Venture Forward

In this message, we look at the final moments of Paul’s journey in Acts. Despite imprisonment, opposition, and uncertainty, Paul continued to preach boldly because he knew the mission was bigger than his circumstances.

And everything points back to one moment. The resurrection of Jesus.

Because Jesus is alive, the message we carry is full of power, hope, and authority. This is not just history. It’s our calling. If you’ve ever felt held back by fear, limited by circumstances, or unsure of your next step, this message will remind you that God is still moving and He wants to move through you.

It’s time to venture forward.

Transcript

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Well, good morning. Are you well? Fantastic. You know, last month I was up here talking to you about my kids, Zach and Megan. Their ages are 12 and 9.

And what I mentioned was a few things. But I just want to mention today, like, they. It's a great age at the moment because they are so independent. They help around the house, they do some chores. They.

One thing they do is after dinner time, they clear the table and they put all the crockery over it on the side in the dishwasher. Really, really helpful. I remember doing that when I was growing up, and I didn't want to take one plate at a time, and I'd be quite smart, and I'd pile up all the plates and all the bowls and all the cutlery and everything, even put a nice glass tumbler right on top. And I would have my mission to get it from one side of the kitchen right to the other with my horror that as I went, it would rock and rock and it would smashed to the ground. Some of us have been clumsy.

We've all dropped something before, haven't we? I don't know why. It is these glass tumblers where they break. They don't break into one or two shards. They're like.

They smash into, like, a million pieces. The ones where you kind of find them like a week later, even those small bits. I was seeing this in my house across the kitchen. One of my kids, they dropped something, and it was almost like time just stood still. You know, those moments and you can see something happening, and you literally just cannot.

You cannot stop it. There's nothing you can do to stop what's about to happen. It made me think, in this world, all the different things that are truly unstoppable, one of the first things that came to mind was a train or a freight train. Yeah, it starts off really slow, but as time goes on, its momentum, it gets greater and greater. But I think there's a difference between momentum and something that's being unstoppable.

You see, momentum is the speed of movement, and being unstoppable is the inability to stop that momentum or that movement. So a freight train probably couldn't be truly unstoppable, because eventually it'll come to the end of its tracks. Maybe it comes off its tracks, but eventually it will stop. So what is truly unstoppable? Two things came to mind.

The first one was time. Time is truly unstoppable. We cannot stop time. We all have 1,440 minutes every single day. And once we've used them up.

Guess what? They're gone. They're all in the past. Something else which is truly unstoppable is aging. And we all age.

My wife loves to tell me about all of the gray hairs that I have on my head now. I've just turned 40 last year, and I'm embracing, embracing the gray, you know, embrace. It's a bit of wisdom, isn't it? I think, you know, and one thing on my 40th is I got a gift from a friend, and it was a small black box. And I thought, oh, this looks really nice.

Maybe quite something expensive in here. Maybe a watch, maybe some cufflinks. And I open the box and unwrap the tissue paper. And what I pull out is a anti wrinkle face cream. And I had a bit of a laugh and a bit of a chuckle.

We had a bit of banter back and forth. And you know what? Those things are quite expensive as well. I can tell you. I want to tell you, no matter how much I lather that on my face.

Yeah, I might look 39, but we're all going in one direction, and we cannot stop the aging process. It's truly unstoppable. It made me think about something that actually is quite unremarkable, that is quite remarkable and something I've had the privilege of looking at over the past couple of weeks. And it's this. The gospel is unstoppable.

It truly is. Now, if you are not a churchgoer, maybe you're new to church, maybe you've come here today because you're seeing someone get baptized. When I talk about the gospel, the gospel actually means good news. The gospel is good telling. Now, I don't know about you, but every time I wake up, I go downstairs, I listen to the news, I put the news on, I listen, I say, hey, Google, tell me the latest news.

And for some reason, I don't know why, but 70, 80, 90% of the news is always bad news, isn't it? Always bad news? And why? Well, bad news gets clicks. Bad news sells newspapers.

But amongst all the bad news, every single day, I'm so thankful that we have good news. In the name of Jesus, can I hear an amen? We have good news amongst it all, and that is such a constant. So what is the good news? The good news is this Christian message of salvation.

In particular the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ to save sinners like you and me. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal or everlasting life. I love what Paul says as he wrote a letter to the Romans. He said, now God says he will accept and acquit us. He will declare us not guilty.

He will, if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. I really want to highlight that today, no matter what we are or who we are or what we have been like, yes, all have sinned. We all fall short of God's glorious ideal. Yet now God declares us not guilty of of offending Him.

If we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away all of our sins. The Gospel is good news. The Gospel is a gift. And it's not for us to earn. It's not for us to work for, because why?

Jesus did everything that was necessary on the cross. That's what we celebrate this Easter to bring us in right standing before God. And that's what's on offer. Not rules, but not religion, but a relationship with the living God. And this Easter, my prayer is this, that you would draw closer to him because he wants to draw closer to you and for you to accept this free gift of his grace.

In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. The Unstoppable Gospel over the past five weeks, we've been exploring and seeing a journey through the Book of Acts. And what started out as a small group of believers, just 11 apostles, this message would be preached, this good news would start to gain momentum and it would become unstoppable.

But often as things go, they start small, but eventually they don't stay small. Now I can think about next week and Easter and I can praise God and I can thank him. And I can say that with my words and prayer, I could even start clapping and just be amazed about what he is. I can praise God. Maybe someone else might want to join in and praise God as well because of what he's done.

And we thank Him. You're not applauding me. You're applauding God because of all the things that he's done. Thank you so much for joining in, because I want to tell you, momentum, it spreads from person to person. That's exactly what we see happening.

A handful of people in Jerusalem. We watch Paul and seeing just ordinary people like you and me, filled with the Holy Spirit and they stepped out in faith. Now, in the first few weeks, we actually showed you a few maps of the journey that Paul went on in Acts, and I want to give you another map today to show you, like the whole of Acts. So he journeyed a lot throughout Acts on his first and second and third missionary journey, and then the final journey, even today from Jerusalem to Rome. So where do we see him go?

Well, in Antioch, the church didn't just gather, it was sent across Asia Minor. The gospel broke new ground towards Greece. Doors had closed, but then God still led the way. In Philippi, we see them in chains, but we also see breakthrough. In Ephesus, we see the gospel didn't just touch a few people, but actually transformed a city.

And through every step of that journey, one thing becomes clear. The Gospel doesn't stand still. It moves, it spreads, and it multiplies. Even last week, Andrew Shearman actually spoke to us and he said this, this off the cuff thing, this is a really, just really quick line. He says the church is growing, which is great, but we're not just adding.

No, what we're doing is we're multiplying. Because isn't that what happens? Because disciples make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. This is exactly what Jesus called us all to in the very great Commission. In Matthew 28, Jesus said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples, Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You see, this wasn't just for the 11. It wasn't just for a few spiritual people way back when. It's for every believer, past, present and future, who say yes to Jesus. That's why when we look forward to after someone saying yes to Jesus, we see them get baptized.

That's why Baptism Sunday is such an amazing celebration, because we see what God has done in their life and we're fulfilling the very charge that Jesus has given all of us to make disciples. So what do we see when the gospel starts moving? Nothing can stop its momentum. You know, today we come to the final chapter in Paul's journey. In Acts, God used one life, Paul, to reach many people.

But I believe the gospel was never meant to stop just with one person. It moves from person to person, generation to generation. And to give a bit of a visual of this today, John's going to give me a hand. I've got a piece of rope here. So today.

And this rope is going to represent time, time being the unstoppable force. And if John, right over in the distance is in Acts chapter one, and it comes all the way through time, to today in 2026. And this is about just under 2000 years have gone on. And to really fathom the unstoppable gospel is to really realize how many lives were impacted, how many people had said yes to Jesus. Now, to try to get that number, it's quite hard because I did some digging and there's obviously not enough data that's accurate enough to fully grasp it.

But I'm going to say more than and then give you a number. So since Acts up until now, there's been more than 3 billion Christians all who said yes to Jesus. Isn't that amazing? Three billion more than. In fact, I think it's way more.

It could even be double that, which is amazing. Through every single person on that journey was obedient to take that mission forward and to share the gospel. Now, what do we see right at the beginning of Acts chapter one? We see that Jesus ascended into heaven. We see that the 11 had the message and then there was 120, then there was 3,000, and it grew more and more.

Why? Because those people told someone who then told someone, who then told someone. And they then told someone who then told someone else. And all of a sudden they told them their uncle, who told their sister, who told their work colleague, who told their boss, hey, do you want to come to church? And they go, yeah, I'll come to church.

They came to church and they experienced God for the first time. They gave their life to Jesus. And then they then started to share the gospel. And they then told their friend, who then told their sister, who told their mum, who told their work colleague, who then told their classmate, who then told their. And then that kept going on and on.

And they then told their sister, who then told their auntie, who told their auntie. And you get the picture today, don't you? You get the picture. But I want to tell you that person told that person, who then told that person, that friend who told that friend. All of a sudden the message got all the way until it reached you.

Isn't that incredible? And I was thinking about that today. It literally blew my mind that a gospel message that was no worse 2000 years ago went from person to person, obedient with what they thought and knew what the mission was until their message reached me. Think back to the moment when it reached you and the journey that it has been on. I think that is a miracle.

And that is the truly unstoppable gospel. Thanks, John. Yeah, fantastic. Today we are a part of a movement, and if you look it up, we are part of 2.5 billion Christians here on earth today. This is not just a few people that is talking about Jesus.

No, this is. We're talking about Jesus because of what he's done. This is a movement, and this truly is unstoppable. Here's the challenge. Today, the gospel spreads at the speed of our obedience.

So the question is, will you be obedient today? Will you be obedient this week? Because I truly believe we are meant to be witnessing and telling people about the very message that reached us. Shouldn't stop with us. No, it needs to go through us and continue forward.

Maybe what would happen if the gospel, yes, it reached you, but who might God want it to reach through? You have a think about a person in your life now who needs to know the name of Jesus. Maybe it's the first person that comes into your mind. A friend, a family member, a work colleague, a classmate. Who's the first person.

And usually it's that first person that comes into your mind. This isn't random. This is actually your assignment today. And I want you to really think about however you go about getting that message across to them. My prayer today is that you would have boldness and you would have courage in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Let's come back to Paul. He's been traveling freely. He's been preaching publicly, he's been planting churches. But now we find in Acts 21, everything changes.

Now Paul arrives back in Jerusalem, and here he's warned by one of his close friends that the suffering is coming. But he goes anyway because he's compelled by the Spirit. We see that Paul is constantly living within the Spirit, and he goes, now, this isn't a mistake. This is just obedience to the Spirit. But then when he is in Jerusalem, he goes into the temple.

Some Jews recognize him. They stir up the crowd. They even accuse him of teaching against their laws, even claiming that he brought a Gentile into the temple, which they couldn't do at the time. And this wasn't true either. It sparks an outrage.

A riot breaks out. He's dragged out, nearly killed by the crowd. This is. This is full on stuff. And then what happens is that a Roman soldier, they step in and they arrest him.

And from this moment, we see that Paul is in chains. And then over the next few chapters, we see Paul go before a series of trials, before all these different types of leadership. But he does the same thing every single time. He shares his story and he points people back to Jesus. Then, even after preaching again and telling them this, there's a plot to kill him, and then this is uncovered, then he gets moved under heavy guard.

And. And this is going on for like two whole years where all he's trying to do is just preach the gospel and share God the very good news of Jesus. And every time he advances, he kind of gets hit back. And he advances and he's persecuted and he advances and it's constantly. And what happens is what we see that Paul is.

He feels delayed. It looks like he's restricted. He's in this waiting. And I don't know about you, but I would feel really discouraged in, in this time. They're so long.

You're trying to go forward, but everything's pushing you back. And then I love what happens is that God actually meets Paul in the middle of the night. In Acts 23, verse 11, he says, that night the Lord appeared to Paul. And God said to Paul, be encouraged, be encouraged. He says, just as you've been my witness here in Jerusalem, you must preach the good news in Rome as well.

And what looks like a delay for Paul is actually a direction. And eventually Paul, because he's a Roman citizen, has write passage over to Rome and he gets on a ship and he makes his final journey. There's a map here actually behind me which just shows Acts chapter 27 and 28, which is the final two chapters in Acts. And this is the journey that he takes from Jerusalem all the way through to Rome. I'd love for you to go away this week and actually read that journey because there's a lot of.

A lot of things happened and there's a few months that happened along on that journey as well. So what do we see? We see a violent storm. We see a shipwreck. We see they land on the island of Malta.

No life is lost. But then we see miracles and healings. And then they set off again with everything they need. And eventually Paul arrives in Rome, but he's not free. He's still a prisoner, still in chains.

And now he's in house arrest. And he was even known back then that Paul being in house arrest, he would be chained to a praetorian guard, whether it be around the wrist or the ankle. And he would be attached to by chained to a guard 24 7. And the guard would be on like a rotor basis. But what happens, he still preaches the Gospel, he still shows shares with people who come and go from the house.

And even when he's in house arrest, he actually writes a few letters that we actually see in The New Testament. And one of these is to the church in Philippi. He says to the brothers and sisters there, he says, I want you to know this, that everything that's happened to me here has helped me to spread the good news for everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. I love that. I love that even amongst him being chained.

Even the guards who are just in ear, you know, in just so close to where he is, are hearing the gospel message, and they too are coming to faith in Christ. The very system that was meant to contain him became the platform to spread the Gospel. And then we see how Luke describes the very last two verses in Acts, Acts 28, 30, 31. He says, for the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, and he boldly proclaimed the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And no one tried to stop him. I love that. And you know what? Today you can chain the messenger, but you cannot chain the message. Let me say that again.

You can chain the messenger, but you cannot chain the message. It will still advance. It will still advance. You know, I want you to imagine for a minute that you are reading a book or a novel and you've worked your way through, you're engrossed with the story, you love what the characters have been through and the journey it's been on. And then all of a sudden, you just want to see how that that ends.

And all of a sudden you turn the last page and you see that the last page is missing. How disappointing it would be to not get that conclusion that you really wanted. And it's actually what I kind of feel like we see here in Acts, because right at the end of Acts, Luke doesn't actually tell us how the story ends. He actually doesn't tell us how the trial ends or what comes next. Literally, it just feels like there's unpaged missing.

And I was thinking about that this week and thinking, well, why would that be the case? Maybe the story wasn't finished. Maybe Acts isn't just history, but it's actually the beginning of the church's story. Maybe it's. The story did continue.

It continued through the early church, it continues through generation of believers, until somehow that message reached you. But I believe it still isn't finished. I believe the Holy Spirit is still writing that very story today. So what would happen if Luke actually wrote Acts 29? What would it say?

What would Luke say about our church? Well, I had a bit of A stab at that. And I actually wrote Acts 29. Did you want to hear it? So this.

Have a little listen to Acts 29. 1. In the 47th year since the church first gathered in the city of Milton Keynes, in the land called Buckinghamshire, the Lord continued to build his church among them. For in the year of our Lord 1979, a small group of believers began to meet with prayer and faith, trusting that God would move in their city. Though they were few, the Spirit of the Lord was with them, and their hearts burned with a desire that many would come to know Jesus.

In those days, the church was known as Milton Keynes Christian center, and they believed. And believers devoted themselves to scriptures, to fellowship, to prayer, and to sharing the good news. And over many seasons, the Lord added to their number, and people from many backgrounds came to know Christ. Lives were restored, families strengthened, and many who walked in darkness came into the light. And after many years, the church entered a new season and was called Venture Church.

And they believed the Lord was calling them to venture forward with faith and courage. They often reminded one another, saying, what the Lord did in the early church, he will do again. In those days, the church gathered in Oldbrook, and the people came week by week to worship the Lord Jesus. Some came burdened, yet left with joy. Others came searching and found faith.

And as they prayed together, the Spirit stirred them, saying, do not remain only where you are, but go and make disciples. So they began to pray for another gathering that more might hear the good news of Jesus. And the people responded with faith, serving, giving, inviting, and praying. Now, as Easter approached in the year 2026, they prepared to open a new gathering in a place called Kent's Hill. And there was a great anticipation among them, for they believed the Lord desired to reach many more.

Some asked, will people come? Others said, will the Lord move again? But the leaders reminded them, saying, the gospel has always moved forward when God's people step out in faith. And they remembered how Paul preached even while in chains, welcoming all who came to him. And they said, if the gospel could spread through a prisoner, surely it could spread through us.

So they prayed boldly and they welcomed all who came. And the message of Jesus spread throughout Milton Keynes. And that same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead was still at work among them. And the church grew not only in number, but in love, in generosity and courage. And many said with wonder, see what the Lord has done.

And they knew their story was part of a greater work across the earth, as the gospel had traveled through generations to reach them. And. And now they too, became part of that continuing story. And the believers devoted themselves to prayer, to serving their city, and to proclaiming that Jesus is alive. And though the world would change around them, the message of Christ remained the same.

And the church continued to move forward with boldness, for the gospel could not be stopped. And this is not the end of the story. For the Spirit still calls his people to go to love and to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Can we give God some praise today?

What would Acts 29 say about you? This isn't just a story we read. It's a story that we are all a part of. And I love. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us today.

Just some questions for you just to think and ponder on. Where's God calling you to step out?

Who's God placing on your heart today? And what would it look like if you were to venture forward for him this week, this month, or this year? Because if the gospel reached you, not meant to stop with you, it's meant to go through you. Maybe for some of you today, your first step isn't to share the gospel, but it's to receive the gospel message. And my prayer today is that you could say yes to Jesus.

You can step into a relationship with him. And we're going to have people on my left over here who is our response team and our prayer team. They're going to be here after the service. They want to talk more about Jesus with you. Maybe you want to say yes.

Maybe you want to journey towards baptism one day. But I know your life will change completely and it'll be the best decision you ever make today for others. Maybe it's time for us to step out, to invite, to speak, to serve and be a part of what God is doing in this city today, 2026. Because what if what we're stepping into this Easter, what if it is literally just the beginning? I believe the gospel is unstoppable because the king we preach is alive.

So I want us to all venture forward. I pray God for boldness, I pray for courage. And I pray God, that you would continue to move through generation to generation for 2000 more years to come. And may your gospel continue to reach every life. And I pray and praise you for who you are.

We do it for you and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. We'll see you good Friday and again next Sunday. God bless it.