Grand Valley Church Podcast

We all need grace. Every one of us has done something to make us 'un-right' with God. But no matter how much we try to balance the equation ourselves, we can't get there. God's grace is unearnable. But because of God's grace and what Jesus has done, salvation solves the equation not by balancing it, but by tipping the whole thing overwhelmingly in God's direction.

There is an unsettling solution for just about everything, and we can sum it up in one word—grace. It’s the undeserved, unearned, unearnable favour that Jesus came to offer us. So why wouldn’t we want Christianity to be true? And where should you start if grace was never part of the equation for you?

So many people get surprised by something that generation after generation of successful people encounter: success is emptier than they ever dreamed. Even when all your dreams come true, you may feel grateful. But feeling grateful doesn’t leave you full? Why does success feel so empty? We’ll look at why that is, and what to do about it. Bottom Line: If you want to beat emptiness, find a mission th...

We’ve never been more connected as a culture, and we’ve never felt more alone. Many experts are beginning to call loneliness a cultural epidemic. Why is it that we can have 500 friends on social media and feel so utterly alone? A devious disconnect is underway in our culture, and it’s not just a tech problem...it’s a human problem. Two things have led to our disconnection: the demise of genuine co...

You never thought you’d be a cynic, did you? Nobody wants to be cynical, but so many people end up there. Why? Cynicism starts not because you don’t care, but because you do. Surprisingly, most cynics are former optimists. We’ll look at how cynicism starts, how to recognize it and how to stop it. To kick cynicism in the teeth, stay curious. And trust again, hope again, believe again.

When you Live on Margin, it enables you to Live on Mission. You can have a bigger impact and legacy that carries forward into the future by choosing to be generous with what you have. The Mission that Jesus gave us can be summed up simply as "Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples." This week, we talked about how this mission is funded, and how this makes a difference in the world.

This week we continued looking at our perspectives on money by tackling the question "Do you own your money, or do you manage it?" The simple truth is that money goes in and out of our possession, and we can't take any of it with us when we die. It's better to realize the truth that God owns everything (Psalm 24:1) and we are managers of the money he provides. When we view money as something we ac...

We want everyone to be able to Live with Margin and Live on Mission. One of the hurdles to overcome is the desire everyone has: greed. Whether we realize it or not, all of us have a desire for more, and those desires can lead us to a place where our desire for money becomes a trap that leads to selfishness. Instead, we can choose to live focused on Gratitude and Contentment. When we choose to be g...

Are you part of the 47% of Canadians who say money gives them extreme emotional stress? If you are, there is hope, but it's going to take some work to get there. One of the first steps to take is to recognize our mindset about money, many of us have let worry take over and each day brings a new worry about our finances. But Jesus presents a different picture: We can have a perspective on money tha...

When we serve each other in love, we find the fulfillment and purpose that God has designed us for. Reasons to Serve: - Serving kills our selfish nature. Serving helps us find and live in our passions. - Serving is investing in the spiritual growth of others. - Serving has tangible physical and mental health benefits.

We can study and know about God, but if we want to experience the abundant and life changing love of God in tangible ways, we have to move beyond knowledge and into an intimate relationship with God. It's impossible to have an intimate relationship with God without prayer. Prayer is communicating with God, sharing with Him what is going on in our lives, and learning to listen as God speaks and gui...

Everyone desires community where they can belong and be known. Belonging meets our need to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and when we are known by others we feel valued and cared for. God gave us these desires for belonging and being known because he designed us to live in relationship with others and with Him. Our desire is to be a church where everyone can be known. Part of how we a...

Following Jesus and attending a church can feel complicated, but our relationship with God doesn't have to be complex. We're starting this year by focusing on simple things everyone can do to follow Jesus. In Part 1, we began by talking about how Everyone Can Grow. God desires to lead us on a journey that takes us closer to him. This journey always involves spiritual growth. When it comes to spiri...

Let's face the truth. Christians have a reputation for being friendly just so we can invite someone to church or talk about faith. Yes it is part of our faith to share our faith, but we could do this in a way that doesn't cause fear or anxiety. It starts with building a real friendship, and being the kind of person that can talk about faith without getting defensive or dismissive.

In our world today, the topic of politics is not going away anytime soon, and the conversations about politics are getting less tolerant and more inflammatory. But the New Testament presents a different perspective on politics, one where people encountering the message of Jesus is vastly more important than creating laws or gaining control of society. Politics can't save the world, only Jesus can.

Often people think that Christianity is patriarchal, and old-fashioned in its views on gender and leadership in the church. But as we learned on Sunday, the teachings of scripture are constantly and consistently moving toward equality in church leadership. Under the New Covenant that Jesus Christ began, leadership and authority in the church is determined by spiritual gifts, not gender.

Don't let your anger at injustice turn into anger at a person. The best way to demonstrate that Christians are not angry at the world, is to live a life transformed by Jesus' love. Anger cannot create something good, only love can.

This week we had a service involving the children from KidZone, looking at investing in one another.

How can we live out the Spiritual gifts God has given us in community with one another, focusing on the Power gifts?

The gifts of Discerning Spirits, Miracles, and Healing all work together to display God’s supernatural power so that people will be convinced of who God is.

Tongues and Interpretation are often misunderstood or misapplied in the church, but when they are used properly in healthy ways, they powerfully display God’s desire for a deep relationship with us.

These three gifts are gifts of communication that the Holy Spirit uses to give specific messages to a specific recipient or recipients.

If we want the mysterious to be real in our lives and church we need to keep our hearts and eyes open to the special ways that we differ; embracing and celebrating those differences.

The Power Gifts require a common foundation to be expressed in healthy ways. Our identity and our character allow us to use our spiritual gifts in healthy ways.

After the resurrection, the church began with the mission to reveal Jesus and transform the whole world. - Grand Valley’s Mission is to ​lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. - Grand Valley’s Vision is to ​be a community that connects unchurched people to Jesus. - Is our passion big enough to do whatever it takes to achieve God’s mission?