word. All we are required to do is to sow the seed, the word of God, and it is God who",
"gives the increase. Look at congregations that are growing. Is it because they have",
"some exciting new program? Is it because they have a great preacher? Or is it because",
"they are sowing the seed of the kingdom? Look closely at those congregations. If they",
"are growing because of some new program that growth will slowly die. ff they are",
"growing because of the preacher, what will happen when that preacher leaves? The only",
"way we can grow like the first century church is to do what they did. Acts 8:4 is still the",
"key to first century Christianity, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every",
"where preaching the word" What about you and me? Are we preaching the word?",