Grace Messages: Recent Episodes
Grace Community Fellowship Church
Grace Messages is a series of Bible-based, Christian messages that include everything from topical messages, to verse-by-verse studies through various books of the Bible. Our messages focus on expository, dispensational Bible teaching from a free grace perspective.
Each podcast is from a sermon preached at our home church in Newnan, Georgia! Listen to these messages in order, or just choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
For easier topic navigation, visit www.gracenewnan.org/messages Even the Verse-by-Verse studies can be listened to in or out of order.
About the church: Grace Community Fellowship is a Bible-church in Newnan, Georgia, pastored by Pastor John Clark.
This morning, we will talk about how a specific area that involves externals that is important to Jesus and thus should be important to us. Local church engagement. We will consider this morning how you can value this teaching and obey this desire of Jesus without slipping into legalism. Legalism is always a dangerous enemy, a dangerous mindset lurking in the Christian life. Unfortunately, as an enemy, it is subtle, it is crafty, and it is deadly. Every believer fits into one of two categories: (1) They are currently a legalist OR (2) They are a recovering legalist with ongoing legalistic tendencies.
Legalism is always a dangerous enemy, a dangerous mindset lurking in the Christian life. Unfortunately, as an enemy, it is subtle, it is crafty, and it is deadly. Every believer fits into one of two categories: (1) They are currently a legalist OR (2) They are a recovering legalist with ongoing legalistic tendencies. This morning, we will talk about how you can obey the commands or instructions of Scripture without slipping into legalism.
Legalism and legalistic thinking are dangerous and unhealthy for the Christian life. Now, nobody wants to be called a legalist, and I would venture to say that most Christians do not think they are a legalist. However, legalism and legalistic thinking dominate Christianity and Christian teaching. It is a complicated subject because it is nuanced and more subtle than we typically recognize. So, what is legalism and why is it so dangerous? Main passage: Romans 7:1-11
Enjoy a sermon on love, specifically Biblical Love. Love is described in 1 Corinthians as the most important quality for a Christian. The question is, what does Biblical Love look like, and how can we have a mindset of love?
Today, Pastor Carl Greene explores the lives and strong faith of four different mothers in the Bible, and encourages all women in their own faith in this Mother's Day Sermon.
Rob Armstrong fills in for Pastor John Clark today, and preaches on the topic of fear, focusing on 1 John 4.
As we pick back up this morning, we are in the middle of a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus, where He has just restored Peter to leadership through a three round Q&A and three follow-up commands. This morning, Jesus will explain a little more about His plans for Peter’s life and his death. Naturally, this creates some questions for Peter, but then Peter gets distracted; his focus begins to wander. There is always and only ONE PRIZE…Jesus Christ, Himself. Let’s not get distracted!
As we pick back up this morning, we are in the middle of a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus! One of the main reasons this account is here is that John wanted others to know that Peter was restored by Jesus to a prominent leadership role in the building of His Church, in spite of his denials of Christ. Jesus puts Peter through an awkward three round Q&A that makes Peter uncomfortable, and He also reaffirms his purpose and role going forward with three commands.
Easter 2025 sermon on how the death and resurrection of Christ is sufficient for our today, our yesterday, AND our tomorrow!
This morning, we fast-forward a little bit to consider another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. A little bit of time has passed since Jesus' appearance to Thomas and the other ten disciples, and they are also in a different location. This final chapter of John is very personal, and one of the main reasons it is here is to inform John’s readers of Peter’s restoration following his denials of Jesus. This morning’s passage simply sets the stage for that restoration. The events of this passage are very similar to an event that happened three years earlier at Peter’s initial calling to discipleship.
Last week, we looked at Jesus' appearance to ten of His disciples (Thomas was absent) in the Upper Room. For the next week, the disciples bent Thomas’ ear about Jesus being resurrected and he is NOT buying it! He emphatically states that certain criteria have to be met in order for him to believe. Thomas wanted to personally see and physically handle Jesus’ body to believe He was indeed resurrected. We do not have that opportunity today, and so we are exhorted to believe on the basis of the eyewitness testimony of those who did see Jesus.
This morning, we consider another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ. This is His first appearance to the disciples as a group. Thomas was missing from the group during this meeting, and quite frankly, He missed a lot. This section of John contains his recording of the Great Commission. Once again, the disciples will be surprised to see Him and He does and says some things here, that we must slow down and really investigate to truly understand.
This morning we will consider the first witness of Jesus' resurrection! But, as we will see, Mary Magdalene was surprised to see Him! This gives us one more example of Jesus' disciples NOT expecting His resurrection! In fact, throughout this passage, Mary is adamant about one thing - preparing Jesus’ body for permanent burial.
Today, we look at the life of Peter in the Bible, and learn how we can have certainty and peace in these uncertain times. Speaker: Leonard Arambam fills in for Pastor John
This morning we come to the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The pinnacle of human history and ALL of the disciples missed it! They were unprepared and not expecting it! This again shows us that exposure to the truth does not always translate to connecting the truth to day-to-day circumstances and experience.
Completion is a good thing. Closure is something we all long for at certain times in our life. This morning we come to the end of Jesus’ earthly life, and as we do, we note a couple things that He finished - (1st): Everything the Old Testament Scriptures said about Messiah leading up to His death has now been completed, and (2nd): The final payment for our SIN-DEBT was made in full!
Todays sermon is on Psalms 139, and how we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our creator.
This morning, Pastor Carl Greene speaks Psalms 139, as the Psalmist paints a picture the care of God for us.
This morning, we look at some amazing prophecy that was fulfilled at the cross, and move forward from the trial phase of Jesus to the penalty phase. Roman crucifixion was the most diabolical form of death ever invented! The apostle John will now move us around and give us different viewpoints of the cross. He will give us different perspectives of the same event, and through this we learn even more about Jesus and God’s overarching plan for redemption.
In this message, we conclude the sub-section of the Book of John concerning Jesus’ legal trials, which we have entitled, “Kangaroo Court!" Pilates is convinced that Jesus is innocent, and he has done everything in his purview of options to get Him released. However, as we will see in this passage, he eventually runs out of ideas. The final, “official,” judgment will be made and Jesus will be condemned to be crucified.
This morning we continue a sub-section of John concerning the trials of Jesus. There were six of Jesus' trials, three Jewish and three Roman! Kangaroo court continues this week in the final Roman courtroom. This morning, we have a very weird trial because Pilate is running out of options. A judge convinced of a Man’s innocence, will punish him anyways! The judge’s motivation for doing so is so that his accusers will let him go! This is crazy! Additionally, it is unheard of for a Roman judge to knowingly release a person trying to overthrow the Roman government, and yet that happens here. Kangaroo Court is still in session!
This morning we continue a sub-section of John concerning the trials of Jesus. There were six of Jesus' trials, three Jewish and three Roman! Kangaroo court continues this week in two Roman courtrooms. This morning, we will finish up the first Roman trial and consider the circumstances that led to Jesus’ second Roman trial. The verdicts of both trials? Jesus is innocent!
This morning we continue a sub-section of John concerning the trials of Jesus. There were six of Jesus' trials, three Jewish and three Roman! Kangaroo court continues this week, but it changes locations to a Roman courtroom. This morning, we will first consider the judge, Pilate, because he was a compromised man at this exact point in history. So, we begin the first Roman trial of Jesus.
This morning we continue a sub-section of John concerning the trials of Jesus. There were six of Jesus' trials, three Jewish and three Roman! Both Jewish and Roman legal philosophy were renowned. In fact, Roman jurisprudence has become foundational to Western civilization and its jurisprudence. However, when these two systems came together in the case of Jesus Christ, the result was one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in the history of mankind! Kangaroo court continues this week as we consider Jesus’ second and third Jewish trials and also Peter’s second and third denials!
This morning we start a sub-section of John concerning Jesus’ legal trials. There were six of them, three Jewish and three Roman! Both Jewish and Roman legal philosophy were renowned. In fact, Roman jurisprudence has become foundational to Western civilization and its jurisprudence. However, when these two systems came together in the case of Jesus Christ, the result was one of the most infamous miscarriage of justice in the history of mankind! Kangaroo court is now in session!
We are jumping ahead now to chapter 18 and chapters 18-21 form the portion of John known as THE PASSION OF CHRIST. This section includes Jesus' trials and death (chapters 18 & 19), and His resurrection and appearances (chapters 20 & 21).This morning we are going to consider the details of the betrayal by Judas that Jesus has been predicting for some time. Remember, it was in the Upper Room, during the Passover Meal, that Jesus first mentioned that His betrayer would be one of the twelve.
Jesus has just finished His object lesson of foot washing with an exhortation to put these truths of servant-leadership into practice. Immediately following His exhortation, Jesus then calls out the “elephant in the room” (verses 18-19) – someone in the room would betray Him and He was telling them ahead of time to give them one more reason to believe that Jesus is who He says is. He is the Great I AM! (verse 19) In our passage this morning, Jesus is not only going to further identify who the betrayer is, but we are going to see Jesus mention a second betrayal.
Last week, we saw Jesus begin His private ministry to His disciples in the upper room with a foot washing object lesson. Because of Peter’s responses, Jesus was able to teach them two main lessons: (1) Biblical leadership requires service, and (2) Effective service requires fellowship with the Lord. At some point, for each of us, biblical teaching is designed to be implemented, not just observed.
As we celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we wanted to spend a Sunday considering biblical rest and what that consists of. Typically, when we think of rest, we think of vacation, time off from work...something outside of the typical daily grind. We will consider biblical rest this morning and how it can be had regardless of where you are at in life.
Last week, we saw the conclusion in John’s gospel of Jesus’ public ministry, and he now turns to Jesus’ private ministry to His disciples in the upper room at the last supper. John is the only gospel writer who records the details we have in chapters 13-17. This morning, we are going to see what a Servant-Leader looks like, and what someone looks like when their default motivation is "love for others."
What we have from Jesus this morning is His final public teaching in the Book of John. To begin, we see Pharisees who believed Jesus message but did not confess Him. Then Jesus concludes in one final teaching which is really a restatement and summary of all that He has said up to this point. Verses 44-50 are a quick synopsis of Jesus' teaching in John. This is His final shot, His parting words to persuade the public one last time.
Jesus had just said something shocking to His audience. He said that He would be lifted up in death, and earlier He had said that His hour had come and that the “Son of Man” would be glorified. And, now the crowd is confused! How can the Son of Man be glorified and live forever if the Son of Man is going to be lifted up in death?! This lack of nuanced understanding of the Old Testament prophecies causes the crowd to reject Jesus, in spite of all the clear proof that He was indeed the Messiah.
All of the talk about death before life, NOT loving one's life, and being a servant put Jesus into a troubled state of mind. It stirred up deep emotional turmoil, and this moment in time provides a great example from Jesus and also leads to another incredible message. Jesus is the perfect balance of being in fellowship with the Father, but also being real about His feelings and His emotions. Our emotions may want deliverance from difficulties, but Jesus shows that deference to God's will and plan are to be preferred to deliverance.
Last time, we considered Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem for Passion Week, where Jesus presented Himself “officially” to the nation as their long-awaited Messiah. We learn this morning that among the group escorting Him into Jerusalem was a group of Gentiles and they were hoping for a private audience with Jesus. Jesus' message to them and anyone listening in the crowd was amazing for two main reasons! (1) Jesus' death would be highly beneficial and highly productive in providing salvation for anyone who would believe, and (2) The principle taught (death before life) can be life-changing if someone really values and understands the implications of His teaching. In the Christian life, death must precede life - death must precede divine production. (See 2 Corinthians 4:7-12)
What are you filling your mind with? Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks... Today, we hear from Joshua Miller as he speaks on the importance of what you fill your mind with. What you take in is what is going to flow out of you.
Last week, our narrative recorded a dinner immediately following the Sabbath on Saturday night. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, performed an act of loving devotion by pre-anointing Jesus' body for His upcoming death and burial. Now, the next day, Jesus begins His entry, His Triumphal Entry, into Jerusalem for Passion Week. We know this as "Palm Sunday." Now, there are a lot of amazing things we will observe about Jesus’ triumphal entry, but the most amazing is the timing of it from a biblical perspective. God had this exact day in mind for Jesus to be officially presented to the nation, and He predicted it through the Old Testament prophet Daniel!
This morning, as we celebrate our 42nd anniversary as a church, we want to reiterate how important our firm foundation is even when desiring to grow. Everything that we build on the foundation is intertwined and related to the foundation. In the first century the cornerstone was laid and everything was planned around it, including the foundation and the superstructure! This is our heart's desire for our own local assembly.
In chapter 11, we reached the climax of John’s seven hand-selected signs to convince and persuade his readers to put their faith in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. The seventh sign was the resuscitation of Lazarus, and the eighth will be the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This morning, we will see an illustration of amazing love and devotion to Jesus Christ. What we will see is "first" love and what it looks like! (See Revelation 2:2-4). In contrast to the hatred that the religious leaders demonstrated (11:57) stands the love that Mary demonstrated toward the One whom she had come to believe in.
In this sermon, we'll explore the importance of working with purpose as unto the Lord. Let's discover how to find fulfillment in our work and glorify God through our daily tasks.
In this video, we explore the lessons from Job when it seems like God doesn't answer the why questions in our lives. Discover wisdom and faith in times of uncertainty.
This morning, we are going to look at the story of Elijah the prophet, and incredibly successful prophet of Israel. He is one of only two men, mentioned in the Scriptures who did not die physically but was translated directly to heaven! He was a man who walked with God, but we are going to see that after many successes, he still failed in a miserable way. What is so incredible though is that his failure came on the heels of one of his greatest recorded successes. And what we find in the life of Elijah is that staying successful is often times harder than becoming successful to begin with!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King, a Gentile king, the story of King Nebuchadnezzar. His is an interesting story because he was in the perfect place at the perfect time in history to be a divine disciplinary rod for the nation of Judah. He was brought to power and given incredible success by none other than Yahweh, Himself! However, it was this truth that was murky to Nebuchadnezzar. He attributed his success to himself and completely disregarded Yahweh.
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Israel, Joash. King Joash is the epitome of a man whose own success messed up his evaluator and made him very forgetful! He rode on the coattails of another man’s spiritual success, and he never really owned or valued what he said he believed!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Judah, Hezekiah. Wow! Where do we start with Hezekiah? This man was probably only second to David in terms of raising the spiritual temperature in Israel across the board! It is what makes his failure, his fall from success, so incredible. His failure happened so suddenly and without warning, it literally snuck up and bit him!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Israel, Uzziah. He was successful, partially, because of the same reason Solomon was initially successful. Uzziah pursued relational intimacy with the Lord! However, as we will see, the initial steps of success often are the first steps towards failure! In the life of Uzziah, we will see that success caused him to think too highly of himself, and it cost him.
Waiting is one of the most common tests Christians face in life. Waiting has many variations - large and small. But the bottom line is that waiting is hard. It exposes us to uncertainty, vulnerability, impatience, and much more. Biblical waiting means "...these tension filled gaps present an opportunity for faith" and its corollary - hope.
Some look at climate change and wonder if we are about to destroy the world. Some watch world events - October 7th, assassination attempt, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and wonder if we are on the brink of WWIII. Christians see these things, and many other biblical indications of the Lord's return and ask, "Is it soon?". Everyone wonders what to do, how to respond, how to be ready. I Thessalonians gives believers some solid answers these questions.
This morning, we are going to look at one of the most successful men who ever lived, King Solomon. Solomon is a picture of a man who grew in the wrong direction! He started well but continued poorly. Ultimately, at the end of his life, he was the epitome of an epic failure.
Sometimes when people “crash and burn” in life, it is shocking. You will often hear someone say, “I never saw that coming!” That may be true, but oftentimes, there are subtle indicators and little things along the way, that would have clued us in to the potential issues brewing. We are going to look at a story this morning where there were plenty of warning signs along the road to success. These warning signs were ignored and not utilized to course correct. We will see the way our group responds to these warning signs indicated they were not ready for success, and this was revealed in an EPIC failure!
This morning, we will consider three primary principles for why perceived success can be dangerous or detrimental to one’s Christian life. Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians 10:12 that this is a very real and present danger to be constantly aware of.
Last week, we reached the climax of Lazarus’ story – Jesus resuscitated him because He IS the resurrection and the life. This morning, we will see something that is still true today. Jesus’ life, ministry, and work on the cross demands a response! These things demand a decision! Will you “believe” in Him OR will you “reject” Him? There is no middle or neutral ground. Any decision or non-decision a person makes regarding this topic has consequences, either positive or negative.
As we continue with the story of Lazarus this morning, we pick up in the middle of Jesus’ conversation with Martha. Remember, Martha has gone out to meet Him on His way into town to get some answers. Jesus is going to give her some answers, including His FIFTH ”I AM” claim recorded in the Book of John. It is quite a claim! Jesus will tell her “I AM the resurrection and the life!” Truly remarkable! Almost beyond words!
As we continue with the story of Lazarus this morning, we pick up in the middle of Jesus’ conversation with Martha. Remember, Martha has gone out to meet Him on His way into town to get some answers. Jesus is going to give her some answers, including His FIFTH ”I AM” claim recorded in the Book of John. It is quite a claim! Jesus will tell her “I AM the resurrection and the life!” Truly remarkable! Almost beyond words!
Today, Pastor John continues in John 11 with the sermon on Lazarus.Jesus had received a message that one of his good friends from a family He loved was deathly ill. His response was “different” to say the least, because instead of rushing to their side, He delayed His return to the family for two days. Now, He begins His journey to Bethany with the express purpose of “waking Lazarus up,” which is a euphemism for raising Him from the dead. Others will be awakened as well from their spiritual slumber.
Today, we begin a new chapter in John 11, and begin a familiar story with the story of Lazarus. In the beginning of this story, we get to see a unique opportunity for God to get glory through this man's death!
Today, guest Speaker Rob Armstrong fills in to speak from Hebrews 1:1-3. We explore how God wrote the Old Testament, the primary message of the prophets, and 7 unique and wonderful facts about Christ.
We will finish up Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah). Jesus was asked a direct question in verse 24, He has answered it, and they did not like His answer and accused Him of the capital crime of blasphemy. Jesus now responds, and He does so the same way He has been doing in the Book of John: (1) He appeals to the Jewish scriptures, AND (2) He appeals to the signs/works He has been doing. Once again, they do not like His answer and they proceed to attempt another execution…
As mentioned last week, Jesus is in Jerusalem again during the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah) and is now roughly three months away from the Feast of Passover and His crucifixion. Jesus has returned to the shepherd/sheep analogy that He had used three months earlier, and He said something emphatic in verse 28! However, Jesus did NOT stop there! This morning, in our passage, He builds on what He just said in verse 28, and makes the truth of the believer’s security even more emphatic!
As we move from verse 21 to verse 22, we have fast-forwarded in time about three months. We are now roughly halfway between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Passover, where Jesus will be crucified. John puts this section immediately after the Good Shepherd discourse because Jesus returns to this illustration three months later with the same group to once again affirm His identity and the value of what He came to do.
As we continue looking at the powerful and piercing metaphor Jesus shared regarding shepherds and sheep, Jesus shared an incredible truth in verse 11…He is THE Good Shepherd. He is the One the Old Testament anticipated with this metaphor. Couple that with the fact that Jesus used the phrase “ego eimi” (I AM) to describe Himself four times in this passage, and we can see that He is saying that He is Yahweh the Shepherd – the ONE they were expecting! This morning, He will go on to explain WHY this is the case – WHY He is this GOOD shepherd!
Today, Joshua Miller fills in for Pastor John and discusses how to stand firm in your faith with truths from Ephesians in this sermon. Learn how to stay grounded and unwavering in your beliefs no matter what challenges come your way.
Today the religious leaders learn that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is not only the gate, but the gate keeper. The blind man’s excommunication from the synagogue and Jesus’ pursuit of him in John 9 gives us the reason Jesus uses the illustration of the sheep and the shepherd in John 10. The shepherd’s life was commonly understood in Jesus’ day, but as we saw last week, the Jewish religious leaders did not get what Jesus was saying. This morning, Jesus begins to circle back and explain what He intended to communicate with this illustration
“How good is good enough to go to heaven?” This morning, we want to answer this question from the Scriptures by using the story of Zacchaeus to answer it. Often, religious thinking is as short-sighted with their answer to this question as Zacchaeus was in his physical stature.
As we turn the page into chapter 10 of John, we are still on the same trip to Jerusalem that Jesus started in John 7. The account we pick up this morning is just a few days after the Feast of Tabernacles, and immediately after the healing of the blind man. In a sense, the chapter break here is unfortunate. The blind man was cast out of the synagogue for his faith, and he was thrown into the arms of the good shepherd – thus the teaching and illustration in John 10 is really a commentary on the conflict of John 9.
Today we finish the story of the incredible healing of a blind man by Jesus. In John Chapter 9, we have been considering John’s sixth hand-selected SIGN chosen to convince His readers to put their faith in Jesus Christ. That sign was an UNDENIABLE divine miracle, as Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind. As the Jewish religious leaders finished their investigation, they cast the blind man out of the synagogue and right into the arms of Jesus! This is when the REAL miracle occurred – this blind man was given spiritual sight; he was born again!
In this morning's message, Pastor Carl Greene talks about the incredible value of humility, as found in the Bible, and the seemingly paradoxical nature of being humble.
Today, Pastor Carl Greene speaks on how God whispers to us through His word and through creation. Discover the beauty and meaning behind His whispers and how we can listen to and obey them more.
In John Chapter 9, we have been considering John’s sixth hand-selected SIGN chosen to convince His readers to put their faith in Jesus Christ. That sign was an UNDENIABLE divine miracle, as Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind. However, Jesus had performed this healing on a Sabbath day, which caused a conundrum for the Jewish religious leaders. They now had a responsibility to address this situation for the people, and thus they began their investigation and interrogation of the parties involved last week. This morning, they will finish their investigation, which will conclude with the blind man being cast out of the synagogue!
Last week, we looked at John’s sixth hand-selected sign, which was an UNDENIABLE divine miracle - Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind. This type of healing had never been accomplished in the history of the world, but Jesus had healed this man on a Sabbath day. This fact alone threw the Jewish religious leaders into a tailspin because of their interpretation of the Sabbath regulations. Because of the nature of the miracle itself, the Jewish religious leaders had a responsibility to investigate the situation and provide answers to the people. We will consider those interrogations the next two weeks.
As we pick up this morning, Jesus has just finished an intense and heated conversation with the Jewish religious leaders which ended with His miraculous deliverance from their attempt to stone Him. Now, you would think that following this interaction, Jesus would leave Jerusalem and get some distance between Him and His enemies, but He does not do that! Jesus sees a blind man, and NOT just any blind man – a man who was “born” blind and a man whose healing was on Jesus’ divine schedule. John’s sixth hand-selected sign in his book to convince and persuade his audience to believe in Jesus (John 20:30-31) is an undeniable divine miracle!
We continue with Jesus’ heated conversation with the Jewish religious leaders and Jesus has been dropping truth bombs consistently that His audience is not taking well. Last week they committed the unpardonable sin, and they do it again this week. But, when Jesus tells them that He is the I AM, they pick up stones to stone Him.
We continue with Jesus’ heated conversation with the Jewish religious leaders and in our study last week Jesus dropped an absolute bomb on His audience by telling them that the Devil was their father. His audience did not take this well, and they will commit the unpardonable sin (like Matthew 12:22-24), by accusing the Son of God, who is doing prophesied Messianic miracles, of being demonically empowered and possessed. This TOO is an attack on Jesus’ origins and patriarchy.
As Jesus continues His heated conversation with Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem following the Feast of Tabernacles, they continue to push back! Last week, the conversation turned into a discussion of patriarchy and heritage and these topics were no joking matter to a first century Jew. Jesus’ comments in this section infuriates this already murderous group, and this morning He provides an absolutely scathing comment regarding their heritage and patriarchy.
Last week, Jesus turned to a subset of the crowd who had believed and provided a quick teaching on discipleship, but something He said did not sit right with the Jewish religious leaders, and this morning they continue to push back! Eventually, the conversation turned into a discussion of patriarchy and heritage and these topics were no joking matter to a first century Jew. Jesus’ comments in this section will infuriate this already murderous group.
As we pick up this morning, Jesus is still in Jerusalem, immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles – this is the same trip He made at the beginning of chapter 7, and this trip will continue into chapter 10. Jesus is in the middle of a conversation with the Jewish religious leaders, and others in the crowd are listening in. He is desperately trying to communicate with this audience, and the reason for this is because ideas have consequences! What a person believes affects what a person does! What a person believes (as it relates to salvation) affects a person’s eternal destiny.
With so much extra biblical tradition surrounding Christmas, and with so many reading about the birth of Christ as simply a nice story, it is important to know why there even is a "Christmas story".
As we reflect on this Christmas season, in the light of so much gift giving and receiving, we want to stop and reflect on all the good gifts that God has given us. We have so many good gifts from God!
Last week Jesus was once again providing strong, courtroom-like, testimony as to His identity, just as He had in John 5 with this same group of people. This morning, He is going to start getting even more direct. Even though the Jewish religious leaders hate Him, Jesus loves them and He does NOT want any of them to die in their sin (of unbelief)! Jesus is going to articulate the ONE and ONLY ONE condition that they must meet in order to NOT ”die in their sin”…
As we continue this morning, Jesus is still in Jerusalem, immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, this is the day after the feast is over, and is the same day as Jesus' interaction with the woman caught in adultery. One interesting connection from 7:52 to 8:12 is what the Jewish leaders said in 7:52 about a prophet coming out of Galilee and what Jesus says in 8:12 (See Isaiah 9:1-2). In His conversation with the religious leaders, Jesus is now going to re-introduce some of His argumentation from John 5 regarding witnesses to His identity.
The Feast of Tabernacles is over – the Jews who have traveled to Jerusalem from out of town are probably getting ready to head back home, and yet because of the BUZZ created by Jesus, many have probably stayed a little bit longer, hoping to get some more time with Him. This morning, we will look at an event that transpired the day after the feast. We will cover an amazing passage – it is a passage that many people throughout the ages have thoroughly enjoyed because of the Grace, Mercy, and Truth that Jesus extends to the woman in this story.
Jesus has been teaching in the Temple and interacting with multiple groups within the crowds. The setting again is the Feast of Tabernacles and one group in the crowd – the religious leaders – have had enough, and they set a plan into motion to take Him into custody. To make matters worse from a human perspective, Jesus just stole the show and made some pretty bold claims (See v37-v39)! This morning, we are going to look at the aftermath of Jesus’ bold declaration! There is a great schism between the varied groups in His audience.
This time of year, we take time to express thanks for the things and people we are thankful for. For most of us, there are people in our lives that jump to the top of that list. These are people who have invested in us, sacrificed for us and the like. We can and should be thankful for them! However, what about those people who have only caused us grief, harm, or pain? In our passage today, Paul is going to say we can be thankful for ALL people; NOT, just some!
Jesus has been teaching in the Temple and interacting with multiple groups within the crowds. The setting again is the Feast of Tabernacles and one group in the crowd – the religious leaders – have had enough, and they have now set in motion a plan to take Him into custody. This morning, we see Jesus finish His dialogue with His audience and then He seems to lay low for a few days. However, on the last day of the feast, He will burst forth publicly and make an incredible public invitation to all within earshot!
Remember, Jesus has been teaching in the Temple right in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles. His teaching was amazing and the conversation with His audience has progressed. Last time, Jesus had called out the religious leaders' "Sabbath hypocrisy" and by doing so, He effectively silenced them! Now, this confuses the Jewish crowd because they know the religious leaders hate Jesus and want Him gone, so why are they not doing anything? As a result, they begin discussing and debating Jesus' identity, and because He knows this, He seeks to clarify WHO He is and where He is from. When He does this, the religious leaders’ blood begins to boil as they will send temple officers to take Him into custody. They are now beginning to put “shoe leather” on their plan to kill Him…John 7:28-32
Last week Jesus took a position at a pillar in the Temple during the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles to teach the people. His teaching was incredibly good and very impressive to friend and foe alike. During the dialogue that followed regarding the origin of His teaching, Jesus called the Jewish religious leaders out, by pointing out they stood on the Law of Moses and yet were actively trying to break the Law of Moses. As Jesus goes on, He is going to leave them speechless and the crowd is amazed!
Last week we saw that Jesus was the talk of the town in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, which was the most popular of all the Jewish feasts. Even though Jesus had come to the Feast in Jerusalem clandestinely, this morning He will make His public appearance midway through the feast. So, He does NOT stay quiet and, in the background. He begins to teach openly in the Temple and His claims once again cause quite a stir!
Last week we saw that Jesus’ brothers had a worldly campaign strategy for Him related to the upcoming Feast in Jerusalem. The Feast of Tabernacles was the most popular of all the feasts and had both a nationalistic and religious element to it. God had brought them through wilderness and would one day dwell with them permanently, AND God continued to meet their daily needs by providing their harvest for them. Because of the nature and festivity of this feast, Jesus’ brothers had said “show yourself to the world!” This morning Jesus will explain that God the Father’s timeframe and strategy were different. There were other things that needed to be said and done, before Jesus would be publicly presented to the nation!
Last week we began to see the aftermath of Jesus’ teaching of the Bread of Life discourse. Many were NOT comfortable with what He just said – they were NOT comfortable with the claims He was making regarding His ID – and most of all they were NOT comfortable with how far He took the metaphor of BREAD. This is why MANY of His disciples left Jesus, never to follow Him again. We will look at two additional responses this morning: (1st) We will look at the response of the 12 disciples, AND (2nd) We will look at the response of Jesus’ brothers. The first response is largely positive, but the response of His brothers is negative.
Last week Jesus finished up the Bread of Life discourse in the synagogue in Capernaum. This morning we will see the aftermath of His teaching. Many were not comfortable with what He just said. The lack of comfort involved the claims He was making regarding His identity, and with how far He took the metaphor of "bread." Over the next two weeks, we will look at three responses to Jesus' message: (1st): We will look at the response of MANY disciples of Jesus! (2nd): We will look at the response of the 12 disciples. (3rd): We will look at the response of Jesus’ brothers (in chapter 7).
This morning, we are going to see Jesus continue to ratchet up His dialogue with the crowd in Capernaum. Most bible teachers, pastors, and evangelists are interested in growing their audience, but this morning we are going to see Jesus shrink His audience! By continuing to build on His metaphor of the Bread of Life, Jesus says some things that do not sit well with those in His audience. As a result, Jesus' ministry will never be as popular as it was before these statements. It is with these final statements that He concludes the Bread of Life discourse.
We left off last time with a cliffhanger, of sorts, in verse 44 about the Father drawing people and what that meant. As a reminder, Jesus was in the middle of a discourse with a large crowd in Capernaum. Again, this was the same crowd He fed miraculously just the day before. Because He just fed them, and because it is Passover time, He uses Bread as a Metaphor for Himself. This morning, Jesus will describe the eternal benefit of "eating" this "living bread" OR "bread from heaven." "Eating" is simply another illustration Jesus uses for believing in Him, as we will see from the text.
"Keep on Moving" is an exhortation to each one of us, individually, and to our local church, corporately. It is a reminder to keep pursuing and growing in our relational intimacy with Jesus Christ. Even though we are celebrating our 41st anniversary as a local church, we should never rest on our laurels, we should never become complacent, and we should never become satisfied with where we are at today. More of Jesus is ALWAYS a good thing!
We left off last week with Jesus at the very beginning of a discourse with a large crowd in Capernaum. This is the same crowd He fed miraculously just the day before. This discourse has come to be known as the Bread of Life discourse, and we will see Jesus and the crowd will go back and forth with their questions and comments and His corrections and clarifications. If we were to summarize and give the main purpose for the discourse, it is simply this: Jesus is attempting to clarify His identity for this crowd – He is their promised Messiah and thus they should trust Him! Now we are going to see something UNIQUE in the passage today – one must come TO the Bread of Life (by faith) in order to arrive WITH the Bread of Life in the resurrection.
We left off last week with Jesus at the very beginning of a discourse with a large crowd in Capernaum. This is the same crowd He fed miraculously just the day before. This discourse has come to be known as the Bread of Life discourse, and we will see Jesus and the crowd will go back and forth with their questions and comments and His corrections and clarifications. If we were to summarize and give the main purpose for the discourse, it is simply this: Jesus is attempting to clarify His identity for this crowd – He is their promised Messiah and thus they should trust Him! Now we are going to see something UNIQUE in the passage today – one must come TO the Bread of Life (by faith) in order to arrive WITH the Bread of Life in the resurrection.
In John six so far, we have seen two of John’s hand-selected miracles back-to-back. He provides two out of his seven hand-selected miracles in the first twenty-one verses of John chapter six - the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ walking on water. Now, with the SAME crowd He just fed, He will attempt to clarify His identity through a teaching discourse. There is definitely some "back and forth" during this teaching as evidenced by the crowd's multiple interjections (v25, v28, v30, v34, v42, and v52). In His teaching, Jesus will use the feeding of the 5,000 as a basis for a metaphor about Him being the BREAD of LIFE.
Last time we met, we attempted to set the stage for the ONE miracle in the life of Jesus that was recorded in each of the 4 gospel accounts – the feeding of the 5000. This miracle was really a preliminary attention grabber for the main discussion – the Bread of Life Discourse! As we move forward in this account Jesus will take His disciples from the classroom of discipleship into a discipleship practicum. He does this by involving them in His miracle and modeling grace-based and dependent ministry.
Last time we met, we attempted to set the stage for the ONE miracle in the life of Jesus that was recorded in each of the 4 gospel accounts – the feeding of the 5000. This miracle was really a preliminary attention grabber for the main discussion – the Bread of Life Discourse! As we move forward in this account Jesus will take His disciples from the classroom of discipleship into a discipleship practicum. He does this by involving them in His miracle and modeling grace-based and dependent ministry.
Contentment in life is something we all strive for, but something that always seems just out of reach. Today, Joshua Miller joins us to talk about how to be content. What is contentment, what does the Bible say about being content, and how can we truly be content in this life? Sermon on Philippians 4:13
Contentment in life is something we all strive for, but something that always seems just out of reach. Today, Joshua Miller joins us to talk about how to be content. What is contentment, what does the Bible say about being content, and how can we truly be content in this life? Sermon on Philippians 4:13
As we close out John chapter 5 this morning, remember last week that Jesus has moved us into an impromptu court scene. Jesus has given us His opening argument, and last week He began presenting His expert witnesses to His identity. Remember, under Jewish law, valid testimony in a court case was 2-3 witnesses – Jesus will provide four witnesses – five, if you count Himself. The four witnesses we looked at last week were: (1) Jesus, Himself, (2) God the Father, (3) John the Baptist, and (4) Jesus’ Works. This week we will consider Jesus’ final and (what should have been) the deciding witness – the Old Testament Scriptures.
As we close out John chapter 5 this morning, remember last week that Jesus has moved us into an impromptu court scene. Jesus has given us His opening argument, and last week He began presenting His expert witnesses to His identity. Remember, under Jewish law, valid testimony in a court case was 2-3 witnesses – Jesus will provide four witnesses – five, if you count Himself. The four witnesses we looked at last week were: (1) Jesus, Himself, (2) God the Father, (3) John the Baptist, and (4) Jesus’ Works. This week we will consider Jesus’ final and (what should have been) the deciding witness – the Old Testament Scriptures.
This week Jesus continues to “Double Down” on His unique relationship TO and WITH God the Father. We are in the aftermath of Jesus’ healing of a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda. This was John’s third hand-selected sign and the main issue with this sign is that it was done on the Jewish Sabbath. Jesus is in the midst of explaining WHO He is and WHY He has the right to heal a man on the Sabbath. This morning, we are going to continue to consider some of the “greater works” mentioned in v20. They are (1) Raising the Dead and (2) Judging the World – both of these were assumed to be reserved for Yahweh alone! Through these statements Jesus is letting His listeners know He is Yahweh!
To “Double Down” means to strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky. This morning, we are going to see Jesus doubling down! He is going to lean in to WHO He is and WHY He has the right to heal a man on the Sabbath. What we have in the rest of this chapter is the most thoroughgoing statement of Jesus’ unity with the Father, His divine commission and authority, and His proof of Messiahship in all of the Gospels. John chapter 5 is a treasure trove of truth about the person of Jesus Christ!
To “Double Down” means to strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky. This morning, we are going to see Jesus doubling down! He is going to lean in to WHO He is and WHY He has the right to heal a man on the Sabbath. What we have in the rest of this chapter is the most thoroughgoing statement of Jesus’ unity with the Father, His divine commission and authority, and His proof of Messiahship in all of the Gospels. John chapter 5 is a treasure trove of truth about the person of Jesus Christ!
To “Double Down” means to strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky. This morning, we are going to see Jesus doubling down! He is going to lean in to WHO He is and WHY He has the right to heal a man on the Sabbath. What we have in the rest of this chapter is the most thoroughgoing statement of Jesus’ unity with the Father, His divine commission and authority, and His proof of Messiahship in all of the Gospels. John chapter 5 is a treasure trove of truth about the person of Jesus Christ!
Last week, we looked at Jesus’ healing of a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda. This was John’s THIRD hand-selected sign and because this sign was done on the Jewish Sabbath it created a very "sticky" situation for Jesus, which I think He created willingly AND intentionally. Jesus did so to confront false religious teaching and understanding, as it related to the Sabbath, and to also further clarify His identity and authority! This morning's passage further sets the stage for one of Jesus' premiere teaching sessions in John's gospel.
Jesus had just gotten to Galilee at the end of chapter 4, and now He is heading back to Jerusalem, for a Jewish feast, here at the beginning of chapter 5. He has been doing signs and wonders in Galilee and His popularity is growing there. Now, He is going to continue His ministry in Jerusalem, but this third hand-selected sign will be different than the previous two - (1st): This sign will be public with a wider audience, and (2nd): This sign will be done on the Jewish Sabbath. This will become a BIG bone of contention between Jesus and the religious leaders, as we will explore in the coming weeks. This morning, we will consider John’s 3RD hand-selected sign from the miracles of Jesus designed to convince His readers to trust in Christ for eternal life.John 5:1-9
We have just finished Jesus’ divine appointment with a Samaritan woman, His “discipling of His disciples,” and the recording of the positive response of many of the Samaritan people to the woman’s testimony and Jesus’ own words. Now, Jesus continues on the journey that started about 3-4 days before and He begins a successful ministry in the region of Galilee. He begins a "successful" ministry tour of the region of Galilee, which will become His home base for the next 18-24 months. Although He did many signs and wonders here, John records one (a healing of a nobleman's son) to support his stated goal: that his audience may read about this and believe that Jesus is the Christ (John 20:30-31).
This morning we will continue to attempt to provide clarity on two important items of truth: (1) The Gospel message, and (2) The Biblical Response to the Gospel Message. We will consider the "False Gospel Response Cliché" of "Repenting of sin or repenting FROM sin."
Today we are joined by Pastor Gus Layman as he preaches from Psalm 23. Specifically, Psalm 23:5 where we are encouraged to have a mindset of desiring the Lord to fill us with himself for our daily sanctification.
This morning we will continue to attempt to provide clarity on two important items of truth: (1) The Gospel message, and (2) The Biblical Response to the Gospel Message. We will consider the "False Gospel Response Cliche" of making a public profession of Christ from Romans 10:9-10.
This morning we will continue to attempt to provide clarity on two important items of truth: (1) The Gospel message, and (2) The Biblical Response to the Gospel Message. We will consider the following three "False Gospel Response Cliches": (1) Pray the Sinner's Prayer, (2) Asking for Forgiveness, and (3) Asking Jesus Into Your Heart.
This morning, and for the next few weeks, we are going to take a detour from the Book of John to focus on the Gospel and the biblical response to the Gospel. As we have studied through Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, it has been incredible to notice that although these two people came from entirely different worlds, their overall understanding of how a person entered an eternity with God was EERILY SIMILAR! Their focus was on what you must DO and/or what you must CONTINUE TO DO. Their focus, overall, was on themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we will see that this type of thinking is still prevalent in our day, even in some evangelical circles.
This morning, and for the next few weeks, we are going to take a detour from the Book of John to focus on the Gospel and the biblical response to the Gospel. As we have studied through Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, it has been incredible to notice that although these two people came from entirely different worlds, their overall understanding of how a person entered an eternity with God was EERILY SIMILAR! Their focus was on what you must DO and/or what you must CONTINUE TO DO. Their focus, overall, was on themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we will see that this type of thinking is still prevalent in our day, even in some evangelical circles.
This morning, and for the next few weeks, we are going to take a detour from the Book of John to focus on the Gospel and the biblical response to the Gospel. As we have studied through Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, it has been incredible to notice that although these two people came from entirely different worlds, their overall understanding of how a person entered an eternity with God was EERILY SIMILAR! Their focus was on what you must DO and/or what you must CONTINUE TO DO. Their focus, overall, was on themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we will see that this type of thinking is still prevalent in our day, even in some evangelical circles.
We have been looking at Jesus’ divine appointment with a Samaritan woman the past couple of weeks. As that conversation is brought to a close, we will see that the woman and her community would never be the same! Additionally, we will see that Jesus uses this opportunity to further train His disciples. He will challenge their thinking and attempt to shift their “value” system, to alter their priorities, and to cause them to see life through His eyes. Watch and listen as Jesus disciples His disciples!
We have been looking at Jesus’ divine appointment with a Samaritan woman the past couple of weeks. As that conversation is brought to a close, we will see that the woman and her community would never be the same! Additionally, we will see that Jesus uses this opportunity to further train His disciples. He will challenge their thinking and attempt to shift their “value” system, to alter their priorities, and to cause them to see life through His eyes. Watch and listen as Jesus disciples His disciples!
All the way back in John 2:24-25 we learned that Jesus “knew all men” AND “He knew what was IN man.” This piercing and penetrating knowledge was put on full display in His interaction with Nicodemus in chapter 3, but now we are going to travel to the other end of the societal spectrum. Nicodemus was a prim, proper, religious, moral, societal elite in Jewish circles. The woman Jesus will interact with in John chapter 4 is the exact opposite in every way – and YET the truth remains, Jesus KNEW ALL PEOPLE! Jesus had a divine appointment on His calendar and He "needed" to get to Samaria!
All the way back in John 2:24-25 we learned that Jesus “knew all men” AND “He knew what was IN man.” This piercing and penetrating knowledge was put on full display in His interaction with Nicodemus in chapter 3, but now we are going to travel to the other end of the societal spectrum. Nicodemus was a prim, proper, religious, moral, societal elite in Jewish circles. The woman Jesus will interact with in John chapter 4 is the exact opposite in every way – and YET the truth remains, Jesus KNEW ALL PEOPLE! Jesus had a divine appointment on His calendar and He "needed" to get to Samaria!
All the way back in John 2:24-25 we learned that Jesus “knew all men” AND “He knew what was IN man.” This piercing and penetrating knowledge was put on full display in His interaction with Nicodemus in chapter 3, but now we are going to travel to the other end of the societal spectrum. Nicodemus was a prim, proper, religious, moral, societal elite in Jewish circles. The woman Jesus will interact with in John chapter 4 is the exact opposite in every way – and YET the truth remains, Jesus KNEW ALL PEOPLE! Jesus had a divine appointment on His calendar and He "needed" to get to Samaria!
This morning, we begin to observe the final recorded testimony of John the Baptist in the gospels. This testimony is prior to his arrest and eventual execution, and it allows us to really get into the mind of this man who “paved the way for the Messiah.” We are going to see that what he recognized and communicated at this stage of his life and ministry would be an adequate goal of recognition for each one of us. John’s final testimony should be OUR LIFE GOAL!Sermon on John 3:22-30
This morning, we come to the most well-known text in all of the Bible - John 3:16. One commentator said that John 3:16 is "a text that contains an ocean of thought and a drop of language." Martin Luther, the great Reformer, called John 3:16 the "miniature gospel and a text in which the whole Bible is contained." It is interesting that most people can quote it, but very few people actually understand it. Many people are not even aware of the context of John 3:16 - that Jesus is still explaining the necessity of the birth from above. Let's dive into this incredible passage this morning...
This morning, we come to the most well-known text in all of the Bible - John 3:16. One commentator said that John 3:16 is "a text that contains an ocean of thought and a drop of language." Martin Luther, the great Reformer, called John 3:16 the "miniature gospel and a text in which the whole Bible is contained." It is interesting that most people can quote it, but very few people actually understand it. Many people are not even aware of the context of John 3:16 - that Jesus is still explaining the necessity of the birth from above. Let's dive into this incredible passage this morning...
Last week we covered the dialogue portion of the life-changing conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. This week, we are going to get a more in-depth explanation of not only WHY Nicodemus could and should trust Jesus' testimony about the "birth from above" but also HOW one can enjoy and personally experience the "birth from above."
We left off last time being introduced to Nicodemus, who was the premiere Rabbi in all of Israel at this time (3:10). One of the reasons John recorded this conversation was to illustrate the truth of John 2:24b-25 – “Jesus knew all men and Jesus knew what was in all men.” This will be exemplified in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John chapter 3) and in His conversation with the woman at the well (John chapter 4). This conversation with Nicodemus was life-changing for him!...and the recounting of it has been life-changing for many others throughout the course of human history!
As Christians, we are (rightly) very concerned with God's will for our lives. What He wants us to do, how He wants us to live. But sometimes we get too concerned with it, in the wrong way. The answer to how to live in the will of God is, at its root, actually very simple! When we hold on to these truths, we will find that we can truly live a confident life.
As Christians, we are (rightly) very concerned with God's will for our lives. What He wants us to do, how He wants us to live. But sometimes we get too concerned with it, in the wrong way. The answer to how to live in the will of God is, at its root, actually very simple! When we hold on to these truths, we will find that we can truly live a confident life.
Last week, we saw Jesus “clean house” and really put Himself on the radar of the Jewish religious elite. They had asked Him for a divine sign or miracle to validate the authority He claimed for cleansing the Temple. Jesus pointed them to His future resurrection as the ultimate sign to validate and verify His identity and His message. However, now, at this same feast, we will see that Jesus interacts with the multitudes and performs multiple signs. However, the signs are not the main purpose of this section – the main purpose of this section is to reveal to us that Jesus KNOWS all men. In fact, the next two chapters (3 & 4), are going to illustrate His incredible insight into people!
Last week, we finished looking at a very “momentous week” in the life of Jesus and His disciples. And on the final day of that week, we looked at the first of seven signs (water to wine), hand-picked by John to persuade his readers to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this sign miracle was somewhat private, and thus He was still relatively “off the radar.” That will change this morning! Jesus will announce His presence in a way that will place Him permanently “on the radar” of the Jewish leaders through His first temple cleansing.
This morning, we will conclude the “momentous week” in the life of Jesus, John the Baptist, and His disciples with their attendance of a wedding feast. At this feast, Jesus performs the first of seven signs, hand-picked by John to persuade his readers to believe on Him. The first sign is turning water into wine. The turning of water to wine miracle was a somewhat “private” sign in that only the servants, Mary, and Jesus’ disciples knew about it. However, it was enough of a miracle that it convinced all of the disciples with Jesus to believe in Him!
This morning, we continue to move forward in a “momentous week” in the life of Jesus, John the Baptist, and future disciples. Remember last week, John the Baptist evidently sees the Lord Jesus returning from the 40 days of wilderness temptation (Matthew 4), and after John had baptized Him (Matthew 3). When John saw Him, He identified Him to the world! Two of John the Baptist’s disciples (Andrew and John the author) immediately followed Jesus to hang out with Him that day and now we will meet them and other disciples as well. This morning, we are going to see INTERACTIONS with Jesus produce DECLARATIONS about Jesus! John the Baptist’s testimony continues to trickle downhill from this point forward…
The Psalmist considers thankfulness to God from a different angle this morning. He asks and answers the question, “What IF God were not for us?” “What would life be like, if God were NOT on our side?” The Psalmist is very clear – it would not be pretty for the nation of Israel! It also would not be pretty for the believer in Jesus Christ. The fact that God is for us, should cause us to pause and thank God for His great love, interest, and care for us in our lives. What would our lives be like without God’s intervention? None of us should ever want to find out.
Hear from Bobby Burdett, a missionary we support here at GCF, as he discusses how God can use everyday people for incredible things.
This morning, we are moving forward in “momentous week” in the life of Jesus, John the Baptist, and others. Remember last week, the first day of this seven-day sequence, the Jewish religious leaders interrogated John the Baptist about his identity. WHO was he and WHY should we listen to him?! In closing out that conversation, John the Baptist had just told the religious leaders that the Messiah was among them and they did not know Him. And now, on the VERY NEXT day, John evidently sees the Lord Jesus walking, and He is NOW ready to be identified to the world! This was the PINNACLE of John the Baptist’s ministry!
Today, we begin a larger section of the Book running through John 12:50. This section contains Jesus’ public ministry, including the seven signs, hand selected by John, and Jesus’ seven discourses. Again, all of these were recorded so that we might believe in Jesus Christ and have life in His name (John 20:30-31). Our sub-section this morning introduces one momentous week in the life of Jesus, John the Baptist, and future disciples. The first day of this week records an interrogation, by the Jewish religious leaders, of John the Baptist as to his identity and purpose for his preaching and baptism ministry.
Last week, we looked at John the Baptist’s ministry – he shined the light on the LIGHT - he spotlighted the LIGHT! And yet, even though he identified Jesus Christ as the Messiah, we considered one of the most tragic passages in all of the Bible…John 1:10-11. After thousands of years of divine communication through oral and recorded prophecy predicting WHEN the Messiah would be born, WHERE He would be born, and WHAT He would be doing when He got here, the Jewish people (as a whole) rejected Him as their King – as their Savior! But NOT “all” did, and that is what we will look at this morning…
Last week as we introduced John, we considered the purpose statement of the book (John 20:30-31)…but we will not fully understand Him or the good news about Him if we do not know who He is – and when we know WHO He is – we will NOT be surprised by what He alone can do! He always existed as God, He created everything in the world that we see, and He has an acute and heartfelt interest in the human race.
Last week as we introduced John, we considered the purpose statement of the book (John 20:30-31)…but we will not fully understand Him or the good news about Him if we do not know who He is – and when we know WHO He is – we will NOT be surprised by what He alone can do! He always existed as God, He created everything in the world that we see, and He has an acute and heartfelt interest in the human race.
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Baptist repeats this phrase twice in chapter 1:29 and 1:35-36 of this book. In this study of the Book of John, this is what we simply want to do, because we know incredible things happen when you are occupied with Jesus Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 3:18) But, before we take a deep dive into the book verse by verse, we want to spend this morning considering the backdrop, so that we can continually refer to the CONTEXT as we work through the book.
This week we will continue to read the PROPHETIC NEWSPAPER known as Nahum! As we wrap up the book this morning, we will read multiple illustrations of the futility of Nineveh’s defense. This is God’s final nail in Nineveh’s coffin. This is where the ink runs out on Nahum’s prophecy…God has said enough and in 50 years from the date of this writing, He would execute His plan!
This week we will continue to read the PROPHETIC NEWSPAPER known as Nahum! As we wrap up the book this morning, we will read multiple illustrations of the futility of Nineveh’s defense. This is God’s final nail in Nineveh’s coffin. This is where the ink runs out on Nahum’s prophecy…God has said enough and in 50 years from the date of this writing, He would execute His plan!
Last week, we mentioned that we would be reading a PROPHETIC NEWSPAPER for the rest of Nahum! The detail and precision of what he recorded 50 years before it happened is nothing short of miraculous. This morning, we are going to get additional destructive details. This can have a great effect on us and how we view the rest of the Scriptures. To see this amount of detail given, and fulfilled prophetically, should increase our overall confidence in the Word of God.
Last week, we mentioned that we would be reading a PROPHETIC NEWSPAPER for the rest of Nahum! The detail and precision of what he recorded 50 years before it happened is nothing short of miraculous. This morning, we are going to get additional destructive details. This can have a great effect on us and how we view the rest of the Scriptures. To see this amount of detail given, and fulfilled prophetically, should increase our overall confidence in the Word of God.
For the next four weeks, we are going to be reading a PROPHETIC NEWSPAPER! Typically, newspapers report events that have already happened in the past, but since God is outside of space and time, the future can be written as if it has already happened. Chapters 2 & 3 provide more specific details and descriptions of the attack and plundering of Nineveh. Now Nahum 1:15 is actually the beginning of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible, and it reminds us of WHY God is stepping in to personally execute judgment on the Assyrians…He loves Israel! God has made promises to Israel that He must keep because of His own character – He is faithful – He cannot lie. This is an extremely comforting truth even for us!
Guest preacher Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold of @Yankee Arnold Ministries joins us to talk about eternal security, and how you can be 100% sure you will go to heaven when you die. Christ's death covers all of your sins, past, present, and future.
Last week we considered a side of God’s character that does NOT get much attention – His justice. This week we will consider the execution of His just wrath. As a reminder, Nahum had seen all of this in a vision (verse 1), and thus he is simply recording what he has seen. What is amazing is that his prophecy reads exactly like the historical record of the events that would transpire some 40 years later in the future.
The books of Jonah and Nahum, although separated by 100 years, should always be connected. Both books concern the nation of Assyria and its capital city Nineveh. Jonah gave a direct prophecy of judgment TO Nineveh and Nahum gave a prophecy of judgment ABOUT Nineveh. But what happened IN BETWEEN the two prophecies? As we get ready to dive into Nahum verse by verse, let’s consider the backstory and lead up to Nahum’s prophecy…
The books of Jonah and Nahum, although separated by 100 years, should always be connected. Both books concern the nation of Assyria and its capital city Nineveh. Jonah gave a direct prophecy of judgment TO Nineveh and Nahum gave a prophecy of judgment ABOUT Nineveh. But what happened IN BETWEEN the two prophecies? As we get ready to dive into Nahum verse by verse, let’s consider the backstory and lead up to Nahum’s prophecy…
Proverbs reminds us that a heart that is healthy is a heart at peace ... contented (14:30). But gaining and maintaining a healthy heart is a challenge in a culture saturated with envy and discontentment. In this message we examine some Scriptures that teach us the source of true contentment.
Last week, we left Jonah in the belly of his “organic salvation submarine!” Remember, the fish was actually God’s physical salvation plan from Jonah drowning in the sea. This morning, we will see that Jonah receives another chance to fulfill his mission, and unfortunately for Jonah he is very successful on his missionary journey! We are going to see mercy and grace in ACTION this morning! God is going to give Jonah a second chance (that he does NOT deserve), and God is going to give one of the most evil empires in the history of the world a chance to avoid His judgment (they also did NOT deserve this opportunity)!
Last week, we left Jonah in the belly of his “organic salvation submarine!” Remember, the fish was actually God’s physical salvation plan from Jonah drowning in the sea. This morning, we will see that Jonah receives another chance to fulfill his mission, and unfortunately for Jonah he is very successful on his missionary journey! We are going to see mercy and grace in ACTION this morning! God is going to give Jonah a second chance (that he does NOT deserve), and God is going to give one of the most evil empires in the history of the world a chance to avoid His judgment (they also did NOT deserve this opportunity)!
Last week we left Jonah and the mariners in a precarious situation, and it was all because Jonah had run from God. Remember, Jonah had run because he did not want his name attached to the God’s prophetic warning to Nineveh in case they responded. Thus, Jonah had been identified on the boat as the CAUSE of the violent storm after having done something foolish, even to the heathen mariners. He had attempted to run from the God who created the sea, using the sea as his escape. Even still, the mariners desired to save Jonah’s life by getting him back to shore, but as we will see God had other plans…
This morning we will look at a man of God in complete rebellion against God. Jonah was a man whose theology was orthodox – He knew God’s character accurately, he knew God’s plans are perfect, he knew all of God’s attributes, but he disagreed with God’s evaluation of the Assyrians. God, in His longsuffering, wanted to provide an evil Gentile nation an opportunity to repent and Jonah disagreed with God’s evaluation. Thus, Jonah basically said, “I do not want my name attached to this offer of mercy – NOT to these people!” So, Jonah ran, and as we will see, God caught up to him!
Isaiah 28:21 mentions “God’s Strange Work.” In context, this is referring to God judging His chosen people, Israel. Because of God’s heart, He desires to provide a substitute for the execution of His justice. Justice must be extended, but because of God’s love and mercy, He provides a way for justice to fall on a substitute. Unfortunately, when people do not avail themselves of God’s substitute for their personal consequences, He is forced to execute His justice on the very people He desired to save. The books of Jonah and Nahum, along with the time period in between and immediately following, take us through a season where we can observe the character of God in this area of His ”strange work.” This morning, we will introduce the background and important themes of the Book of Jonah.
Teenagers often get a bad wrap. They can definitely be a “challenge,” but NOT in the way they are often assumed to be. The challenge with parenting teenagers is they are growing up, attempting to find some independence, and often many parents are unsure of how to shepherd them through this challenging time. If the parent does NOT learn how to transition to a different parenting style in a couple of areas, they run the risk of alienating their teen and disrupting true fellowship with them for a time.
This morning we want to take what we have been learning about biblical parenting and see where it shows up in the lives of those recorded in the Bible. Now, if we were to take a video of each one of our lives as parents and only pick one or two scenes from our lives to evaluate, you and I could fall into the GOOD example category or the BAD example category depending upon which scenes were picked! So, we are NOT making an overall, comprehensive, or conclusive statement on the examples chosen, but we are simply evaluating some recorded scenes in their lives!
How do you guarantee godly children? The cold, hard truth is that you can’t! The outcome in our children’s lives is more complex than whether or not you, as a parent, have done all the right things in all the right ways. As discussed last week, your children are also responsible for the way they respond to your parenting. But, there are some additional things that should UNDERGIRD everything you do as a parent! These are things that we do not often think about because we are formulaic and programmatic in our child rearing. So, we want to consider five concepts that should undergird a Spirit-filled approach to child rearing.
A couple of weeks ago, we considered the general concept and need for TRAINING a child, but to do it in such a way that the parent considers the uniqueness of each child according to God’s special design and purpose for them. It is our job as parents to carry out the wishes and desires of the owner – we are simply stewards of our children. The Scriptures reveal two very specific components of that TRAINING regimen: Teaching your children and disciplining your children. This morning, we will consider the discipline aspect of training up our children.
William Shakespeare wrote: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Shakespeare used this line in his play, Romeo and Juliet, to convey that the naming of things is irrelevant. Although a popular quote and sentiment, is this true? In some ways it may be, but in others it is definitely not! The Scriptures put a lot of weight in the name of Jesus. This is because His name represents WHO He is, and WHAT He has done. In this sense, His name provides things only He can provide – namely, salvation from sin and its consequences AND hope!
Last week we began looking at one of the most important relationships in the home – the parent-child relationship. And we said how this relationship, more than any other, reflects our role as disciple-makers on this earth! That’s the goal of parenting – dependent disciples of Jesus Christ! But HOW do you get there? What are God’s instructions to assist us in this task? This morning, we are going to specifically consider HOW God wants us to THINK as it relates to our children. We want to take His viewpoint on children, and thus this divine viewpoint mindset becomes our baseline for every activity we take in raising our kids.
Last week we began looking at one of the most important relationships in the home – the parent-child relationship. And we said how this relationship, more than any other, reflects our role as disciple-makers on this earth! That’s the goal of parenting – dependent disciples of Jesus Christ! But HOW do you get there? What are God’s instructions to assist us in this task? This morning, we are going to specifically consider HOW God wants us to THINK as it relates to our children. We want to take His viewpoint on children, and thus this divine viewpoint mindset becomes our baseline for every activity we take in raising our kids.
This morning we are going to begin a series on one of the most important relationships in the home and how it impacts society, and the Church. The parent-child relationship, more than any other relationship in life, reflects our role as disciple-makers. Disciple-making must start in the home, and this morning we want to look at God’s original design for that! We also want to consider some “obstacles” for executing God’s original design and what His solutions are for those obstacles in Biblical Parenting.
This morning we conclude the epistle to the Ephesians with Paul’s final greetings. Additionally, we take a 30K overview of the book of Ephesians to conclude our study.
As we closed last week, we considered the last two pieces of our spiritual armor (the helmet of salvation and sword of Spirit). In the wake of an always present and potential imminent spiritual attack, believers are to take up the last two pieces of armor. Today’s passage goes on to describe the MANNER by which this is to be done…in a CONSTANT STATE of prayer and alertness. Why is this necessary? Because the battle is superhuman and it needs to be fought with supernatural means and power. We must stay connected to headquarters!
Last week, Paul described our REAL EXTERNAL enemies – it is Satan, his minions, and the world system he is swaying. The Christian life is a battleground and not a playground, because the enemy we have is strong, aggressive, and downright mean. Because of this, God has provided a way to protect us from this enemy in this spiritual warfare and to stand in His victory. We will consider God’s spiritual attire in more illustrative detail this morning…
A “battle royal” is a battle involving at least two parties where the person left standing is the winner. The good news for the believer is that the ONE with whom we are unified with is the last one standing, Jesus Christ! However, there is a spiritual battle waging, and His enemies and our enemies have not been completely destroyed and they await their future day of final reckoning. Because of that, and because these enemies are evil, strong, and relentless, God has provided us with means of protection so that we can STAND and maintain our high ground of victory.
Having considered the marriage relationship and the parent-child relationship, we now move into another inter-personal relationship where the Spirit of God desires to make an impact – vocational relationships. As we will see, the working class of the 1st-century Roman empire was organized and regulated much differently than our day – most of the working class were slaves and/or indentured servants (paying of a debt). Thus, the most appropriate and direct application we can make in our day is to the employer/employee relationship.
Having considered the marriage relationship the past few Sundays, we now move into another inter-personal relationship where the Spirit of God desires to make an impact – the parent-child relationship. It is interesting to note that in this section (5:22-6:9), two out of the three inter-personal relationships that Paul addresses happen within the four walls of private family life! WHY is that? Because if these are addressed and handled “by means of the Spirit” everything else in life will function according to its design, including the Church.
This morning, we continue to look at Paul’s teaching on some very specific inter-personal relationships which require each person to be Spirit-filled for any hope of divine success. Paul started with marriage the marriage relationship, which is designed to be a MUTUALLY beneficial symbiotic relationship! Each person (husband and wife) fulfilling their God-ordained duties as they are empowered by the Spirit of God for the success of the whole operation. The command for husbands, based upon their understanding of the resources available to them by the filling of the Spirit, is to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church. As with the command to the wives, the husbands only hope to fulfill this command consistently and acceptably to the Lord is to be occupied with the Lord and be Spirit-filled.
This morning, we continue to look at Paul’s teaching on some very specific inter-personal relationships which require each person to be Spirit-filled for any hope of divine success. Paul started with marriage the marriage relationship, which is designed to be a MUTUALLY beneficial symbiotic relationship! Each person (husband and wife) fulfilling their God-ordained duties as they are empowered by the Spirit of God for the success of the whole operation. The command this morning for husbands, based upon their understanding of the resources available to them by the filling of the Spirit, is to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church. As with the command to the wives, the husbands only hope to fulfill this command consistently and acceptably to the Lord is to be occupied with the Lord and be Spirit-filled.
This morning, Paul begins to discuss some very specific inter-personal relationships which require each person to be Spirit-filled for any hope of divine success. Paul starts first with marriage, which is designed to be a MUTUALLY beneficial symbiotic relationship! Each person (husband and wife) fulfilling their God-ordained duties as they are empowered by the Spirit of God for the success of the whole operation. The command this morning for wives, based upon the understanding of the resources available to her by the filling of the Spirit, is to submit to her own husband, as unto the Lord. Even in this command, the Lord is WHO she is to be occupied with, and this should be all the motivation a wife needs to fulfill her primary duty or role in marriage.
Last week, we covered the pinnacle of the WALK section of Ephesians – “Be filled BY the Spirit.” This command provides the means for obeying all the other commands found in this section. This morning, we will consider 5 manifestations or resultant characteristics when the Spirit of God is filling the believer with the life of Jesus Christ. REMEMBER, these are NOT commands for you TO DO to be filled by the Spirit, these are RESULTS of you obeying the command to be filled by the Spirit.
We have been looking at the concept of “walking” or living the Christian life and this morning Paul is going to use a few more descriptions or illustrations to clarify and explain what that walk should look like. The approach he uses in this section stands out because of the rapid-fire format which is repeated three times – “not THIS, but THAT.” Paul is ramping us up to the pinnacle of the WALK section of Ephesians, which is verse 18 – “Be filled with the Spirit.”
We have just concluded four weeks of advent, focusing on the "Christmas Story". There can be a tendency to read it as just that - a "story", like Dicken's "Christmas Carol". But the prequel, the story leading up to the account of the birth of Christ, was written specifically to let us know that it is a factual, historical account. It was written to help us be certain of its' veracity. It was recorded for us to bolster our faith and assure us that "... with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37). Speaker: Pastor Carl Greene
We have been looking at the concept of “walking” or living the Christian life and this morning Paul is going to use another illustration to clarify and explain what that walk should look like. The illustration he uses is light vs. darkness. We are to walk in the light because we are children of the light.
We are in the WALK portion of Ephesians in chapter 4:1 where the word WALK is used 6X through mid-Chapter 5. In this section, the WALK of the believer is further CLARIFIED, EXPLAINED, and ILLUSTRATED in hopes that one or more of these emphases would click for us, and make it understandable. Last week, we saw that we are to walk in love and become imitators of God which is FITTING. This morning Paul will provide some additional reasoning as to why believers should WALK this way.
We entered the WALK portion of the book of Ephesians in 4:1, and the word “walk” used 6 times from there until the middle part of Chapter 5. From 5:1 to the end of the book we have an additional 28 commands further clarifying, explaining, and illustrating the desired manner of life (i.e., walk) of the believer in Jesus Christ. Paul uses many different descriptions and illustrations hoping that one or more will click for us and make it understandable. When we walk in love, there are certain things that are no longer fitting for the believer…we will consider some of those things this morning.
We have been looking at how NOT to live the Christian life and how TO live the Christian life and this morning we are going to continue to look at some practical, visible, and observable actions of a “Worthy Walk.” 11 Commands are used in the closing section of chapter 4 (verses 25-32) to describe what type of observable behavior should follow when the believer is walking worthy – when they are walking in line with how they have learned THE Christ!
Of all of the many things in our lives that we can be thankful for, this morning we will see that the Spirit of God desires for us to be thankful for the Word of God. In fact, the text in Colossians 2:7 says that we should be “abounding in the faith with thanksgiving.” “Abounding” means to be in excess, to be overflowing. The Word of God gives the believer a divine perspective and the resources needed to handle anything this life may bring.
We have been looking at how NOT to live the Christian life and how TO live the Christian life and this morning we are going to look at some practical, visible, and observable actions of a “Worthy Walk.” 11 Commands are used in the closing section of chapter 4 (verses 25-32) to describe what type of observable behavior should follow when the believer is walking worthy – when they are walking in line with how they have learned THE Christ!
Last week we looked at “How NOT to Live the Christian Life,” and we considered a step-by-step explanation of how we sin. Verses 17-19 provided a technical break down of HOW we sin from start to finish. It all starts in the mind – it starts with WHAT we think about! So, in contrast to walking in the futility of our minds, we are to be proactively occupied with something else…or someone else!
If you’ve ever wondered WHY, as a believer, you struggle with sin OR if you’ve ever wondered WHY you struggle with the same kind of sin over and over again, this morning we are going to look at a step-by-step explanation. For you athletes out there, we are literally going to have a film session! This passage describes the downward spiral of sin, and gives a technical break down of HOW we sin from start to finish. This detailed section is given to us so that we can make some adjustments in our thinking so that we are not dominated by sin.
Last week, we continued looking at God’s Church Growth Program – specifically about the GOALS OF GOD in doing it the way He set it up to be done. This morning, we will see that In order for GOD’S GOALS to be realized, it is essential that each and every part does its share. This means that in God’s Church Growth Program, God has a part and individual believers have a part, but both must do their part in order for growth to happen – and we know God always does His part…
Last week, we began looking at God’s Church Growth Program and this is something to be excited about – Paul definitely was! We considered NOT only spiritual gifts given to believers but GIFTED MEN given to the Church at large. Two of the GIFTED MEN had revelatory gifts (apostles and prophets) and the other two GIFTED MEN had equipping gifts. But WHY did Jesus do it this way? We are going to consider Jesus’ goals or desired outcomes for doing it this way.
After explaining the UNITY believers possess IN Christ in verses 1-6, Paul begins to explain God’s method of working out this UNITY. His method, although seemingly counterintuitive, is through diversity of spiritual gifting. In diversity, God has put together a plan to “build His Church” and “fill the world with Jesus Christ.” It involves two MAIN components – (1) Individually gifted believers who are prepared to utilize their spiritual gifts because of (2) Individually gifted MEN given to the church as gifts.
Having spoken about the UNITY we possess as believers, Paul now explains God’s method of working out this UNITY – it is through diversity of spiritual gifting. This seems counterintuitive – diversity typically DIVIDES! So, although it seems counterintuitive and does not seem like it should work, it will, IF we walk ”worthy of our calling” – this is God’s plan and as we will see this morning, Jesus did a lot to put this plan in motion.
Verses 4-6 describe seven aspects of THE unity accomplished by the Spirit of God by uniting us IN Christ. The mention of “endeavoring” to keep the unity of the Spirit in verse 3 is what springboards Paul into listing these seven aspects of UNITY that every believer possesses. If God has taken these incredible steps to UNIFY us, shouldn’t this be of value to us as well? This section is the answer to the prayer of Jesus Christ in His high priestly prayer in John 17:20-23.
To Vaccinate or not to Vaccinate? That is a question on many of our minds these days. This question engenders many strong emotions on both sides of the issue. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could turn in our Bible and read a verse about God’s view of the COVID vaccination debate? Unfortunately, that verse or passage DOES NOT EXIST! However, what does exist is God’s mind for us towards non-essential issues. This morning, we will consider four principles to instruct how believers should approach and think through non-essentials including, but not limited to: the COVID-19 vaccination, the wearing of masks, drinking, how you school your children, what clothing you wear, what type of entertainment you participate in, etc.
The SIT portion of Ephesians has come to a close at the end of chapter 3. There are 40 commands in the book of Ephesians, and only one of those was found in the first three chapters. We now enter the WALK portion of Ephesians, where the word “walk” is used 6 times through mid-Chapter 5. Additionally, the remaining 39 commands start in 4:25 and go through the end of the book. Many would say, “Good! Now, we FINALLY get to the practical section of the book!” However, we are NOT to walk without remembering and relying upon what we learned in the SIT portion. The SIT portion is “assumed” by Paul the rest of the way – we must know WHO we are and the HOW to access the resources we ALREADY possess if we are going to WALK in a worthy way!
Last week, we started Paul’s prayer and we looked at his first request and his first desired result. In today’s section we will consider his second request and his second desired result. It is somewhat ironic though, because Paul will pray for something that is unattainable by his own admission! The fact that it is unattainable, makes the value of what he is praying for incredibly precious - and even though the request is unattainable, Paul desires movement towards the goal, because movement towards the goal will allow an attainable result.
There are lots of common misconceptions about baptism. The mode (sprinkling, immersion, etc.), the reason for it (salvation, spiritual power, discipleship, etc.), and its overall need (must have it, do not need to do it at all). Join us as we consider the importance of baptism – what it DOES NOT do and what it DOES do.
In Paul’s excursus from verse 2, he has been explaining his role in communicating the MYSTERY and this week we are going to see one of God’s overarching GOALS for revealing the mystery – it puts His wisdom on display from many different angles. God’s wisdom is shown through HOW He executed the MYSTERY that He had planned before the foundation of the world, but had only revealed in Paul’s time.
In Paul’s excursus from verse 2, he has been explaining his role in communicating the MYSTERY and this week we are going to see one of God’s overarching GOALS for revealing the mystery – it puts His wisdom on display from many different angles. God’s wisdom is shown through HOW He executed the MYSTERY that He had planned before the foundation of the world, but had only revealed in Paul’s time.
Paul continues his excursus on the MYSTERY that he had been tasked to preach. He aptly summarizes the MYSTERY in three different UNION descriptions in verse 6. This MYSTERY in a nutshell is God’s grand plan to accomplish salvation (in all aspects) IN Christ, through a BRAND-NEW entity known as the church! Additionally, although Paul views himself as somewhat insignificant, he recognizes his valuable role in declaring this valuable truth.
There is an irony concerning hypocrisy: it is something that is universally practiced but universally despised. It is found in all areas of society. We all have been known to be hypocrites about something at at least one point in our lives, whether its hypocrisy in the workplace, hypocrisy in church, or even hypocrisy in your home life. However, there are some reasons that it is particularly serious among Christians. We learn why as we follow the story behind Jesus' warning about hypocrisy in Luke 12:1.
As Paul wraps up his section on believers’ union with Christ and with one another in God’s unique building project, where He inhabitants them, he starts a prayer for the Ephesian believers in verse 1. However, Paul gets distracted, and then he does not re-start the prayer until verse 14. What distracts him? - The MYSTERY, which he then goes on to describe in another long run-on sentence from verse 2 to verse 13.
At the end of chapter 2, Paul shifts in his metaphors. He has been using the metaphor describing the church as ONE body, and now he shifts to a metaphor describing the church as ONE building. The Church is God’s construction project in our day! This is exactly what Jesus Christ spoke about in Matthew 16:18 when He said, “I will build my Church!”
The Jew/Gentile distinction and separation was HUGE throughout all of human history since Genesis 12 and the call of Abraham. Part of that distinction between the two groups was INTENTIONAL (by God) and part of it was an UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE of human pride. God’s salvation PLAN was to place believing sinners IN UNION with Christ, regardless of ethnicity – but what would He do about the separation or barrier between Jew and Gentile? Through five actions, Jesus deals with this barrier to enable ONE NEW MAN to be formed between believing Jew and Gentile.
Having established the individual saint’s relationship to God, Paul now develops the individual’s relationship to other individuals in the body of Christ. To do this, Paul provides another FLASHBACK and describes another GAME CHANGER to highlight another incredible thing God has done in uniting Jew and Gentile into one body. Paul explains what has happened to their distinctions, and this becomes a key THEME for the rest of the epistle.
Last week, we looked at the ultimate and eternal “GAME-CHANGER” found in two words - BUT GOD…God is excited about His grand plan in Jesus Christ and He is engaged in an ongoing time of SHOW and TELL! This morning, Paul will further expand upon God’s “grace-riches.” We will see this both in salvation, and in God’s plan for the believer post-salvation. If you have ever wondered HOW, WHEN, and WHERE good works fit into God’s overall plan, then this passage will help clarify it.
After burying every man, woman, and child in abject spiritual bankruptcy in the first three verses of chapter 2, Paul now introduces a GAME CHANGER. As it turns out, Paul introduces the only GAME CHANGER that could have done anything about our dark and despicable past – God Himself (BUT GOD…)! God accomplished three things through our union with Christ that He desires to show us, and when we understand these three things, it should absolutely blow us away!
Having just finished on the peak of the mountaintop in chapter 1, Paul now flashes back to where we started. The past for every believer in Jesus Christ is NOT pretty! It is dark, dank, dirty, and despicable to say the least. We have been considering our spiritual wealth IN Christ as believers, and our position in Christ, and this section will flashback to a time when we were spiritually bankrupt!
This morning, we continue to look at Paul's two-pronged prayer request for believers who already have everything. Those requests are: (1) KNOWING God more intimately, and (2) KNOWING what they possess as a result of God placing them IN Christ. Paul strongly desires that ALL believers would fully understand and take possession of everything that is ALREADY theirs IN Christ.
Specifically, this morning, our focus will be on the POWER available to the believer as they live the Christian life.
This morning, the elders of our local church wanted to take time to communicate with our local body about a change in focus and intentionality in our ministry. Our church plans to add a pastoral internship program in the near future, and the leaders wanted to provide some biblical rationale behind the decision and communicate their heart's desire for this program. Ultimately, we want to utilize the resources we possess to have maximum impact for Jesus Christ and the building of His Church!
This morning, we look at Paul's two-pronged prayer request for believers who already have everything. Those requests are: (1) KNOWING God more intimately, and (2) KNOWING what they possess as a result of God placing them IN Christ. Paul strongly desires that ALL believers would fully understand and take possession of everything that is ALREADY theirs IN Christ. This understanding and knowledge will deeply impact each believer exactly where they are, and will allow them to live out their Christian lives in a way pleasing to the Lord.
Ephesians 1:17-19
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship is a Bible church in Newnan GA committed to clearly teaching the Word of God through verse by verse teaching. Enjoy expository teaching, from a Bible-based perspective, engaging worship music, and great fellowship at our campus in Newnan, Ga, or experience the messages online!
This morning, we look at the way God "closed us up" IN Christ. Not only did God design His grand plan of placing each and every believer IN Christ when they believed, but He also provided a seal to lock them into this position. The security by which God is securing believers and their blessings IN Christ is the most highly secure position in the universe! As a result of these truths, Paul then launches into a prayer, praying that the believers would fully understand and take possession of everything that is ALREADY theirs IN Christ. Ephesians 1:13-16
A virtuous woman/wife/mother is very rare according to Proverbs 31. Almost as rare as a sighting of Bigfoot! But, is the emphasis in Proverbs 31 to do all of the ACTIVITIES listed in order to be a virtuous woman? Or, is the emphasis something different? The overriding principle from Proverbs 31: Women, wives, and mothers need to be more concerned with SOURCE than ACTIVITIES in their lives. The “virtuous” woman does what she does because of the SOURCE from which she is living life.
God the Father had a GRAND plan and that plan was NOT found in a list of steps, or in a certain method, but rather it was found and executed IN a PERSON! God was pure GENIUS in the way He put together how He would save mankind from their sin. Additionally, not only did He save them from a consequence they deserved (i.e., death), but then He turned around and did something unthinkable – He blessed them with indescribable riches! All of this was done on the basis of His grace…let’s continue to marvel at who God is and what He has done in this section of Ephesians.
Passage: Ephesians 1:4-6 As we come to our passage this morning, confusion abounds in Christianity. One commentator said, “These are the hardest verses to interpret in all of the Bible!” With the confusion and different “takes” on this passage, I can see why he said that. However, the key to understanding this passage is to understand the flow of the context. Verse 3 of Ephesians 1 said believers have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, and verse 4 describes how God secured those blessings and verse 5 describes one of those secured blessings, which by the way, was pre-determined by God to be a part of our blessings.
Always remember the modifying phrases here – God DID NOT choose us! God chose us IN CHRIST! In terms of predestination, God DID NOT predestine us! God predestined us to ADOPTION as sons THROUGH Jesus Christ. The WHERE is the key to understanding this passage.
For many Christians, the simple truth of Ephesians 1:3 needs to be heard and believed. “The Blessed God has ALREADY blessed us with every spiritual blessing,” is the message we find in our passage this morning. God does NOT withhold blessing from any of His children, and yet many believers live life begging God for things they already possess. May this message ring loud and true in our ears, and may it dominate our thinking as we live out the life of Christ – as a believer in Jesus Christ, you HAVE ALREADY BEEN blessed! Now, go possess your possessions and enjoy and utilize all of the resources you have IN Jesus Christ!
This morning, we want to look at the larger context of the Book of Ephesians. Who wrote it? Who was it written to? What was happening historically when the book was written? In other words, we want to establish the CONTEXT for the entire Book of Ephesians this morning. We want to consider some overarching truths and themes contained in the book, before we begin a deeper verse by verse dive starting next week. What is this book all about and why should we study it in detail? Tune in this morning to find out…
EPHESIANS: Do you know who you are? NOT, where you are from? NOT, whose family you are a part of? NOT, what your personality type is? Do you, as a believer, know WHO YOU ARE? The study of the Book of Ephesians will answer that question for you. In short – You are a full-fledged child of God who has been placed IN unchanging union with Jesus Christ. Believers need to HEAR this truth often, BE REMINDED of this truth continually, and the great truths of our position IN Jesus Christ need to dominate our THINKING. This is essential to our ongoing HEALTH as a believer in Jesus Christ. Join us as we continually ask the question: “Are you possessing your possessions?”
Have you ever been at the right place at the right time? Have you ever felt like you stumbled into a situation where you had perfect timing? Simply put, you could not have timed something better than you did? We are going to look at a story from the Book of Acts this morning where the timing could not have been any better. For both Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, their meeting was NOT on either one of their schedules or itineraries. Yet, unbeknownst to them, their meeting was in God’s calendar book. Not only was it in God’s calendar book, but He orchestrated the meeting at just the perfect time!
This morning, we finish our series on eternal security looking at 2 objection passages: 1 John 2 and 1 John 3.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks.
In our pain and suffering, we have a perfect sympathizer who uniquely understands our suffering, because He Himself has suffered intensely out of His great love for us. Jesus is THE sufferer.
Speaker: Carl Greene
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks.
This morning, we want to continue our study from last week by looking at one of the warning passages in Hebrews 6.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks.
This morning, we want to continue our study from last week by looking at one of the warning passages in Hebrews 6.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks. This morning, we want to continue our study from last week by concluding a passage in one of Paul’s epistles and providing an introduction to the Book of Hebrews in preparation for teaching two of the warning passages found therein.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks. This morning, we want to continue our study from last week by considering passages in the gospels and in Paul’s epistles that have caused people to object to eternal security.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks. This morning, we want to continue our study from last week by considering passages in the gospels that have caused people to object to eternal security.
“Yeah, but what about…?” This is a very common question that comes up when discussing the topic of eternal security. The idea is that one cannot only emphasize one side of the coin and must teach a balanced approach. If the Word of God teaches eternal security in a host of passages, then why does it seem to teach that you could lose your salvation in other passages? This is the question that we want to try to answer over the course of the next few weeks. This morning, we want to consider passages in the gospels that have given people concern when determining whether or not to believe that salvation is truly once and for all.
This morning we will consider the great truth of the believer’s position IN Christ as a guarantee of eternal security. Believers have been born rich, and yet many live in abject poverty due to ignorance of what they already possess IN Christ. One such blessing of our position IN Christ is our eternal security. Let’s consider what all God accomplished when He placed us “IN Christ!”
This morning we will a very common confusion as it relates to eternal security – confusion regarding the three tenses of our one salvation. Much damage is done when well-meaning people take biblical truth and apply it in the wrong chronological order. Taking Christian life truth and making it a requirement for salvation from sin’s penalty has done more damage to the doctrine of eternal security than any other confusion in Christendom!
Have you ever wondered how good is good enough to get into heaven? Between 0-100%, how certain are you personally that you will go to heaven when you die? Do you think anyone could ever be 100% sure they are going to heaven before they die? Does the Bible address these questions? – YES, it does! This morning we will consider the high value of the finished work of Christ. In His UNIQUE sacrifice, He secured a UNIQUE accomplishment that has lasting and eternal results.
Have you ever wondered how good is good enough to get into heaven? Between 0-100%, how certain are you personally that you will go to heaven when you die? Do you think anyone could ever be 100% sure they are going to heaven before they die? Does the Bible address these questions? – YES, it does! This morning we will consider the language God used to communicate His salvation program. By utilizing the “normal” use of language and taking God’s word choices at face value, we can see clearly what He communicates regarding this issue of eternal security.
Today Paul talks about lessons from Jesus' public life, finding joy in life, and finding true joy in your work. Main passages: Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16
Today, we learn more about the characteristics of God that make Him unlike anything in this world. Regardless of how uncertain life may be, we can know for sure the God is always present, never changing, and will always keep His promises.
This morning, we want to look more closely at the participation of angels leading up to His advent. Due to the diabolical plans of Satan, the first advent almost NEVER happened! Praise God, His plans are never overcome.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “advent” as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. This is reflective of the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth a little over 2,000 years ago. He is definitely a NOTABLE person who did and accomplished a NOTABLE thing through a NOTABLE event.
This morning, we want to consider the role of shepherds, not only in the Bible, but also specifically in the Christmas story. Due to their importance and connection to the Passover lambs of Jesus’ day, it is incredible to see that the shepherds, to whom were given the angelic announcement of the birth of the Messiah, were the VERY ones raising lambs for Temple sacrifice. Their lambs pointed to THE LAMB of God, and what He would accomplish on the cross for them!
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “advent” as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. This is reflective of the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth a little over 2,000 years ago. He is definitely a NOTABLE person who did and accomplished a NOTABLE thing through a NOTABLE event.
This morning, we want to look more closely at the participation of angels leading up to His advent. Due to the diabolical plans of Satan, the first advent almost NEVER happened! Praise God, His plans are never overcome.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “advent” as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. This is reflective of the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth a little over 2,000 years ago. He is definitely a NOTABLE person who did and accomplished a NOTABLE thing through a NOTABLE event.
This morning, we want to look more closely at the lineage of the seed and the exact location of His birth. Again, we will see that all of this were parts of the larger puzzle of God’s original solution found in Genesis 3:15.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “advent” as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. This is definitely reflective of the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth a little over 2,000 years ago. He is definitely a NOTABLE person who did and accomplished a NOTABLE thing through a NOTABLE event.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “advent” as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. This is definitely reflective of the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth a little over 2,000 years ago. He is definitely a NOTABLE person who did and accomplished a NOTABLE thing through a NOTABLE event. This morning, we want to look at the topic of Fulfilled Prophecy related to His advent, and how each of the prophecies relating to His birth, life, death, and resurrection were all “filling in” details of the first and original prophecy of Genesis 3:15.
It is easy to be thankful for someone who is walking with the Lord, and growing in grace, but what about someone who is NOT? We are told “in everything give thanks,” but how can you give thanks for a carnal Christian? In today’s Thanksgiving devotional, Paul instructs us as to HOW one can give thanks, even for a carnal Christian. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Last week we considered the biblical principle of Personal Responsibility to Others. This week, we will consider TWO major distractions from God’s primary mission for the Church. The first comes from within Christendom and is a “religious” distraction and the second comes from within our culture at large and is a “secular’ distraction which has to do with how we view others.
“It is what it is” – A phrase used countless times in our society by ourselves and others to express frustration or resignation with a situation that seems overwhelmingly unchangeable. “But it doesn’t have to be” – This phrase recognizes the truth of “life under the sun,” that many times things are outside of our control, BUT we have a secret weapon – an ability to set our mind on things above while we live on earth below. This heavenly perspective, this divine perspective, allows us to respond to life on earth in a way that honors and glorifies God.
Last week we considered the biblical principle of Personal Responsibility and Accountability. This week, we will consider another biblical principle that leads us to a divine perspective - Personal Responsibility to Others. This lesson comes in the form of the story of the Good Samaritan. “It is what it is” – A phrase used countless times in our society by ourselves and others to express frustration or resignation with a situation that seems overwhelmingly unchangeable. “But it doesn’t have to be” – This phrase recognizes the truth of “life under the sun,” that many times things are outside of our control, BUT we have a secret weapon – an ability to set our mind on things above while we live on earth below. This heavenly perspective, this divine perspective, allows us to respond to life on earth in a way that honors and glorifies God.
“It is what it is” – A phrase used countless times in our society by ourselves and others to express frustration or resignation with a situation that seems overwhelmingly unchangeable. “But it doesn’t have to be” – This phrase recognizes the truth of “life under the sun,” that many times things are outside of our control, BUT we have a secret weapon – an ability to set our mind on things above while we live on earth below. This heavenly perspective, this divine perspective, allows us to respond to life on earth in a way that honors and glorifies God. This week, we will consider one biblical principle that leads us to a divine perspective - Personal Responsibility and Accountability.
Last week (v9-10), Solomon described how painstakingly he put together the words of Ecclesiastes, and this week he is going to give a strong exhortation to his listeners to respond to his words. Although biblically, we know that Solomon was just a human instrument, used by God, to record His words (2 Peter 1:21). The thrust of today’s lesson is that the Word of God is designed to elicit a response! It is this response, or lack of response that direct one’s course in life “under the sun” AND life that follows (i.e., eternity).
Today, we conclude the section that we started last week – death is sure and it is the final act or scene of our lives. But even after that, Solomon says it is vanity! But it is EVEN MORE than this – Solomon is saying “All is vanity” even after his book (Ecclesiastes) reaches its final pages. You would think that by this stage of the book, the tension would be gone and we would only have a happy ending, but “No!” That is NOT “life under the sun.”
Again this week, young people are addressed for ONE FINAL ADMONITION from “grandpa” Solomon. The admonition? REMEMBER your Creator, CONSIDER your Creator in everything you do and start NOW! Young people have a bigger windows of opportunity at this point in their lives than they ever will again. Because of this, there is urgency to make your decisions on earth wisely, before time runs out. Windows of opportunity become smaller as you age, so REMEMBER and CONSIDER God now before old age.
Psalm 1 challenges the way we typically think of the concepts of "success" and "prosperity". It corrects our misunderstandings and enlarges the the possibility of who can experience a "blessed, successful" life.
If you have ever wanted to know how to ascertain the will of God in your life, especially in the day to day activities of life, I hope the section today will be helpful. What we will see in this section, is that Solomon will repeatedly pound home a point – get off of dead center of attempting to outguess God and His works. Earnestly and diligently live your life, do what you can do while trusting the Lord, AND ALSO trust the Lord for everything else you cannot control.
Solomon brings some much-needed balance to a discussion he started earlier. He had previously discussed the wisdom of obeying ruling authorities – but here he lets us know that this should NOT be taken as a blanket approval for everything they do. Some kings behave wisely and responsibly, and others do not. It is O.K. to recognize this, but it is still NOT O.K. to wish harm on them. It is a delicate balance of always recognizing and respecting the office they hold, but also evaluating their decisions with biblical truth in mind.
There are potential hazards around every corner in life, even in activities you would not expect. Thus, even if a person is WISE, their WISDOM cannot insulate them from these potential hazards. Solomon gives four everyday examples of this to his listeners. Additionally, from this section we see that proper “life-giving” communication not only needs to be truthful, but also timely in order to be effective. This will ensure wise response to unexpected difficulties.
There are potential hazards around every corner in life, even in activities you would not expect. Thus, even if a person is WISE, their WISDOM cannot insulate them from these potential hazards. Solomon gives four everyday examples of this to his listeners. Additionally, from this section we see that proper “life-giving” communication not only needs to be truthful, but also timely in order to be effective. This will ensure wise response to unexpected difficulties.
Although wisdom has limitations, it is still a better path than its alternative. Biblical wisdom is often overshadowed by flashy things, and thus for some, less desirable. Wisdom is often underappreciated until it is needed, and then it is underappreciated again…Today, Solomon wants us to know: (1) Wisdom is better, (2) Wisdom is highly valuable, and (3) Don’t forget it! Don’t get distracted by something that tantalizes your senses! Preached: August 23 2020
Instead of allowing grief to consume one’s life because DEATH happens to ALL, Solomon urges that whatever remains of our lives should be enjoyed to the fullest. This should be especially true of those who fear God, who take life as a gift from His hand, and who receive His plan and enablement of how to enjoy life while honoring God. The tendency to brood and to mope has to be resisted in the lives of believers as it reflects a carnal focus. DON’T WASTE THE GIFT THAT IS YOUR LIFE! There is value, purpose, and meaning in your life. Preached: Aug 16 2020
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
From the end of chapter 8 of the book of Ecclesiastes, we realize that wisdom ALONE will never be able to fully understand God’s plans and purposes for life “under the sun” in every individual scene of life. On top of that, today’s passage shows us that no matter HOW you and I live life on this earth you and I face a certain END! 10 out of 10 people die regardless of how they have lived life! So, how will you respond to this information: (1) Will you become listless, despondent, and lazy with your life choices? OR (2) Will you live life to the fullest, desiring to make every moment that you have be worthwhile and acceptable to the Lord? Preached: August 9 2020
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
Many things in life get us down, get us frustrated, get us anxious or even depressed. BUT take this life advice: Even though this is the case, and we cannot figure out EVERY individual scene of life, we are designed to thoroughly ENJOY our lives as we remain in fellowship with the Lord. Again, we are NOT designed to enjoy life apart from fellowship with the Lord, but we can enjoy life to the fullest when we are in fellowship with Him, seeing life (and every individual event) through His eyes.
Preached: 8/2/20
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This morning, we will continue looking at a wise person’s response to civil government, but we will also look at responding wisely when justice does NOT seem to come quickly OR at all. The contrast between walking in the fear of the Lord and SCHEMING is once again put to the forefront of our thinking. WHY? To persuade us of the value of walking in the fear of the Lord and not trusting in ourselves. Preached: July 26 2020
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
Join us as we answer the question: What is true joy? Even in the midst of these difficult circumstances, is it possible to have joy? What does the Bible say about joy?
Preached: July 20 2020
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Speaker: Pastor Carl Greene Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
In today’s message, we see that God has “set up” man in order to fully enjoy life under the sun. Man needs simply to buy in to God’s ingredients to make this happen: (1) Taking divine viewpoint, and (2) Walking in the fear of the Lord. This involves trusting the Lord in all areas, and not coming up with our own self-defensive schemes. One such area that people come up with their own self-defensive and self-reliant schemes is when they disagree with or oppose civil government. Solomon will tell us that this approach to life under the sun is not reflective of a wise man, but rather indicative of one walking the path of folly and foolishness. Preached: July 12 2020
Solomon is never afraid to give us the truth in a real and raw way. He does not hold back, and is not afraid, it seems, of being brutally honest to the point of shocking people. As we conclude chapter 7 of the book of Ecclesiastes from the old testament, Solomon reminds us of his credentials and methodology of investigation, and then provides us with the conclusions of his investigation. It is simply this: wisdom is NOT a bullet proof vest for life, but folly is a bullet magnet. Wisdom has limits, but folly never works and thus divine wisdom, obtained via the fear of the Lord, is to be preferred. Sermon Preached: July 5 2020
One of the difficult things about life “under the sun” is that things are not always as they appear. Ecclesiastes 6:12 posed a question – “For who knows what is good for man in life…?” This morning, we will see that wisdom is one of those GOOD things for us in life. Wisdom is GOOD for lots of different reasons, but it is especially GOOD when things do not go the way we think it should. To have a divine perspective on the “crooked things” in life is truly a blessing of wisdom and is one of many reasons why wisdom is GOOD! Preached: June 21 2020
One of the difficult things about life “under the sun” is that things are not always as they appear. Ecclesiastes 6:12 posed a question – “For who knows what is good for man in life…?” Chapter 7 builds on this question in the opposite way that one would think. This morning, we will continue to consider how God’s perspective on life and what is truly GOOD is different than ours. As with any divine truth, His way is to be preferred, even if on the surface it seems to be the very opposite to us. Understanding the value of all the individual scenes of life requires God’s perspective. Preached: June 14, 2020
One of the difficult things about life “under the sun” is that things are not always as they appear. Ecclesiastes 6:12 posed a question – “For who knows what is good for man in life…?” Chapter 7 builds on this question in the opposite way that one would think. Whereas Chapter 6 showed us that success is NOT necessarily always GOOD, Chapter 7 is going to show us that affliction and adversity are NOT necessarily always EVIL or BAD. Divine perspective reminds us that God is always working things together for our good, even when it may not seem that way. Preached: June 7 2020
Hollywood is missing out on story lines that would make them millions! “This Should Be A Movie” is a short biblical narrative series, grabbing familiar Old Testament Sunday School stories and re-visiting them through older eyes. This morning we will consider the story of Jehoshaphat and his overwhelming situation. This story is an incredible story of a leader of Judah, leading His people to trust the Lord and to expend ALL of their mental energy in trusting Him rather than relying upon their own developed strategies for protection. The battle was NOT theirs, but God’s and God came through and delivered fully and completely! Preached: May 31 2020
Hollywood is missing out on story lines that would make them millions! “This Should Be A Movie” is a short biblical narrative series, grabbing familiar Old Testament Sunday School stories and re-visiting them through older eyes. This morning we will consider the story of Rahab and the spies. This story is an incredible story of simple and productive faith. Rahab, a Gentile, heard about the Israelite God and she immediately responded by faith and trust in Him alone. She stands in stark contrast to the unbelieving generation of Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years due to their unbelief. Preached: May 17 2020
Hollywood is missing out on story lines that would make them millions! “This Should Be A Movie” is a short biblical narrative series, grabbing familiar Old Testament Sunday School stories and re-visiting them through older eyes. This morning we will consider the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. This story is an incredible story of deliverance – NOT “from” a trial but “through” a trial. This story really sets the stage for a pivotal moment in Israel’s history; when the King of a world empire (the Medo-Persians) is impacted enough by the God of Israel to issue a decree to rebuild their city, their walls, and their temple and release the Jews to go back home! Preached: May 11 2020
Hollywood is missing out on story lines that would make them millions! “This Should Be A Movie” is a short biblical narrative series, grabbing familiar Old Testament Sunday School stories and re-visiting them through older eyes. This morning we will consider the story of Naaman the leper, and his divine healing. This story is an incredible story, really about two men. The story should have had a happy ending in verse 19, but because of the greed of one man our ending is kind of tragic! It is not how you start, but how you finish! 2 Kings 5:1-27 Preached: May 3, 2020
This Easter Sunday morning, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we want to consider another resurrection mentioned in the Bible. Actually, it is a resuscitation*, but nevertheless it is truly a divine miracle. This miracle is designed to confront each one of us with a decision which is summarized perfectly by John 11:26b, “Do you believe this?” Believing THIS or NOT believing THIS has eternal ramifications. Tune in to find out what is so important for one to believe.
*For clarification on this, watch the first few minutes of the video. Preached: March 12 2020
What do you long for? The answer to that question may vary depending upon stage of life or circumstances in life. The Bible is clear on WHAT, or better yet, WHO we should long for! In Psalm 42 in the old testament, the Psalmist was going through an emotionally difficult time that caused him to realize two things: (1) He was needy – NOT just in his current set of difficult circumstances, but all of the time, and (2) The deep need of his soul was God Himself. The Psalmist realized that God was not his BEST option, but that He was his ONLY option. Preached: March 5, 2020
Why is waiting for anything so hard? We struggle to wait in line at the grocery store, in traffic, in the fast food lane – just about everywhere! This morning, my hope is that we are encouraged by the Word of God to wait patiently and expectantly on the Lord…NOT on circumstances clearing up, NOT on trials disappearing, but intentionally and actively waiting on the Lord in the midst of these things. This morning, we will look at the benefits of waiting patiently, and we will also look at WHY it is so difficult to wait on the Lord consistently. Preached: March 29 2020
Wow! What a difference a week makes! If you are anything like me, you are going blind on the coronavirus updates – bad news on top of bad news – each day, more closures, more predictions for how long this will last. It can be exhausting! This morning, my hope is that we are encouraged by the Word of God revealing the character of God. My hope is that the Word of God will inspire and influence our thinking more than the news. It seems easier and easier to be worked up into a frenzy in light of current events, but can you BE STILL in light of all that is going on in our world today? Can we find rest in the midst of chaos and depend on god? Can we have certainty in the midst of uncertainty? Preached: March 22, 2020
Desiring riches and wealth, in and of themselves, is a true and ever present temptation for many believers in this life. There is an allure associated with having wealth, in that it offers hopes and dreams which it cannot fulfill. Having finished on a positive note, with divine viewpoint, in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, Solomon in the old testament considers an anomaly and He goes OUT OF HIS WAY to convince us that wealth, in and of itself, is NOT true success! BUT, be careful, because wealth and the allure of wealth will try to convince you otherwise! Preached: March 8 2020
Desiring riches and wealth, in and of themselves, is a true and ever present temptation for many believers in this life. Solomon discussed the potential hazards of wealth in the previous verses covered in chapter 5. In today’s lesson, the wisdom of Solomon from ecclesiastes in the old testament again brings in divine perspective on enjoying wealth. Having divine perspective on life in general, is a formula for keeping steady no matter how hard or in what direction life rocks your boat (success OR failure; blessings OR trials; riches OR poverty). Let’s consider “true” success when it comes to wealth…
This morning, we continue in one of the three extended “WORDS OF ADVICE” sections in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the old testament (5:1-12; 7:1-8:9, 9:13-12:8). These sections flesh out a life that walks in the fear of God. Solomon returns to a familiar theme of injustice briefly, before he turns to another familiar theme – the pursuit of wealth. Solomon is going to show us that although many people view wealth as a “solution” to life’s problems, that wealth can actually be a solution which CREATES additional problems in life. Without divine perspective, the acquisition of wealth can be painful! Preached: 2/23/2020
This morning, we begin one of three extended “WORDS OF ADVICE” sections in the Book of Ecclesiastes (5:1-12; 7:1-8:9, 9:13-12:8). These sections flesh out a life that walks in the fear of God. In light of the recent section of considering apparent contradictions in “life under the sun,” Solomon is now to going to instruct his listeners to approach God and His Word with a receptive attitude, ready to listen to HIS perspective, rather than go to lecture God and what He ought to OR ought not to be doing. Preached: 1/26/2020
We continue with two additional sections covering some apparent contradictions to the theme of “God is in control of the times and seasons of our lives.” If this is true, and if He is going to make all things beautiful in His time (chapter 3, verse 11), then what about _____________ ? Last week, we continued in 4:1 with Solomon’s third and fourth fill in the blanks (oppression and envy). We will consider the final two “blanks” this morning. These are things that seem to contradict the facts from 3:1-15 - that God is in control, that He has His timing, and that He has good and beautiful things in mind for His children. Solomon’s encouragement is to not allow these apparent anomalies or contradictions distract us from having a divine perspective on life. Preached: 1/19/2020
We continue with two additional sections covering some apparent contradictions to the theme of “God is in control of the times and seasons of our lives.” If this is true, and if He is going to make all things beautiful in His time (chapter 3, verse 11), then what about _____________ ? Last week, we started in 3:16 with Solomon’s first two fill in the blanks (injustice and death). We will consider two additional blanks this morning. These are things that seem to contradict the facts from 3:1-15 - that God is in control, that He has His timing, and that He has good and beautiful things in mind for His children. Solomon’s encouragement is to not allow these apparent anomalies or contradictions distract us from having a divine perspective on life. Preached: 1/12/2020
After covering a section that introduced divine perspective on our lives “under the sun” (3:1-15), now Solomon is going to consider some apparent contradictions. If God is really in control and has His timing and purpose for everything, and if He is going to make all things beautiful in His time (verse 11), then what about _____________ ? Starting in 3:16 and going through 4:16, Solomon is going to give us 6 fill in the blanks. These are things that seem to contradict the facts from 3:1-15 - that God is in control, that He has His timing, and that He has good and beautiful things in mind for His children. Solomon’s encouragement is to not allow these apparent anomalies or contradictions distract us from having a divine perspective on life. Preached: 1/5/2020
Knowing that God is in charge of the times and seasons in our lives is a truth designed, NOT to discourage us or cause us to take a fatalistic view of life, but rather it is designed to encourage us to trust in the One who is ultimately in control. We learn that this very God, who is in control of all seasons and timing in our lives, also has our good in mind. Although not all seasons and times are pleasant, we have been given a gift to be preoccupied with in our thinking that will allow us to traverse this life “under the sun” in an enjoyable and satisfying fashion.
This morning, we will look at one of the most famous, most quoted poems in all of the Bible. Solomon is going to use a poetic device known as merism, which is a device used to represent a comprehensive whole. In this poem, Solomon uses 14 pairs of opposites to represent the “whole” of experiences of life under the sun. Solomon does this to argue that even when the individual scenes of our lives do not make sense, God still has a plan according to His timing, AND that God still designs enjoyment, meaning, and purpose for us in this life.
The dead-end streets have been explored, and depression and hopelessness have set in. Finally in 2:24, at the end of his depressing and gloomy experiments, Solomon finds something “GOOD.” It comes ONLY as he changes his perspective and as he considers additional evidence. Now He’s going to consider life “above the sun,” so to speak. For the first time in the book, Solomon introduces divine perspective into the equation of assessing value and enjoyment of life on this earth. Preached: 12/8/2019
As we conclude the “Dead End Streets” section of Ecclesiastes this morning, we come up with a natural follow-up question to earthly achievement and success…What becomes of the fruit of all our labor and skill after we die? Surely if pleasure, wealth, and wisdom are all dead-end trails in this search, there must be satisfaction in laying up wealth for others or for one’s children. Unfortunately, as we will see, this philanthropic approach does not provide lasting meaning or purpose in life either. Preached: 12/1/2019
Have you ever struggled with feeling truly thankful? Has the Thanksgiving holiday season ever annoyed you? Now, these are not things that we typically feel comfortable saying out loud because we would not want people to think poorly of us! However, maybe you have felt that way and the Scripture provides encouragement on how to be thankful. We are going to look at “one” of the keys to thankfulness this morning in Psalm 100. Preached: 11/24/2019
As we continue to consider the Dead-End streets of Solomon’s personal investigation into different pleasure pursuits, he takes a turn towards something more noble – the pursuit of wisdom. Surely the pursuit of wisdom will provide the meaning to life and will produce an experience of lasting purpose…or does it? Solomon investigates this road further and realizes that even the pursuit of wisdom, when done independently of the Lord, will not result in unlocking life’s meaning or purpose. Preached: 11/17/2019
As we consider the Dead-End streets of Solomon’s personal investigation into different pleasure pursuits, today we come head to head with the “American Dream.” Accomplishments in both work and/or hobbies tend to captivate many people’s attention. Does success in work, hobbies, or other achievements provide lasting meaning and purpose for one’s life? Solomon explored this avenue with vigor and found it also to be lacking.
Preached: 11/10/2019
This morning, we continue to walk with Solomon down the dead-end streets of his personal investigation into the meaning of life. Personal pleasure is his focus this morning – specifically the areas of FUN and ALCOHOL. Is life all about our happiness? Can alcohol, and frivolous pursuits for happiness “at any cost” really bring us lasting meaning and value in our lives? Solomon investigates these very questions and after a thorough investigation, he has the answer.
Preached: 10-20-2019
This week, in a continuing effort to disillusion us from that thought that we might find anything in this life, apart from God, that may satisfy us and give us meaning, Solomon introduces his own personal investigations. Solomon describes his deep and thorough investigation of life and what it has to offer, and then will walk us through seven “dead-end streets” over the course of the next few weeks. Preached: 10/6/2019
As we begin chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes this morning, Solomon begins to strategically disillusion each one of us from the things of this world. In today’s section, we will see the apparent transitory nature of our lives in comparison to the created world around us. Do our lives have lasting meaning and purpose OR are they just meaningless? In comparison to the steady and predictable patterns of nature, it is hard to tell from a simply human perspective. The answer of course is that our lives do have meaning, and can have lasting value (i.e., profit) but our lives must find their meaning and purpose in the ONE who establishes the orderly creation we can observe. Preached: 9/29/2019
This morning we introduce the Book of Ecclesiastes. One commentator wrote that “there may be less agreement about the interpretation of Ecclesiastes than there is about any other biblical book, even the Revelation of John!” Written by a man who had everything, Ecclesiastes provides a raw and unfiltered view of life on earth. It recognizes the apparent futility in everything on earth, and yet the author finds a silver lining for our lives here. That silver lining is found in relationship with our Creator, enjoying Him over and above any specific outcome that we might seek. Joy, fulfillment, meaning, and purpose are NOT found in any type of success or human experience, but rather is found in fellowship with the Lord. Preached: 9/22/2019
This morning, as we continue to look at the wives’ role in marriage, we will consider another key word in Peter’s writings - ADORN. The word “adorn” means “to order” or “to arrange.” It speaks of what wives focus on and how they arrange or order their lives. As with submission, the focus for wives is always on their internal spiritual lives and response to the Lord, rather than their reaction to their own husbands. Join us for the final message in this Biblical Marriage series. Preached: 9/8/2019
This morning we look at one of the six letter curse words in the Bible – SUBMIT. At least, this is the way much of our culture, both Christian and non-Christian, view this word. It is unfortunate, because in context, this word describes a Spirit-filled woman. So, what does submission mean, and why is it so important to the success of a marriage relationship? Join us, as we consider this very important question the next two weeks. Preached: 9/1/2019
This morning, as we continue to consider the role of the husband in marriage, it is vitally important for husbands to STOP trying (in their own strength) to be a good husband and START trusting (in the Lord) to be a biblical husband. Many well-meaning husbands try very hard to be a good husband, and yet this is NOT the biblical prescription. What is the biblical prescription? Let’s continue to consider the Scriptures… Preached: 8/25/2019
When we consider the roles of husbands and wives, many times we ignore the very tools that God provides for our success. This morning, as we consider the role of the husband in marriage, it is vitally important for husbands to STOP trying (in their own strength) and START trusting (in the Lord). Many well-meaning husbands try very hard to be a good husband, and yet this is NOT the biblical prescription. What is the biblical prescription? Let’s consider the Scriptures… Preached: 8/18/2019
The decision to get married is one of the most important decisions that a person will make in his or her lifetime. Next to the decision to put your faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work for salvation is the decision of WHO you will marry. So, how do you look for a spouse and what are you looking for? This morning, we continue the conversation we began last week in hopes to be better prepared to make this HUGE life decision. Preached: 8/11/2019
The decision to get married is one of the most important decisions that a person will make in his or her lifetime. Next to the decision to put your faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work for salvation is the decision of WHO you will marry. So, how do you look for a spouse and what are you looking for? This morning and next week we will consider these questions?
James 1:19-20, Ephesians 4:15 & 29 “Your spouse is NOT your enemy!” Husbands and wives need to be reminded of this constantly, because our marriages’ true enemy is an enemy within the camp. Each spouse possesses a sin nature that is looking for footholds to destroy, and disrupt even the most sincere and genuine couples. This morning we will look at three of the most common areas where our sin nature dig it’s heels in, and what the solution is for it.
The state of marriage in our modern day society is in complete and utter shambles. Although the statistics regarding divorce ACTUALLY appear to be improving (ONLY 40% of marriages resulting in divorce, which is down from 50% in the 1980’s), the quality of marriage is decidedly lower than ever before. Out of the 60% of marriages that survive, many are on life support and are barely making it day by day. God instituted marriage with an original design and the end goal was and is today still the same: to bring Him glory! This morning, we will look at His original design, rather than secular culture’s design, so that we have a goal to target in our own marriages.
Preached: 7/14/2019
“In the name of Christian love and grace, churches have tolerated dangerous and disruptive elements to the detriment of the health of the Church.” There is a time to separate from others for the sake of the health of the body. This morning, we will consider one such time when it is appropriate. Although it is difficult to administer what we would call “tough love,” we must do it if we are truly concerned about the health of the local church we find ourselves involved in. Satan uses any element he can to destroy local churches, including carnal Christians who desire a place of preeminence within the body of Christ. Preached: 6/30/2019
In our day and age, many people are interested in their ancestry as shown by their willingness to pay money to find out who they are related to and where they come from. As we continue on from last week, in this final chapter of Romans, we are given a “spiritual” ancestry of sorts, as Paul mentions roughly 35 names in this chapter. But, before we just dismiss this section as a “list,” let’s take the time to meet OUR “spiritual” family members. This was not just a “list” to the Apostle Paul – it was his family and OURS. Preached: 6/23/2019
In our day and age, many people are interested in their ancestry as shown by their willingness to pay money to find out who they are related to and where they come from. In the final chapter of Romans, we are given a “spiritual” ancestry of sorts, as Paul mentions over 35 names in this chapter. But, before we just dismiss this section as a “list,” let’s take the time to meet OUR “spiritual” family members. This was not just a “list” to the Apostle Paul – it was his family and OURS.
This morning we continue to look at Paul’s future itinerary as described to the Roman believers. As the saying goes though, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Although we gain insight into Paul’s heart with his planned itinerary, we are also reminded in Proverbs 16:9 that “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” It is interesting to note how God DID and DID NOT answer in the affirmative Paul’s specific prayers requests. Preached: 6/2/2019
This morning, Paul shares his future itinerary with the Roman believers. As the saying goes though, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Although we gain insight into Paul’s heart with his planned itinerary, we are also reminded in Proverbs 16:9 that “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Preached: 5/26/2019
In the section we continue today, Paul continues with a “personal” tone as he further describes his own unique ministry. This ministry and message (i.e., the gospel) were given to him via direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, and God validated and verified his ministry in both word and deed to the Gentiles he was called to. Paul also revealed his “strategy” for ministry…laying his own foundation (i.e., Jesus Christ) and building thereon. Preached: 5/19/2019
In the section we will start today, Paul returns to a more “personal” tone as he begins to describe his own unique ministry. This ministry and message (i.e., the gospel) were given to him via direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. This ministry, or sacred service, was as the apostle to the Gentiles…such a seemingly ODD fit for a former Pharisee! God does incredible things via His grace! Preached: 5-12-2019
Today, we conclude Paul’s great exposition of the righteousness of God in the epistle to the Romans. As he wraps up his teaching on the practical extension of grace to other believers in non-essentials, Paul provides us with a historical overview of why Jesus Christ can receive all believers to Himself regardless of their stance on non-essentials. It is because of His purpose as a servant to the Jews in fulfilling their Old Testament Scriptures, and as the source for mercy to all Gentiles. Preached: 5-5-2019
In today’s passage, we will see a repeated word that summarizes the whole section – that word is the word “please.” The word is essential to understand as we continue looking at the proper exercise and restriction of Christian liberties regarding non-essentials within the body of Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ needs to understand these precious truths of practical application to protect against factions, divisions, and schisms in the Body, which ALWAYS impede the main mission of the Church. Whom will you please? Will you adapt or adjust your liberties for the benefit of other believers? Or, is the exercise of liberty more important to you than the spiritual welfare of your fellow believer? Preached: 4/28/2019
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is too valuable an event to only celebrate one day a year. Today we will look at six reasons why the resurrection of Christ should be something we celebrate each and every day of our lives. Preached: 4/25/2019
In our passage this morning, Paul is going to continue to instruct us on how to acceptably practice our liberties in Christ. The theme that arises in the last half of chapter 14 is simply put – “Love trumps liberty.” Love for others and their own spiritual walk with the Lord is always more valuable than the unhindered exercise of our own liberties. Preached: 4-14-2019
This week we continue looking at the area of non-essentials and Christian liberty. We will see that what is going on in our thinking, as believers, is much more important than what side of the ISSUE we come down on. A repeated phrase is used six times in verses 6-8 to provide us with a key to our thinking and how we should approach these areas…“to the Lord.” Are our decisions on non-essentials/liberties made with the Lord in mind?
Today, we begin a very important and practical chapter in the Book of Romans – important and practical for daily church life. This chapter involves the area of response to non-essentials (i.e., things not clearly spelled out in the Scriptures) and how we respond to other believers who disagree with us in these areas. What we will see today, and throughout the chapter, is that the ISSUE is never really the ISSUE, but our attitude or response towards others regarding the ISSUE is really the ISSUE. Preached: 3/17/19
Today, we begin a very important and practical chapter in the Book of Romans – important and practical for daily church life. This chapter involves the area of response to non-essentials (i.e., things not clearly spelled out in the Scriptures) and how we respond to other believers who disagree with us in these areas. What we will see today, and throughout the chapter, is that the ISSUE is never really the ISSUE, but our attitude or response towards others regarding the ISSUE is really the ISSUE.
“All you need is love” was a song popularized by the Beatles in 1967. Everyone in every culture on earth would pretty much agree with that statement - the world in general, or our country in particular needs more love. But, how does that happen? Just by wanting to love more? Today, we will look at “how” we can love one another and thus fulfill not only society’s laws amongst our fellow citizens, but also the righteousness requirements of God’s laws.
Today, we begin a two part message describing the response of the Christian to Civil Government. Since personal vengeance and retaliation are not for the Christian to engage in (Romans 12:14, 17-21), one of God’s “justice mechanisms” is civil government. As a result of their God-ordained role, Christians should submit to their civil government unless that civil government REQUIRES the believer to disobey God. Spoken: 1/27/2019
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
As we conclude Romans 12 this morning, we actually conclude on a thought unit that was introduced in verse 14. This thought unit (containing verse 14 and verses 17-21) provides instruction on how to deal with difficult people in our lives. How does a Spirit-filled believer, who is reckoning themselves dead to sin and alive to God and presenting their bodies to the Lord respond to people who attempt to injure them in some way? Join us this morning as we explore the mind of God on this matter through the pen of the Apostle Paul.
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
One thing that is crucial to remember in any section of Scripture that deals with Christian conduct is that these instructions are given with the assumption that the believer will utilize the resources he or she has in Christ to execute the prescribed conduct. If not, the believer will turn the Christian life into a legalistic list of do’s and don’ts and will NOT live from the source of life which is Christ Jesus. Preached: 1/13/2019
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
As we look ahead to a new year we can be sure of two things: 1) We will be in constant need of God's help. 2) His untiring, protective, preserving help will be constantly available.
Speaker: Carl Greene Preached: 1/6/19
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Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
Whether we realize it or not, we are in a spiritual battle. How are we handling it?
This week we have a guest speaker, Bobby Burdett. Bobby Burdett is a missionary that Grace Community supports, and he and his wife Joanna are stationed in Madagascar.
We all know the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. But God put in a lot of prep work beforehand that led up to Jesus' birth. Join us as we explore that on this Christmas eve service.
Preached: 12/24/2018
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This morning, we continue in a section we started last week on Christian conduct. One thing that is crucial to remember in any section of Scripture that deals with Christian conduct is that these instructions are given with the assumption that the believer will utilize the resources he or she has in Christ to execute the prescribed conduct. If not, the believer will turn the Christian life into a legalistic list of do’s and don’ts and will NOT live from the source of life which is Christ Jesus. Preached: 12/23/18
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
aul is begging or pleading the Roman believers to do two things: (1) Do not be conformed by this age, AND (2) Be transformed by the Lord. These two things, along with presenting our bodies as those alive from the dead are crucial in the successful outworking of the Christian life in spiritual gifts among the body of Christ (verses 3-8), and in conduct among the world (verses 9-21). Preached: 12/2/2018
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
Many have described chapters 12-16 of Romans as the “practical” section of the book, because it deals more directly with the behavior expected of Christians. What we learn is that all Christian behavior is a result of walking in dependence upon God’s resources provided for us in Christ. It was these resources, found in chapters 1-8, that form the basis for the exhortations found in this section. We will see that the presentation of our bodies to God by faith is our reasonable act of worship…in other words, it just makes sense based upon all that God has done for us!
Preached: 11/25 GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
It's easy to be thankful when things in life are going well and according to our plan. However, what happens when life begins to crumble around us? Can we still be thankful? If so, why and how? This morning, we will look at lessons that David learned in Ziklag, when life was not going according to plan.
Celebrating the Creator - The Source of all things!
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This morning we look at one of the epidemics that is spreading and doing great harm to the Church of Jesus Christ – a lack of true community.
True community is what many believers are starving for. To be in a group that spurs you on to greater fellowship with the Lord and with each other is indeed ideal. However, is that ideal attainable in the Church of Jesus Christ? We’ll consider this question this morning.
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This morning we look at one of the epidemics that is spreading and doing great harm to the Church of Jesus Christ – poor conflict resolution. Many Christians desire “church” to be free of any conflicts or drama, because their lives are filled with both in every other sphere (family, friendships, work, etc.). Unfortunately for those wanting to avoid conflict, conflict is a tool in God’s tool-belt designed for our spiritual growth and for the health of His Church. If this is the case, how can we do it well?
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This morning, we begin a six part series entitled the “Epidemics of Christianity.” If you could know exactly what Jesus Christ is interested in, passionate about, and if you could know exactly how Jesus Christ would spend His time if He was on earth today, would you want to know? Thankfully, the Word of God tells us that the primary thing Jesus Christ is passionate about is BUILDING His Church! However, many distractions have crept in and infiltrated our churches, much like an epidemic disease – these must be recognized and rejected.
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Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
In today’s passage, we look at Paul’s honest and heartfelt declaration regarding God’s salvation plan for Israel and the nations. Summarized, we could say Paul simply said, “Wow!” God truly is amazing, and his wisdom and knowledge are far beyond what anyone could imagine. Praise God that He is not like us! He does things the right way, the best way, and the most perfect way – we cannot even fathom how wonderful He is!
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
In this morning’s passage, Paul briefly summarizes his argument for Chapter 11. God has a future for Israel that He will be faithful to accomplish. The ONLY reason that God will do this is because of His mercy and grace. It will not be on the basis of Israel’s faithfulness to God or unfaithfulness to Him. All have been committed to disobedience (including both Jew and Gentile), so that all may be extended mercy and grace.
This morning, we deal with two phrases that have sparked much debate: (1) What does the “fullness of the Gentiles” mean? AND (2) What does “All Israel shall be saved” mean? Attempting to handle these phrases in context, we will look at both of these and see how they provide additional insight into God’s future plan for the nation of Israel.
GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
Last week, we began to look at the olive tree illustration that Paul used to communicate that the entire world (Jew and Gentile) are in a position of unprecedented blessing to benefit from the work of Jesus Christ. This was predicted in the Abrahamic Covenant (see Genesis 12:3b with Galatians 3:8), and it came into effect in Paul’s day and continues to our day. This week we see that the ONLY way for someone NOT to benefit from this position of blessing is rejection of Jesus Christ, meaning they have NEVER believed in Him. In contrast, how does anyone remain in this position of blessing? GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MESSAGES: YouTube: Grace Community Fellowship Audio Version: http://www.gracenewnan.org/messages Podcast: Google Play and Apple Podcasts
GET CONNECTED! Facebook: facebook.com/gracenewnan Website: http://www.gracenewnan.org/
Speaker: Pastor John Clark Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA
Grace Community Fellowship "Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"
This week Paul introduces two illustrations to explain what God is doing with Israel’s rejection and Gentile blessing. Paul uses an Old Testament firstfruits example, and then uses an olive tree example which he will continue to build upon through verse 24. What was the main point?
That there was blessing promised in the Abrahamic Covenant to both Jews and Gentiles is undisputed. “How” that blessing would come about was an issue of confusion in Paul’s day amongst his Jewish brethren. Although a time of unprecedented blessing will come upon Gentiles (i.e. nations) during Christ’s earthly Millennial Kingdom reign, the blessing of faith-righteousness is available now to any Gentile who will put their faith in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. What was missed in regards to “how” God would accomplish this?
Since Israel has rejected God and His provision for righteousness through the gospel, has God written off His people? This is the question before us in Romans chapter 11. What we will find in this chapter is not only the explanation of Israel’s present state, but also God’s future plans of blessing for the nation. The nation of Israel has been set aside as God’s primary vehicle of dispensing truth. However, what we learn from Romans 11 in some detail are two things... And we will learn about those today!
In our passage today, we see an unfortunate rejection of God’s provision for righteousness (i.e. the gospel). The gospel message had been shared with the Jewish people throughout their Old Testament Scriptures so that they are without excuse. “Yes!” - They have heard and “Yes!” – They have understood. Their Scriptures are filled with instructions pointing forward to what their Messiah would accomplish on their behalf (See Isaiah 53). Surprisingly, the Gentiles, who had none of these privileges have been responding to the gospel message for 2,000 years while the Jews, in large part, continue to reject the message. Even this was predicted in the Old Testament.
This morning, we will cover an often misunderstood and misused passage in Scripture. Based upon the context, we can see that Paul is attempting to convince his Jewish brethren that God’s righteousness is obtained by faith in the finished work of Christ and NOT through law-keeping, circumcision, or physical birth. Belief precedes both verbal confession and calling on the Lord. Only believers in Jesus Christ verbally confess Jesus is God, and will verbally call upon the Lord Jesus for deliverance of any kind, especially (as it relates to this context) into the Kingdom.
Paul compares and contrasts two types of righteousness this week: law-righteousness versus faith-righteousness. In order to contrast them, Paul uses an Old Testament passage, originally used of the law to make the comparisons. He makes some subtle changes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to show that faith-righteousness is near (not something far off), and attainable, because Christ has done it all. This is something that Paul’s Jewish readers should have known based upon the Old Testament, and they did not need to keep looking for something else or something more – Christ had already come down from heaven, died for their sins, and rose again from the dead to provide righteousness for all who believe.
For the Jew, salvation meant being physically delivered from their enemies during a time called “Jacob’s trouble” (i.e. the seven-year tribulation period) and being delivered INTO their promised kingdom. What we learn from Paul this morning is that the Jew must possess a righteousness equal to God’s righteousness to experience salvation into their kingdom. They must obtain this righteousness from God through the gospel or they will not enter or be “saved” into their kingdom. Join us as Paul develops his argument for his beloved countrymen.
Last week, Paul closed out our section with the statement: “Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” As a result of that statement, Paul anticipates two objections which can be summarized as: “If this is true, then how could God hold anybody accountable since He is the One who makes the ultimate decision as to who gets mercy?” The answer, which is given in seven responses over the next ten verses, is that God has the right to choose “how” and “by what means” He will advance His plans as long as they do not violate His promises or His character.
This week, Paul addresses and answers the question – “Is God unjust?” The reason Paul addresses this perceived objection is that the Jew of his day was upset that God was apparently showing mercy to Gentiles. If Paul’s teaching was true, it appeared that many Jews would be judged and many Gentiles would receive mercy. Surely, according to the average Jew, that is unfair of God to do so! Let’s see why all of us can be thankful that God is NOT fair – He does not give us what we deserve!
Last week, we saw that “not all Israel is of Israel,” meaning that NOT all of the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have put their faith in God’s Messiah. This week, Paul is going to address the common misconception of the Jew of his day involving their physical lineage from Abraham. The Jew of Paul’s day incorrectly assumed that they were getting into the Kingdom through their physical relationship to Abraham. Paul is going to use the history of the Old Testament in the selection of the patriarchs to show them that the physical birth principle for salvation has NEVER been in God’s plans.
This morning we will look at the unique blessing and privilege of the Jewish nation. It is because of their uniqueness as a nation, that their apparent rejection by God is a “pink elephant” in the room that Paul must address. Has God rejected Israel? Has God’s promises to the nation failed? Join us as we continue to explore this tension created by the gospel of grace.
Today, we look at the event where the believer’s good works will be evaluated as to their acceptability to the Lord. This event is known as the Judgment Seat (or “Bema Seat”) of Christ. Listen as Pastor Clark explains why “good works” and their acceptability will be the focus of this judgment and NOT the believer’s sins committed after they are saved in the final week of Acceptable Service.
The perfect example of Acceptable Service is none other than the example of Jesus Christ, who came NOT to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). His mindset of love and service are clearly shown in the account of Him washing the disciples feet. Join us as we explore how Jesus esteemed others as more important than Himself in this beautiful display of agape and grace-driven service.
One of the primary functions of church body life is the “One-Anothering” of One Another. The Scripture is full of examples and exhortations to be dependent, loving channels to one another in the body of Christ. Join us this week as Pastor Clark teaches the proper mindset for fulfilling all of the “One Another” commands in Scripture and how this fits directly into the topic of Acceptable Service.
Speaker: Pastor John Clark
So far in this study, we’ve looked at the keys and hindrances to acceptable service. This week, we look at one of the tools, or resources, that God has provided to the believer to serve acceptably…spiritual gifts. The Bible teaches that only you are gifted and wired to do what God created you “in Christ Jesus” to do! (Ephesians 2:10). So, how do we utilize the resource of spiritual gifts to serve God acceptably?
For many Christians, the combination of legalism, false guilt, and self-serving motivations hinder them from Acceptable Service. This tri-fecta of motivations is easy to slip into if the believer is not aware of them. Join us as we identify what these look like in the Christian life, and how to avoid them.
What does it take to convince you of something? The last time you made a big purchase, what was the one thing that pushed you forward in your decision? As it relates to heaven, God has gone to great lengths to convince everyone to trust in Christ and His finished work... How? By raising Jesus from the dead! See how Paul reveals God's "persuasive act" to a group of overly religious pagans.
This week, we look at some hindrances to acceptable service! Things both internal and external that keep us from serving the Lord well. Last week, we looked at the keys to acceptable service, and now we are wanting to serve the Lord acceptably, but even when we do that, there can be some stuff holding us back. What are those things?
This week, Pastor John talks about how to serve others, and serve the Lord, in a way that is pleasing to God. We want to do good works and bear fruit in our Christian lives, but how does that look? What are the keys to acceptable service?
About our Acceptable Service Series: Much of Christianity emphasizes ‘service’ as the primary goal for the Christian. Rarely is ‘service’ qualified and thus the general consensus is that Christians should just ‘serve’ no matter what. However, we know from the Scriptures that our service will be evaluated by the Lord…so, how do we serve acceptably?
Pastor John Clark continues speaking on Acceptable Service, and how often times "christian service" ends up being a bunch of people mindlessly serving with no purpose. Is service important? What does Christian service look like? And why many Christians get it very wrong.
Acceptable Service Series: Much of Christianity emphasizes ‘service’ as the primary goal for the Christian. Rarely is ‘service’ qualified and thus the general consensus is that Christians should just ‘serve’ no matter what. However, we know from the Scriptures that our service will be evaluated by the Lord…so, how do we serve acceptably?
Much of Christianity emphasizes ‘service’ as the primary goal for the Christian. Rarely is ‘service’ qualified and thus the general consensus is that Christians should just ‘serve’ no matter what. However, we know from the Scriptures that our service will be evaluated by the Lord…so, how do we serve acceptably?
Speaker: John Clark
Pastor Carl Greene tells us how we can never have conflict again in our life! Tips include never being married, never joining a church, and never going out in public! While facetious, we do learn how we should handle conflict when it arises.
Key Passage: Acts 15
Pastor Carl speaks about several places in the Bible of people who were surprised by answered prayer, and shows what we can learn from it. Key Passage: Acts 12
Message by Pastor Carl Greene. To learn more about him, visit www.gracenewnan.org/about-pastor-carl
What can separate us from God's love? Can trials, famine, or nakedness? And do negative circumstances, trials, or suffering indicate that God no longer loves you? Listen to find out! Passage: Romans 8:34-39
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Since God Is For Us Pt. 1. Passage: Romans 8:31-33
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
This week, John Clark tackles a very popular, often misunderstood passage in scripture. He explains things like predestination, glorification, and the verse "all things work together for good". Passage: Romans 8:28-30
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The second and final part of Moaning & Groaning. Passage: Romans 8:23-27
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
You Don't Owe Anything. Passage: Romans 8:10-15
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The Proper Mindset Pt. 2. Passage: Romans 8:5-9
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The Proper Mindset Pt. 1. Passage: Romans 8:3-5
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
No Condemnation. Passage: Romans 7:24-8:3
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The second and final part in Paul's Epic Failure. Passage: Romans 7:18-23
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
A thanksgiving week message about an ungrateful outcast. Passage: Luke 17:11-19
Speaker: John Clark
Paul's Epic Failure Pt. 1. Passage: Romans 7:14-17
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Sin is Exposed! Passage: Romans 7:9-13
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Arousing the Sin Nature. Passage: Romans 7:5-8
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Dead to the Law. Passage: Romans 7:1-4
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Freedom & Fruit
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
How To Be The Right Kind Of Slave. Passage: Romans 6:15-19
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Counting & Presenting. Passage: Romans 6:11-14
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Count On God's Provision. Passage: Romans 6:8-11
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Put Out Of Business. Passage: Romans 6:5-7
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Identification With Purpose. Passage: Romans 6:3-5
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Not alike because it is much more
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
What can we do about our identity crisis? Paul explains what he means in Romans.
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
What The Gospel Is NOT Pt 4
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
A message on grief by Pastor Carl Greene.
Carl Greene is the Pastor Emeritus at Grace Community Fellowship.
The last part of What The Gospel Is NOT
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
A message on guilt, forgiveness, and freedom by Pastor Carl Greene.
Carl Greene is the Pastor Emeritus at Grace Community Fellowship.
Part 2 of What The Gospel Is NOT
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
What The Gospel Is NOT
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The final part of Benefits of Justification
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Benefits of Justification Pt 2
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
What are the benefits of Justification?
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Are You Persuaded? Passage: Romans 4:19-25
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Hand In Glove Fit. Passage: Romans 4:13-18
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
God's Accounting System. Passage: Romans 4:6-12
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Hard Work Doesn't Pay Off. Passage: Romans 4:1-5
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Establishing the Law Pt. 3 | Romans | Week 16
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Part 2 of Establishing the Law
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Establishing the Law Pt. 1 | Romans | Week 14
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
What is God Pointing At? | Romans | Week 13
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
But Now... | Romans 3:21-25 | Week 12
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Condemned By Nature, Speech & Actions | Romans 3 | Week 11
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Natural Objections. Passage: Romans 3:1-9
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Part 2 of the 3rd type of sinner in Romans. The religious sinner.
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The 3rd type of sinner in Romans; The Religious Sinner. Pt. 1
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Part 2 of the Moral Sinner. The second of the 3 types of sinners. Passage: Romans 2:1-5
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
The second type of sinner out of the 3 types. The Moral Sinner. Passage: Romans 2:1-5
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Part 2 of the Immoral Sinner.
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Pastor John Clark takes a break from the Book of Romans to talk about the back story of Christmas, the week before Christmas.
There are many types of sinners that walk around in this world. This week, we talk about the Immoral Sinner.
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Theme of The Letter | Romans 1:16-18 | Week 3
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
Desiring Rome. Passage: Romans 1:8-15
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more!
Salutations from Romans! Passage: Romans 1:1-7
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more!
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more!
GCF's Study Through Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more!