Grace Sermons

In Matthew 1:18-25, we are told that Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us.  But Jesus didn't just come to be with us for 33 years, He came so that He could be with us forever!  If you've said yes to Jesus, you are never alone.  God is with you.  This is the meaning of Emmanuel and what we see in Matthew 1:18-25.

Matthew 1:1-17 Meaning... A lot of us tend to skip over the genealogy sections in Scripture, but Matthew uses the genealogy of Jesus Christ to show that He is the fulfillment of Old Testament covenant promises made by God.  The birth of Jesus brings hope into our lives and this dark world we live in.

When facing spiritual warfare, one of Satan's tactics is to inflict you with shame.  He wants you to think something is wrong not just with what you did, but that something is wrong with you.  But Scripture tells us how to deal with shame and guilt.  We see how to be free from the failures of our lives and the emotional weight we carry with them.  Jesus gave his life to set us free and to live in...

Temptation can seem so difficult to overcome, but there is a way out.  Satan tempts us to sin in order to rob us of the experience of Christ's life in us and through us.  It can seem so defeating.  How do we overcome temptation?  How do we fight temptation?  In this episode, you will learn to spot the lies and how your union with Christ helps to overcome the temptation to give in and fall for the...

When it comes to spiritual warfare, Satan's primary tactic to steal, kill, and destroy is lies and deception.  He is the father of lies and is known as the deceiver.  In this episode, you will learn to recognize the lies and renew your mind to God's truth so that you will walk in victory.

What is spiritual warfare today?  What does the world, the flesh, and the devil have to do with spiritual warfare?  How do we fight spiritual warfare?  Are there types of spiritual warfare?  Is Satan real?  The Bible tells us that Satan is very real and that he is out to steal, kill, and destroy in John 10:10.  In this podcast episode and opening message of this series you will learn what spiritua...

Giving thanks is at the very core and heart of what it means to worship.  We give thanks to God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing.  It's impossible to worship without giving thanks.  To worship means to live a lifestyle of thanksgiving in all areas of your life. Colossians 3:15-17…15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to pe...

Worship is both an event and an everyday experience.  We gather together for corporate worship and then we are sent out to worship every day of our individual lives.  We are Jesus' instruments, and as His Life is expressed through us, He receives glory, honor, and praise.  All areas of our lives become an opportunity to worship the Lord our God! Romans 12:1-2: I appeal to you therefore, brothers,...

Most of us can easily see that worship is vertical in one sense, but I wonder how many of us realize the horizontal aspect of worship.  We worship a transcendent God who exists above and independent of His creation, but we are brought together as the Church for corporate worship.  Jesus works through our horizontal relationships to express vertical worship to the God who sits above all things. 2 P...

Is it better to worship with our heads or our hearts?  Do we worship with our minds or our emotions?  Most of us lean towards head worship or heart worship, but the Holy Spirit will lead us to worship God with our minds and our emotions. John 4:24 - God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Worship is a response to who God is and what He has done.  Your view of God will affect how you worship.  God is both immanent and transcendent.  Understanding His transcendence and immanence will impact the way you worship Him.

Jesus frees us from our bondage to our flesh and selfishness, and in Him, we have a new heart that wants to serve others. Galatians 5:13 - You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Scripture teaches us to accept one another despite our differences.  The church is not a homogenous group of people. The church is not a group of people who all look the same, talk the same, vote the same way, or even believe all of the exact same things.   The church is made up of different people who all have Jesus in common.  As we accept one another, it brings praise, glory, and honor to our L...

We are told to encourage one another, so The God of Encouragement (John 14:16-17/Romans 15:5) came to dwell in you to use you to be an encourager to others.  We even learn how this practically looks through Barnabas, the son of encouragement. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Encourage one another and build one another up, just as in fact you are doing.

As new covenant believers, we are called to forgive one another as the Lord forgave us.  We have been completely forgiven and are now free to forgive those who hurt us.

Andy Stanely says, "The primary activity of the early church was one anothering one another."  There are 59 one another passages in the New Testament.  Love one another is listed more than any of the others.  Today we lay the foundation for this series and talk about what it looks like to love one another.

In this episode James teaches us to pray in a number of circumstances.  Pray when you are in trouble.  Pray when you are happy.  Pray when you are sick.  Confess sin to each other and pray for each other.  Pray for those who wander from their faith.  He says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.

We all face hardships and difficult situations in life.  In this passage, James shows how to face those tough times in our life.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, and we don't have to walk through these times alone.

In this episode, we talk about slander, arrogant planning, and riches.  James shows us how to recognize when we are walking in our flesh and focused on the world, rather than on Christ and who we are in Him.

In this episode, James teaches us about wisdom.  There are 2 kinds of wisdom: wisdom from above and an unspiritual, earthly, demonic type of wisdom.  God's wisdom will guide us to live in ways that are peace-loving, considerate of others, submissive and open to reason, merciful, impartial, and sincere.

In this episode, we see that our words are important.  There is power in our speech.  Our words can influence the direction of our lives, destroy our lives (with negative self-talk) and the lives of others, and bring life and healing to ourselves and others.  James says that our tongue may be small, but it can impact us and others in a big way!

In this episode, James discusses faith and works.  What does he mean by "faith without works is dead?"  Well, he doesn't mean that a person doesn't have any faith but that their faith is unprofitable.  James also says that we are justified by our works.  How does that reconcile with what Paul says about being justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone?

In this episode, James shows us that showing favoritism and discrimination are inconsistent with who we are as new creations in Christ.  As we live out our faith, it will lead to actions that show love to all people.

In this episode, we learn that there is an outworking of our salvation that will lead us to control our speech, help helpless people, and keep us from being influenced by the ways of the world.

In this episode, we learn that when we face trials, we should count them as joy because they develop perseverance.  As we persevere through trials with our eyes fixed on Jesus, He uses them to show us that our Life is found in Him and not in our situations and circumstances.