Grace Church Indiana Sermons

Grapevines, grapes, and wine played a major role in the life of ancient Israelites. So much so that Israel adopted the vineyard as an image for their nation (grapevines were depicted on the Temple, on Israelite currency, etc.). Fertile vineyards became a symbol of God’s promise of abundance and life, while images of sour grapes or barren vineyards were developed by Israel’s prophets to decry the n...

In the ancient world it was understood that a person’s life was in their blood. For that reason, blood in the Bible plays a significant role in issues of life, death, atonement, and sacrifice. Jesus shocked his followers by asking them to “drink” his blood and defied all expectations by allowing his own blood to be poured out on the cross. Although we may find the image unsettling, understanding h...

The animal which appears far and away the most frequently in Scripture (nearly 400 times!) is the humble sheep. Beyond being an integral part of ancient Israel’s economy, sheep and shepherds became fundamental images by which the people understood their relationship with God. As a part of the Israelite sacrificial system, sheep also played a crucial role in Israel’s struggle with sin and redemptio...

In the ancient imagination, the sea represented death, chaos, and destruction. This image of the chaotic sea is picked up on and played with throughout the Bible in many fascinating ways, usually by demonstrating God’s mastery over it. God speaks and the sea obeys, God parts the sea for his chosen people to walk through on dry land, God pushes back the chaos of our broken world, etc. It is no surp...

One of the earliest biblical threads introduced in Scripture is that of the “Tree of Life” in the garden of Eden. This tree, which is, in essence, an offer for humans to experience God’s own life, becomes through the Bible a symbol for the life and healing that can come by submitting ourselves to God’s wisdom and instruction instead of our own desires. The major twist which Jesus introduces into t...

Although the concept of bringing our troubles to God may be one of the most commonly practiced aspects of private prayer, it is nonetheless an important component of communing with Him. Just as we would entrust the burdens of our heart to a trusted friend, so we are invited to bring our burdens to God as a part of our relationship with Him. In this message, we will explore what it means to fully t...

We began this series exploring the idea that God takes an interest in us – that he listens to us when we speak, pray, and praise. In this message, we will explore the inverse idea: that we are called to listen to God when He speaks as well. As with a human friendship, our relationship with God is richest when we both speak and listen, when we are attentive to his guidance, his words of truth, and...

It is often natural to assume that our interactions with God should happen internally – in our hearts and our minds. It can be tempting to treat our faith as something which exists only in some kind of spiritual, disembodied plane. However, while there are undoubtedly important moments of communing with God which are best done in silence and internal contemplation, there are many others which are...

The longer we walk with Christ, the more opportunities we have to experience his salvation in new ways. As we reflect on how much God has done for us and how undeserving we are of his attention and care, it is only natural to respond by pouring out gifts to him. Sometimes these gifts are tangible, such as a financial tithe. But the gifts we bring to God are not limited to money. We can bring our C...

One of the most crucial starting points for understanding what it means to commune with God is the basic belief that God takes an interest in us. He actually listens when we speak! A helpful image from Psalm 22 is that of God being “enthroned” on our praises. One translation in another language refers to God “pulling up a big chair to listen” as we raise our voice to him. How might it change our e...

The New Testament theologian NT Wright refers to the crucifixion as “the day the revolution began,” and this is a perfect way of describing the movement we are now a part of. According to the New Testament authors, something profound and reality-changing took place when Christ defeated the powers of this world on the cross. His victory and authority was proven by his resurrection from the dead, an...

If the resurrection of Jesus was just the “first fruits of those who have died” (1 Cor 15:20, NRSV), what does it mean for our lives to be a part of the coming harvest? What can we expect in our own resurrection and what does that future hope have to do with our lives in this present moment? In this message, we will dig into the concept of “life after death” and understand the truth of what the co...

In his post-resurrection appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus “explained from the Scriptures” all about his crucifixion and resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul suggests the gospel message was “just as the Scriptures said.” So what, exactly, do the Scriptures say which would lead Jesus’ followers to subsequently understand the resurrection? And how do these prophecies, tradi...

All four gospel accounts describe the shock and amazement of the disciples at discovering Jesus’ tomb being empty. Instead of laying out clearly articulated theological interpretations of the resurrection, however, these breathless narratives read like shocking eye-witness accounts of an unexplainable event told and retold in this way since the very moment they happened. In this message, Tim will...

In the second half of The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches his followers to pray for God’s intervention when facing four specific threats: the threat of reliance on self-sufficiency instead of God’s provision, the threat of sin and its effects to pull us away from God’s desires, the threat of temptations and trials which might challenge our faith, and the threat of the evil one, who seeks to steal and...

One of the most widely quoted portions of the Sermon on the Mount is what has come to be called “The Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer by Jesus gives tremendous insight into what truly matters as we communicate with God. In the first few lines of the prayer, Jesus teaches us how to keep our priorities in line by seeking God’s will, not our own. This is a helpful reminder to focus our prayers on what God...

Another common misconception about prayer is that it is “quantity” more than “quality” that matters. Again, this can be a hurtle for those who don’t feel like they have the right words or experience to pray “in the right way.” Rather than “babbling on and on,” Jesus reminds his followers, the best prayers are often simple, direct, and to the point. In this message, we will help our congregation se...

One of the most common concerns people express about praying (especially in public) is that they don’t know what to say or don’t feel like they have spiritual enough language when they do pray. Jesus begins his teachings on prayer by reminding his followers that prayer is not for public consumption, but is rather communication between a person and their God, alone. In this message we will address...

In this second part of making room for different generations, taking all of what has been said so far in the series, we will direct our attention to younger people. We will see how vital it is for the future of our church for younger people to elevate the voices of those who are older and allow their wisdom and perspective to shape them.

Although “making room” for people with disabilities or people from other cultures than our own may seem like more obvious applications of this value of Grace, it’s clear that there are just as many serious divisions between different generations today. Young people look down on older people. Older people look down on younger people. But when that happens in the church, the whole body suffers! In t...

In Ephesians, Paul describes the natural conflict and division between Jews and Gentiles. However, he reminds his readers that these opposing cultures have become fellow citizens and members of one household in Christ. This revolutionary idea should continue to challenge us as we imagine an alternative to the divisiveness and opposition which exists in our cross-cultural world. The “dividing wall...

Returning to Paul’s image of the body, we will now explore our very human tendency to want to separate ourselves from those who are not alike in culture, heritage, or language. It’s easy to think the “hands” can hang out over here while the “legs” can hang out over there. But it is only when all the parts of a body are working in concert, both unified in purpose and diverse in giftings, that it ca...

Our guest speaker for this weekend, Milton Keys, is a growing authority in our region when it comes to helping churches think differently about people with disabilities. In this message, we will explore one of the healings of Jesus to understand how Jesus invites us to make room by elevating the value and voices of those with disabilities. "Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and s...

To describe his vision of the unity and diversity of the Church at its best, Paul uses the metaphor of the parts of the body working together. It is an apt metaphor to describe a community which represents a new way to be human. When we understand that in the Church, as Paul suggests, every person has a unique and cherished contribution to the functioning of the body, we can make room far more eff...

December 24 | Light of the World | No Other Name | Barry Rodriguez by Grace Church