Grace Community Church NI

When we say the word holiness, the way we act, where we go and, even, what we wear comes to mind. As we look into Scripture and what it says on the subject, it becomes more apparent that it’s about what we’re devoted to. As we become more and more like Christ in how we love others, our lives are now shaped by him and directed towards him.

The table is a gift, a tool and a weapon. How often we take communion and where we take it is not important. It is our posture that matters. The bread and the wine carry a lot of meaning, but the key to the bread is thankfulness, and the wine is proclamation.

In a world of increasing judgement the church needs to communicate grace. Every person you meet, Jesus has said “yes” to. As we read Galatians we see that Paul was hurt to see that shortly after he preached a gospel of grace, the church fell foul to the religious ideologies that infiltrated the church shortly after.

There have been 100 million songs written about love and 700 films have been released this year that have love as a theme. There are hundreds of online dating apps. Love seems to be everywhere, but this is clearly a broken world. The essence of God is love – so what does this mean to a world that has often misunderstood the real meaning of love?

As we continue to look at the Bride of Christ, we need to challenge the "church shopping" culture that is slowly weakening the core focus of why the church exists. Church shopping means we focus on the performance, the preaching and the professionalism and we miss the goal of worship Abba Father.

The start of a new series focussing on the Church: an institution that is loved and hated both inside and outside of it. Have we forgotten why Christ designed it how he did? Have we elevated the wrong things and forgotten the aspects that truly make it shine?

Purely by existing we're significant to God. But in God's kingdom things are a bit more upside-down, and what significance looks like in society is different to what it looks like in the kingdom. Quite often, it's the ones who recognise their smallness, and God's bigness and find comfort in that.

In India there is a Caste system that divides people based on their social status. The lowest are called the Dalits. These people had become known as the untouchables, considered lower than the animals. Jesus made a point of – not only meeting people like the lepers – but touching them. If we're honest we can probably name the types of people we would consider too unclean to touch. Can we change...

We often get wrong how we treat people outside the church. We're quick to point out where people are breaking the "rules", where we should be approaching the situation with an ear to listen and a heart to love.

There is no doubt that a great desire in our churches is to see people saved; to see our communities transformed; to see breakthrough with out friends and family. Jesus' desire is for us to listen to him and obey him. Only then, will we see lives changed.

It's relatively easy to "share the Gospel" with our words, but – looking at Paul and Silas' story in Acts 16 and 17 – carrying the Gospel in how we live is where the real challenge is.

In Acts 19, Paul demonstrated that what he was able to do in his ministry depended on a deep relationship with the Father. Can love and authority go hand-in-hand? If anything, what Paul showed, was – as a Christian – it can't be anything else.

Have we become so accustomed to being cautious that it's become a form of laziness? A laziness that's missing out on what Jesus has for us? The Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit – the Wild Goose. It's a contrast from the peaceful dove that's become synonymous with it. However, they considered it to be something untameable.

Christ called us to repentance. Not just from the obvious sins in our lives, but a repentance from a way of thinking. A thinking that's been allowed to take root, causing us to become… stuck.

On his way to see Jairus's sick daughter, a woman, who had been bleeding for twelve years, touched his clothes and she was immediately healed. A story we've heard so often carries much more weight than we often give it credit for. This woman is symbolic of a rejected people, but her simple faith brought her into a position of family with Christ.

Sometimes we need reminded that we are sons and daughters, united in the Father. Sadly, the church does not always display this truth and divisions can cause an orphan spirit to enter. Let's remember the truth… that God loves us and longs for us to love one-another.

On Pentecost Sunday, we look at Acts 2, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The gifts that we're given have purpose in the kingdom of God. As we spread the word, in our families, communities, and beyond, without the power of the Holy Spirit, we're very limited.

As we read the three familiar parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son, it takes a moment to turn our mind to the person – or the people – who are not the focus of the story. We might learn surprising things about ourselves, and God himself.

The Parable of the Talents has brutal truth about what happens when we don't invest what we've been entrusted with. Jesus repeatedly charges his disciples with the thought that if you can be entrusted with the small things, he will move you on to greater things. Note: Sermon begins at 09:00

​What if we were to see God move in our community in a way that people encounter Jesus for the first time – in a real, life-changing way?

If the Bible is not a rule book, or an owner’s manual (as it’s often – wrongly – described), then what is it. Well, it’s certainly not easy to understand. Especially where God seems uncharacteristically cruel.

We are comfortable where we are. We’ve been freed, why step into enemy territory? We need a Caleb. A spirit that gets rid of settling for mediocrity. It can be done. Practically walking through our towns or villages means we can’t help but intentionally pray for places and people in our community.

As the Father calls us out into the water, how does a church fellowship become a vital part in the community around it. We also look at the inspiration behind the old spiritual and gleam lessons from this period in history.

When Jesus first appeared to the disciples in the upper room, the first thing he said was "shalom" (peace be with you).

The conclusion of our two-parter looking at the book of Esther. Esther and Mordecai face a new adversary in the form of Haman.