Grace Point Sermons

Apart from Jesus, we live in the tension of knowing we're incomplete but not knowing where to find fulfillment. But once we truly encounter Jesus, He shows us that He is all we need by: (1) Meeting us where we are; (2) Telling us who we are; & (3) Inviting us into something bigger than ourselves.

If Jesus has saved you, then He has recruited you to be a witness to His grace and glory before a watching world. The question for all of us, though, is: Do we see this as something we have to do, or something we get to do? From the example of John the Baptist, we get a glimpse of what it looks like to be joyful witnesses to Jesus as we learn that there's only one Savior and while we aren't Him, w...

In his famous introduction to his gospel, John goes all the way before time began and tells us: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And as the apostle unpacks this Divine Metaphor, he helps us see that this Eternal Word, who was confirmed by the Promised Witness, has come to show us a Better Way and give us life & light in place of our darkness & death...

We're all searching for happiness and there's nothing wrong with that! In fact, the Bible teaches us that God is even more committed to our happiness than we are. But what Jesus shows us in the Beatitudes is that true & lasting joy can only be found in full surrender to Him as King. The question is: will we be willing to surrender all to Him (in repentance and faith) so that we can experience the...

God has given us a job to do and we can't let anything stand in the way. However, too often we choose what's easy over what's right. Thankfully, even when that happens, Ezra reminds us that there's always hope for those who respond in repentance and faith, following the path of humble confession and costly obedience through the maze of threats on every side.

Are you a fighter or a quitter? No matter how you answer that, there are times when all of us are tempted to give up. In those moments, we need to remember that, in Jesus, the curse has been reversed and for all who trust Him: (1) Death leads to life; (2) The best is still to come; & (3) Judgment becomes mercy.

How often do you live like the past is irrelevant, the future is uncertain, and all that matters is right now? When that's where we find ourselves, it's easy to feel like we're on our own to fight the battles that Jesus has already won. At times like these, what we need to do most is: (1) Look back and see that Jesus has already succeeded where Adam failed; & (2) Look forward and see that Jesus' v...

Since we prefer to feel in control, we often settle for a "me-centered gospel" that has no power. But once we see how deep our need for mercy really is, we can start to understand how much we need a "God-centered gospel" that: (1) Teaches us what we can't know on our own; (2) Makes us who we can't become on our own; & (3) Gives us what we can't achieve on our own.

When hope & happiness in Jesus feel impossible, we need the courage to ask if our repentance is really focused on Him...or on us? Selfish repentance can never produce gospel results, so what we need most in those moments is to remember & rest in the truth that our salvation is God's work, rooted in His character, and guaranteed by His promises.

The fear of the LORD leads to wisdom. However, because we're sinners, it always leads us down the path of repentance. For some, repentance can be scary because we see it as something we have to do when we get caught. But once we realize that it's a gift of God that sets us free to enjoy His love more fully, we start to see that repentance is really something that we get to do when we get stuck.

When God speaks, the wise listen because they fear His name. Fools, on the other hand, ignore God's voice, and when they do: they reject faith & embrace futility. As Micah builds toward the climactic conclusion of his prophecy, he challenges us to ask ourselves: Are we humble enough to take God seriously? Or are we still too proud to listen?

Because of Jesus, God calls us "family." And just like children struggle to submit to their parents, so we struggle in our relationship with God. Thankfully, He doesn't push us away or cut us off when this happens, but instead He draws us near, reminding us through Micah that when families fight: (1) We say how we feel; (2) We remember what's real; & (3) We make it right by resting in His goodness...

Jesus has always been a Divisive Messiah and we all respond to Him in one of two ways: (1) We either worship Him as He deserves; or (2) We wait for someone better. What Micah helps us see is that only worship leads to freedom in Jesus, while waiting leaves us as prisoners to self. How we respond to Jesus, therefore, determines both our present peace and our future joy.

All we can do is our best...but our best is never enough. This doesn't leave us hopeless, though, because God's best is always enough, and He's given us His best in the Messiah. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Micah gives us one of the clearest and fullest portraits of this Messiah over 700 years before He came. As he does, he calls us to fight fear with faith as we fix our eyes on Jesus.

No matter what kind of suffering we face (emotional, physical or spiritual), we need to remember that when Jesus reigns over us, His peace reigns in us. And as His peace purifies, protects & prevails...we learn (by painful experience) that God uses the hardest things in life to make us most like Jesus.

When justice calls for death, mercy demands resurrection. Both of these are true at the same time because God is holy AND God is love. Only those who submit fully to both of these realities are truly living for the Kingdom which can never be stopped. But to choose a Kingdom...is to choose a King. The question is: are we choosing wisely?

Our God is still speaking, but so are His enemies. The question is: Who will we listen to? Will it be self-serving kings? Self-appointed prophets? Self-destructive priests? Or will we listen to the true Prophet, Priest & King who came from the Father and leads us to the Father?

When we live like God's enemies (instead of God's children), we are on the path that leads to death. This happens every time we adopt the culture's values, even when we try to hide behind adapting the church's forms. And when we became like the world, what we needed most was for God to send Jesus, our Shepherd-King, to become like us and save us from the world.

God's unrivaled glory paves the way for unexpected grace. And while His mercy is sure, sinners can only experience it on the other side of judgment.

Jesus is the greatest gift God has ever given. But if a gift isn't received, it can't be enjoyed. If we want to truly receive Jesus, then, we must seek Him on His terms, not ours.

When we're tempted to become slaves to our circumstances, the gospel gives us three solid foundations for unshakeable joy: (1) The promise of the Son; (2) The presence of the Holy Spirit; & (3) The power of the Most High.

God's love sacrifices. God's love saves. God's love invades. God's love divides. Jesus is the light of God's love, and if we don't know Jesus, then we can't know love.

Too often, we settle for counterfeit peace because we lose hope that the real thing is even possible. But Jesus came to give us real peace, and if we want to experience what our God has created and redeemed us for, then we have to seek it in Jesus only.

When all hope seems lost, we need to remember that God reveals Himself to the humble. And when we listen to His voice, believe His promises & obey His commands, we can know that He will give us Jesus, and He is all we'll ever need.