Grace Bible Church Columbia, MO

In fact – not just a God of 2nd chances but a loving God of ‘another’ chance! The life of David, Peter, Saul (Paul) and so many others were not the recipient of just a second chance but often of many chances! These are just a few of God’s trophies of grace – like Jonah. This week Jonah gets another chance – vomited on the shore he immediately heads east toward Nineveh. When God gives another chanc...

“Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them.” E.M. Bounds Jonah is where he never imagined he would be to lift a prayer! Where have you bowed your head in prayer? By a sick child – in despair of a job loss – in desperation of family crisis – in fear of death? Jonah was not praying for a second chance – he was repenting of wasting his first chance. He had only the hope...

God calls a man to speak into the wickedness rising from the Assyrian Empire – right into the Capital City! Jonah was not done being mad at his conquerors – he hated the Assyrians. His selfish desire for punishment and revenge clouded his understanding of God’s true love. This is the same love we see from the Cross when Jesus prays ‘Father forgive them – they do not know what they are doing.’ Jona...

Sunday I begin 8 weeks of Jonah and Nahum – prophets that warned Nineveh of judgement to come. So many Gospel illustrations in this short book like Jonah and Jesus ‘buried’ for three days. Jonah is warning unworthy sinners of judgment to come – just like God warns us! Jonah was frustrated at God’s great mercy and disappointed with God’s patience – so are we sometimes. Jonah is too often us and we...

God made us to work – His first assignment in the Garden to Adam was to work the plants and tend the animals. That was clear in Genesis 2 – then chapter 3 happened – The Fall! So many things changed after sin – including the burdens placed on our work like thorns and weeds. We often will tie these together and not separate them as God did. We should not link a divine assignment to the failure of m...

I sometimes hear people say that the Gospel does not seem credible or that Salvation is too good to be true. Things like: “I would believe if there was enough evidence” or “I am not so sure about the Bible” or “You cannot trust the Church to be honest” and many variations of each. So when Jesus says “You can trust Me!” Why was that not enough? Clearly such a self-authentication is perceived as sel...

Sunday will be a very special day! We are hosting a missionary guest and long time friend – Leandro Tarrataca from Brazil. Pastor Leandro will be sharing the challenge from Mark 2 about the call of Jesus to ‘follow me!’. The message will be about more than just following but how we are called to Follow Jesus – Jesus way. Please make every effort to be with us Sunday at Grace – Leandro is gifted sp...

Peter’s life is one of great contrasts - he was very bold and very scared. He was all in and then all denials. Peter offered to die with Jesus then would not speak for Him when asked. As Peter we are sometimes most bold about what we know the least. Sunday I will take us to the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus is cooking at a charcoal fire - but lunch was to be more than fish and bread - i...

Our Brazil team is back in the states and ready to share how God moved and worked through their time on mission! Come Sunday morning ready to hear a few testimonies and then Pastor Denis will share the sermon that he preached at the church there at IBB. This will be high level sharing so listen for an announcement for an opportunity of a deeper dive and sharing of all 12 testimonies from the group...

On His last night – Jesus called the Disciples together for a time of sharing and praying, from here the Lord went out to the Garden of Gethsemane – a private time of prayer. Gathered together as the late hours approached and Jesus' disciples were physically and emotionally drained, Jesus spoke in stark terms sharing some of the most challenging words He had ever spoken to these men. All of a sudd...

God warned Cain that ‘sin is crouching at the door; and it's desire is for you’ – yet surrendering to anger Cain took his brother’s life and committed the first murder. (Gen 4) Judas was similarly warned – Jesus quoted Psalm 41:9 predicting the betrayal of a ‘trusted friend’ and someone He shared ‘bread’ at the table. Yet with all of these warnings the Disciples still had no clue who was the trait...

She was caught in the act of adultery, dragged by force into the Temple courts, humiliated by her sin, separated from anyone who might protect her, judged and sentenced to death without trial by self-righteous religious leaders, and placed before the King of Kings who is pure and holy. This is how the apostle John describes the scene of one of the best known and emotional accounts of Scripture.  ...

Sunday in our combined service I will be looking at the conversation Jesus has with the woman at the well in Samaria. Jesus was so compassionate and merciful – what a great example of evangelism! I am in Africa right now and Matt and I will be sharing in the 9am hour what God is doing through Grace here in Liberia – great stuff! Please make every effort to share the 9am time as well as the woman a...

Dear Church Family, I am looking forward to preaching this Sunday about Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. I will start by pointing out the importance of the meekness and humility that brought Nicodemus to Jesus. Then we will explore the profound mystery Jesus reveals about the need to be spiritually born again before one can see and enter the Kingdom of God. Finally, you will see that being bor...

“Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”   This Sunday, we have the privilege to “Come and See” Jesus's first conversation in the Book of John - Jesus talking with Nathanael, one of his disciples.  This conversation transformed Nathanael from a spiritually blind man seeking the truth to a follower who...

“To deny Jesus as God is to deny the very Word of God!”   In the many conversations Jesus had that are recorded in the Gospels, few rival the honesty and depth of His interactions with the Pharisees in John 8. This passage is especially poignant since this is Father’s Day and the Pharisees put the questions in the context of Abraham as their Father. Instead of being embarrassed, Jesus uncovers the...

“It is impossible for a believer, no matter what his experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend time with God.” J. Oswald Sanders Jesus met all kinds of people. He dined with the rich, took time with the outcasts, had compassion for those who lived in sin, and helped the poor and needy. The one constant in every conversation with Jesus was how He lovingly and kindl...

"Teach me your ways, O LORD; make them known to me. Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you"   What is God teaching me? So often as Pastor I am praying and meditating on what I feel the Grace Family needs the most from God’s Word – prayers, family, faith, fears, losses, temptations and so many more Scriptural themes from the Bible – yet how...

Our account of Daniel and Belshazzar begins with pride, arrogance and sacrilege – what could possible go wrong? Sunday I will take us through what happens to men when they disregard God and his memorials – the Temple vessels.    Babylon was under siege when Belshazzar chose to throw a party for his officials, wives and concubines! Only great pride could summon this kind of disregard. This shows yo...

“If someone believes it is our faith that heals us and forgets that it is God who does it, we should ask that person how much faith Lazarus had.” Eric Metaxas  Sunday is a narrative of contradictions – Jesus loves his friend but delays his trip. Jesus says he 'sleeps' then confirms the death of Lazarus but then promises that this will 'not be unto death'! He goes to the house to mourn but weeps on...

“I learnt more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.” John Wesley   So many sermons have been preached about Esther and Ruth. I have done series in the past on both – and we have heard from Rahab and Hannah.  Sunday I will turn out attention toward just a few that came in direct contact with Jesus and what was the result of each encounter.  It is Mother’s Day...

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” Isa 35:5,6   This is a favorite story of Jesus healing the man born blind and it gives us lessons not only about faith but also about prayer, hope, and humility. We ar...

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” Augustine 'Walk on water' – a phrase common in English that refers to an accomplishment that is a miracle and nothing less. This became an idiom of doing the impossible. That is what Jesus did – the impossible! The disciples had witnessed the Feeding of the 5000+ and the crowds had seized on the wrong idea – 'le...

This is one of the many stories I wish I could hear again for the first time! As a child to think that Jesus would notice me – to imagine that I might have something to contribute to the Gospel – to dream of seeing God do such an overwhelming deed in the presence of so many – I could be jealous of my childhood self to hear this for the first time! Yet, God intended this to be the only miracle incl...

“Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, Lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song.” Isaiah 35:5-7 MSG   For 38 years the lame man hoped for a miracle – a healer – a cure – a recovery – a helper into the Bethesda pool. None was coming! During one of the feasts (Passover) Jesus happened by the lame man’s pallet of begging. Hopeless and helpless the man waited in...