GCCWS Weekend Messages

Someone once said, “Words are containers for power.  You choose what  kind of power they carry.”  For this reason, God is interested in our  words and how we choose to use our words.  In HIS Word – the Bible – God  addresses the way we use our words.  Both Old and New Testaments are  filled with truth about the power of our words, our speech, our tongues. &n...

You have heard me say over and over again that we can’t do a thing to earn salvation in Christ. Works do not save us; they are not the way to Heaven. Jesus Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. But this doesn’t mean that good works have no place in our Christian life. Good works don’t save us, but they are the evidence tha...

God does not show favoritism.  This is a truth that dates to the very creation of mankind.  It is foundational to our faith and central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it even finds prominence in the founding of our own nation.  So, it should be no surprise that, as we turn the pages of the book of James to chapter 2, we are confronted with this bold truth presented in James’ no...

This weekend we continue in our series MAKING FAITH WORK. A faith that works is a faith that works through trials. It is natural for us to get angry when we face a problem. Yet, as we will learn in James 1:19-27, anger can blur our vision and pollute our mission. So, don’t be deceived; join us this weekend and learn to transform your anger before your anger transforms you.

“We can’t go over them.  We can’t go under them.  We’ve got to go through them.”  When it comes to trials that is ALMOST ALWAYS true – ALMOST.  There is one category of life’s trials that can and should be avoided.  In fact, we not only don’t want to go through them, we want to run from them.  It is the category of temptations – temptations to sin.  The temptatio...

“We can’t go over it.  We can’t go under it.  We’ve got to go through it.”  So it is with the trials of life.  Much as we may want to “go over them” or “under them” to get away from them, we’ve got to “go through them” because, quite simply, that’s the way life works.   This weekend, we begin a new series of sermon from the New Testament book of James called Making Fa...

First observed on May 30, 1868, Memorial Day commemorated the sacrifices of those who lost their lives during the Civil War.  For nearly a century, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day and expanded beyond its original audience to include those who had fallen in other US conflicts.  Then In 1971, Memorial Day became a nationally recognized holiday.  This weekend, in all services,...

“What happens after I die?”  This has been the driving question in our five-part sermon series on eternity.  Yet, Heaven isn’t just for you!  For the Christian, the question is not, “What happens after I die.” Instead, “What happens after they die” - My neighbor, banker, barber, friend, etc.?  Join us this weekend as we learn from Acts 1:4-8 how to fill heaven by being a witnes...

When trials do come, how do you handle them?  Do you allow the trials of life to take you down or build you up?  Do you give up or grow up, become bitter or become better?  The decision is yours.  Thankfully, God has much to say to us about life’s trials and our response.  This weekend, we’ll focus on what happens when the hope of eternity intersects with the trials of you...

Welcome to our third week exploring the truth about ETERNITY.  Most people, when they hear the word ETERNITY, immediately think FUTURE.  Eternity is always and only about our future.  But that’s not Biblically true.  Your eternal life began the day you decided to follow Jesus.  Whether you realize it or not, on that day, you stopped living for the moment and you started li...

This weekend, we continue our five-part sermon series on ETERNITY.  Last week, we looked at what the Bible says what heaven is like.  This week we enter into the tough yet tender state of grief.  On this side of heaven, we will all come face-to-face with grief.    In his book, What Happens After I Die, Michael Rodgers says, “There is a dangerous mindset among many, th...

This weekend, we begin a five-part sermon series on ETERNITY!  It is a fascinating topic that raises the curiosity of Christians and non-Christians alike.  Understanding eternity will take the fear out of our future and fill us with what the Bible calls a living and blessed hope.  In the course of the next five weeks, we will broadly examine and deeply study the Biblical truths abou...

Join us for the GREAT CELEBRATION OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION!  If you’ve ever experienced an ‘emotional roller coaster’ then you can relate to the ‘emotional ride’ of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary during that first holy week.  We’ll follow the two Marys from the cross to the tomb to the first day of the week when they saw the Lord!  Read Matthew 27 and 28 as you prepare for worship....

This weekend and on Good Friday, we wrap up our series “Unfiltered Jesus.”  In this series, we unpacked several hard sayings of Jesus.  Let’s face it, sometimes, what Jesus said was hard to grasp.  However, this weekend, we will look not at what Jesus said but rather at something Jesus did that is simply hard to get our minds around.  This sermon is called “Grace Like Jesus.” &...

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ “has freed us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5).  “By his blood.”  Three simple words that describe the powerful, saving work of Christ accomplished through His death on the cross.  Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross and died to pay the price for our sins.  Join your GCC family this week as we learn why His blood is precious,...

In Mark 11:12-25, Jesus curses a Fig tree, upsets tables, bars people from making sacrifices, and casts out the buyers and sellers at the Temple marketplace.  Then says something so outrageous I’m surprised it found its way into the Gospel of Mark, “if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen...

Do you believe in the afterlife? The AFTERLIFE is defined as our life after death. That such life exists is a central doctrine of the Christian faith and a favorite topic in Jesus’ teaching ministry. In fact, the AFTERLIFE is even a popular topic beyond the church where creative and wishful thinking have, at times, either amended or replaced Biblical truth. We cannot afford to be led astray on the...

The best and most accurate way to describe the story in Mark 10:17-31 is that it is a story about a man who was but one step away from a personal and eternal relationship with God.  Jesus showed him the step to be taken, and Jesus invited him it.  It was a step of surrender.  The object to be surrendered – in this case money - is not as important as the act of surrender.  Join...

Read the Gospels.  You can’t help but notice that Jesus had a lot of fans.  He drew large crowds.  He attracted many spectators.  As long as he was performing miracles and preaching against the sins of others, the fans were happy.  But when his preaching hit close to home, when his teaching was hard to accept, he intentionally drew the proverbial “line in the sand” – the l...

Over the past several weeks, GCC has been working through a series called “Unfiltered Jesus.”  This series unpacks and explains several of Jesus’ hard sayings.   One of those hard sayings is found in Matthew 10:34 , “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”   Did Jesus mean what He said?  Was He holding a...

“if anyone comes to me and does not HATE his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.”   Did Jesus really say that – that we should hate the ‘nearest and dearest’ in our lives? Isn’t this ‘hate speech’?  What about Jesus’ command to love others?  Isn’t this a contradiction of that!?  NOT AT ALL....

“Everyone has a cross to bear.”  Maybe you’ve heard that expression; maybe you’ve used it.  It has its origin in the Bible but it has found its way into our common, everyday language where it isn’t usually used in the way Jesus intended.  From ingrown toenails to annoying neighbors to giving up chocolate for lent, it’s amazing how many of life’s discomforts are, in the minds of peop...

This weekend, let’s talk about prayer and how it works.  If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of questions about prayer and possibly even some frustration with prayer.  In fact, one of Jesus’ most concentrated teachings on prayer is in Luke 11:1-13.  For many people, it has been hard to understand because it doesn’t always reflect our personal experience with prayer.  “ J...

To begin, let me ask you, why would Jesus tell us to ask God not to lead us into temptation?  Every other request we make in the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1-4) fits the character of God as we know Him.  But lead us not into temptation!!? God certainly doesn’t tempt us, but why must we make that request?  What does it mean?  To learn what it means and to explore what God says about...

The Church isn't about buildings or preferences. It is an amazing collective of people coming together to worship the Lord.