The third in a series of Characters in the New Testament, this book looks at the birth of the first New Testament Church from the perspective of those who were there at the start - either helping or hindering the cause of the gospel. The Twelve disciples (inc Thaddeus), Gamaliel, Saul, Herod Agrippa, Mary and Rhoda, Ananias and Sapphira are a few of the characters we meet.

Tom Houston does extensive historical and biblical research for each of the chapters and you are guaranteed to learn something new about the beginnings of the gospel from this book.

Besides being an interesting read, this book is also designed to help preachers either prepare or present their sermons. There is an appendix on how to preach on bible characters.

Tom Houston is a retired Scot and lives with his wife Hazle in Oxford, England. He served as a pastor for 20 years in Scotland and Kenya and then went on to serve in leadership positions with the British and Foreign Bible Society, World Vision and the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation until his retirement in 1994.