That's Grace Podcast - WB

It's a part of our nature to look out for ourselves first and to make our comfort and enjoyment number one. While we might aspire to be known for helping others and putting others before our needs, many times we find ourselves helping in ways that ultimately benefit us. We wake up in the morning planning out how we want our day to go, and often react negatively when something or someone gets in th...

Sometimes it’s the people closest to us that we struggle to get along with the most. Maybe it’s because they are the people we spend the most time with, see the worst of, and can get away from least. All of us would say we want to have healthier relationships with our family, but sometimes, it’s hard to imagine how to even begin that process. Because our families have broken people just like us, i...

I think most of us would agree that it is a good thing to stay close to God and to intentionally set aside time to hear God's leading, pruning, and guiding in our hearts. That it's good to take a step back in life and lean into what God is trying to tell you. But in the last week of our series, we see what the purpose of staying close to God is! It's not so that we can get more money, be more bles...

When it comes to prayer, many of us are unsure or uncomfortable with how to utilize it in our relationship with God. We say our thoughts and prayers are with others during tough times, but often neglect the "prayer" part. For many of us, talking to God seems intimidating and we believe we have to have eloquent speech and language. And others of us have learned to recite certain prayers since we we...

There are some things in life that require extra focus and attention in order for us to grow in those areas. Passing a difficult exam requires extra studying. Lifting your body weight requires both training and lifestyle changes. And in the same way, there are areas in our spiritual life where God is trying to grow us and prune us, but until we commit to the extra discipline of eliminating noise a...

Life is often busy. Noisy. Chaotic. Rushed. If you're like most people, you've probably at one time or another looked back and wondered where time went. And if we are not careful, the busyness of life can pull us along and cause us to stay distracted enough to where our relationship with God tends to become stagnant and even begin to wither away. As we begin this series Airplane Mode, we challenge...

Have you ever received a gift that just blew you away? Something that you weren't necessarily expecting and maybe even something that you didn't deserve. How did you feel when you opened that gift? Around Christmas, we talk a lot about giving and receiving gifts, but what if the best gift you've ever been given was still unopened. What if was there, ready for the taking, and all you had to do was...

While most of us want to live a life defined by joy and contentment, it seems incredibly difficult to obtain and at times almost impossible. Whether it is comparison, outside circumstances, or other people that rob our joy, something always seems to right there threatening to steal away the joy we want. And honestly, for many of us, the biggest reason that we can't find joy is because of the deep,...

If you were to list the things that steal your joy what would they be? Many of would say things like money, or the way others treat us, or maybe life not being fair. But in those answers we find a common factor. Our joy is often "stolen" when we are most concerned with the things that affect our lives. When things don't go how we intended, we feel that we have the right to be upset and be joyless....

We all want to be happy. In fact, we all spend a significant amount of time in pursuit of things that make us feel happy. If we were given a choice everyday on whether to feel happiness or not, most of it would without thinking choose happiness. But it doesn't take long to realize that the brokenness of our world and the brokenness inside of us is at odds with our quest for happiness and at times,...

We spend a lot of time thinking about our lives here in the here and now. Working to reach our next goal, trying to make more money, and gain more happiness. But we often spend very little time thinking about how the lives we are living right now will make a difference after we are gone. While none of is like to think about the end of our lives, none of us want to get there and look back with regr...

In a world that revolves around the money, it can be very easy to allow your identity, worth, and success to get wrapped up in your income. In our society, the money you have determines the have’s and the have not’s. The opportunities you will get and the lack thereof. We often assign value to other people based on what they do or don’t have. And to be honest, none of us want to be at the bottom o...

Money and the things we use to purchase with it always have a close place in our hearts. In fact, where our money goes will often point to where our interests, passions, and priorities are. Think of it this way, when you were a kid and your parents bought you some shoes, it was okay when they got scuffed and dirty right? But when you saved your money to purchase shoes, you were upset when they got...

It’s probably safe to say that all of us want to be generous people. There is something attractive about people who are generous with their time, money, and resources. We see them as being astoundingly selfless and it really makes an impact on all of us. Think of the person ahead of you who pays for your meal at the drive through, or maybe someone who pays off medical bills or school lunch bills....

Have you ever felt that, no matter what you did, your life seemed to spiral further and further our of control? There are times in life where no matter how well we plan, how good of decisions we make, or how much right we try to do, life just seems to do wrong. For some of us, the thought of losing control consumes us with fear and anxiety and as a result, we shape how we think and how we act arou...

None of us want to fail, but everyone does at one point or another. As a kid maybe you remember failing a test at school, or maybe you didn’t make the sports or after school team. Maybe you failed multiple times at learning how to ride a bike, swim, or even get your license. But as we get older, the things that we are afraid of failure in seem to get scary. Things like failing to provide for our f...

The fear of rejection is something that most of us encounter through different seasons of life. We have a need to be liked, loved, and wanted. And in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this desire, but the problem comes when the fear of others matters more to us than what God thinks. We want to follow God, but as soon as it begins to cost us social status or hinders the pursuits of our car...

When it comes to faith, a big barrier that many people have is that science seems to have proven the Biblical account to be inaccurate. So in order to be a Christian, does that mean you must ignore what we learn from science and only accept what the Bible says, or is there evidence that points to the validity of the Biblical narrative? Can you believe in evolution and be a Christian and can you st...

The number one instruction that God gives throughout the Bible is “Don’t Be Afraid”. In fact, that instruction shows up in the Bible 365 times! But it’s a lot easier to say than to do isn’t it? Some fears and worries last only a little while and some never seem to leave us. Some cripple us to the point where it affects our health, our relationships, and our decisions. But what can we do to get a h...

For Christians, the holy book that shapes their faith and beliefs system stems from the Bible, which claims to be God’s words to mankind. But if we are going to pursue  in our faith with God, and rearrange our lives, our beliefs, and our values around it, shouldn’t we be sure that what’s in it is true in the first place? I mean, the Bible was written thousands of years ago in another language...

In today’s message, we look at quite possibly one of the biggest barriers that many of us when it comes to faith and our belief in God. If God is really there, why does such bad things happen to good people? And how could a good God sit by and allow all the evil, hate, and brokenness exist in the world. If it were up to us, we would prevent evil from happening, so why doesn’t God? Pastor Stephen a...

Sexuality is a big topic in our culture today and history shows that it has always been. It’s used to sell everything from cars to chewing gum. It’s talked about in our circles of friends, our work, and at our schools. But why does it seems that churches and Christians have such a big problem with sex? In today’s teaching, we take a closer look at how our culture approaches the topic of sex and ho...

If you’ve ever hosted a party at your house, you know that you have different responsibilities than everyone else. Yes, you might ask your friend to pick something up at the store on the way, but you wouldn’t ask a friend to go pick up your bedroom or clean your bathroom. That would be an expectation of a family member. In this week’s message,  we talk about how the church has different respo...

We can often forget and get distracted a from the life God intended for us to live. Isn’t it easy to live life distracted and before we realize it, months have gone by? Maybe you’ve realized that the things you say are important to you, aren’t reflected in the way you spend your time. Well what if there’s a possible that you are living your life distracted from the one thing that God intended your...

Sometimes life just doesn’t turn out the way we envisioned it. Maybe our plans didn’t go according to plan or maybe life just seemed to throw us a curveball. Oftentimes, we find ourselves in the same place when it comes to our relationship with God. Have you ever felt that God threw you a curveball that you just didn’t see. Or maybe you feel Him prompting you to do something that just doesn’t make...