Grace Life Church: Recent Episodes
Grace Life Church
God’s promises will fuel our continued worship, but sometimes we need to visit the past and hear those promises again.
Ch 9-14 begins a whole series of prophecies about the Messiah. The exiles have returned, the temple appears to have been rebuilt and worship restored, and now the attention turns to the future culmination of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
If you take away the resurrection, you take away all of Christianity. If you acknowledge that the resurrection happened, then all of Christianity must be true.
In a world where tribulations are common, trials are the norm, and pain is inevitable, hope is essential. When we embrace God’s divine hope, He brings unexpected benefits! Our deepened hope in Jesus and His Word, and our strengthened hope through the fellowship of others brings the purifying work of Christ-likeness.
At the beginning of Malachi’s “word”, God laid out the case against them…now in chapter 2, He really lays into them and let them know how far they had come from Levi’s example and what He expected of them as they were to lead their Community in True Worship of the Most High God!
Grace is more than just forgiveness. He sends His grace to teach us a new way to live. His grace in us serves as His platform for more grace in the world!
Shame over our past keeps us from being effective. The resurrection changed everything in that our sins are no longer against our account. Sin gone. Shame gone. Abundant life remains!
Instead of trying to justify ourselves to God, understand that is the only when we act in Faith that God is truly pleased with us. Galatians 2:15-21
God’s calling on your life is always bigger than your lifetime. Luke 8:40-56, Matt 28:19-20
Jesus approaches the woman at the well in John 4. We discover some interesting tidbits about just who we are supposed to be on mission to.
God has a Mission for us to become a part of. We can ignore it, kick it down the road, flirt with it…or we can jump right in and begin to LIVE OUR LIVES ON MISSION!
The people of Israel waited with breathless anticipation for something that was real. They longed and waited for the coming of the Messiah. They waited not for days or months or even years, but literally centuries. God told the people not to despair. Someday Israel would be restored as a nation and God would send them a new King. He would be unlike any other King the world had ever seen before or would see again.
So many lies that Satan would have us believe. God’s goodness on the Cross overcomes those lies.
The call to leverage the great commission is connected to the call to follow Jesus. Stephen was an ordinary guy who changed the world. How did he do it? What does ordinary look like?
We sacrifice to join God in His mission — The same mission He’s had since the Beginning — To restore mankind to the proper relationship with Him, forgiving our sins, coming alongside to give us an Abundant Life, teaching us all we need to know about Our Creator.
Israel wanted a physical king they could see and touch. Real issue was they were rejecting God as their King. They were looking for a king who would “go out before us, and fight our battles.” (8:20)
Jonah 3:1-5 -- As Jonah goes to Ninevah, he must be the bearer of bad news...but in giving the bad news, the Good is just around the bend for those who listen. The people of Ninevah learn discover that God is the God of a multiplicity of chances!
Jonah 2:1-9 -- From within the depths of his distress, Jonah found his voice -- and God answered! We can be confident that God always answers the prayers of his people.
Jonah 1:4-17 -- God interrupts our self centeredness to stop us abruptly from moving forward with what we're doing to turn us back to His plan. It's part of redeeming the lost and sanctifying the redeemed.
Jonah 1:1-3 -- At the end of the day, God is less concerned with what we do for Him than who we are in Him.
Lots and lots of mysteries in our history books, and none more mysterious than the Resurrection of Christ. We deal with that issue in today's message, and show how the effect of the risen Jesus was more impactful on his followers than his simple message over the previous 3 years.
Country Club membership vs. Biblical Church membership — We pay for the benefits in a country club. The Church is a precious gift from God! Where else could a vagabond of complete strangers come together, from all walks of life, from various cultures to serve one another and work together for a common mission.
Church and Family — The family has a central role in the Bible. It is one of God’s methods for passing on knowledge of Him to future generations. It is a picture of His relationship with His Church. Satan hates the family. The one place Satan continually attacks is in the family — both biological or spiritual! Scripture teaches that the church membership is like a family. In a healthy church/family, we are to love and sacrifice unconditionally.
Based on the book, "I am a Church Member" by Thom Rainer, this is the first in a series of sermons from that study. Learn how to not just be a weekly attender/sitter but an active participant in what God is doing through your local church.
God never intended for us to walk alone. Authentic community in which we deeply know others and are known by others is necessary for a victorious faith life. (Scriptures used: Hebrews 10:24-25)
Jesus not only showed us how to fast but promised that his followers would fast as well. Fasting draws us closer to God by starving our flesh and feeding our spirit. We fast to help us focus on God and the things of his kingdom.
The Bible is God’s authoritative Word, showing us clearly who God has been in the history of humanity and what he desires for us individually. We must read the Bible regularly in order to know what it says.
Run the race set before. Avoid sin and the weights of this world. Pursue a life of faith above all else.
Jesus brought a new and better covenant of grace and truth. The only way to enter God’s rest is by receiving grace as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ.
Christmas is the time of year when we experience and celebrate the true Joy that came into the world over 2000 years ago...that time when Heaven came to Earth!
The slave who abandoned his master, and was returned as a profitable partner in the work of the Kingdom.
Not everyone is called to be in the lead character in a movie. But, just because someone's name is not in the credits as the "lead actor" does not make their participation any less important. God's Word tells us that we all have a part to play in the Body of Christ.
God's Grace works best when we give it all of our troubles, and let it work through us to impact our community!
Circumstances and obstacles will attempt to drown out God’s grace in our lives; we must trust in him anyway.
Scriptures Used: 1 Thess. 5:18
Major Truths from God’s Word are often found “hidden” in Jesus’ parables. It’s up to us to roll up our sleeves and dig in to find the nuggets.
The deliverance of the Jewish people we see in chapters 9-10 (and in the entire book) represents the deliverance believers can now experience with Christ.
The story of Esther is a precursor to the story of Jesus.
Even when we serve others and follow God’s commands (like Mordecai), we’ll still find ourselves in difficult situations. It’s important to be faithful anyway.
God’s Fingerprints are everywhere — even in our decision making!
The only book in the Bible to NOT mention God. It does, however, have the fingerprints of God all through it and we find an invitation to see God’s activity on behalf of His people.
Even though they thought they’d been abandoned…They had not been forgotten!