Grace and Glory Community Podcast: Recent Episodes
Will Vollstedt
The weekly teachings of Grace and Glory Community Church in Vancouver, WA. We are community learning to walk in the ways of Jesus.
In this episode we look at how Jesus intentionally entered Jerusalem even though he knew it would lead to his arrest and death on the cross. Often God calls us to trust Him as we step into an unknown future. Like Jesus we can enter into difficult and uncertain circumstances knowing that the hope of resurrection lies beyond death and suffering.
In this episode we look at the temptation of favoritism. Everyone has bias and preference that can affect how we treat others. In Christ we are a family that has the power to love with distinction.
In this episode we look at how pride poisons our life by keeping us from getting the help we need and spoiling our enjoyment of life. We look at how Jesus transforms us into humble and grateful children of God.
In this episode we look at how Jesus experienced temptation like we all experience temptation. We are tempted to sooth our pains and unmet desires in ways that hurt ourselves, others, and God. In Christ we have the resources to overcome temptation.
In this episode we look at the new community that Jesus created through his death and resurrection. When we are united to Jesus Christ we are added into a new community that God has filled with his glory and Spirit.
In this episode we look at how the presence of Christ in us gives us the power to fulfill our destiny as humans.
In the episode we look what it means to be in Christ. We have a radical new security and identity through our union with Jesus.
This is the first episode in our new series Christ in Us. We will be looking at the mystery and glory of our union with Christ. This week we look at how we get unified with Jesus by his work on our behalf. We all have giants that we cannot overcome without making Jesus our champion.
In this episode we talk about the importance of taking a posture of celebration in a world that is increasingly cynical, negative, and pessimistic. We look at how the pursuit of happiness in our society has increasingly become feelings driven. If we are not feeling good then we assume something must be wrong with us. God wants to help us resist the cynicism and negativity by intentionally celebrating who God is and what God is doing in our lives and world. Jesus' coming has ushered in an age of God's favor and redemption.
In this episode we talk about the importance of being intentional with our life. We are all becoming a certain type of person. Forces around us shape what stories we find compelling and what habits we practice. For better or worse we are being shaped into something. God wants to help us reclaim our freedom to become beautiful image bearers of God. Reclaim your story!
In this weeks sermon we look at the need to approach life from a posture of rest. Restlessness is a natural part of life in a complex world. Jesus invites us to experience to deep rest in the unforced rhythms of grace.
In this episode we kick of a new series called Stand Up Straight: Developing Healthy Postures for Life. The world around us has changed. It's become more unpredictable, unstable, and complex. In a complex world it's difficult to know how to plan or maintain healthy habits. A complex world requires postures that help us determine the correct practices in any given environment. In this episode we look at the posture of worship. No matter what happens in the world around us our God reigns and is worthy to be served and honored. Worship enables us draw near to God's glory, experience his glory, and know how to best reflect his glory in the world.
We have a different kind of Christmas story this week, an apocalyptic Christmas story from Revelation 12. It gives us a picture of the cosmic battle that has been going on behind the scenes between Satan and the promised offspring who would crush the head of the serpent.
In this weeks episode we look at how the apostle Paul learned to be content in all circumstances. We can learn to be satisfied in good times and bad times through the strength that God provides.
In this weeks sermon we look at one principle for peace and four practices that help us develop peace in our life.
In this episode the Apostle Paul challenges us to think about what the focus of our life is. When we keep our focus on Jesus we experience freedom from our past, purpose in our present life, and hope for the future.
In this weeks sermon we examine how Jesus turned the apostle Paul's life upside down. Paul once had everything the world thinks is an advantage in life. After he met Jesus he realized all of his advantages were liabilities. Gaining Christ was the only thing of supreme value.
In this episode we look at two examples of regular people who lived out the story of Christ in their generation. Their example challenges us to think about what story we are living in. Is it a story with us or Jesus at the center of it?
In this episode we look at three marks of maturity as children of God and how God is working in us to help us grow.
This week we look at the calling of the church to imitate our humble servant King, Jesus Christ. We get the privilege of living in a new order of life where we serve one another and think of others more than our selves.
This week we look at the calling of the church to be a colony of heaven on earth. Paul encourages a small struggling church to reinvest in it's common purpose to bring reconciliation and redemption to their city through the Good News of Jesus the King.
This week we look at how Paul rejoiced even though his life stood in the balance. Paul knew he would appear soon before a tyrant Caesar who could easily decide to torture and kill him for claiming that Jesus was King of kings and Lord of lords.
In this episode we look at how Paul found joy in how God was advancing the gospel even though his circumstances were unfair.
In this episode we look at how Paul found joy and gratitude in prison and the pain of abandonment. God wants to help us change our focus so that we can find joy and gratitude in any circumstances.
In this episode we have a special testimony from Dan Swenson and a short introduction to our new series in the letter to the Philippians.
In this episode we finish up our series on the fruit of the Spirit by looking at the character quality of self-control. We all struggle to order and govern our life to become the people we want to be. Let's look together at how God helps us bring order to our life without crushing our spirit.
Free Follow-up Devotional
This week we talk about the power of gentleness as we continue in our series on the fruit of the Spirit.
In this episode we talk about the power of faithfulness as we continue in our series on the fruit of the Spirit. We look at two instances from Moses' life, one where he is faithful, and one where he is unfaithful. Where does the power for faithful love come from?
Free Weekly Devotional
In this episode we look at the fruit of the Spirit, goodness. What does it mean to be a good person and how can we grow in goodness?
Free Follow-up Devotional
We continue our series Fruitful, looking at the fruit of the Spirit. This week we look at kindness. How can we grow in kindness, even towards people we find challenging?
Free Follow-up Devotional
We continue in our series Fruitful on developing the character of Christ through the power of the gospel. This week we look this week at patience. How many times do you think you've gotten frustrated in the last week? Patience almost seems impossible in a world like ours. Let's look together at what God says about spiritual transformation.
Free Follow-up Study
In this episode we look at what the Bible teaches about peace, or the Hebrew concept of Shalom. Peace is more than the absence of strife or tension, it requires the presence of God.
Free Follow-up Devotional
Continuing our series Fruitful, we look this week at the essence of joy and where it comes from. Is there a source of joy that is deeper than sadness and suffering?
Free Follow-Up Devotional
We continue our series on the fruit of the Spirit talking about how we cultivate love in our life.
Free Devotional for individual or community use.
In this episode we started a new teaching series on the fruit of the Spirit. We started by looking at the surprising freedom of surrendering to God.
Free Follow-up Devotional
This week we looked at how we can be good news people in our community through practices that help us walk out our faith.
This week we looked at the power a gospel-centered community has to spread the love of God.
In this message we looked at how God is strengthening the roots of our life so that we might produce healthy fruit. God helps us thrive as human beings through transforming us from the inside out. Learn how to partner with God in becoming the person God made you to be.
Not everything that comes out of our hearts is healthy. Lies, accusations, and limiting beliefs can tear us down and limit our ability to love God and others. The Good News is that Jesus is with us to transform our hearts. We participate in this transformation by taking every though, feeling, and motive captive.
What am I saved from? Jesus wants to remind us daily of the power of salvation for all of life.
We are living out a story. Everyday we make decisions and react to the world around us based upon our deeply held convictions about the world. Questions like: where our value comes from, what wrongs with the world, how we should fix it, and what the world will look like when all is well. In this episode we looking at the big story of the Bible and how God invites us into His amazing story of redemption and hope.
Listen to an introduction to our new series, Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Good News of Jesus Into Everyday Life. We looked at how learning to apply the gospel to everyday life is key to growing up to be like Jesus is our thoughts, emotions, and actions.