Grace Church NWA: Recent Episodes
Grace Church NWA
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
ALL ARE WELCOME!!! You can find out more about us at our website www.vineandbranch.churchIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
There’s a freedom that comes from surviving together for a long time - that kind of freedom is what Paul dreams of for the little group of saints in Corinth. He longs for them to grow into the kind of hard won resilience and maturity that come from sustained the practice of living lives rooted in Jesus and guided by an active gospel imagination. You can find out more about us at our website www.vineandbranch.churchIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
ALL ARE WELCOME!!!You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
ALL ARE WELCOME!!!You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Let me share with you a passage from CS Lewis’s seminal work Mere Christianity “I want to make it as clear as I possibly can that the centre of Christian morality is not [sexual behavior]. If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred.”Read that again. Let it sink in for a minute and then reflect on what you may have been taught about the dangers of sexual sin and the paramount importance of sexual purity. As I read this and considered how this book, Mere Christianity, was held in such high regard, I had to wonder if the same people who idolized Lewis ever really read what he wrote.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
This summer we’re taking time to look back on specific elements of experiences that are common to those who have gone to camp, specifically but not limited to church camp, and examine these experiences in light of what we are all coming to know and practice about our faith now. We may not need sunscreen or bug spray, but it will take an adventurous spirit and willingness to experience new things.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Our passage this week talks about the posture that we must take as followers of Christ. It is one that invites us to acknowledge the privilege and power we have been given by the world, and to humble ourselves wholly to God for the service of others. In a time where Christians in the West are throwing themselves into positions of more power, creating bigger walls, and shutting more people out, we must ask ourselves how can we stay true to the word of God and meet people where they are?You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
This week we have the privilege of hearing from Mike Rusch. Mike’s life involves way to much to sum up here, but suffice it to say you don’t want to miss this Sunday. Among many other things, Mike is creator and host of The Underview podcast , which contributes significantly to dialog around what wholeness means, and takes, for our community. I encourage you to listen, specifically to season two. What might has to share is significant for all of us, specifically those of us living in Northwest Arkansas at this time.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Making Whole 🧩 This week Laura led us to look at 1 Corinthians 2 and the gift of God’s spirit and the example of Jesus.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Vine & Branch to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Where did our podcast go? Here's a quick update so you know what we've been up to and what is on the horizon. Find out more about us at http://www.gracechurchnwa.org
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Have you ever noticed that when you get a new car, you suddenly start seeing that car everywhere? It happens with all kinds of things, things that are there every day and we barely notice them, but when we get one for ourselves, or even start to want one for ourselves, we immediately begin taking notice of them. Something similar happens when Jesus comes on the scene and people start to take notice of him. Suddenly, they “see” him everywhere in Scripture and in their lives. This “Jesus lens” transforms not just what they see, but how they see.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
As an adopted kid, “where do I belong?” has been a question that colors almost every experience of my life. But it’s not just adopted kids who ask this question, it’s one basic to every person and one the Bible addresses over and over again in different ways. It most clearly addressed in our text this week. Let’s dig in and see what we can find.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Even though the Galatians had received the faith by faith from Paul and had learned a new Gospel, the old ways of thinking about God and habits and practices of relating to God were deeply set. They needed to unlearn things so they could embrace the new thing.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Let’s dig in this week to see what it meant for the Galatians to be called out for their strongly-held identities and how we can work to regain our child-like wonder in growing our faith in Christ.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Last week we laid out the framework for our series “Letters for Change: An American church's reading of Paul’s letters”. If you weren’t there please give the podcast a listen as we covered some very important things we are going to be referencing throughout the series. Sunday we’re going to add onto that an outline of something we will encounter again and again in Paul’s writings, something theologians call the “Pauline Move” or “New Perspective on Paul”. Whatever you call it, it’s essential we understand it. You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
NOTE: The first 30 seconds of the podcast's audio was lost after the introduction, but the rest of the podcast should be normal.Buckle up, cowpokes, as we jump on the bucking bronco of contemporary exegesis and application in the arena of history shaking 21st century America - kicking off a study called “Letters for Change: An American Church's Reading of Paul’s letters”.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
It's that time of year for us to dive back into our Discovering Grace Ethos - "Become, Belong, Believe". This week is Believe: Values, Essentials, ActivateYou can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Having a “new heart” can also be very disorienting. How we receive it depends a lot on what we let go of to make room for it.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
This metaphor for how God gives us His heart is a redemption, reformation, reinvigorating of our emotions, desires, affections, and ultimately our intentions, actions, affiliations, assessments, values.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We all want to earn our way and no one likes the idea of being in debt forever. However, if we come to neglect or try somehow to move beyond or earn our salvation, we are in danger of “losing” that very thing.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus shows us a radically different way to understand what it means to be a King and a Priest, as well as what it means to triumph.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus really is the best choice, so we can choose, confess, and follow without fear of missing out.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The great enemy is death. Once death is “defeated”, then we are free to live (and die) with hope. It’s weird how easy that is to lose sight of.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus is better and offers us a better way of living. This might not make logical or rational sense, but it can make emotional sense.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We have been given everything we need not just to preserve but to flourish through our apprenticeship to Jesus. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community! See less
Sabbath can’t truly be practiced alone. It takes a unique community and helps build and maintain the community it needs.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
God emphasizes God’s self in a specific time as opposed to a fixed geographical place. Our practice of Sabbath is a response to this emphasis that helps us keep and tell time properly.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Practicing Sabbath can be an expression of freedom from the confines of our acquisitional and oppressive society.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Sabbath is a way of signifying our allegiance to someone and something other than that of the world, empire and consumerism. You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Sabbath teaches us to rest differently, for different reasons, from different meanings. Ultimately practicing Sabbath is an act of faithful witness.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
SUPRISE! IT'S JOY!Joy is complicated. Joy is a promise, a gift and in some ways the goal of our life in God.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Peace has been proclaimed since the time people first came into conflict, but we still struggle to really know what that means or how to receive and practice it.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
How do we receive the hope of Jesus’ life? How would we have heard the prophecies of the future prince of peace? This Sunday is Jesus' club - Kids Sunday! Let's celebrate the first Sunday of Advent: HOPE.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
In a world clamoring for a king who will exert power, even violence on our behalf, following Jesus as king requires a very different set of expectations and practices.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
While a definitive definition of “the meaning of life” is impossible to give, one way of defining it might be to say the meaning and goal of a person’s life is to experience and respond to the glory of God and be fully alive because of it.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
God and God’s grace are fully accessible to us, but a healthy and constructive relationship requires intentionality, obedience, and ongoing efforts to create a holy space. God deeply cares about these efforts.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Our desire for absolute assurance is often frustrated by our interactions with God. Paradoxically, giving up the demand for assurance on our terms is what allows for a way forward.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
How we organize and plan our lives reflects what is essential to us.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We need Sabbath rest. We were never and will never need to earn rest. Embracing Sabbath rest allows us to come back to the wholeness that God created us for. It is about taking time to delight and be refreshed by all that God has created.Text: Exodus 31:12-17 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The idea that God maintains agency within covenant can cause us to struggle. We all want a God we can control, hold accountable, but often we are forced to deal with situations that challenge this. So what do we do then? Text: Exodus 33:19 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Week 7 of our Fall 'Known' Series. We can’t love who we don’t know. Love can’t exist in isolation. There is no substitute for proximity, mutuality and season(s)ing.Text: John 13:34 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
JESUS CLUB - Also known as week 6 of our fall "Known" Series. This week the KIDDOS take over and teach us what culture in our community is all about.This is our LAST SUNDAY at CLAPP AUDITORIUM in person on Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville, AR at 10:15am - there will be signs to guide you. Oct 1st and thereafter until we complete renovations on our building, we will be meeting at Central United Methodist in their Chapel at 4:30pm.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Week 5 of our fall "Known" Series.Our values inform our practices, just as our practices reveal our values. Being firmly planted in our values provides the rootedness for curiosity, growing, and, in some cases, changing our mind.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Week 4 of our fall "Known" Series. Our Church vision is “to be a Jesus-led, Spirit filled and God-formed church committed to growing in grace to reach our community and beyond for Christ.”
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Week 3 of our fall "Known" Series.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Week 2 of our fall "Known" Series. This week we're delving into our history... Understanding the things, events, people and ideas that have formed us help us live more faithfully in the present.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Seeing Behind, Looking Ahead - We kickoff our fall "Known" Series. The stories we understand about ourselves and tell ourselves define who we are and who we are becoming.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
To get the most out of our freedom, we must recognize God’s desire to be in relationship with us.
Text: Exodus 29:25-26 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Betty Wilton teaches this Sunday! We are part of the priesthood of all believers and as such, we are called to represent God to the people around us and to represent the people around us to God in prayer.
Text: Exodus 29:20 (NET) You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Shannon Barrowcliff teaches this Sunday!
Throughout the text we are called to protect the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, but if we fail to do so, God will hear their cry and respond justly.
Text: Exodus 22:21-27 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jennifer Acuff teaches this Sunday!
Fear is one of the biggest drivers in our day-to-day lives, and we can use our imaginations to let fear push us into a spiral of what-ifs or into courageous hope.
Text: Exodus 20:20 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
God is the Ultimate Restorer: God Rescues the Israelites from the bondage of slavery, God Restores Identity, Purpose, and Relationship.
This Sunday we have the privilege of hearing from Minister Suzanne Bridges who is the Director of Evangelism at St. James Missionary Baptist Church here in Fayetteville. Suzanne is a passionate teacher, mother, and advocate for justice and reparations. Suzanne is going to guide us through the next section in Exodus and what it teaches us about our identity as people of God.
Text: Exodus 19:4-6 (NIV)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Welcome back this week after GRACECAMP last week!
Understanding what enough is, and trusting there really is enough is a practice of faith. It can only happen when we are in community.
Text: Exodus 16: 17-31 You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We usually fall into one of two ditches, the one that wants to stay put and revel forever in the moment, and the one who wants to move on immediately to the next thing. Finding a good rhythm of work and rest, celebration and grief, remembering and looking ahead takes practice.
Text: Exodus 15:18
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Come listen to Lowell Taylor guest speak this morning about how both Juneteenth and reparations are for us because they invite us to know the truth and be set free by it. www.reparationsnownwa.com
Text: Exodus 14: 13-14
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The Kingdom of God is the ultimate place of individual freedom in perfect tension with Gospel unity.
Text: Exodus 12:37
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
History is a complex mix of joy and pain, specific incidents can be mean very different things to different people.Text: Exodus 12:31-32 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community
Christ followers are to be deliverance people, not just for ourselves, but for all people everywhere. Pentecost is the dramatic demonstration of this reality.Text: Acts 2: 1-12 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
What we pay attention determines so much about how we comprehend and move in the world. It plays into what we determine is good, true and beautiful.Text: Exodus 10:1-2 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Our choices demonstrate what it is we truly believe, what it is we truly love, who it is we are learning from, and where our ultimate allegiance lies.Text: Exodus 8:18 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Take the time to not only understand that you belong to God’s story but that God’s story is about freedom and upholding that freedom for those who society keeps confined.Text: Exodus 5:1 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
Stan Mitchell is the founding pastor of Gracepointe in Nashville. He is a passionate advocate for his LGBTQIA brothers and sisters, and a thought-leader in the evolution of Progressive Christian Theology.
The story of Exodus provides us with both a major formative history of Israel and a way of exploring our own identities, idols and where we need a similar exodus experience.Text: Exodus 2:23 During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God.You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgNeed prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org or text (479)966-9550It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The story of Exodus provides us with both a major formative history of Israel and a way of exploring our own identities, idols and where we need a similar exodus experience.Text: Exodus Intro (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgNeed prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org or text (479)966-9550It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Following Jesus means orienting our lives to the reality of the resurrection. The resurrection gives us the assurance and the invitation to proclaim the Kingdom of God among us, here and now.Text: Matt 28:1-10 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The way of Jesus is the ultimate subversion and overthrow of the ways of the world.Text: John 12:12-16, 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Lamentations 5 is a picture of how our relationship with God is living, breathing, and big enough to hold both great love and great suffering.Text: Lamentations 5 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The poetry and confession of Lamentation is an example and invitation to practice our own lament.Text: Lamentations 3 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Lament is an invitation to deal honestly with loss, trauma, grief, sadness and frustration. It invites us into it so we might get through it.Text: Lamentations 1 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Better understanding Jesus not only helps us understand God, but also ourselves, others, and the world we live in. While knowing things about Jesus is essential, it always has to be done in conjunction with an experiential knowing of Jesus himself.Text: Matthew 17:1-13 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
When taken as a whole, what we know as “The Sermon on the Mount '' is a comprehensive, holistic framework for understanding Jesus and the Kingdom He ushers in and rules over.Text: Matthew 5-7 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
When Jesus says “Follow me,” he calls us to be co-laborers and students. Following Jesus is a journey of discipleship– a journey of learning and unlearning. It is a journey of witness and with-ness.Text: Mark 1:14-20 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus' incarnation ushers in the start of the fullness of God’s Kingdom, and that demands a party.Text: John 2:1-11 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus comes to more fully understand who He is through the wilderness temptations.Text: Matthew 4:1-13 (NET)You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.orgIt is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The baptism of Jesus reveals much about Him. Our baptism reveals much about us.Text: John 1:14-18, 29-34You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
Jesus understood what it was He was to be about and then got to it.It’s a new year and we are entering a new season, both on the calendar and as a Church. If you've been thinking about dipping your toe in and seeing what we're about, now is perfect timing!Text: Luke 2:41-51You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
"Making The Prince of Peace the Center of Our Gravity" December 4th, 2022 (Teacher: Jennifer Acuff) by Grace Church NWA
Each of us was made in God’s image to be extra ordinary—fully who God made us to be, purposely living our ordinary lives.
Big Idea: All Saints Day is a time to remember Jesus followers who have inspired you to continue following Christ today.
A big part of living righteously is a continual practice of ordering our lives in such a way that we understand the past, are fully present to our current circumstances, and discern what is to come.
Big Idea: "There is a low chance anyone on a Sunday morning will become a false prophet, but we all have a good chance of following a false prophet. It is our responsibility to reconcile the words someone proclaims and the actions they take. Not only test their validity, but to determine if they’re something we should emulate."
Text: 2 Peter 2
Big Idea: "Suffering is a real part of life and no one should go through it alone. God calls us to follow Christ’s example and enter into a loving relationship with the world around us and come alongside one another as we face suffering."
Text: 1 Peter 4
Big Idea: "To be a follower of Jesus is a call to live as a free person in whatever circumstances we are in, but also to freely choose to submit to God and others for the sake of the Kingdom."
Text: 1 Peter 3
Big Idea: “Our identity in Christ empowers us to truly love others even when we feel out of place or misunderstood."
Big Idea: "The followers of Jesus are called together to be a living experience of the Kingdom of God." Text: 1 Peter 2
Big Idea: “Contending for the faith” is an essential aspect of our Christian walk. Text: Jude (MSG) You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Big Idea: Embodying the values of “Belong, Become, Believe” takes imagination and intention, patience, attentiveness and discerning action.
Text: Acts 15:22-29, Romans 12:1-13, 2 Timothy 2:2 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org or text (479)966-9550
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
When it comes down to it, the core of Christian “faith” can be succinctly stated in the Nicene Creed. But is that enough?
Text: Colossians 1:15-20 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Spiritual growth takes patience and persistence for individuals, as well as the church, and it usually involves incredible actions rather than incredible words.
Text: Romans 12:1-21 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Belonging is rooted in the practice of inclusive hospitality and honest, non-transactional relationships.
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Jesus’ encouragement to be ready is a natural expression of his love for us.
Text: Mark 13:32-37 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
The command to love is the baseline commitment to following Jesus, not some goal we are working to attain.
Text: Mark 13:32-37 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
This week we’re hearing from our friends at Circles NWA. Circles NWA is a community-driven program that works to increase upward mobility for individuals and families in poverty in Northwest Arkansas. Their work fits well with our text for the week and serves as a practical example for much of what Jesus teaches us about “greatness”.
Text: Mark 10:35-45 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
The Big Idea: Following Jesus means loving people, and that gets messy quick.
Take Away: We’ve often said at Grace Church that the Kingdom of God is people and things as they should be. Moving towards that necessarily involves a reordering of our relationships with ourselves, others and things. This is what following Jesus invites us to do.
Text: Mark 10:17-32 (NET)
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Excuse the blip at the beginning of the sermon, our livestream cut out so that part is audio only.
Jesus gives us a new and radically different definition of what it means to be “great”
Being great in the Kingdom of God is not like being great in the world. It involves using the power we have for those who don’t, making room for others by giving up our place and making sure those who don’t have a place at the table get a good one
Text: Mark 9:33 - 10:16 (NET)
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Freedom in Jesus is better than upholding social norms.
When we get distracted by acting as the gatekeepers to the way we believe Christians should act or look like, we lose the ability to exalt the voices of the oppressed, humble ourselves before others, and practice the way of Jesus.
Text: Mark 7:1-30 (NET)
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Text: Mark 6:1-13 Big Idea: Failure isn’t to be feared, nor is it meant to stop us. Take Away: Jesus modeled how to respond to failure and gave us a blueprint of how to respond when we experience it, too. You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Text: Mark 4:35-41 Big Idea: Following Jesus means living conscious of Jesus' presence in every situation. Take Away: An essential part of following Jesus is “practicing the presence” of God, not in some benign, metaphorical way, but in tangible trust and recognition of the true character and nature of Jesus. You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
The Kingdom of God is an invitation to trust that God is at work Antithetical to life in the Kingdom of God is taking responsibility for things that we are not supposed to be responsible for.
Text: Mark 4:26-29 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
“Light” is given to us for the benefit of all. True understanding comes from obedience. Enlightenment without action is toxic.
We all have more “truth” than we know what to do with. So often our addiction to more information, among other things, keeps us from acting on what we already know.
Mark 4: 21-25 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Parables are simple stories designed to illustrate a truth and invite us to act as a result of our encounter with it.
The Parable of the sower invites us to consider the condition of the “soil” of our lives and respond with intention.
Text: Mark 4:1-20 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org
God’s incarnation in Jesus sets off a whole new way of thinking, feeling and being in the world.
The presence of the Kingdom of God among us reorders all of our personal and communal relationships as well as our religious and societal structures.
Text: Mark 2:13-28 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Easter Sunday!
The news of the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate reorienting of the story of our broken world.
No matter how broken things get, from the personal to the global, all is being healed and restored by the resurrection of Jesus. It changes everything.
Text: Mark 16 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It's Palm Sunday!
Jesus presence ushers in a whole new “covenant”, or way of understanding God’s posture towards us.
When we see Jesus, we see God and we see God’s posture towards us. This is the clearest demonstration of covenant we have.
Text: Mark 14:12-22 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Jesus uses miracles as a means to a much bigger end. The testimony of Jesus miracles points us to the much bigger truth.
This invites us to open our imaginations to a much different understanding of what is real, what is possible, and what we can hope for.
Text: Mark 1:29-2:12 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
The Christian Gospel isn’t just good news, it’s a revolution and declaration to those in power.
Jesus has an agenda with his gospel: to declare that the Kingdom of God is here, a new reign that is for everyone.
Text: Mark 1:14-28 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Baptisms are a serious thing.
Our baptisms, both with water and with the Spirit, are often the signal that significant change is about to happen
Text: Mark 1:1-13 (NET)
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Revelation comes in the breaking of the bread. It’s not enough to just to know, or even to see, but we must imitate Jesus to know Jesus. Text: Luke 24: 13-35 (NET) You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Jesus loves us enough to provide opportunities for restoration and belonging, but it is not just for our own good. These reminders of our identity are also reminders of our call to care for and restore others as we follow Jesus.
Text: John 21:1-19 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Christianity, at its core, is a “one another” religion. Taking care of each other, especially in the most mundane and difficult ways, is to be a hallmark of the followers of Jesus. Text: John 13:1-17 (NET) You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Jesus calls us to pay attention to what is important in the midst of seeming constant disruption and anxiety, not as a way of being free of distraction, but as a way of ordering what we pay attention to.
Text: Luke 10: 38-42 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Clearly understanding exactly who Jesus is and what Jesus is about, and understanding who we are and what we are about is essential to cultivating a proper attitude of gratefulness.
Text: Luke 7: 36-50 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Having faith that God will provide is much more challenging than we may realize.
Text: Luke 9:10-17
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Jesus seeks out each of us (yes, even those we’d rather be excluded), and invites us into relationship.
Text: Luke 19:1-10 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
God’s heart and design is for everyone from everywhere to have a seat at the table.
Text: Revelation 19:6-9 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Jockeying for a higher position is counter to the ethic of the Kingdom of Jesus.
Text: Luke 14: 1-14 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Valuing our invitation to, and belonging in, the Kingdom of God should be at the center of every decision we make.
Text: Luke 14:15-24 (NET)
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Paying attention to, becoming aware of, God’s presence and provision for us in essential to living a flourishing life.
Text: Psalm 23, Hebrews 12:1-2
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We all long for something we call “peace”, but is that the peace that we find in the Bible? Learning what the peace that God promises and embodies is essential to our rightly aligning our imagination and expectations. Isaiah 9: 1-7 (NET) You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Love is a person, love is a verb (thanks, DC Talk), love in an action, characteristic, posture, and lens through which we see the world. When we only talk about it as a feeling or emotion we miss the bigger picture, so let’s expand our understanding.
Loving from the center of who we are takes intentionality and work, but it allows us to follow what God, who loves not just in theory but in action, has modeled for us.
Romans 12:19-20 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Our experience of Joy, or the lack thereof, is a significant indicator of what we are giving space to in our lives.
Holding space, or making room for Joy is one of the primary spiritual disciplines of the Jesus follower.
Philippians 2:1-11 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
What we hope for is guided by what we perceive to be the need. Deeply examining what it is we are hoping for reveals much about our hearts.
Where is our hope centered? Who is included in our hopes and who is left out? Does what we hope for only benefit us? Does our hope cost us anything?
Luke 3: 1-6 (NET)
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Being in Christ sets the threat level of our lives to absolute zero when it comes to the things that we are usually taught to fear.
Living out of our being in Christ sets us free from the threats of the “the way things are” and having to live from our own resources. It reorients us to consider what is really really threatening and allows us to face those things with confidence.
Romans 8
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Growing up in the Christian faith can sometimes lead us to miss how much more God is than anything else, including the sins that we commit.
Our western, Evangelical way of thinking has placed an inordinate amount of attention on sin and our identity becomes one that is framed by our sin rather than the actual truth that we are image bearers of God, a good creation.
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Growing up in a Christian culture has big advantages, and none at all. Having access to the Good News, hearing the Gospel and growing up in a culture where there are all kinds of churches, and Young Life and K-Life and Cru and Kanakuk is a tremendous gift. It is all also worthless, even damning if we think it is those things that save us.
Romans 3-4
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Romans 1-2
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We don’t earn God’s love and acceptance of us in any way shape or form. Humility towards ourselves and others is the only reasonable response to this fact.
Our attitudes and postures towards those we disagree with is one of the most visible displays of what we believe about ourselves and about God. The way of Jesus is one of humility, grace and love.
Romans 11:13-36
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
The Kingdom of God is open for everybody. And that has some serious consequences. As followers of Jesus we must constantly be returning to our roots, to the person and ethos of Jesus the Messiah and doing this in a way that acts as a consistent critique of our practices and privileges.
Romans 9:1-11:10
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The essence of knowing is in the doing. The essence of obedience is in the acting. The essence of loving God is in loving others.
In many ways, following Jesus isn’t that difficult to understand, but can seem impossible, at times, to actually do. Visible results are limited at best and immediate, miraculous changes or resolutions rare. This might be the greatest challenge to, and builder of, our faith.
Romans 13:8-14
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
A lived theology isn’t an orientation toward the Bible, but an orientation toward Jesus and toward one another.
Romans 14:7-9, 15:3, 5,7, 12:1-8, 12:14-13:10,14,15, 16:17-20
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
In the same space where we break bread, we can build bridges, but the real work begins when dinner is over.
Romans 14:1-15:13
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Romans 16 tells us about Paul’s relationships and ministry influences—both men and women—and introduces us to Phoebe, the woman Paul chose to perform his message to the house churches in Rome.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is primarily an ecclesiological letter meant to be lived out in the life of the Church.
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Believing in Jesus is foundational to being a Christian and finding true life. Believing is the end, but also the beginning of our Christian walk. It participates in the means and the end.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Any understanding of the Good News must be centered in the promise and practice of Shalom. Reorienting our understanding away from “personal salvation” towards an expansive restorative vision for all of creation is essential to our understanding and proclamation of the Gospel.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Sorry about the sound quality on this one - we had some technical difficulties.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
Choices have consequences. God is always offering us so much more than we can imagine, but never forcing or coercing us. The ultimate tragedy of life is not taking God seriously, not responding to God’s invitations, not understanding the reality of our own agency.
Text: Isaiah 66 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
We can never lose our sense of wonder, our “addiction” to the beauty of God. What are you paying attention to? What are you saying “no” to by saying “yes” to distractions?
Text: Isaiah 65 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
This week we’re taking time to ask the following questions: Where are you finding your truth? Who is going to be your community? How are you investing what you have? Your life?
Text: Isaiah 64 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org. Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
What do we do when the life we imagined doesn’t work out, but we still have to go on living?
Text: Isaiah 63 (NET)
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+, all ethnicities and races, those with disabilities, and other marginalized people groups feel accepted, included, and valuable to the life of our community!
God’s wilder-than-we-can-imagine promises give us a reason to hope regardless of our current situation.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, Laura Holland for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 61 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
Our ultimate hope must be placed in the presence and promises of God, regardless of our current experience, circumstances or understanding.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Watch this livestream here or meet with us at Pratt Place Barn, rain or shine, all summer while we find a new, more permanent location.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 60 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized people feel accepted and included!
Kingdom of God justice is rooted in the very nature and character of God and the recognition of what God has done for us. Sabbath practice is an integral part of understanding and pursuing justice in a way that brings true wholeness.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 56-59 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org or text (479)966-9550 It is a priority for us at Grace Church NWA to make LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized people feel accepted and included!
Jesus live, death, resurrection and assession makes possible the fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament. It ushers in the Kingdom of God and is the foundation of the Church. This is all made evident at Pentecost.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to this Sunday's teacher, John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message!
Text: Acts 2 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
We approach life fully awake, we are able to better see things in their own context, not as one of several highlights or greatest hits. Each of us has a story that is important to God—and we need to “expand our tent” to make room for more stories.
The more we understand that God is the Hero of the story, the one working, the one who saves and brings order and justice, the more we can properly understand our own lives. Jesus, as the ultimate witnesses, shows us the way.
Join us in person outside at Vesper Point, Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville or here Live on Facebook at 10:15am. For the entire month of may, we will be doing a Sock Drive for 7Hills Homeless Shelter (this is a high need item for them!). We will have a basket available when you enter Vesper Point to make your donations. Thank you!
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to our lead teacher, @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 49-50 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
Creating idols springs in part from a failure to deeply consider the meaning of our own createdness.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to our lead teacher, @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 46-48 (NET)
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
The world can be a really scary place, with or without Jesus. But God gives us certain reassurances that help us focus our fear in ways that lead to life.
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to our lead teacher, @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Text: Isaiah 43-45 (NET)
(Excuse the poor audio, due to the rain we couldn't have many electronics out.)
Choices have consequences, and all of us are always choosing. God doesn’t show us the consequences of our choices to scare, shame, bribe or overwhelm us, but to invite us more fully into our humanity and set us on the path of wholeness.
Text: Isaiah 42
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You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to member of the teaching team, Tim Holland, for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
Resurrection is just a one time event. Resurrection is a practice that stems from the resurrection of Jesus and continues to be cultivated by us, His followers.
Text: John 20:1-18
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Thanks to our lead teacher @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
The manner of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem perfectly reflects His person and agenda, and like everyone in the story, we so often misunderstand it.
Text: Luke 19:28-40
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org.
Our Easter Service will be at Pratt Place Inn and Barn in Fayetteville on April 4th at 10:15am in person - find details in our events section of our page on Facebook @GraceChurchNWA . We will also have a Tenebrae / Good Friday Service at 7:30pm on April 2nd at Pratt Place as well. There should also be an event for that with further details!
Thanks to our lead teacher @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
As followers of Jesus, we are called to the courageous and sacrificial task of seeking to live without masks.
Text: Matthew 23:1-38
Join us live on Facebook or on Zoom each sunday (link will be posted morning of in the event in Facebook). You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org, including our 2021 Lent Guide.
Thanks to our lead teacher @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Need prayer? Email us at administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org, including our 2021 Lent Guide.
Thanks to our lead teacher Tim Holland for this week's message!
If we are honest with ourselves, there are large parts of the Bible that offend and confuse us. Don't be afraid.
Let's explore this on Sunday! Join us live on Facebook or on Zoom (link will be posted morning of in the event). You can find out more about us at our website www.gracechurchnwa.org, including our 2021 Lent Guide.
Thanks to our lead teacher @ventureservereflect John Ray for this week's message!
Prophecies enable God’s people to look at the world in the right way. Instead of thinking of prophesies as a way of foretelling the future, we need to more often consider them as ways of coming to understand our current circumstances as we learn from the past.
Text: Isaiah 13-23 (NET)
Join us this Sunday to hear more. See our learning guide, Lent 2021 guide, or read more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org . Thanks to John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message.
Our ability to imagine God’s redemptive work among us guides much of our response to our current situation. We must give serious time and attention to developing an Active Gospel Imagination if we are to freely live into the redemptive work of God.
Text: Isaiah 11-12 (NET)
Join us every Sunday to hear more. See our learning guide, lent 2021 guide, or read more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org . Thanks to John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message.
Need prayer or have a question? Email us. administrator@gracechurchnwa.org
There is hope in judgment. Judgment is calling us to be restored, toward shalom, and to reconcile with God and others.
Pride and arrogance lead to chaos, separation, and stripped away boundaries. But when we realign our trust and reconcile with God and others, we can move toward shalom and wholeness for everyone.
Thanks to Laura Holland for teaching this week's message.
Text: Isaiah 9:8-21, Isaiah 10 (NET)
Join us every Sunday to hear more. See our learning guide or read more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org . We are an affirming church and want to stand with those in the margins.
This passage gives us a divine pattern that will be repeated throughout the life and ministry of Jesus. That its the MARGINS - the marginalized, and those furthest from power, that scripture consistently points to as the people and places from which the LIGHT BREAKS FORTH. Our nature will always be drawn to the safety, stability and practicality of the center and centers of power.
Text: Isaiah 9:1-7 (NET)
Join us every Sunday to hear more. See our learning guide or read more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org .
Thanks to our guest speaker Ruben Nuno for this week's message.
The invitation to follow God is an invitation to live by faith in God. Conspiracy theories, special knowledge and supernatural sign seeking are all ways of shunning truthful encounters with the living God and the invitation to live by sacrificial faith. These things must be recognized and rejected for the dangers they present.
Text: Isaiah 8 (NET)
Join us next Sunday to hear more. See our learning guide or read more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org . Thanks to John Ray @ventureservereflect for this week's message.
God always shows up in surprisingly human ways. Unlike other religions and philosophies, the God encountered in the Bible refuses to be reduced to a “force”, God’s Word refuses reduction to abstract formulas, God’s presence is always “incarnate”.
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Responding to God’s call on our life often leads us into situations very different than what we initially imagine. How are we responding to the situations we find ourselves in as a result of saying yes to Jesus? Saying yes to pledging all our affections, allegiances, associations to God and God’s Kingdom?
Holiness is a dynamic orienting and integrating of how we live, work and worship: what we think, how we feel, act, and present ourselves.
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How we respond, both inwardly and outwardly, towards those who disgust us is a great indicator of what is going on in our hearts. Join us this Sunday to hear more and see our learning guide or more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org Thanks to Marlena Graves for this week's message! Buy her book or find out more about her at www.marlenagraves.com Need prayer? Email us.
It is the vision and promise of what we have been given and what it to come that should guide all our imaginations.
See our learning guide and more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org
How are you cultivating peace this advent season? See our learning guide and more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org
What is bringing you Joy in this Advent Season?
See our learning guide and more about us at www.gracechurchnwa.org
It is the first Sunday of Advent - Hope. For the next five weeks we will be considering what brings us hope, joy, love, peace and ultimately, what it means to receive Christ into our lives. This week we start by wondering, what is giving you hope in this season?
The declaration of “Christ is King” redefines all of our allegiances in a most radical way. In the wedding of Church and State, it is always the Church that is compromised. In the extreme, the language, imagery and vocation of the Church and Christ followers become corrupt, abusive and toxic.
Faith is how a follower of Jesus makes their way through the world. Faith makes a way for us that no other way of living can.
Developing humility, like all the other disciplines we are discussing takes practice. Unlike others, it may feel impossible to know when you have achieved it. Humility is best understood as the consistent correct understanding of our relationship to God, ourselves and others.
Faith and obedience are inseparable. Christian Formation is about following Jesus and Putting Jesus’ Words into practice. What does it mean to obey? Cultivating a practice of obedience is accomplished only by faith.
There is no room for nationalism, exceptionalism, racism in God’s Kingdom. Cultivating diversity takes humility, courage, intention, willingness to be uncomfortable, and a willingness to risk.
Thanks to Be the Bridge 's Latasha Morrison for this week's message.
Compassion is cultivated by an ever deepening understanding of who God is, who we are and how that defines how we are to relate to others.
We are all being formed into something, by someone(s). Following Jesus is an intentional commitment to the process and practices of Spiritual Formation.
Our faith is guides and is defined by how we live our lives. This faith starts with experiencing God’s faith in us.
Becoming is the process of looking more like Jesus. Though our individual stories of becoming will all be different, there are a few grounding principles to help us approach and understand what it means to become.
Complicity is dangerous and contributes to the harm and oppression of marginalized groups. Paul warns those listening of not to let our heart grow dull and invites us to open our eyes and ears to better understand. Without understanding, we cannot make forward progress to solve the problems happening in our world.
God’s grace and salvation force us to overcome any and all hatred, prejudice, or bias we have towards others.
Obedience costs us; emotionally, physically and relationally. But the costs of disobedience is ultimately much higher.
God the Spirit is the unifying factor among believers, orienting us towards Himself and to one another. Occasionally, we must rely on the Spirit to encourage one another, help one another, and prepare one another for the world we live in.
God the Holy Spirit is here to upset our ignorance, our apathy and our addictions.
Follow along with our Interactive Learning Guide and see the activities and questions you can pursue throughout the week: http://www.gracechurchnwa.org/gather-round
Allegiance to God is a commitment to let go of every other allegiance, and this is a never-ending process. Join us live and follow along with our Interactive Learning Guide during service and see the activities and questions you can pursue throughout the week: http://www.gracechurchnwa.org/gather-round
The Gospel is like a fire that spreads wherever the Church goes.
Follow along with our Interactive Learning Guide during service and see the activities and questions you can pursue throughout the week: http://www.gracechurchnwa.org/gather-ro…
Acts 17 (NET)
The world and our lives are always being reoriented, often imperceptibly, sometimes catastrophically. But the Holy Spirit is a true guide to lead us if we can learn to follow. And the only way to learn to follow is by following.
Join us live and follow along with our Interactive Learning Guide during service and see the activities and questions you can pursue throughout the week: http://www.gracechurchnwa.org/gather-round "When the Spirit Blocks the Way" (John Ray) Acts 16
Us Asking Acts; Acts Asking Us, Part 2 - April 19th 2020 (John Ray) by Grace Church NWA
There are some people you encounter in the midst of trials — stormy seasons — who take you in and give you secure shelter. Mike and Darcy Hansen are that kind of friends. The Hansen house was my home away from home during seminary, and Darcy jumped into her own program there as I was finishing up. She’s gone on and is currently working on her Doctor of Ministry degree in Leadership and Global Perspective. And I think we would all agree getting some perspective would be a good thing right now.
We all crave peace and seek peace in many different ways. There are cheap, short-lived ways to get peace out there, but true, lasting peace can only be found in God, through his son Jesus.
(Ruth 1:1-17) The ultimate guide for how we make our choices can’t be based on what we see and understand. But if not that, then what?
In Exodus, we see God speaking to Moses through a bush that was on fire but did not burn up. God also speaks to us in the same way through the Bible, our everyday burning bush. So what is this burning bush, the Bible, telling us to do?
We understand, express and experience love only in connection to our relationship with others.
The early Christians catch a vision that their existence serves a purpose beyond themselves and their own needs, and their lives accordingly reflect that practice.
Among persecution and amidst death and grief, faith is tried. The early Church responds in active prayer and the ministry of God’s word continues to grow.
The early Church starts to rock Jerusalem with what they had to offer and who they proclaimed was making it all possible.
In this week’s passage, the disciplines endure a dark time of waiting and uncertainty, separated from God’s direct guidance. How do they react? How do they prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit?
Text: Matthew 25:31-46 (NET) There will come a time when everything is revealed. This is good news, bad news and good news again.
Activist Leader Feeds Crowd, Walks On Water; Raises Questions About Identity -02/24/19 (Donny Epp) by Grace Church NWA
Matthew 13:24-43 (NET)
The Kingdom of God is here because Jesus is here. His Kingdom is directly opposed to all other Kingdoms.
God promised the world Jesus. Choosing to follow and to obey Him comes with joy, sacrifice, pain, and peace (to name a few).
Matthew 2:1-23 (NET)
Are You There, God? It's Me, Habakkuk. - 12/2/2018 - Norma Farthing by Grace Church NWA
Jeremiah And The Approaching Firestorm - November 25th, 2018 (John Ray) by Grace Church NWA
The Ten Commandments are more than a set of rules: They are a concrete reflection of who God’s people are to be for the sake of the world.
Understanding covenant is essential to understanding Christianity. How do we understand covenant through floods and rainbows?
To begin a 3-week study based on our Discovering Grace curriculum, we’ll cover first things first: the supremacy of Christ and the primacy of Scripture.
Discovering Grace Part 1 - Discovering Jesus and his Word 08:19:18 (John Ray) by Grace Church NWA
The saving intention of God is the dominant theme of the book of Revelation. That’s why this book is not bad news! It’s Gospel: It’s Good News!
Who Is This God That Says His Name Is “I Am”? 06/17/18 (Pete Lester) by Grace Church NWA
Our Christianity means little if it’s only abstract idealism or rigid orthodoxy. Third John offers real-world suggestions for living out our love for Jesus through extending hospitality to those he loves.
When we confess Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and choose to follow him, the universe-creating, almighty, infinitely-loving God literally comes to dwell within us.
Love is more than a word and more than a feeling, it requires action. Jesus tells us and models for us what it means to love Him and to love those that are His.
In John 11, Jesus drops the most startling of his I AM claims: “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.” What does this mean? And “Do you believe this?”.
NOTE: The recording of this mp3 started just a little late, but the bulk of the message is here.
Faith is the way into our born-from-above identity. And that identity is the key to everything else.
Jesus' first miracle start us on a treasure hunt that will lead us to a deeper-than-ever love and understanding of Jesus.
Encountering Jesus, we are invited to seek and find, see and be seen, maybe even have our name changed along the way. But first we have to follow.
We can never find true and lasting peace in the absence of God. But what if we seek and God can’t be found?
The ultimate joy of God’s people is not dependent on instant gratification or the resolution of conflict. So what is it dependent on?
The people of God have an ultimate hope that goes much deeper than personal comfort, convenience or even personal salvation. What is it?
What we can never do for ourselves, God does for us—often in a subversive, miraculous fashion.
What does the Bible tell us that we can’t glean from a message on a bracelet, keychain, mousepad or plaque? A lot.
We are so accustomed to thinking about God’s love that we can’t imagine God’s ever feeling hate. But there is something God really hates, and he’s not keeping it a secret. The truth might surprise us, but it’s imperative that we pay attention.
A biblical understanding of Jesus—based on the doctrine of sola scriptura— is absolutely essential to the faith by which we are saved, in which we live, and in which we are willing to die. Indeed, virtually every council with its subsequent creed or affirmation of faith was focused on this one critical question: Who is Jesus?
Sola Scriptura is the freeing of Scripture to have its full effect in our hearts, minds, lives and communities.
Only the One who created us can recreate, or redeem, us. Grace alone is an antidote to hubris, the original sin: the determination to substitute ego for God at the center of our lives.
There are two fundamental ways of bridging the gap between heaven and earth, of trying to make contact with God. Our way: the way of the Tower, from the bottom up. And God's way: the way of the Ladder, from the top down—it's about what God wants to do for us that we could never do for ourselves.
Faithfulness leads us into uncharted waters where we learn otherwise unlearnable truth about God, ourselves and the world.
Understanding that we are part of God's creation helps us understand who we are and what we are to be about.
The Gospel is best and most obviously expressed in how we treat others. The Church is to be the place where the highest expression of love for God and each other is practiced.
Knowing what is right and doing what is right are two different things. In order to consistently do what is right, we must practice.
The God who created all things made us in His own image, which means that we share His imagination and creativity. In a relationship with Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, we learn both individually and corporately to understand, appreciate and unleash this divine imagination and creativity for God’s glory and the advancement of His Kingdom.
As Eugene Peterson says, the way of discipleship that begins in an act of repentance concludes in a life of praise.
We live out the Kingdom as an extended family of believers. And family life can be tricky to navigate. But the Holy Spirit in and among us—if we'll lean into it—creates supernatural unity that draws us together and glorifies God.
Scripture sometimes leaves us with more questions than answers. One thing is always certain: God clearly wants to dwell with us. We have to decide how closely we’ll dwell with God.
The unexpected happens. Things don’t pan out like we envisioned. Life gets hard. It’s in these moments where we learn to watch and wait on God.
It's easy for us to think of ourselves as serial offenders, but how often to we think of God as a serial forgiver?
The gift of faith is cultivated by practice, by recognizing Gods presence in delivering us and our appropriate response.
In a culture where a prosperity gospel has corrupted almost every part of our imagination, what does it mean to believe and proclaim a prosperous future as an act of faith?
Who can ascend to worship the one true God? Because of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the invitation is open to all of us.
Paul would turn over in his grave if he could see what passes for Christianity today. But it's not a new thing. Works righteousness was alive and well in the New Testament Church. It didn't work then, and it won't work now. It's a lesson we need to learn, and who better to teach us than Paul?
As they begin to grow the Church, the first apostles and elders meet to decide who's in and who's out. Two thousand years later, we're still figuring it out.
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God alive in each of us, teaching us truth and fully equipping us for life in the Kingdom—if we'll submit to it.
Although we may at times feel as though we're in deep over our heads, Jesus invites us to go deeper with Him into the Scriptures and into Christian fellowship.
There are no islands in the Kingdom of God. True Kingdom living is about community, connection and recognizing that we need each other.
Alienation hurts. That's true for us, and it's true for God. So the Father takes the initiative: God — unwilling to leave us dead and lost — is like the woman, the shepherd and the father who spare no effort to secure reconciliation and celebrate when what is lost is found at last.
Few words are as healing as "you are forgiven," especially to those who never expect to hear them.
Whether we voice them aloud or not, we all wrestle with hard questions about God. So what do we do with those questions when they arise?
Jesus begins training His disciples, demonstrating His relationship to the Sabbath and His authority to shake up the law.
From the start of His ministry, Jesus was calling and commissioning His disciples — individually and collectively as His Church — to follow Him and to do the work He was doing.
When we see Jesus for who He is, and we understand His message clearly, how will we respond?
At Christmas, we celebrate the gift of Jesus. But what about God's other gifts to us? Are you leaving some unwrapped under the tree?
Christ is our Hope above all other hopes, the true King above all other kings.(Unfortunately the first minute or so of the message is cut off. Apologies for this error, and thank you for listening!)
God is relentless in His effort to transform our hearts. We can either burn His word or let His words burn within us.
God is our Creator and sovereign Lord. He certainly does not need us to fulfill His purposes in this broken world, yet He calls us both collectively and individually to do just that.
Key Text: Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-4:4 (NET)
The mercy of God knows no boundaries, but obedience to God sometimes overwhelms us.
Obedience is often scary and difficult. But it forces us into deeper understanding of who God really is.
Indiana Jones Clip Mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFntFdEGgws
Despite how we feel, even in our darkest moments there’s no question as to whether God always remembers us. But do we always remember God?
Humans seem hardwired to distort the image of God. Good thing God's promises aren't linked to our performances.
For apprentices of Jesus, to have faith is a jumping-off point, not the endgame. God wants our faith to be robust, ever-deepening and authentic.
Sin and shame can drive us to hide from God. But God created us, breathed life into us. And nothing we do will ever cause God to hide from us.
The Psalms of Ascent inspire us to draw close to God by speaking and praying the Word, singing praises and serving others.
Only God deserves our trust, because only God can secure our future. Placing our trust in anything else is a futile endeavor.
God is the ultimate source of all mercy. But posturing ourselves to look to and wait on God isn’t easy. There’s a reason we need mercy.
Transformational discipleship starts with an honest assessment of where we are, and a commitment to not be conformed to the world around us.
Maturity in Christ, true resurrection living takes time and perspective. We need songs to help get us there.
Paul instructs the church at Philippi in a great paradox of the Christian faith: Emptying ourselves is the way to fullness of joy. And some 2,000 years later, this teaching also holds true for us.
To work out their faith in Jesus Christ, first-century Colossians had to resist being distracted by sacred traditions, cultural expectations, popular philosophies and judgmental voices. Twenty-first century believers can relate. So, good thing Paul offered the church at Colossae some timeless truth to combat deception.
Paul presents Christ as the key to understanding Scripture. And that changes everything.
How do we navigate a world of rules and obligations that seem to dictate how our lives turn out? And what does the Gospel mean to us in that context?
The name of “Christian” is full of meaning — and some might say that not all if it is good. What does it really say about us, the Church, and the Christ we’re named for?
In a letter to Jesus’ followers in Galatia, Paul explains that believers aren’t unified by works or customs. Only by faith are we made one in Christ.
What we believe about the hereafter affects everything about the here-and-now. We have to constantly practice resurrection to fully be formed by it.
When a cult of personality threatens the Church at Corinth, Paul fights back with the bold truth of the Gospel.
When the Holy Spirit comes upon the Apostles, they begin imitating Jesus in thought and deed. Some believers, like those in the church at Thessalonica, also become imitators of Christ. Their behavior is like a sonic boom: an unnatural response so loud that it echoes throughout the world around them.
How do we understand what, exactly, happened at the cross? And what does it mean for us going forward?