{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrad-thurston.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fintroduction-to-acts-pASQIlam","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Introduction to Acts","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/928b8180-b57f-49dc-a827-65b6a9112d3b/137ebb41-a6fb-4700-aa39-820e65af30bf/fbba1859-e110-4c0f-8331-eccdef368199.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/75e98d68-94af-45c9-9e4d-8fbb69df7a5b\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"Introduction to Acts\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"Acts is the exciting story of the beginning of the church, and the greatest movement in the history of the world. It is filled with adventure, miracles, dynamic events, struggles, joys, aha moments, and crises to overcome: dissensions within and persecutions without: struggles with political and religious authorities, relationship dynamics and wrestling with issues of leadership, finance, ethnic divisions, theology, and ethics. Actually, it could sound a lot like the church of today and the problems we face as well. That makes acts more than just a history book, because we become the participants in the ongoing and unwritten chapters of Acts. As the early church faced issues for the first time, we too face the same questions today, namely: “What would you have us do, Lord Jesus?”"}