Grantham Church Podcast

When we think of missions our minds often jump to trained, “professional” Christians who are called to specialized work in a foreign land. We might think about cultural hermeneutics, contextualization, apologetics, training leaders, and planting churches. But Jesus’ mission strategy centered around meals. He met people in their homes, welcomed the weak and the powerless, and prepared a feast for t...

When Jesus asked the crowds of hungry people to sit down in a remote place and for his disciples to feed them, he was fulfilling a messianic expectation. His actions indicated that he is the One they have been waiting for, and that through a meal in the wilderness he was inviting everyone who would come to celebrate before the final victory. In the third message in our series, Pastor David invites...

Jesus once received an invitation to have dinner at the home of a Pharisee, a religious leader who prided himself in being separate from sinners. The guests were expecting good food, pleasurable company, and some stimulating conversation with the edgy rabbi from Nazareth. But when a notorious sinner showed up uninvited, things got really awkward. In the second message of our series, Pastor David c...

Sharing a meal with someone is about much more than the food. The table can be a place of hostility or hospitality, argument or acceptance. In this message, Pastor Melissa Lowther will help us discover how Jesus uses the table as a place of grace. But we might be surprised by the guest list.

Jesus’ disciples were astonished when they found him talking with a woman at a well in Samaria. Pious Jews did not associate with Samaritans, nor would they talk with any woman in public, especially one of dubious morality. Although Jesus had little in common with her, he overcame their differences of gender, ethnicity, and faith. Rich Stuebing will help us to see how Jesus dealt with these barrie...

Grace is a gift from God that cannot be earned or purchased. It is the good news that lies at the very heart of the gospel that we proclaim. Even greater is to know that grace is not just for ourselves. The grace of God doesn’t give us freedom to live for ourselves. In The Gift of Grace, Todd Allen reminds us how the grace of God gives us freedom to live for someone and something much greater than...

Jesus said that he gives peace to his disciples that the world cannot give—the peace of God. The Apostle Paul said that this peace is a “fruit of the Spirit” that all followers of Christ can experience and express in their life. And he once wrote about this peace of God, which he said, “transcends all understanding,” from a prison cell! In The Peace of God for the People of God, Pastor David share...

Sermon Title: The Meager Fruit of a Fuzzy ChurchScripture Reading: Matthew 3:8; 1 Corinthians 6:12-13; Galatians 5:13-25; 6:1-10 Paul preached freedom to the bounded Galatians and boundaries to the fuzzy Corinthians. That’s because Jesus came to us full of grace and truth, and he says that we are to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. But unfortunately, some well-intentioned disciples are movin...

Sermon Title: The Meager Fruit of a Fuzzy ChurchScripture Reading: Matthew 3:8; 1 Corinthians 6:12-13; Galatians 5:13-25; 6:1-10 Paul preached freedom to the bounded Galatians and boundaries to the fuzzy Corinthians. That’s because Jesus came to us full of grace and truth, and he says that we are to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. But unfortunately, some well-intentioned disciples are movin...

Sermon Title: The Shriveled Fruit of a Bounded ChurchScripture Reading: Acts 15:1-21; Galatians 1:6-12; 2:19-21; 3:1-3, 19-29; 4:8-9, 17-20 Paul preached a gospel for everyone. It was a simple message about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul told the Galatians that God was creating a new family that included everyone who responded in faith, all because of the saving grace of Christ....

Sermon Title: The God of the CenterScripture Reading: Matthew 16:13-18; Luke 15:1-2, 11-31; Colossians 1:15-20 Jesus proclaimed the gospel of salvation to all who believed. He embodied that good news, and then gave his church the task of doing the same. So, the local church is his idea. He wants us to form worshipping communities of disciples who actively pursue him and point others to the God who...

Sermon Title: Being a Household of FaithScripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Proverbs 22:6; Matthew 19:13-14 The Apostle Paul once wrote that no matter what we think or do in this life, the most important thing—the only thing that counts—is faith expressing itself in love. If we fail to love, all our good deeds amount to nothing. Therefore, as disciples of Jesus, we must live in love as Christ lo...

Sermon Title: Love like JesusScripture Reading: Mark 8:34-35, John 13:34-35, Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 John 4:16-17 The Apostle Paul once wrote that no matter what we think or do in this life, the most important thing—the only thing that counts—is faith expressing itself in love. If we fail to love, all our good deeds amount to nothing. Therefore, as disciples of Jesus, we must live in love as Christ lov...

Sermon Title: Jesus the HealerScripture Reading: Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 4:23-24, 9:35-38; James 5:13-16 The gospel writers tell us that the ministry of Jesus not only consisted of him teaching and proclaiming the good news about the Kingdom of God, but it also involved him performing miracles and healing various kinds of sickness and disease. In Jesus the Healer, Pastor David challenges the domina...

Sermon Title: Fearfully & Wonderfully MadeScripture Reading: Psalm 139, 1 Corinthians 12 The Psalmist tells us that we were 'knit together in our mother's womb', and that we are 'fearfully and wonderfully made.' Further, the Apostle Paul indicates that we (individually and collectively) are a part of the body of Christ...from those with specific gifts, to those who 'seem to be weaker.' In Fear...

Sermon Title: Passing on PeaceScripture Reading: John 14:27 The cross, the resurrection, and peace. The risen Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Let's unwrap some of the mysteries of Jesus' transferable parting gift: Peace. In Passing on the Peace, Hyacinth Steven...

Sermon Title: Let Us Go Over To The Other SideScripture Reading: Mark 4:35-41 Before he was the president of Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary in Russia, Alexander “Sasha” Tsutserov was a KGB agent within the Soviet Union. The KGB is responsible for the destruction of thousands of church buildings and the deaths of even more Christian ministers and pastors. Sasha is now on a mission to repleni...

Sermon Title: All Things Are Possible | Easter Sunday 2022Scripture Reading: Matthew 19:26; John 20:1-18, 24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Dead is dead. Even in the first century, the disciples understood that nobody survives a Roman crucifixion. Therefore, what happened next was totally unexpected and deeply challenging to the disciples. It was bewildering and shockingly magnificent! It reframed eve...

Sermon Series: Seeking God’s Ways | Lent 2022Sermon Title: From Power Over to Power Under/With/ForScripture Reading: Mark 10:25-45; Luke 19:28-40; John 19:10-11; 1 Corinthians 1:18 The final week in the life of Christ began with palm branches and a bit of political theater. While Pilate parades into Jerusalem from the west on a stallion with soldiers and an imperial procession, Jesus of Nazareth r...

Sermon Series: Seeking God’s Ways | Lent 2022Sermon Title: From Scarcity to AbundanceScripture Reading: Exodus 16:1-31; Luke 9:1-6, 10-17; 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 It was in the wilderness that God addressed the scarcity mindset that Israel had learned as slaves in Egypt. He needed to free them from this bondage if they were going to trust in him and receive his abundant provision. And then it’s in t...

Sermon Series: Seeking God’s Ways | Lent 2022Sermon Title: From Exceptionalism to InclusionScripture Reading: Hosea 6:6; Luke 5:27-32, 15:1-32; Romans 2:1-5 As we seek God’s higher ways, we discover that the restoration of “sinners” and of sinful society comes through a radical embodiment of the gospel of grace and a kindness that leads to repentance, rather than withholding our love and acceptanc...

Sermon Series: Seeking God’s Ways | Lent 2022Sermon Title: From Earning to ReceivingScripture Reading: Isaiah 55:1-9; Matthew 20:1-16; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 2:1-10 The New Testament is clear that we cannot earn our salvation or gain access into the Kingdom of God by our good works. We do not merit the Lord’s love and favor. Instead, it is all a gift that we simply receive from a good and graci...

Sermon Series: Seeking God’s Ways | Lent 2022Sermon Title: From Fear to CompassionScripture Reading: Nehemiah 9:16-21; Psalm 27; Matthew 9:35-38; 1 John 4:17-18 The Scriptures tell us that we were created by a forgiving God who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. We see this most clearly in the person of Christ, who invites us to know his love and to freely share hi...

Sermon Title: From Security to GenerosityScripture Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9; Luke 4:1-13, 10:25-37; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 The prophet Isaiah wrote that God’s ways are higher than our ways. Jesus brought this into sharp focus in his temptations, through his life and teachings, and in how he gave his life to defeat sin and death. Clearly, we must change our thinking and trade our ways for his ways if we...

Sermon Title: From Glory to Glory | Transfiguration Sunday 2022Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36; 2 Cor 3:12-4:2; Hebrews 6:1-3 The transfiguration of Jesus is one of the most neglected gospel stories within Western Christianity. While a surface reading of the story might seem strange and confusing, we can’t afford to miss its significance and the implications it has for Christ’s id...