The Spread of Christianity

The Bible Knowledge Accelerator #4-The Spread of Christianity by Rusty Russell: Jesus dying on a Roman cross was not the end but the beginning. His followers were Jewish and would spread a message called the "gospel" meaning "good news" starting in Jerusalem and spreading to the farthest parts of the known world. Their message was: Jesus, a lowly Jewish carpenter from the despised city of Nazareth, was rejected by His own Jewish nation and crucified by the Roman governor was indeed the Messiah and the Savior of mankind, who rose from the dead and anyone who would accept Him would be forgiven of all sins and would rise with Him in glory. Those who spread the message were scorned by their own nation as well, and also by the Greek and Roman cultures who referred to the message as "superstitious rabble." Yet the message spread to all who had open hearts throughout the whole world and, as Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit would enter into their hearts and lives. As Christianity spread the "Christians" were fiercly persecuted and shortly after the message went out it became a capital offense to be a Christian. Yet Christianity survived all the slander, hatred and persecutions and after approximately 300 years it broke the power of its greatest adversary in the world, the Roman Empire. Christianity was destined to spread and it would transform the whole Greco-Roman world.