Grace Valley Church

In the first Sunday of our new sermon series called Encounters With Jesus we meet Nathaniel. He's an earnest guy whom Jesus commends for being an authentic and geniune dude, but he's also a skeptic. So many of us can relate to him in the way that our initial reaction when we hear about what Jesus has done for us is disbelief. None of us want to be the one that falls for something that is too good...

At the beginning of each new year, we walk through one of the seven letters written to various churches in Asia Minor. This year, Pastor Mark unpacks a little bit of the letter to a church in Thyatira which is a bustling city with strong economic power and wealth. The warnings in this letter to the church in Thyatira is a warning to us as well - we must always be on our guard, especially when thin...

Every year we make new years resolutions, and every year most of us are still the same disorganized, financially stressed, short tempered, distracted and generally sedentary people we were the year before. Why? Well, for starters, most of us have a desire to make ourselves better because we know we aren't quite right. There's something in us that's telling us to be something better than we are. Th...

Please join us for our Christmas Eve Service.

Death breaks into our lives whether we like it or not. Sooner or later, we're all faced with it, whether we suddenly end up at the feet of Jesus one moment or whether we are aware it's going to happen. Simeon knew when he was going to die and he welcomed it with open arms and a peaceful heart. How did he get to the point of accepting death, even to the point of welcoming it? What caused his faith...

Join us this week as we learn more about the unique character of John the Baptist and the incredible mission he was on - to make way and prepare the hearts for the coming Messiah.

When you are going through a tough season, whether or not it is physical or mental, chances are your first instinct isn't to praise God through it. Chances are, you are consumed with questions and thoughts of your own circumstances and not what God could be teaching you through it. We all do it, but it isn't the way God wants us to react when things are tough. Zechariah was mute (and likely deaf)...

After 400 years of utter silence from God. After 400 years of the world getting darker and more corrupt and more broken. We suddenly hear God's voice, once again. But it isn't through a prophet and it isn't through a burning bush. It isn't one of judgement or condemnation as one would expect after hundreds of years of unmitigated human sin and spiritual destruction. It's the voice of love, of comf...

So what is the final answer? After weeks of studying "the book of questions" we wrap up this week with The Final Answer.

It's pretty easy to spend the 1.5 hours we sit in church thinking about everything but God. So many of us fall into a routine of going to church that we sit and hear the words coming out of our pastors mouth aren't actually fully listening. Despite our best intentions, our internal dialogues are pretty insistent that we focus on anything but the gospel that is being preached. But we need to check...

When we give to someone else, it's always nice to know that there will be a return on our investment. It could be as simple as getting a 'thank you' from someone you let go ahead of you in line, to a promise of a favour returned. It could be your bank account grows a little faster with interest earned or it could be that the child you sponsored ends up becoming a doctor and becomes integral to the...

One of the most common questions regarding God and the problem of evil is: if God is a loving God, why does He allow evil in this world? It's a legitimate question, one that is asked by believers and unbelievers alike. This week, we dive into the topic of evil and injustice and what it means to live in a world where tragedy befalls us and despicable people seem to get away with doing despicable th...

We don't have a single ounce of control over our own lives. No matter how much we try and fight the fact, the reality is that everything that happens in our lives - from our first breath to our last - is ordained by God. A loving God who loves and cares for us, despite what it may look like from our earthly perspective some days. Join us for this beautiful sermon on God's Providence as we look at...

"Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." - Jesus Is money the root of all evil? How are we to think about the resources that have been given to us? Join us this week as we unpack the Question of Money.

This week we take a break from our Ecclesiastes series and look at the story of the 10 lepers that Jesus healed. It first glance the message of the story seems fairly obvious, but upon closer study, we learn there are more layers to this story than meets the eye. Join us to hear more!

Everybody's workin' for the weekend. But is the weekend worth it? Is anything actually worth working for? God thinks there is and it's definitely not "the weekend". Take stock of what you are working for in your every day to day tasks and responsibilities. Whether you're a student, or you work at home with your kids or you build complex computer systems for multinational companies, we're all worki...

The problem isn't that we can't get no satisfaction. The problem is that we can't keep no satisfaction. There is nothing on this earth that will ever completely fulfill us and even if it does, it's going to pass away or decompose anyways. Fun, right? But human beings are created to have a desire for endless happiness and comfort and neverending goodness. That's why we find ourselves perpetually ch...

What gives life its meaning? Is everything really meaningless? Why do we even bother getting up in the morning? The whole book of Ecclesiastes is like listening to a professor who is having a major existential crisis. But the author asks very valid, very hard questions and they are ones we can all certainly relate to. Join us as we begin our new sermon series on the book of Ecclesiastes, beginning...

So many of us live like we are standing in God's courtroom, waiting for Him to catch our next bad move. Waiting to show Him that we are worthy of His love. Waiting to prove we've earned our keep for the day. But this attitude grieves the heart of our loving Heavenly Father, whose only desire is to bring His children close to Him, without condemnation and without the judgement we deserve. Jesus die...

In order to love eachother well, we must make sure that our hearts are aligned with God's heart. We are quite literally created to worship, but what we worship will ultimately take over our hearts. When we worship food, our health can suffer. When we worship work, our family lives can suffer. But when we worship God, our whole lives will change. Aligning our heart with what God teaches is the only...

Shame had been poured into this woman's soul. For 12 years, all she saw was disgust in their eyes and heard judgment on their lips. In an act of desperation, she reached out her hand to her last hope - and was healed. Her very soul was healed by a simple word: daughter. Her body was healed from the bleeding disease she had suffered with for so long. Jesus loved her and accepted her and welcomed he...

These days, the concept of the devil has been relegated to cheesy halloween costumes and forgotten fairytales. But Jesus beleived in the devil and as Christians, so should we. The devil is a being who exisists and who is active and intent on destroying our spiritual lives and often our physical lives as we are tempted to indulge in things that take us far away from our Creator. If we take God at H...

Do you have a pervasive sense of apprehension and anxiety that just seems to permeate your whole life? If so, you're not alone. Many Christians struggle with baseline anxiety that is the ground note to their life. They know that their feelings are opposite to how God wants them to live and yet feel powerless to stop it. But Jesus offers hope. Jesus does offer a better way. He invites us to lean in...

We've all heard stories of people being seriously wounded by poor leadership in the church. Maybe you're someone who has experienced this yourself. The place that is supposed to be a place of spiritual rest and comfort turns into a place you've been spiritually manipulated or even physically or sexually abused. The heart of God rages with righteous anger at elders and pastors who lead their flocks...

It is becoming increasingly obvious to both Christians and non-Christians alike that our culture has gone past the tipping point of turning our backs away from God. We are rushing headlong into the acceptance of lifestyles and values that are in direct opposition to how God has created humans to flourish. We see the consequences of this everywhere. In the generations of children who are growing in...