Grace Fellowship Church

While crosswalking outside the Scott County Courthouse and Jail, in Davenport (IA), Tony had a lengthy conversation with a young man named Ty. Along the way, Tony explained to Ty what every false religion has in common and it's as old as Satan deception of Eve in the garden.

Closing Thought: Beloved, God puts great emphasis on loving the brethren because love is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that we have passed from death to life. Christ laid down His life for us and showed us what love truly is. So let us not love selectively, or in word and talk only. Let us love one another… actually: in deed and in truth, laying down our lives in ordinary, costly, Christl...

Closing Thought: Beloved, sin is lawlessness, and the devil has been sinning from the beginning; but the Son of God appeared to take away sins, destroy the works of the devil, and make sinners children of God. So do not make peace with the sin Christ came to destroy, or cling to what He came to deliver you from. If you have been born of God, let the family resemblance be seen: practice righteousne...

Closing Thought: Beloved, because we have been born of the righteous God and made His beloved children, we practice righteousness now, we endure and embrace the world's misunderstanding, we hope in Christ's return, and we pursue purity until we are made like Him. Amen?

Closing Thought: Beloved, it is the last hour. Deceivers are real. Lies about Christ are deadly. But you do not need a newer gospel, a deeper secret, or a more impressive Christ. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. Confess the Son. Trust the Spirit's anointing. Abide in Him now, so that when He appears, you may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame.

Beloved, the world is passing away. Its pleasures are passing away. Its pride is passing away. Its applause is passing away. Its lusts are passing away. But the one who does the will of God abides forever. So, do not give your heart to what is dying. Give yourself to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, and live for what will never pass away.

Closing Thought: Beloved, the path of spiritual growth is beautiful: all God's children stand on the same foundation, that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake. From there, grace matures in different ways — the child rejoices in sonship, the young man grows strong in truth, and the father ripens in the wisdom of deeply knowing God Himself. So do not settle into complacency but press on in gra...

Closing Thought: Beloved, John writes so that we may have assurance, but also to remind us that such assurance can never be divorced from love for God's people. The true light is already shining, and where Christ truly rules, His love will increasingly be given through His people to His people.

Closing Thought: John writes to give believers assurance, but never an assurance divorced from Christ or from obedience. Real assurance begins by looking to Christ. Real knowledge of Christ produces a real keeping of His Word and a real likeness to His life.

Closing Thought: Beloved Brethren, John writes first to make us take sin seriously and turn from it on purpose, never making peace with it, believing that the power of Christ is enough to help us fight it and forsake it. Then he writes to keep us from despair when we do sin by fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ the righteous, our Advocate with the Father and the propitiation for our sins.

Closing Thought: Beloved brethren, let us not be driven to despair over our sin, but to be drawn out of denial, into the light, and into the honest, cleansed, joyful fellowship with God that is ours through Jesus Christ.

Closing Thought: John writes to draw us into the shared life of the gospel; into true fellowship with the Father through His Son Jesus Christ, into real fellowship with one another, and into the deep joy we are meant to know as we walk together in that life. Are you walking in this fellowship with great joy?

Closing Thought: God does not want His church guessing; He wants them knowing. Therefore, John asks three questions: Do I believe in the true Christ? Am I growing in obedience? Do I love God's people?

Closing Thought: In Adam, death reigns. In Christ, death is defeated. And one day, Death itself will be destroyed. The grave will give up its dead. And what follows will not be death, but eternal life or eternal judgement.

Final Thought: Christian, you have been given a new nature united to God by His Holy Spirit and that is Jesus Christ living and dwelling in you. Let the truth of Christs crucifixion and death define how you think about your old sinful nature. Let the truth of Christ's resurrection define your new nature in Christ today. Your new self is now united to the incorruptible and divine nature and is powe...

Final Thought: The man with no self-control lives enslaved to his own sinful passions and desires, no matter how under control he appears to be. Don't be deceived, to serve our sinful self is to serve Satan himself and to be headed towards an eternal "Jericho" of destruction under the wrath of God. Jesus Christ came to rescue a people from slavery to sin, to recreate them inwardly, and to live in,...

Closing Thought: Church, we keep ourselves in the love of God because God is keeping us by His power. And as we contend for the faith, we do so knowing that one day He will present us before His glory with great joy.

Closing Thought:Peter's final command is simple but profound: do not drift, grow. The Christian life is sustained not by spiritual autopilot but by continual dependence on Christ through His Word. Stability comes from being anchored in truth, and maturity comes from knowing Jesus more deeply. As we wait for the coming Day, we must guard our hearts from error and pursue growth in grace. In all of t...

The Day is certain, and when it comes you will be found. The decisive question will not be how impressive your life appeared, but whether you are found in Christ; clothed in His righteousness, at peace through His blood, and living in a way that reflects that union. The patience of God you are experiencing right now is mercy, giving space for repentance and faith and fueling our mission of reconci...

Because this present world is passing away, do not give your heart to it as though it were permanent. Christ has already borne the judgement that was coming for you, and He has secured a kingdom that cannot be shaken. You are not waiting for wrath, you are waiting for renewal. So live as citizens of the world to come. Let the certainty of His return loosen your grip on what is temporary, steady yo...

We are living in the silence of God's patience. The Lord who stands outside of time has fixed a day for Jesus's return into time. It is appointed; settled; immovable. Christ is reigning now, and He is not waiting on world events or human progress. He is gathering every one of His sheep. Not one will be missing--not one overlooked. When the very last elect sinner is brought to repentance, when the...

Closing Thought: The Lord knows. He knows how to rescue the righteous, and He knows how to judge false teachers whose end is destruction. Therefore we must be alert and discerning, recognizing false teachers by their fruit, rejecting their false teaching, and avoiding their influence rather than following them into eternal ruin. And because we trust that God will save His people, we will give care...