The Perfect Church

The Imagination Station drops Matthew into a Jerusalem prison, where an angel frees the apostles and sends them straight back to the temple to preach... and straight back into trouble. Arrests, beatings, arguments over neglected widows - the early church is far messier than Matthew ever imagined. His friend Stephen preaches anyway, telling the leaders that God cannot be shut inside a temple, and the furious crowd drags him out of the city to stone him. When Matthew runs for help, he finds only Saul - the very man who threw him down the well - now leading the persecution and hunting the believers. Rhoda and the others must flee Jerusalem, carrying the good news wherever they scatter. Back at Whit's End, Matthew sees that God works through imperfect people, and decides it's time to apologize to his parents and go back to church.

Found on The Grand Design Album 56 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

3 of 4 0710 Sergeant York A young man of deep faith must climb a mountain alone to decide whether his conscience will let him carry a rifle into the Great War.

4 of 4 0711 Sergeant York A reluctant soldier who hates killing must find a way to save his trapped comrades from deadly machine-gun fire.

0712 Child's Play When a childless couple agrees to babysit two energetic kids for the weekend, they discover that connecting with children takes more than careful planning.

1 of 2 0713 Something Old, Something New A bogus wedding invitation and a suspicious art deal throw Odyssey into delightful chaos as Connie battles a rumor she can't stop and two young detectives finally land a real mystery.

2 of 2 0714 Something Old, Something New An old flame's return to Odyssey - with a fiancée who looks suspiciously familiar - turns a welcome-home party into a tangle of secrets, suspicion, and second thoughts.

1 of 2 0715 The Perfect Church A boy disillusioned with his squabbling modern church travels back to the early days of Christianity, expecting to find a perfectly united congregation.

2 of 2 0716 The Perfect Church When the Imagination Station drops Matthew into the persecuted early church, he discovers that the "perfect" first Christians were anything but - and that their struggles might hold the answer to his own doubts about church.

0717 Great Expectations When a grueling school project makes Emily question her lifelong dream of becoming a judge, Whit takes her on an Imagination Station journey through the dreams - kept, changed, and abandoned - of his own life.

0718 For Three Dollars More When Barrett grumbles about putting three dollars in the offering plate, the Room of Consequence gets three very different chances to show him what his choice could really cost.

0719 The Bible Network On Kids' Radio, Connie tunes in to the Bible Network, where game shows, detective cases, and a boot camp put Scripture to the test as the ultimate source of truth.

0720 Happy Hunting Determined to engineer her own happiness, Penny throws herself into every self-help trick she can find - with painfully mixed results.

0721 The Holy Hoopster When a young basketball player's quiet courtside prayer turns him into a media sensation, he must navigate fame, team friction, and hard questions about what prayer is really for.

0722 The Lost Riddle A stuck locker yields a decades-old puzzle of riddles, hidden ink, and coded messages that leads two kids on a hunt to deliver a message meant for someone else long ago.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 10 more roles

10 supporting roles

Peter (Biblical) Fred Tatasciore Angel J.B. Blanc Saul Jon Curry Prisoner Keith Ferguson Seth Keith Ferguson Stephen Jim Cummings Elias J.B. Blanc Rhoda Georgia Dolenz Annas Jim Custer Prison Guard Actor Unknown

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Marshal Younger Writer GAP Digital Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

The Imagination Station moves Matthew from the well into a crowded prison, where he finds Peter and the other apostles. The temple authorities have arrested them again for preaching and healing in Jesus’ name. During the night, an angel opens the prison and commands the apostles to return to the temple and speak. Rather than hide, they obey immediately, and Matthew follows them back into danger.

Rhoda tells Matthew that Ananias and Sapphira have died after lying to God about the money from their land. Before they can absorb the frightening news, the authorities seize the apostles once more. Elias warns Rhoda that her family should flee Jerusalem if they want to live, but the believers continue gathering despite the threat.

Inside one gathering, tensions flare between the local Jewish believers and the Greek-speaking Hellenists, whose widows have been neglected in the distribution of food. Their disagreement also exposes differing ideas about the temple, Israel, and the place of Gentiles. Matthew protests that such divisions make no sense when their friends are being persecuted. Soon Peter and the apostles return after being beaten. Peter regards his suffering as an honor because it is for Jesus, and the believers care for his wounds.

Matthew admits to Stephen that the early church is far messier than he expected. Stephen explains that God has always worked through flawed people and that the Holy Spirit guides them as they grow. Then Stephen takes his turn preaching in the temple, fully aware that he may be arrested. Rhoda later brings Matthew to the hill where Jesus was crucified. Remembering Christ’s sacrifice helps her face her own fear.

The authorities arrest Stephen and charge him with blasphemy. Matthew and Rhoda slip into the hearing and listen as Stephen recounts Israel’s history. He argues that God cannot be confined to the temple and accuses the leaders of resisting the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors resisted God’s messengers. When Stephen declares that he sees Jesus standing at God’s right hand, the furious crowd drags him outside the city.

Matthew tries to find someone who can stop the violence, but the leader he approaches is Saul - the same man who threw him into the well. Saul supports the attack and tries to use Matthew to locate the other believers. Stephen is stoned to death, praying for Jesus to receive him and asking God not to hold the killers’ sin against them.

Saul’s persecution forces Seth, Deborah, Rhoda, and nearly all the other believers to flee Jerusalem. Seth risks his life to give Stephen a proper burial even though the two men often disagreed, for their love in Christ is stronger than their arguments. Rhoda realizes that the scattered believers will now carry the good news wherever they go. The church has never been the flawless community Matthew imagined, but God continues working through it.

Back at Whit’s End, Matthew understands that the first Christians struggled with fear, prejudice, disagreement, and selfishness just as people do now. Whit explains that faithfulness to God includes remaining faithful to His church while He works in imperfect lives. Matthew decides to apologize to his parents and attend church with them. Its problems no longer give him a reason to abandon it; instead, his own faithfulness may help others become faithful too.