Gracehouse

We understand instinctively that love is important to life... and especially the Christian life. In this sermon we examine Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians that love is more important that anything. We love because God is love.

In the opening pages of our story we find that God created mankind to be his "image bearers" in the earth. By our very nature we will begin to reflect what we worship. So it's important that we are deliberate about our worship to Jesus as the Son of God who perfectly reveals the Father to us.

When we submit our finances to the Lord and are prepared to give generously we can expect God to bless us. We find though that those blessings often come, not in the form of bigger bank accounts (though that is possible) but in an overflow of good works, righteousness, and thanksgiving to God. We as a people should expect to be blessed when we partner with the work of God.

As we continue our sermon series on money we talk about how we go about giving to God. Our heart posture and approach to being faithful generous stewards of our finances is important.

We look at the story of Hannah and discuss how the Lord works in mysterious ways. It is ok if we don't understand it all. It's ok if we feel an assortment of emotions, we just need to bring them to the Lord and not run anywhere else. May we learn from Hannah's example, to be a people who pray and release our burdens to God, trusting in his faithfulness and unfailing love all the days o...

As we take a look at Psalm 30, it’s clear David’s poem couldn’t be more relevant for us today. We tackle the question, “how do I find joy when I feel joyless?”. Six principles can be extracted from the Psalm, summarised with the acronym, “A.S.C.E.N.D.”. Tune in to this week’s sermon, “Joy”, to find out more!

Our hearts are not naturally inclined to trust God. We like to remain in control (or at least believe that we are in control) of everything. But God is calling us to trust him with all areas of our lives. As uncomfortable as this might be for us, this also includes our money. We need to be reminded though that God isn’t after our money. He’s after our heart.

As we begin this short series on God and money want to acknowledge that talking about money in church can sometimes be an awkward thing. But God tells us that wherever we store up our treasure. That is where our heart will be also. We need to be very aware of this in our lives and respect the fact that we cannot serve God and money.

We continue to look at this significant passage in Romans 8 to discover more about the adoption we have and the challenge inherent in that revelation to live like that is true and fulfil the true meaning of what it is to be a new creation.

As Christians we often affirm certain doctrines as true even if we don't understand why they are important. This Easter we explore four reasons why the resurrection is good news for our lives today.

In Paul’s last statements to the Galatians, he takes up the pen himself and writes with his own hand. In the end so many of our religious, cultural, and tribal markers mean nothing in light of the new creation in Christ. Is the world crucified to you?

As Paul begins to conclude his letter to the Galatians he urges the church to carry one another’s burdens even when someone falls into sin. He makes the warning though…that God will not be mocked. Those who persist in sin will reap destruction from the flesh

Living as true "sons" is immensely challenging but ultimately liberating. Tune in to hear more from the sermon this week by Colin Stoodley.

As we continue through our series on Galatians we see how Paul approaches new covenant living. Not by walking in the old ways of religiosity but by the Spirit of God. When we 'walk in the Spirit' we begin to produce the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to the works of the flesh. And this is God's gracious work in us.

The health of our heart is vital to every aspect of our being. As Christians, we serve a God who is in the business of restoring and renovating hearts. Do you know what state the garden of your heart is currently in? Join us as we look at Proverbs 4:23 which says 'Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

There seems to be trouble brewing in Galatia as a result of the false teaching that has been spread. Paul takes the opportunity to remind them not to allow this to be a moment for the flesh. Instead, he encourages them to serve one another in love. We unpack what this might mean.

The cross of Christ is an equal opportunity offender. It cuts to the core of our ego and self-reliance. It stands in the face of our religiosity. It speaks a better word of love and forgiveness…even to those we might not want to love and forgive. In short, the cross is the revelation of the salvation of God in the person of Jesus. It is life to all those who will receive it and offence to all who...

Reading Paul’s prayers tells us a great deal about him just like our prayers tell us a lot about us. When we examine these prayers we see again how he prayed that the disciples across the various churches with whom he related would have, by the Spirit, the ability to understand what God had given them and was doing in them.

The gift of administration is rarely talked about. We tackle this important topic by uncovering what the nature and purpose is of an “administrator”, as well as how to exercise it well, all with an end goal to elevate the importance of every gift in the Body of Christ (including the unspectacular ones).

The forming work done by the Spirit brings us into the fullness of the new creation which is God's gift to us. Tune in to this week’s sermon by Colin to find out more about the formation of Christ’s image in his disciples!

This Christmas we remember the birth of Jesus. The who is the light of the world. And we consider the counter-intuitive way in which God chose to rescue the world. Because of this we know that God is still at work today...even if we don't always understand.

Paul has begun to give his concluding remarks to the Galatians regarding the false teaching of the Judaizers. He declares that neither circumcision nor un-circumcision means anything but what really matters is faith expressed in love. Our call as followers of Jesus is to love.

Paul raises the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, as an allegory for the Galatians to consider. Those born under the law become slaves to religion but Christ has set us free from that. As a result Paul proclaims that the free person will never be a co-heir with someone who is still enslaved to religion.

In this message we look together at how we live in this world consistently the life we have been given by God. And as we do this, we hold to the story of who we are as it is recorded in the Scriptures and live a life filled with the Spirit.

The revelation of Jesus that Paul is working from is not just that He sets us free from sin. He goes beyond that He gives us the spirit of sonship which brings us into Gods family. Even though it's a challenge to have our mindset shifted we must embrace our identity as sons and daughters of God.