Grace Church Elk Grove

This week we will return to Psalm 33, to a passage that deserves more thought, on our country's 250th birthday. This will be another of what we call an "Artillery Sermon." The name comes from Scottish artillery companies, when they chose new officers. Because officers lead men into battle, it was an important decision, so they would ask a local pastor to preach a sermon before voting...

This week we consider one of my own favorite Psalms - I like it so much we plastered part of it on our wall. But to get the most out of it, I encourage you to read 1 Samuel 20:1-22:2. This historical background is crucial to understanding this beloved Psalm, and this blessed doctrine: that because God is perfect, He's not a perfectionist. But He is good - really, really good, to those who fear...

This week we move on to Psalm 33, which glorifies the steadfast love of God. The Hebrew word for this is "hesed," and it is perhaps the most important Hebrew word, except for the name of God. It is the ground of our hope, the fuel for our joy, and the rock upon which we can courageously build a life. And it was proven to use most vividly at Calvary. Listen to this episode from Pastor Jed...

Confession is a very misunderstood, yet important tool for people to use when trying to fellowship with God. It is misunderstood because it is usually driven by the culture’s agenda and not the biblical agenda. And it is important because without it we perish. In Psalm 32, David takes us through a master class on the proper way to confess/ repent our sin. He certainly understands the need for it....

This week we begin our summer sermon series in the Psalms, starting with Psalm 31. This Psalm is important not only because our Lord quoted it with his final breaths on the cross, but also because with that he signaled for us how we ought to live as well. This Psalm holds the key to living with courageous strength in the face of life's mini toils and snares. Listen to this episode from Pastor...

The parable of the "Laborers in the Vineyard" is a confusing one. The Master of the vineyard’s perceived unfairness is so glaring that it is hard to understand Jesus's point. Reading the parables of Jesus from a current-day perspective always makes our understanding weak, but in this case, the injustice of the master’s action seems undeniable. There is still an inequity to the master...

This week we remember and celebrate Pentecost, a word which simply means 50 days after. It's 50 days after Easter, and it was a pivotal day in God's work to close out the old covenant and launch the new. It is not a day or doctrine to argue over the details, because in doing so we can so easily miss out on God's grand purposes for the nations - that He has in His providence collected h...

This week we remember and celebrate the Ascension in our worship. And in doing so, we must return to a chapter in Nehemiah that we skipped over - Nehemiah 6. For the threats that Nehemiah successfully navigated, we too face today. We face the same kinds of slanders and incitements to fear. Fear is the characteristic sin of our age. And the Ascension is our way of escape. Listen to this episode fro...

This week we come to the last chapter of Nehemiah. We will have one more sermon from Nehemiah - from chapter 6, which will fit nicely with Ascension Sunday next week. But this last chapter is very alien to us, because of its violence. After all, we are a most enlightened generation, and we say we do not like violence. But our Lord himself was not above violence - see the cleansing of the temple. A...

This week we move from the spiritual principles of Nehemiah's revival to the practical outcomes. Revival comes in many outward forms - sometimes it looks like the old "big tent revival" meetings. Other times it looks like the revival that I was "caught" in - a quieter, mass movement of young men, swept up in the glories of God's sovereign grace. Regardless, the same thi...

This week we are happening upon the red thread that runs through the whole Bible. It started in the Garden, and then it became visible again with Abraham, and now it appears again. More than this, the thread is not just theological. It is intensely practical and personal. We discover how we are not only saved but how we are transformed to walk in the ways of Christ. Listen to this episode from Pas...

This week we return to Nehemiah and one of the greatest revivals ever recorded. In fact, it is the pattern of how God always works when He brings revival. I invite you, in advance of the Lord's Day, to read Nehemiah 9 and ask yourself what is that pattern? And then begin praying for it, in our church and our county.

This week we return to Nehemiah, but it's like we haven't left the subject of Easter. The central moment in the text this week is the feast of trumpets, of new beginnings. The trumpets announce the reign of God over His people, which is always a good thing. For His kingdom is one of generosity, joy and feasting. The life of a Christian is one of fighting, laughing and feasting.

This week we celebrate the cross, and then, on the Lord's Day, the empty tomb. We call it the Lord's Day for just this reason. It's the day he was raised from the dead. This is the central event of history. It's why the church moved its day of worship, with nary a second thought, one day later to Sunday. For Christ was crucified the day after the Passover, and Christ was raised the...

This week we take a detour in Nehemiah. A new problem is revealed, one that reveals a deep corruption within in the people of God - covetousness. This sin is part of the Ten Commandments for a reason. There is no one immune from its power. We all must fight against it. And this week, we will see what true repentance FROM covetousness looks like. Hint: it looks like the cross. Listen to this episod...

This week we come to the heart of Nehemiah's project - and the heart of ours, today, in Sacramento County. Nehemiah would no succeed without the ordinary man picking up and using both his shovel and his sword. And the wall around our temple today will not be built unless ordinary men do the same thing. It will take grit, endurance, and pluck, all of it fed by faith in the character and promise...

This week we enter into the heart of the opposition Nehemiah faced. It is crucial that we understand it and how Nehemiah dealt with it, because - if we are successful in our project here in Sacramento County - we will experience the same kind of opposition. It is inevitable. The choice is not how to avoid it, but how to endure joyfully and fruitfully through it. Listen to this episode from Pastor...

This week we consider a passage that is largely a list of names. Yet the lessons of this chapter have deep and far-ranging impact for us, especially for us Americans. We love to individualize and compartmentalize, and that is certainly in the text. We Americans do many things well, because we still run on the fumes of a Christian past. But we must also heed the lessons of Nehemiah 3, about making...

This week the action picks up in Nehemiah. The story reveals to us not only key principles for advancing the kingdom, but it also reveals us, and how we must make course corrections to be useful for God's purposes in this, the age of the reign of His Son. Listen to this episode from Pastor Jed’s sermon on March 1st, 2026 to learn more.

This week we begin the book of Nehemiah, which continues the history of Ezra. The action begins with a simple question: How goes it with the brothers in Jerusalem? And this question applies for our lives too, because the real action that will still matter 10,000 years from now grows out of a curious love - that is by this simple question: "How can I pray for you?"

This week we come to the last chapter of Ezra, and it goes out with a bang, in how much the issues map over to our world today. Imagine it; a society where the elites are all morally bankrupt, especially in their sexual treatment of young foreign women. And imagine that; society is trying to get itself back on its feet but must first decide what to do with foreigners who were wrongly brought there...

This week we consider one of the most emotionally powerful moments in the life of Ezra. The most important may have been when he said nothing - it was what he did, how he reacts to the behavior of his people. And it reveals to us the heart of a useful disciple, father and leader. In many respects, in this fallen world, the trajectory of our lives turns not on perfection, but on how we respond to s...

We are told in the Bible that we should rejoice in all things. But not all things are deserving of joy. We're also told that even the worst ashes of circumstance will be turned to beauty. I believe God’s Word, but I find it hard to keep a smile in my heart. Surely, there must be a way to keeping my heart smiling, even when my outward smile fades.  Thanks to Jesus, our Messiah, there is! Listen...

This week we consider Ezra 8, a chapter that reads in one sense like simply a travel log. But embedded in it are several details that are crucial for how we today must live for the fulfillment of the first ask of the Lord's Prayer: "Hallowed by your name." How exactly do we live for God's glory? How do we bring about the hallowing or treasuring of His name, where it presently is...

Ezra, chapter 7 contains a description of Ezra that all men (and women) should seek to emulate. (I’ll let you find it.) It also gives us a glimpse into the kind of people that God builds new worlds around - the kind of people our generation needs, as God rebuilds our own culture from the ruins of clown-world. God is still in the business of building new worlds through His Word. Listen to this epis...