Grantham Church Podcast

Sermon Focus: Seeking God is a primary goal in our lives. How does that look in daily practice, particularly as it relates to money? There is a tension between accumulating assets and using resources to advance God’s kingdom. How do we set and maintain our course in pursuit of God’s Kingdom with all our time, talent, and treasure? In today’s message, Mark Templeton (BIC U.S. Development Officer) s...

Sermon Focus: The true reward for followers of Jesus is knowing and being known by God. Prayer and fasting are two ways we connect with God’s heart as his children. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to pray in a way that aligns our desires with God’s in order to bring flourishing. In the first message of part 2 of our Sermon on the Mount series, Pastor Melissa guides u...

Sermon Focus: John the Baptist says this about Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In the final message of our series, we turn from celebration to discipleship. As we move from Christmas into the new year, we’re reminded that preparing the way for the Lord is an ongoing calling. Following Jesus means embracing humility, releasing ego, and letting Christ’s life shine through us. Listen...

Sermon Focus: The Word became flesh—God with us! The long-awaited Messiah entered our broken world in vulnerability and humility. This is the fulfillment of all Advent waiting and longing. The preparation is complete, yet the story continues as Christ now dwells among and within us. In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor David invites us to celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, to recognize hi...

Sermon Focus: John the Baptist knew his identity and calling. He says “I am not the Messiah” and he points beyond himself to Jesus. The Gospel of John says that the wilderness prophet wasn’t the light but came “as a witness to the light.” Advent prepares us not only to receive Christ but to reflect and testify to his light in the world. In the fourth message of our series, Pastor Melissa invites u...

Sermon Focus: According to the message and ministry of John the Baptist, true repentance bears visible fruit and is demonstrated by our good works. When we truly repent, there will be noticeable differences. John calls for ethical transformation—sharing, fairness, integrity, generosity, and justice. Advent is not only about waiting for the Savior but choosing to live like citizens of His kingdom n...

Sermon Focus: The story of John’s birth reveals a God who works through the barren and broken to show his grace. As we can see with Zechariah and Elizabeth, repentance begins with receiving God’s grace—because it’s God’s kindness that leads us to truly believe and turn things around. The season of Advent is rooted in divine mercy and grace, not human merit. In the second message of our series, Pas...

Sermon Focus: John’s cry in the wilderness invites us to prepare the way of the Lord in our own hearts. It means getting our house in order and doing whatever is necessary to align ourselves with God’s will. Advent begins in longing and repentance—a clearing of the carnal clutter that hinders God’s arrival. Advent is not for passive waiting; it’s for active preparation. In the first message of our...

Sermon Focus: Today we are celebrating God's faithfulness over this past year and expressing our gratitude for the good things he has done.

Sermon Focus: The call of God for His people is a call to become like foreigners. We are citizens of a new kingdom, and we will increasingly be peculiar people in the eyes of the world as we follow Christ. In this message, BIC U.S. Missions Director, Jonathan Lloyd, shares about the Mission of God for his people, updates from the global church, and exciting opportunities for our Grantham congregat...

Sermon FocusIn Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus wants us to consider what it looks like to live out a greater righteousness through three religious practices: giving, prayer, and fasting. And he begins by saying, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” In the final message of our series—The Sermon on...

Sermon Focus: In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus reveals his deeper wisdom from the Torah as it relates to retaliation, justice, and nonviolent resistance to injustice. Jesus gives us several examples of what this looks like and then tells us that the true children of God are those who love their enemies and pray for those who oppress and persecute them. In the ninth message of our series, Pastor David hel...

Sermon Focus: We live in a culture of manipulation, spinning the truth, and keeping our options open. But Jesus calls out our tendency to deceive and hold back and invites us into a life of integrity and honesty. In the eighth message of our series, Pastor Melissa guides us through Jesus’ teaching on oaths and encourages us to be a community who follows through with our commitments.

Sermon Focus: As modern readers, we often miss what Jesus means when he addresses divorce and remarriage because we’ve not taken into consideration the longstanding first century debate of Deut. 24:1-4, which Jesus is responding to in his sermon. In the seventh message of our series, Pastor David shares about the story surrounding divorce in ancient Israel, the Bible’s ideal of covenant loyalty, a...

Sermon Focus: As the definitive interpreter of Scripture, Jesus shows us how he interprets the Law with six case studies in Matthew 5:21-48. As we saw last week, he begins with the commandment, “Do not murder” (Ex. 20:13). In the sixth message of our series, we’re going to hear how Jesus points us beyond the commandment “Do not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14), to confront lust in the human heart. Lis...

Sermon Focus: In calling upon his disciples to pursue righteousness, Jesus challenges us to follow God’s will in both our actions and our attitudes. He warns that harmful words can be just as sinful as violent deeds, for they endanger not only others but also our own souls. Indeed, Jesus claims, we cannot properly love and worship God if we mistreat our brothers and sisters. In the fifth message o...

Sermon FocusSermon Focus: Jesus teaches about a greater righteousness that fulfills the Torah (Law) and Prophets. He believed that the Hebrew Scriptures revealed how we are to live in right relationship with God, our neighbors, and our enemies. But Jesus also claimed that he was uniquely moving the story forward to its divinely intended goal and purpose. In the fourth message of our series, Pastor...

Sermon Focus: Salt and light are everyday elements all people rely on. What does Jesus mean when he calls his followers salt and light? The Beatitudes described the qualities of Jesus’ followers as being different from the world and Jesus goes on to describe the impact his followers will make. In the third message of our series, Pastor Melissa invites us to live into our identity as people who are...

Sermon Focus: Jesus begins his sermon with an opening description of those who are being invited into the Kingdom, and the sort of people that God blesses. It’s not the list that the world has conditioned us to expect. In what is commonly known as The Beatitudes, Jesus’ teaching reveals a complete reversal of our value system and tells us what “the good life” looks like in the Kingdom of heaven. I...

Sermon Focus: It’s important to understand the context, purpose, and literary structure of the Sermon on the Mount. This will help in how we approach, hear, and apply Jesus’ core teachings. Jesus doesn’t want fans; he wants followers. Therefore, to begin our journey, we’re going to start at the end where Jesus closes his sermon with a choice. In the first message of our series, Pastor David helps...

Sermon Focus: Peter closes his letter by urging sojourners to live out the gospel in Christian community. He says that leaders serve humbly, and members honor one another. He says that everyone entrusts their cares to God, resists the devil together, holds fast to hope, and stands firm in God’s grace as we await the return of Christ and the fullness of his Kingdom. In the ninth and final message o...

Sermon Focus: Peter says that Christians should not be surprised by trials—we should expect them. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for insults, rejection, and hardships as a direct result of faithfully following Christ. What does this look like today? And what should our response be when we experience suffering for being a disciple of Jesus? In the eighth message of our series, Pastor David in...

Sermon Focus: Amid hardships and suffering, Peter calls these scattered exiles to abandon their former way of life, resist cultural pressures to conform to the world, and instead live for the will of God—which always looks like Christ. Peter challenges these followers of Jesus to live in light of eternity as they use their gifts and love each other deeply as a community of sojourners. In the seven...

Sermon Focus: When suffering for righteousness’ sake, believers are called to respond like Christ with gentleness, reverence, and hope in the Lord and trust in God’s power to save and deliver us. Suffering is not failure—it’s part of following Christ in a world that does not align with his Kingdom. In the sixth message of our series, Rich Stuebing, a former missionary to Zambia, shares how sometim...

Sermon Focus: Submission within marriage has been misunderstood and misapplied by both Christians and non-Christians. But submission is the posture all believers are to have before Christ. And, particularly in marriages where only one spouse is a believer, Jesus’ example of service and self-sacrifice is what empowers Christian sojourners to love their spouses and point them to Christ. In the fifth...