What Jesus Started: The World-Changing Power of the Local Church

FORTHCOMING TITLE, ETA SEPTEMBER 2026

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Reignite your faith in the power of the gospel through remarkable stories of God’s work in the global church. Discover how the church that Jesus started over 2,000 years ago continues today: around the world, in your church and in your life!

Join bestselling storyteller Ellen Vaughn on a global journey to uncover compelling accounts of the gospel’s power in everyday life. You’ll be reinvigorated as you see, with fresh eyes, God’s present work in the world through his people. 

Vaughn invites you into the stories of a former would-be suicide bomber who now pastors in Turkey, Christians in war-weary Ukraine bringing hope to their neighbours, a Rwandan pastor who forgave the man who killed his family, and many more. 

As you encounter each story, you will…

• Be re-energised by the power of the gospel to transform lives
• Marvel at the work of the Spirit in the church from the book of Acts to the present day
• Experience renewed excitement for your local community as you ask God who he would have you be and what he would have you do in your church

Through this powerful book, ordinary brothers and sisters in Christ from the East and Global South refresh and remind you of what is true and good about the gospel and God’s people.

208 pages.

Contents:

PART 1: What Jesus Started

1. Whispers from the East
2. Fishbowls and First-Century Faith
3. Not a Religion
4. The Church That Jesus Started
5. The Community That Helps the Desperate
6. The Ultimate Half-Time Guy
7. The Electric Church
8. Minarets or Crosses? The Church That Advances
9. The Generous Church and Strawberries in the Desert
10. The Antioch Church
11. The Church That Is Out on the Streets with the People
12. The Church That Sows Seed in Hard Soil
13. The Community of Reconciliation
14. The Church That Comforts the Afflicted
15. The Church That Does Good While Weary
16. The Countercultural Church
17. The Bloodied Church, Unbroken

PART 2: What About Us?

18. Idols in the West
19. Comfortable or Comforted?
20. Control or Trust?
21. Inconvenient Christianity
22. Go to Church!
23. The End of the Story

“Clear, compelling, and exciting. Ellen provides a much-needed reminder that local churches living in and by the power of God are the way He displays His glory and goodness to a broken world.” - Alistair Begg, Bible Teacher, Truth For Life; Previous Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Cleveland; Author, Pray Big and The Christian Manifesto