The Gospel Is Not Hindered

In one paragraph

This message walked through the final chapter of Acts, where Paul reaches Rome after shipwreck and hardship, and the gospel moves forward without being stopped. Ray wove in personal stories from the week, including witnessing a motorcycle accident in Swan Valley and the church's ongoing mission work in Guatemala, to show that the same pattern from Acts is still playing out. Acts 28 opens on the...

Read together

1. Hebrews 4:16 opening verse read before singing, about coming boldly to the throne of grace
2. Psalm 139:23-24 sung as an offertory song, search me O God and know my heart
3. Acts 28 main passage preached through, Paul's arrival at Malta and Rome
4. Isaiah 6:9-10 quoted by Paul to the Jews in Rome about hearing but not understanding, tied back to Isaiah's call in the temple
5. Isaiah 6:8 here am I send me, referenced in context of Isaiah's call before the hard message
6. Deuteronomy 18:15 referenced as God promising to send a prophet like Moses, used to explain why the Gentiles will listen
7. Acts 2:42 daily in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ
8. Acts 5:42 daily in every house teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, the Lord adding to their number
9. Jude 24-25 benediction, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless

Talk about it

1. Ray described the gospel as 'unhindered' even when he and others feel like they are walking in deep mud. When have you felt that tension personally, where the gospel seemed to be moving forward even while your circumstances felt stuck?
2. Ray shared the story of stopping at the motorcycle accident in Swan Valley and called it a divine appointment 'in between.' What does it look like in your own life to stay open to those in-between moments rather than waiting for the big, planned opportunities?
3. When the Maltese saw the viper on Paul's hand, they first called him a murderer and then called him a god. Ray pointed out that people have a God-given sense of right and wrong even without knowing Him. How have you seen that play out in conversations with people who don't follow Christ?
4. Paul called the Jewish leaders together after just three days in Rome, even though gatherings like that had gotten him beaten, flogged and run out of towns before. What do you think kept him from letting those past experiences close him off to the same people?
5. Ray ended on the word 'unhindered' and said the hindrances we feel are not hindrances to the gospel itself. Where in your life right now does the gospel feel hindered to you, and how does the arc of Acts challenge or encourage that feeling?