Without Hinderance [LIVE] - 07/19/2026

Happy Sunday, Graceway. It's so good to see you all. Happy Sunday. Wow, what an honor and a privilege it is to get to come together and worship King Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Oh, Lord, you have searched us and known us. There is nowhere that we can go where you are not present. Even in the wilderness, even in our fleeing, you are here. Surely the Lord is in this place. So come, let us worship the God who meets us where we are. We gather graced again by your presence. God of Jacob's dream, you meet us in unfamiliar places and renew your promise when we least expect it. And so, God, as we gather, open our eyes to your presence among us. Teach us to wait with patience for what is not yet seen, trusting that you are sorting out what we cannot through Jesus Christ our Lord. Come on, with power and the authority that the Lord has given you, say amen. Amen. Whether you're viewing online or in person for the first time, welcome to Graceway. Come on, let's worship King Jesus. There was no way until you made one. Grace upon grace, hallelujah. Even though I don't deserve it, you did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it. Who am I that you keep me on it? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. In all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Yes, Lord. Holy, holy, there's only one. I give you glory for all that you've done. Even though I don't deserve it, you did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it. Who am I that you keep me on it? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. In all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I that you keep me on it? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. In all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Come on, with hands lifted all over the room, it's a sign of surrenderance. I want you to say, God, I'm just grateful for you, for breathing the fresh breath of life into us. I'm grateful, I'm grateful. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. You gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. You gave me chance after chance, after chance. Come on, your turn. I'm lifting both of my hands. You gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. You gave me chance after chance, after chance. Who am I that you keep me on it? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. In all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. You've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you Who am I? Can't you keep me on your mind God, I'm just grateful for you All my life He's never left us nor forsaken God, I'm just grateful for you Come on, this is our testimony Say, I survived And I'm here to testify

God, I'm just grateful for you And I'm alright I'm alright If they say I'm out of my mind God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you We sang this new song last week. Y'all know this song. Y'all know the words. Sing it out with us tonight. There is one who stands between God and me Crucified But raised back to life again He's given himself a ransom All our sins atoned And now our lives forever to Him it all belongs For Christ alone We lay down our lives for this gospel Until the end of time All this is for Christ alone Behold the Lamb Whose blood's been tested for me Son of man Exalted as the high King He's given himself a ransom All our sins atoned And now our lives forever to Him it all belongs For Christ alone We lay down our lives for this gospel Until the end of time All this is for Christ alone For Christ alone We lay down our lives for this gospel

Until the end of time All this is for Christ alone Sing for Christ alone For Christ alone For Christ alone For Christ alone The firstborn from the dead is coming back again, riding in upon the clouds. Eyes will see and knees will bow. Those other gods are lies, idols who weren't alive. But there's one who wears the crown. Eyes will see and knees will bow. The firstborn from the dead is coming back again, riding in upon the clouds. Eyes will see and knees will bow. Those other gods are lies, idols who weren't alive. But there's one who wears the crown. Eyes will see and knees will bow. The Lamb has overcome. Testify of the blood. When we hear that trumpet sound, eyes will see and knees will bow. Glory to God the Son. The victory men won. We await your coming now. Eyes will see and knees will bow. Behold, the King is coming. Everybody say, behold. Behold, the King is coming. Say, behold, behold. Behold, the King is coming. One more time. Behold, the King is coming.

For Christ alone. We lay down our lives for this gospel. Until the end of time. All this is for Christ alone. For Christ alone. We lay down our lives for this gospel. Until the end of time. All this is for Christ alone. Give the Lord a shout of praise that we know the end of the story. That he will come and reign forever in eternity. Man, praise the Lord for this time of worship that we're having this morning. Are you all glad to be in church today? I know that I am. Man, if I haven't met you yet, I'm Pastor Jeremy. Would love to meet you when our services are done at Guest Central with a few of our other leaders. If you are new here, there's a QR code that's going to pop up on the screen. One on the seat back in front of you. Hit that code. We'd love to tell you what's going on here at Graceway. And today, I love what we get to do before we send our students to camp. And in just a few minutes, we're going to invite you all down to come and grab a bracelet. And on these bracelets are the names of our students. Those are in orange and our leaders in blue. And we're going to invite you to grab one of these and pray over our students this week. We're handed a card as you came in. It just kind of gives you a guide of what to pray for. But it's an incredible opportunity to just intercede for these names. So, this week, I'm praying for Justin Krasuski and Jack Hunt. It's an immense opportunity. So, y'all, what's going to happen is we're going to start the next song.

And about midway through, LaShia will call you down. And when she does, come and grab bracelets and begin praying over those students. And just throughout the week, every time you look down at your wrist, man, I've got to pray for these kids, or I've got to pray for this leader. I'm going to invite our ushers to make their way down. We're going to receive today's tithes and offerings. And, Church, I just want to thank you for your continued generosity. We didn't have to turn any students down for scholarships. So, Church, you guys are awesome in your giving. So, thank you for that. And for y'all up in the balcony, your bracelets are going to be located in the center of the balcony, so that way you don't have to navigate the stairs. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Thank you that we know the end of the story. Thank you, Father, that we can celebrate today that behold, our King is coming back. And so, Lord, whether we walked in having a mountaintop experience or we are in the valley today, we know, Lord, that one day you're gonna wipe every tear from every eye. We know that one day, God, you are reigning on your throne, Lord. There will be no more evil. And so, Lord, we rejoice in that today, knowing that our King, King Jesus, is coming back. God, we pray over each and every one of these names on these bracelets, Lord. God, canceling right now the plans of the enemy that he's made.

God, understanding that in the name of Jesus, those are wiped out. And, Lord, proclaiming the name of Jesus over every student and leader. So, Lord, do an incredible work this week at camp. God, we thank you for the opportunity we have to give. Lord, to be reminded, God, this isn't our stuff, it's yours, and we're trusting you with it. So, Holy Spirit, move in us today as we worship you and as we make much of Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. And all God's people said, amen. Come on, Graceway, let's continue to worship King Jesus. He's worthy of all of our worship, of all of our praise. Come on. Come on. ♪ Fills everything, my God ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord ♪ Sing it to him. ♪ Holy is the Lord, my God ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, seated on the throne of glory ♪ ♪ High and lifted up, your presence fills the temple ♪ ♪ When we worship you, oh we worship you ♪ ♪ Creation points to the King of Heaven ♪ ♪ Can't help but sing to you, to you our God ♪ ♪ To you our God ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord, holy is the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, you're seated on the throne of glory ♪ ♪ You are high and lifted up, your presence fills the temple ♪

♪ When we worship you, oh we worship you, holy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord, you're seated on the throne ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne of glory, you are high and lifted up ♪ ♪ Your presence fills the temple when we worship you, oh ♪ I wanna take this time to invite you all down and come and get the wristbands. Come on, come and pray for our students. Come on. Come on. Let's pray. ♪ Glory to the Lord, your time arose today ♪ ♪ Thank you for your blood shed ♪ ♪ Glory to the Lord, your name above all names ♪ ♪ Oh glory and honor and power forever ♪ ♪ Glory and honor and power forever ♪ ♪ Glory and honor and power forever ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord, holy is the Lord, seated on the throne ♪ Come on, we don't want any left. Come on, let's get all the wristbands. ♪ High and lifted up, your presence fills the temple when we worship you ♪ ♪ We worship you, oh we worship you, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah to the one who came in the name of the Lord ♪ She came and made a way, Jesus Hallelujah All glory and honor and power forever Hallelujah to the one She came and made a way, Jesus You died and rose again All glory and honor and power forever All glory and honor and power forever

Glory and honor and power forever We worship you Jesus Amen, Amen, Amen Come on family let's pray together God we love you We thank you Lord for your goodness in our lives We thank you Lord for being present here this morning We thank you Lord for having plans and purposes for us And Lord I pray that as you rest on this house That you would find a people who are surrendered That you would find a people who are glad to be in your presence That you would find a people who have ears to hear and eyes to see Lord would you speak to us now Would you lead us now Would you change us now Would you correct us now Change us in the image of Jesus now Lord Bring all of your promises to pass in our lives now Lord Lord we're here today expecting to hear from you We don't want to come in God and go through the motions of church We don't want to come in with a good morning brother and good evening sisters We want to be here for you We want to believe you when you say that it's so We want to agree with you in our spirit and bear witness of the kingdom as it has come And so I pray Lord that you would wake us up Wake us up from the week that was Wake us up from the week that will be Allow us to be present in this moment in the presence of God himself We trust you Lord You know what we need

Provide it to us Lord We thank you We love you We anticipate and expect your goodness in our lives We pray it all in the name of Jesus and all God's people said Amen and amen Hey welcome to church y'all It's so good to see ya Why don't you pass some peace to each other and then grab a seat Alright fam how are you today? It's so good to see you So good to see you Thanks for being here If I haven't had the chance to meet you my name's Tim I'm the lead pastor here and we're honored to have you If you're a first time guest man thank you for joining us Come on church say hello to our first time guest We appreciate ya It's awesome It's awesome If you're watching us online thanks for joining us in that way And then fellas, brothers, men at Crossroads and at Ozarks What's up to ya? Hope you're doing well Hey if you're watching us on the Pando app and you want us to put a church in your prison Send that web address to your chaplain Alright have them reach out to us Church you want to see some more churches in prisons here in Missouri and Kansas? I do too I do too

Hey so much good happening here at Graceway But I do have to tell ya I do not want to see any bracelets up here So could somebody help your boy out and come up here And empty out these bracelets and those bracelets We want to make sure that our students know that our church is praying for them We want to make sure that our kids know Hey God has good plans for ya Now listen don't get out of your seat and come down here If you're just going to line them up on your wrist like a New York City hustler alright Make sure you're going to pray for these young men and these young women I just prayed about expectancy Let's expect God to show up this week on behalf of this church for our leaders Thank y'all Y'all are awesome We got anymore over here? Alright we're getting there Hey while they are doing that Speaking of prayer, next week begins 21 days of prayer and feasting, amen. If you're new to Grace Way, two times a year we set aside time to come together before God, to pray before God. We do it at the beginning of the year to tithe our year. We do it in August and July to tithe our school year. It's such a powerful time to be able to seek God together, so that will start next Sunday at 6.30 p.m. One of the things that I love about our rehab of this room is we actually built prayer boards into the back of our auditorium. And so, love being a part of a church that you've got to build it into the wall. That's how much we pray here at Grace Way. But listen, I know that prayer can be an intimidating thing.

I know that it can be a little bit overwhelming, especially to say we're going to do it for three weeks in a row. I'm just asking you to just trust God around this. Just put yourself out there in the opportunity for God to show up. You have areas that you're struggling, that you're stuck, that you're hoping for somebody to do something other than what you're getting. And so, rather than us kind of trying to work up solutions on our own, we just want to come and surrender in the presence of God and just see what God might do that we haven't been able to get done, amen? And so, be planning that way. I got to tell you, 9.30, you're a little quiet today. You're a little quiet. You seem a little sleepy. I could be wrong. It's not an accusation. I'm just saying I would be excited if I was at church and y'all don't seem all that excited. So, I just don't want you to miss what God has for you today, okay? Because you're sleepy and it's humid outside, all right? Hey, let's pray and we'll get into it. Lord, speak to us now. Bring your goodness to bear in our lives, your grace to bear in our lives, your kingdom to bear in our lives. We pray against the enemy. Lord, we know that he wants to steal every good seed, to stamp out every good plan. And so, we rebuke him in the name of Jesus and we ask now that we could be both present and expectant and that you would show up and be powerful. We love you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. I want to talk to you about punchlines. Punchlines are powerful.

Every great story, movie, book, speech that you have ever heard has some line in it that just stays with you. Sometimes it's only a few words. Sometimes it's a couple of sentences, but those final words are the author's interpretation of everything that he's been trying to say. It isn't simply the ending, it's the lens by which you're supposed to understand the whole story. And maybe somewhere in the sermon or the book or the movie you got a little confused. It's the punchline that draws it all together. It reinterprets everything that came before it. Let me prove it to you. One of the most famous speeches in our country's history, we know it as the I have a dream speech, but I would imagine that if you could talk to Martin Luther King Jr., he would say it wasn't the I have a dream speech. That wasn't the punchline. The punchline was free at last, free at last, great God almighty, we are free at last. That was the point of the story. It wasn't his dream, it was what he hoped would come to pass in this country. JFK did the same thing. Maybe you've heard his speech in which he said, and so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Come on, 2026, we need a little more of this, don't we? We need a little bit more of this, but if you read the speech, that was the punchline, and when you read through the book of Acts, Luke is doing the exact same thing. Luke knew what he was doing. He could have ended the book by telling us what had happened to Paul. He could have described Paul's trial, and he could have recorded Paul's martyrdom, but he doesn't do any of that. Why? Because that's not the punchline.

That's not what he intends you to remember when you get through the book of Acts. So, the book of Acts begins sequentially in between two significant events. The first is the resurrection. Jesus has gone to the cross. He has gone through sin and death. He has gone to hell and stolen Satan's house keys off of his counter, nothing more gangster than that, right? He goes and he takes the keys of hell and death. He rises again, stands up, brushes his shoulder, makes his bed, comes out into the sunshine, and changes absolutely everything. Changes absolutely everything. He shows up to his disciples, and they kind of take a minute to get their head around the resurrection, sort of like some of you, still trying to get your head around, what does the resurrection mean for Monday morning? And he begins to gather them, and he begins to teach them, and we know that ultimately He's going to ascend back to the Father. But there's two punchlines that we have in Scripture. The first is in Matthew 28. He gets his disciples together, and Jesus came and said to them, and don't miss this first sentence, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. We like to start with go therefore without saying why the go is therefore. All authority, Jesus says, now that I've defeated sin and death, now that I have the keys to hell and death, I am, I have, I got it all. It's all mine. Whatever I intend to do cannot be stopped.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you to the end of the age. Jesus says, it's all mine. And wherever you go, I'm with you. And to be a little bit more specific, in Acts 1 and verse 8, he says, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses. Witnesses to what? To my kingdom, to my authority, to what I have accomplished through the resurrection. You're gonna be a bare witness where, Jesus? In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Jesus says, it's all mine. And I'm with you no matter where you go. Where should we go, Jesus? Start here, then go there, then go everywhere. And do it till the day you die or the day that I come back. But just know, whatever I intend to accomplish, doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about it. The gates of hell ain't gonna do a doggone thing about it. All authority has been given to Jesus. It's all his. What Jesus aims to do cannot be stopped. But for 27 chapters in the book of Acts,

we have seen the gates of hell do everything they can to stop it. We've seen the repeated opposition of the course of this world and the God of this world, his name is Satan, against kingdom and gospel. And we come to the last eight chapters, and Luke is going to allow us to see the volume on opposition being turned up. I told you last week that we have been with Paul for about 25 years. From chapter 22 to chapter 28, it's another five years. So we get this five-year window, and it begins in Acts 21, where we see this Jewish mob attempt to kill Paul in the temple. This is the equivalent to somebody having a doctrinal disagreement in the lobby and somebody pulling out a gun and starting to shoot. That's how crazy this is. They try to kill Paul in the temple to the point that pagan Roman soldiers arrest him to keep him safe from church folks. That's how crazy y'all are, all right? Trying to kill people in the lobby that we got to have the cops show up and take the guy to prison so that he can be safe. And Paul finds himself on trial in front of what's known as the Sanhedrin. Now, this is the highest Jewish religious and judicial authority in the first century.

This is if we took the Supreme Court, the theological faculty, and the ruling council and wrapped them into one. And so these are the dudes who represent the nation of Israel, and Paul is on trial before them, and they begin to question Paul. And Paul repeatedly says, I'm on y'all's side. I believe in the God of the Old Testament. I believe in the God of the first covenant, but I'm here to tell you that God didn't want to stop at Israel with the covenant, that God wanted to extend this covenant into a covenant of grace in which whosoever would believe would be able to get in on covenant and kingdom and eternal life. And this is really the crux of the rejection of the Jewish people, the idea that they weren't the only ones who get the gospel, that they weren't the only ones who would receive the kingdom and in covenant. And when Paul says, God's doing more than just y'all, the room erupts because Israel didn't want anybody else on the good news of the gospel. They didn't want God to save the Gentiles. They wanted God to overthrow the Gentiles. Get them out of here. Don't invite them in. And Paul is saying, God is inviting you and I in to the covenant of the gospel. And the room goes nuts.

The room goes crazy. And the Bible says that the tribune became afraid that they, the church people, would tear Paul to pieces. Dang. And so they re-arrest them. They take them back to the barracks. And while he's on the way back, the Jews plot to assassinate Paul. There's actually some dudes who say, we ain't gonna eat or drink until we kill this dude. That's how crazy church people are. But do you see the opposition? The opposition from the Jewish establishment saying, we're going to literally kill this thing before it gets going. And pagan Rome protects Paul from the church folks and takes him back to his prison. And because he is a Roman citizen, they actually protect him. And Paul in Acts 24 through 26 finds himself in front of a handful of Roman legislators. The first is a guy by the name of Felix. He's this corrupt, wicked governor of Judea who really delays justice for Paul for about two years. And so Paul's hanging out in prison because Felix just keeps trying to leverage him. Felix gets replaced with a guy named Festus who tries to leverage Paul politically. And so Paul gets frustrated and he appeals to Caesar. As a Roman citizen, he could appeal. Sort of like if you have some type of case, you can appeal to Supreme Court. Same general idea. Paul gets frustrated and says, you know what? I'm going to hop y'all. I'm going to go to Caesar. And this puts in a sequence of events that are going to lead Paul ultimately to Rome.

But before he gets there, he sits down with a third leader, a guy by the name of Agrippa. And what's interesting about Agrippa is that Agrippa is the fourth in a long lineage of leaders who have tried to stamp out the gospel. Herod the Great, this Agrippa's great-grandfather, had attempted to kill Jesus. Herod Antipas had executed John the Baptist. His son, Herod Agrippa I, had executed James and imprisoned Peter in Acts chapter 12. And now, in Acts chapter 26, Paul is sitting in front of Agrippa II. Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Agrippa I, this is Agrippa II. All of his forefathers had tried to stop what God was doing. And Paul sits down, and Paul gives him the gospel. Exactly like I've taught you to do it. This is who I was before Jesus. This is how I met Jesus. This is who I am now that Jesus has saved me. And he says this in front of King Agrippa. And what's interesting is that Agrippa agrees almost to the point of salvation, but stops short and declares Paul innocent. But because Paul has appealed to Caesar, he's still got to get to Rome. Not just because of what Paul had said, but because God had said, ultimately, you're getting to Rome. And so we see at every point, we see the Jewish people trying to stop the gospel. We see in the Roman legislation trying to stop the gospel. We come to Acts 27, and it looks like nature itself is trying to oppose the gospel. Paul gets on a ship destined for Rome, and as he is going toward Rome, he gets hit by a hurricane. Unbelievable. The vessel gets thrown off course. They eventually get shipwrecked while marooned on Malta. Paul is warming himself before a fire, and a venomous snake jumps out and bites his hand. Come on, somebody.

Help your boy out. I'm trying to do what God wants me to do. First the Jews, and then the Romans, and now a hurricane, and now I'm shipwrecked. I'm just trying to get warm, and now a snake's jumping out of the fire and latching onto my hand. It's unbelievable. The things that are trying to get in the way of Paul getting to where God told him he needs to go. Three months later, as promised, Paul boards a ship. He makes it to Rome. But at this point, every human calculation looks like this dude is not going to get where God wants him to go. This is the point in the book of Acts where the gospel gets stopped. Here's the last two verses in the book. Here's the punchline. Are you ready for it? He lived there two whole years, this is Paul, at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus. Here it is, with all boldness and without hindrance. That's the punchline. The last two words, without hindrance, and right now I am preaching 98% better than y'all are responding. This is the punchline. This is the free at last, free at last, great God almighty, we are free at last. This is ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. This is Luke saying, if you missed anything else, don't miss this. What God intends to do, it might be opposed, but it will proceed without hindrance. Without hindrance. Acts chapter one, Jesus said, you will be my witnesses. I have all authority, you will be my witnesses, I will be with you.

That is literally bookended with the last two words, I will be with you without hindrance. Listen, nothing... stops the advancement of the gospel, nothing. I know sometimes depending upon the news source that you watch, you look at what's happening in the culture and you say, this is it. The church isn't doing well, this is it. The culture has gone crazy, this is it. When God finally is going to meet his match, and I'll be honest with you, there are times in the book of Acts where you could come to that conclusion. In fact, I actually went back through the book and I looked up every time that something terrible happened. Every time, let me just give it to you real quick, is that okay? So in Acts chapter two, the church is at Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit starts to come on them and what does the crowd say? Y'all are drunk, man, y'all are drunk. They start making fun of the church. They start mocking the church because the Holy Spirit has come, but what happens? 3,000 people come to faith that day. In Acts chapter three, Peter and John, they get arrested. And they get brought in, they get beat up a little bit and they say, stop teaching about Jesus. And what do they do? They go right back out to the same place, to the same platform, they preach the exact same message and the church grows from 3,000 to 5,000.

In Acts chapter four, the Sanhedrin, same dudes who show up here, threaten them, say if you don't stop preaching about Jesus, we're gonna kill you. This is not good, right? I mean, now we've been arrested a couple times. We already had folks making fun of us and now we're actually getting arrested. I mean, I got a felonious charge on my rap sheet. You get what I'm saying? And what does the church do? Do they get afraid? Do they say, maybe we should just chill out a little bit? No, they go back to church and they pray for boldness. Acts chapter five, things get a little worse, right? Ananias and Sapphira are lying to God about their tithe and Peter kills them. This is not a great church growth strategy, Pete, right? First off, to make it clear in front of everybody how much they gave, none of y'all want that to happen, right, to make them come down and go, hey, this is a little shy of what it ought to be. And then to call them out like they're lying to God. I mean, a quick way to empty this room was if we started to do that, right? But can I tell you, if you said it was one thing and it was actually another thing and you die, yeah, that's probably, we had a good run, Graceway. And then people started dying around their tithes, right? And you think to yourself, this is the spot,

the church finally messed it up. But what happens? The church grows in the fear of the Lord and many believers are added. In other words, folks are dying in the auditorium and folks outside the church are like, I wanna go to that church. Like, what? Are you kidding me? All this time, we thought the YouTube channel was gonna get you. We just had to kill some folks in the auditorium. It's unbelievable. Acts chapter six, the church starts to not work very well. The marginalized aren't getting served. You know, you go to a church and say, I'm just not getting what I need. I'm not getting what I need and you go, this is it. Finally, the church outgrew its capacity. But what happens? God meets them through prayer and the office of deacon is established. The dream team leaders are established and the church looks like it's gonna fail and God meets them right on time with what they need. Acts chapter seven, one of those deacons, his name is Stephen, gets murdered for his faith. I mean, if Ananias and Sapphira wasn't enough, getting killed over your tithe, now you're just a good Christian out on these streets

and you're getting killed, you're getting executed. Like, this is it, right? Nobody's gonna be willing to die for this church. But what happens? The church scatters, folks are losing their jobs, they're losing their home, but what are they taking with them? The gospel. And the church grows not in spite of persecution, it grows because of persecution. This is unbelievable. What is happening? And so in Acts chapter eight, we're introduced to a guy by the name of Saul. And my dude Saul, he ain't right, right? He's a psychopath. He's killing people because he doesn't agree with them doctrinally, right? I'm not talking about he's out on these social media streets just commenting mean things. He's showing up at their house, he's taking them to jail, he's killing them. And this, if it wasn't Stephen, if it wasn't Ananias and Sapphira, if it wasn't the felonious rap sheet, if it wasn't folks making fun of us, now we got a literal dude with a bunch of people behind him who are showing up to your house as a Christian, taking you to jail or killing you. This is it, right?

This is the thing that's going to make an end to the church. But what does God do? He takes that crazy, psychopathic, Judaic assassin and he makes him the greatest missionary in the history of the church. Like this is, this is unbelievable. Like none of y'all would have picked Saul to be your guy. It had been like, I need a guy as bad as Saul to stand up against Saul. God's like, no. I'm gonna pick him. I want him to be the one. Acts chapter 12, Peter gets in prison. You go, this is it. Now our leader, James, gets executed. Now we ain't got a pastor. Peter goes to prison. Both our pastors are gone. It's unbelievable. And the sheep are gonna scatter and the church is gonna fall apart. And what do they do? They show up to the church and they pray. And they find out that not only does God talk and we can hear, but we can talk and God hears. And they say, you know what? We should do this for 21 days straight, right? No, they didn't say that, but that's what we say, right? And Peter gets miraculously rescued from prison to the extent that the church really isn't

even expecting him to get rescued. He shows up and they're all surprised. In Acts 13, the Jewish church rejects Paul, right? God picks Paul. Jewish church goes, nah, we don't want you. Well, this is it. Now, finally, we've hit a division that we're not gonna be able to surpass this. And God says, actually, I never wanted you to go to the Jews. I want you to go to the Gentiles. And so in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are sent to our neck of the woods, our ancestors, our forefathers. Acts 13 through 19, riots, prisons, divisions in the church, assassination attempts, imprisonment, every single step the gospel spreads, souls are saved, churches are planted. And then in Acts 23, Paul's ministry ends. And this, for sure, is the thing, right? This is the thing that puts an end to the church. Now, the crazy guy in Acts 3, who has been on the road for the gospel for 25 years, now he's done, now he's retiring, now he's going to jail, now he's gonna get killed, and this is going to be it. He gets imprisoned. There are plots to assassinate him. He goes through a hurricane. He gets shipwrecked. He gets bitten by a snake. Come on, somebody.

Like, this is the deal. He gets to Rome, and Paul gives the gospel to governors, military commanders, kings, and even the family of Caesar. Even the family, there is not a single instance of opposition that hinders the movement of the kingdom of the gospel in the book of Acts. The kingdom advances, don't miss this, not in the absence of opposition, but through the presence. And I think that, especially in America, we need to understand the difference between opposition and hindrance. When Jesus says, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Wherever you go, I am there with you. Nothing that I put into motion can be stopped. The book of Acts is a testament to that. Quite literally, and jot this down, quite literally, the obstacle is the instrument of advancement. You see, you have hard things in your life, and you think, this is the thing that is standing between me and God's best for my life. But if you read the book of Acts, you would say, this is the thing that I have to go through to God's best for my life. I'll tell you, during COVID, y'all remember COVID? Like, no, please don't bring up COVID, yeah. I remember whenever we found out that COVID was a thing. I remember when it was like in far off distant lands.

I remember in February, I was actually in Dubai, and I got COVID, the Italian version. Remember that, right? I got pneumonia. I had it for about three months, and y'all were like, you got really bad bronchitis. It was COVID the whole time, right? And I remember we had to shut down services, and I thought, man, just for a couple of weeks. Remember that? And then it wasn't a couple of weeks. I thought by Easter, and then it wasn't Easter. I thought, oh, at the end of summer, and then it wasn't that. And all the while, I'm having pastors call me, and we're seeing online, people be like, this is a hoax, this is fake, nothing. All the while, we're burying people. And while we're burying people, we got church folks. Remember I said how crazy y'all are? Getting mad at me for having to wear a mask. Getting mad at me over a politician. Getting mad at me over George Floyd. I mean, we literally, not exaggerating, we had hundreds of people leave this church during COVID. And I would come in here with my mask on, don't freak out, all right? And I would walk in the dark, and I would beg God to not let me be the pastor that killed Grace Way.

Because I was trying to make decisions, because I love you, to keep you safe, but it sure didn't look like it was working, right? And I would come in here, and I would say, God, I'm only number four. Are you gonna kill this church through this pandemic under my watch? And not that I wanted it to be number five, but I didn't want it to be me. You get what I'm saying? Just hang on until I get. And I lost a lot of relationships. I lost friends. We did, I lost count of how many funerals we did. My friend, our executive pastor got COVID, almost died. Has long COVID had to, it was awful. It was awful, awful, awful. Can I also tell you, if I had you raise your hand, how many of you found this church during COVID and have been here since COVID? Literally hundreds of hands would go up. In fact, the vast majority of our church, I'm talking a few thousand people, most of you, most of you came since COVID. Why? Because the obstacle was the instrument of advancement. It was. And you have things in your life that you say, God's trying to kill me. No, no, no.

God's trying to give you something. God's trying to give you something. You gotta determine the difference between opposition and hindrance. You gotta believe Jesus when he says, all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me and I'm with you and whatever I intend to do, nothing is going to stop. Now that doesn't mean that there isn't gonna be opposition. It means it can't be stopped. And when you look at the book of Acts, it is literally the opposition that God uses. What is more gangster than this? God says, I'm going to use you trying to stop me as the thing to build the church. It's unbelievable. Listen, nothing can confine the message of the gospel. This is the paradox of it. Paul is in prison. The gospel isn't. This is why we wanna put prisons or churches in prisons because we believe that you can be in prison. We believe that you can deserve to be in prison, but you can still, in the name of Jesus, be set free. That's what we believe. And do you notice how the church keeps trying to shrink the gospel? Remember this? They're like, do the Gentiles get in? And Peter's like, no.

And then he goes up to have a lunchable and God is like, I'm gonna give you a dream. Remember this story? And God starts sending dreams and God starts transporting Philip from one place to another and dropping them in front of the second in charge of Ethiopia. Remember this? And he's reading the book of Isaiah and he's like, yo, you need me to help you with Isaiah? And he's like, yeah, get in my car. Now, how many of you are like, get in my car? You're like, bro, get away from my car. But look at what God is doing. Look at what God is doing. And even when we fail and even when we try to shrink what God is doing and even when we get anxious, listen, how many people do you know? It's not their best day that God uses. It's their worst story. It's their divorce. It's their bankruptcy. It's their failure. It's the thing that you wish nobody would know. And God's like, I don't wanna use your success. I wanna use your failure. Stop trying to shrink what God is doing. Stop trying to presume on God how and who and when and in what way, what does Jesus say?

It's all mine. It's all mine. I'm gonna use it all for my glory. Listen, you can have confidence. You can have confidence. Think about the context of the book of Acts, the specter of Rome. Rome was everything. Nobody would have looked at Rome and thought to themselves, in a couple hundred years, this will be in a history museum. And churches at the time would have thought, how is God going to get around Rome? But the kingdom, Rome, that tried to ignore the kingdom of Jesus, tried to oppose it, tried to confine it, what happened? What happened? The kingdom of Jesus outlived it. The kingdom of Jesus, and the same thing happens through history again and again and again. The church survived Nero, Diocletian, the collapse of Rome, Islamic conquests, medieval plagues, the Enlightenment, skepticism, communism, totalitarian regimes, countless local attempts to extinguish, manipulate and confine the Christian witness. But Jesus said, I will build my church and nobody's going to do a doggone thing about it.

Can I tell, let me help you. Let me help you. This too, it will pass. You go, this is, it's worse than it's ever been. Number one, no, it's not. Read a history book. And number two, this will change. They will leave, it will stop, but the kingdom of God and God himself is the same yesterday, today and forever. And when Jesus said, when Jesus said, all authority is mine, he meant at the end of the day, it's just going to be me. It's just going to be me. Remember what? Elio said, hey, just watch. And if men are doing this, it's gonna fail. But if God is doing this, nothing you can do about it. Nothing you can do about it. Listen, if you've given your life to Jesus, you can be confident. You can be confident that your life is built on the rock, not on sand. Not on the sands of time, not on the sand of regimes, not on the sands of political campaigns, not on the sand of green paper with dead guys on it, not on the sand of your current job status or employment. All of those things move. All of those things can be taken. All of those things can be stopped.

But if your life is built on Jesus, not only does the Bible tell you, but history tells you, you can be confident. You can trust the kingdom of God in your life. You get to the end of the book of Acts, you get to the end of the book of Acts, and you find out that Rome was not the point and neither was Paul. This is the reason that Luke doesn't emphasize Rome or Paul because it wasn't the point. It wasn't the point. The reason there's a dot, dot, dot at the end of the book of Acts is because the book of Acts ends like this. God's been at work. God has plans, can't be stopped. Your turn. Your turn. Your turn, second generation. Your turn, third generation. And now for centuries, the church has faithfully been receiving and handing the baton of the gospel to and from the next generation. That's the reason that Luke ends the way that he did. So quickly, quickly, quickly. What kind of church? What kind of church? If you're sitting yourself and thinking, what kind of church is Graceway trying to be?

I wanna answer that question for you. I'm not gonna belabor it, but I wanna be crystal clear that the reason that we have spent 26 weeks in the book of Acts is not just to get information. It's for God to change this church into what he intends it to be. And the first thing that I want you to see is that that church was a kingdom-centered church, a kingdom-centered church. The early church was not captivated, did not romanticize an organization, an institution, a brand, or a platform. And I don't want you to miss this, please. The church is not the end in the plans of God. It is the means. The means of what? The means of bringing the future kingdom of God into the present. It is the means of the reign of King Jesus extending into the world. That is what the church is. And you can see in the West how we've gotten this wrong. We think the church is the punchline. The church is not the punchline. Graceway is not the punchline. The kingdom that comes to and through Graceway is the punchline. But we keep wanting to make it about us. Come to our church, listen to our preacher,

watch our sermons, go through our content. But a church only exists to get people as efficiently, quickly, and directly as possible to a kingdom with a king whose name is Jesus. I want you to love this church, I do. I want you to love this church. But can I tell you, this church is not enough to change your life for. The early church did not say, First Baptist Church of Jerusalem, we'll give our lives for that. No, no, no. They believed in the king and the kingdom. They believed that there was a better king and his name was Jesus. They believed there was a better kingdom. They believed in the constitution of the kingdom. They said, we'll give our lives to him, we'll give our lives to that. We'll sacrifice everything for the kingdom. And the church is a place where people can come in unable to experience Jesus and think to themselves, who is Jesus and what is this kingdom? And they can come here and go, oh, I see it. I see it. I see Jesus in grace way. I see the kingdom in grace way. I see the way of Jesus through the people of grace way. That is the point. This place is not the point.

The point is what do people understand, see and hear about Jesus in the kingdom when they come to this place? Number two is we wanna be a spirit empowered church. The dominant character of the book of Acts is not Paul. And it is not Peter. It is the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit. And this drives me insane in the Western church, how much we grapple, argue, debate the place of the Holy Spirit. There's a reason. That the Holy Spirit is so controversial, I'll tell you what it is. Because the enemy knows the significance of the Holy Spirit more than we do. When you read through the book of Acts, it's the Holy Spirit that initiates mission. It's the Holy Spirit that empowers preaching. It's the Holy Spirit that appoints leaders. It's the Holy Spirit that sends missionaries. It's the Holy Spirit that gives courage. It's the Holy Spirit that directs travel. It's the Holy Spirit that comforts saints. Listen, the early church never did anything apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. The contemporary church, man, we're so doggone cool. We're so cool with our sophisticated organizations. We're so cool with our education, with our technology, with our money. The problem is we don't have power. We got all the trappings of power. And while we're debating the Holy Spirit, do you think it's like this, do you think that we really need them? I mean, we've got the Bible. The early church didn't have the Bible.

Think about that. But they were powerful. We got 60 versions of the Bible. Where's the power? Where's the power? We got YouTube channels. We got podcasts. We got big stages with all this technology. We got air conditioning. We got folding chairs and nice chairs. Come on, somebody. And some of y'all, we ain't got, we ain't even got enough power that if you gotta sit on a folding chair, you'll keep coming to church. The sound isn't good and I have to sit on a folding chair. I'll come back when it's nice. We got, we got scandals. We got division. Come on. No power. No power. No power. Kingdom centered. Spirit empowered. Thirdly, a courageous witnessing church. Do you notice that the apostles did not create anything new? There is no innovation in the book of Acts. We love talking about innovation in the church. This is one of the most innovative, there's actually a list, 50 most innovative churches in America. None of them are in the book of Acts.

None of them. None of them. They simply did what they had seen and heard. Do you remember the amount of times that I've said to you, Peter is not creative. He's just thinking back to when he saw Jesus doing it and doing what Jesus did. Listen, you don't need to worry about what you don't know, but you do need to steward what you do. Listen, you've got a story. Steward it. Make up, live it, so people can see it. Now expect opposition, but when opposition comes, don't shrink, pray for boldness. Pray for boldness. Fourthly, we need a church that is expectant. Acts is the story of the invisible hand of God. Nothing hindered what God intended to accomplish. And the thing that you see as an undercurrent of power in the early church was they weren't anxious that God would do what he said. They expected him to do what he said. And can I tell you, I want to challenge you, Grace Way, because I think, I think this is slipping here. There's no panic of culture shifts in Acts. There's no hostile responses, no political setbacks. There's no reference to the economy or social change. All of those things happened during the time of Acts, but Luke doesn't even put pen to paper about them. They were expectant at every part, in every element, in every service, in every small group, in every D1 and D2 relationship, in every growth track, in every interaction, in every part of our building and relationships. And if I could be honest with you, I think that we're expectant in this room, but I don't think you're expectant in that room.

And I think that, I think that we fall prey to just going through the motions. You say, Pastor Tim, the World Cup's here. It's hot and blah, blah. I know. I know. But the music starts and, and is there this gasp of what might God do today? Or is it just like, the bucket passes in front and you, not, I get to do this. I get to trust God. No, no. Prayer time comes and you walk that way instead of coming this way, because what's the point? Twenty-one days of prayer is coming and I don't know. see what happens. You're in the parking lot on the dream team and hey, I want y'all to keep people safe. I do. But I don't want you to keep people safe at the expense of, hey, before they experience God, they get you. And when they're pulling up in the car, I want you to be thinking, I'm filled with the spirit. I'm ready today, God, for what you have me say. I'm gonna be bold with my witness. I wonder who they are and how I might get to serve them. When they walk in the front door, I don't want you to stand there and wait till they look at you. That's an eternal soul that God has brought sovereignly to our building and to our space. Now, I'm not saying jump on them, all right, but I am saying, hey, a little less passivity.

This isn't about shilling coffee and getting people checked in. This is about kingdoms. This is about presence. This is about power. This is about what might God do today? And here's the thing. Miracles were normal in this church. And I'm gonna tell you something. You ain't gonna like it. Miracles are normal here. We're just too busy being concerned with us than to see what God is doing in others. We're just too busy. And so that song kicks on and you think to yourself, I don't like this song. Hey, who cares? Who cares? This is about the presence. Now, listen, not as some dumb celebrity of God. Ah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And here's what I need you to understand. It's not that God has changed. We have changed. It's not that God is not powerful, that God does not intend to do,

that God is not capable of doing, that God isn't doing. It's us. It's not him. And I'm sick of hearing people go to other places in the world and go, it's just so different. They trust God over there. They see miracles over there. Really? That's weird that God's willing to do it here, but there, but not here. No, come on. Let's be expectant. Every service, every small group, every time you serve, every interaction you have, what if God wants to break in? What if God wants to do something? What if God wants to use you? And then lastly, as a church that thinks beyond its generations. This is the most profound thing to me about the book of Acts. The greatest missionary who has ever lived outside of Jesus gets martyred and the Bible doesn't even say a word about it. Nothing about the trial, nothing about his death, nothing in memorial just keeps on rolling. Why? Because what Paul loved is not done. The final chapter of Acts is intentionally unfinished because Jesus is still writing the story through the church. And the truth of it is you're not just coming to church.

God help us. For centuries, the church has received this baton and handed it forward. And I'm terrified that it is this generation that will drop it. That it is this generation with all the money and all the technology and all the buildings who, listen, spends 1.7 cents of every dollar that comes in on unreached people groups. Jesus says, go to the ends of the earth. We can't even give two cents out of every dollar to the unreached. That's why over the last few years, we have changed that now 97% of every dollar that goes to missions goes directly to unreached people groups. Why, why, why? This is why, this is why I say to you, please pray for summer camp. That's who we're handing it to. This is why I beg you to be a kingdom witness in your workplace because, listen, it's been handed to us. And if Jesus doesn't come back, we gotta have somebody to hand it to. This is who Jesus is. This is what the kingdom looks like. Just watch us and then do what we did. Now think about that. The next generation does what we have done,

will the Great Commission get finished? And so Luke says, don't worry about Paul, he'll be fine. Take it. Acts 1-8, you will be my witnesses. Acts 28, without hindrance. You don't gotta worry about whether or not the Great Commission is going to get done, it is. You gotta worry about whether or not you get to be a part of it. And whether we're gonna take God at his word, whatever you say you will build, God, cannot be stopped. And I want to be a part of it. I don't care where I sit, put me in the back seat, strap me to the top, I don't care. I just wanna be along for the ride. I just wanna get to the end of my life and say I gave it to what matters. I received the baton and I handed it to the next generation. Faithfully, I was a part of what God did in my time and place. That's the punchline of Acts. That's what God wants to accomplish. Not in us, in you. And you get enough use and it turns into us and God changes our heart and our affection and there's enough of that that happens and it changes Raytown. And if it could change Raytown, it might change independence.

Come on, somebody. And then Blue Springs and then Lee's Summit and then Kansas City and then it just starts spreading out and nobody in the room says, look at what we're doing. We say, can you believe that God would do that here through us? Your promises are yes and amen. You can be confident that God will do it. The question is, do you wanna be a part? Father, we come to you right now. And I thank you for the book of Acts and I thank you for the faithfulness of the first century church. And Lord, I don't look back on them and say, we want it like they did it. We look back to you. We say, Lord, we want whatever you have. We wanna be about your kingdom, empowered by your spirit. We wanna be courageous and bold. We wanna be expectant that all authority is yours and whatever you build cannot be stopped. And we wanna be a link in the chain of your kingdom and your people and your covenant for the blessing of our city, our state, our country and the world. Lord, let us be a part of what you're doing. Change whatever needs to be changed. Take whatever needs to be taken. Give whatever you know that we need, Lord. But in this time and place, let it be said of this generation, they were faithful.

They trusted, they believed, they walked with God. They experienced his presence and his power. And God was glorified. Speak to us now, Lord, about the things that ought not be and the things that must be. And give us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to believe you and to obey for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen. Prayer team, why don't you come on down. If you need prayer, come this way. Don't go that way. Giving box is in the back. Growth track in the next service. Fam, I love you. Let's do it for God's glory, amen. See you next Sunday.