GraceLife Sarasota

What is your first reaction to the phrase “the last days” or the return of Jesus? There is the churchy answer “Oh man what a glorious day that will be”, but all of us have a little anxiety right? Do you think biblical prophecy, signs that point to the possibility that the end is just around the corner? The topic is a little intimidating theologically, it makes you anxious. It should be the most co...

My wife Laura grew up in NY, she used to always tell me how bad chain restaurant pizza was, but I dismissed that. Then, we moved to NY just outside of Queens, a couple block away was Angeleto. It’s the best Sicilian pizza you’ll ever eat. The perfectly tangy sauce, fresh cheese, crunchy edges… transformational. In the city, on the corner of Spring & Mott was Lombardi’s (PIC) the best thin crust fi...

Have you ever had someone you care about wounded, misled, or taken advantage of by someone or a group? How did that make you feel? What did you want to do? What did you want to say to those who did it? Did you play scenarios in your head what you would say, how it would go if you had a chance to unleash? When people we love are victimized, it’s fertile ground for outrage or anger, sometimes justif...

Do you ever wonder why God sometimes seemingly lets evil have its way? Why doesn’t He judge it immediately? We know evil is caused by sin, perhaps even our own… but why does God even allow sin to be a thing in the first place? Wy must we even tolerate false teaching? Didn’t’ Christ suffer on the cross to defeat evil? Will evil ever get what it deserves? We grapple with these questions today, same...

What is the problem with false teaching? Why is it so bad? Why is it so important? You may not realize it but without your church family & constant reminder you are very vulnerable to false teachers. Why are people so susceptible to false teachers? What makes false teaching so attractive, so alluring? It has Something for everyone… atheistic, deistic, philosophical, theological. It can be radical,...

Why do we follow Jesus? Why do we go through the trouble of living in accordance to His commands? - Why do we put our faith and trust for eternity in His promises to the degree it changes how we live on earth? The reason? You have been convinced the words of Jesus are true, reliable enough to devote your life to Him. That makes sense, right? We follow Jesus, trust in Jesus because we’re confident...

What if, I told you God says its ok to indulge the flesh with anything we want for the next 30 days? Eat or drink whatever, whenever, don’t worry about health repercussions, they aren’t important for this month. Don’t worry about sexual purity, integrity, or any biblical righteousness… for 30 days, none of that matters. Likely, if you are a follower of Jesus,, you know this is a bad idea. Even wit...

When your faith is challenged, by friends, family, or the world, how competently, confidently can you recall those things? Are you able to give a reasonable summary & defense of teachings of Jesus, & why they are reliable, trustworthy? Can you remember important things to enlighten those who don’t know truth, and encourage those who do? Of course, one person alone can’t know it all, but here are s...

Have you ever had the privilege of spending significant time with Christians in other parts of the world? Several years ago, I went on a missions trip to a mountain village in Peru, mostly native south American Indians. Most of them didn’t speak Spanish, they spoke Quechua, an ancient Peruvian language before the Spanish came. Life was very different there, it was quite the experience. But the exp...

A Christmas Eve message: - Did you ever receive the perfect gift? Can you remember your favorite Christmas gifts ever? For each person, the gift of faith from Heavenly Dad is unique, with exceptional circumstances, meaning, special revelation. -Sadly, over time we can forget how precious that perfect gift is, we begin to forget that very 1st day we opened it.

Imagine you’re in a burning building, & firefighters show up to rescue you, would you question their orders or direction as they tried to get you away from danger? Would you say, I don’t need trained firefighters to get out of this. All I need is God! He and I can handle anything! NO of course not, because as the heat and flames intensify, you’d be fully aware of the danger & do what they say. You...

Have you ever heard the term “Sheeple”? What does that mean? Is it a compliment or an insult? Ever hear phrases like “dumb sheep”, or “led like sheep”? Nobody likes to be called a sheep. Sheep are very useful livestock, providing wool, protein (delish), keeping fields from being overgrown. But sheep are high maintenance, the get lost easily, and they can’t find their own way back home. They have d...

My 1st season as a head HS football coach, we were a brand-new program. We were motivated, practiced hard. But I really had no way of knowing how my team measured up until we played our first opponent. The night before, was sleepless, nervous, but in humble confidence we were ready to find out who we were. Game time was judgement time, to see what kind of team we had While I was nervous, I was als...

Do you ever struggle with doubt about your faith in Jesus. Is heaven real? Is all this Jesus stuff legit? Is the promise of eternity w/God worthy of the sacrifices necessary for us to be a true disciple of Jesus? What if there was a way we could be reassured, even in moments of doubt, that our Jesus is reliable? What if that assurance was tied to real suffering, not suffering because of our sin, b...

Preparing for future trouble is very important for many people. Doomsday prepping is a huge industry. Full kits, structures, supplies… I secretly want them all, but not out of fear, because of its cool stuff. When you are warned to prepare for a potential “disaster”, are you a sense of urgency person or a procrastinator? When hurricanes approach, do you buy 4 bottles of water, or do you buy a gene...

After 14 weeks in 1 Peter, if you’re like me, you’ve been deeply challenged about you responsibilities as a Royal priest. Always proclaiming, living w/integrity, & industry… always passionate, ready, & gentle, always seeking peace? Do you feel some frustration over inconsistencies for these daily spiritual responsibilities, how hard it really is? Like me do you struggle with other passions constan...

It’s hard to preach todays passage without chasing rabbit trails, but we are going to try to stick to the text today. Have you ever met someone so immersed in their job, their work, nothing around them can distract them? What’s look like when a Christian is so transformed by the work of Jesus they are fully immersed in the priesthood? What if Christians… you… could be this immersed in the Kingdom?...

We've been talking about this priesthood now for 12 weeks, proclaiming integrity, and industry. Its hard being a good priest in this world consistently but that's what we're called to do. Called to be passionate, ready, and to respond to a hostile world with gentleness, when the temptation is to fight back. We have many things competing for our passions, especially as we pursue bios. I have a stor...

Have you ever heard someone say, “I am blessed”? or “Life is good” What do they mean when they say that? Maybe it’s a job you love, financial security, a material goal like your dream car, dream house… That’s good stuff, right? Maybe its living life to its fullest. YOLO! Beautiful vacations, memorable experiences, food, sex, substance abuse. Maybe political victory, moral self-righteousness, cultu...

In the last few passages, Peter constructs a funnel of relationships. Government at the top, then society & workplace. Today is the narrow end of the funnel, in the home, with husbands and wives. Success in every relationship in the funnel requires two things: Honor/Submission, & Cherish. Submission has such a negative connotation, doesn’t it? Especially when we believe people don’t deserve it. Ha...

Are you ever outraged by injustice? Especially when you or your cause are the victim of that injustice? In 7th grade, riding the bus to school, I got blamed for punching the kind behind me. I was outraged! Unfair! School bus justice was a travesty! I set out that day w/one goal! To fix society on that bus! No… I knew I didn’t want to walk 4 miles to school, so I just took the hit, moved right behi...

Over the last 5 years, there’s been a 210% increase in deadly riots, looting, & mob violence in USA & across the world. Not just an American problem, violence & destruction fueled by economics, elections, COVID restrictions, social justice. Paris 3x, Russia, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Poland, Brazil, Sweden, Venezuela, Iran Bangladesh, N. Ireland, India, Brussels, Honduras, Nigeria, Ecuad...

Pedro is president & founder of Urban Youth Justice, a dynamic outreach to teens across the southeast in the juvenile justice system. A member of GraceLife Sarasota, Pedro has a compelling redemption story and a powerful message about the importance of discipleship, especially among society's most neglected.

Would you say you are an important part of God’s spiritual house, an important part of your church family? What I mean is, are you filling an important role as an intermediary, a conduit for God’s love to others? A conduit for God’s love to one another, and to those outside of our church family? How can we avoid becoming freeloaders in God’s spiritual house? Mostly receiving as opposed to serving?...

What’s the 1st image in your head when you hear the word “church”? buildings, steeples, steel, stage, pulpit? I googled it, 1st result is this def: is a building used for public Christian worship. Stones, bricks, mortar, steel, drywall. “We won't be going back here to church again. The A/C wasn't working right. The seats were uncomfortable. The exterminator hasn't been here in a long time. Childre...