Grace Community Church NI

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.

First of a Two-Parter looking at the book of Esther. What are the parallels between the kings and Jesus; Esther and the Church? This week we look at three aspects of Esther's character: obedience, trustworthiness and attitude.

Women: don't let your gender be the reason you can't fulfil God's call on your life. Neil looks at Romans 16 – rarely preached on – and finds how women were key to the growth of the early church.

What is it I'm giving away for the sake of my community that is costly? What am I willing to sacrifice? We can't worship without surrendering.

If we are wanting to just get through – just to stay on the shore – we will be content to sing songs on a Sunday, with our one-hour devotions, with attending meetings, but what does it mean to go after "breakthrough"? To worship in spirit and truth?

We're living in a place and in a time where God seems silence. Maybe he's looking for a people who are going to posture themselves to listen to him.

Search me, O God. Test me. Know me. Maybe we need to stop, lie down, .let God search me, and lead me to wholeness.

For God to mould and change us we need to position ourselves.

If you're honest, you probably struggle to pray. And when you do it's hard to be real with God, even though that is what he wants with us. He wants us at our worst as well as our best.