The Grove Church / Dallas, Texas

We are giving away our most precious resource for free and to as many as ask for it. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer introduces the concept of continuous partial attention and how we can get back what we need most.

In a world and culture that prioritizes what we know and being right, the importance of being known is long forgotten. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares about the practice of silence, stillness, and solitude and its ability to change how we are known by God and others.

Miracles are signs, and when we explore the signs, they lead us to discover the presence of God all around us. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer looks at the story of the angels and shepherds and talks about how the message of God's presence we experience at Christmas is worth sharing with others.

The virgin birth is the most doubted detail of the Christmas story - you only need a short lesson in anatomy to understand why. But in this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares how Mary moves from doubt to trust and how we can do the same in the midst of the invitations to experience the miraculous all around us.

As used in scripture, a miracle is "a work of God that points to the presence of God." Nowhere is this more evident than the star leading the wise men to Bethlehem and baby Jesus. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares how we can identify the miracles in our life and accept the invitation to experience God's presence.

Since the 1500s, our worldview about miracles has shifted drastically. We used to live in what Charles Taylor calls an enchanted world. Believing in such a world made it easy to see miracles all around us. But now, things have changed. We are less prone to see the miracles all around us. Rev. Allie Shulman walks us through the first miracle of the Advent season to show us how we can believe in mir...

Does life seem stagnant, constricted, or lacking in vibrancy? Growth is the ultimate expression of a flourishing life. And as we see with trees - greater growth requires deeper roots. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer lays out how we can develop deeper roots and experience a flourishing life full of growth.

In a forest, the largest trees are also the most generous - encoded into their biology is an understanding that a flourishing life is a generous life and so they share their resources freely. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares guidance for how to live a generous life whether you have a little or a lot.

Gardening requires constant vigilance. The gardener must actively tend her treasured plant for it to reach its potential. This fact in nature can sometimes escape us when it comes to our own spiritual growth. Rev. Allie Shulman continues in The Wisdom of Trees series by discussing how a flourishing life nurtures proper (and pruned) growth.

Over the last 50 years, there has been an erosion of social connection in families, communities, and churches that has left us isolated and depressed, yet convinced that this is normal and everything is fine. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer uses the example of Pando, a one-tree forest consisting of 47,000 members of the same massive aspen root system in Central Utah, to challenge us to recom...

"Everyone loves a great story. But beyond entertainment story is essential. We understand our lives through the stories we tell. These stories create meaning, identify heroes and villains, and guide us on how to live. But not every story is created equally. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares the newest principle, discerned from the wisdom of trees, to help us live a life-giving story."

Trees have rhythms. These rhythms helps them maintain and generate life. Rhythms can do the same for us. Rev. Allie Shulman leads us through how spiritual rhythms can better shape our life with God.

We all want a successful life. We want our relationships, families, careers, health, and businesses to grow and prosper rapidly and abundantly. The question is, how do we make this happen? In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer shares the first of seven principles, discerned from the wisdom of trees, to help us live a life of purpose and meaning.

In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer teaches about the ancient patriarchal custom of a redeemer, a role that is important for followers of Jesus today. We have been blessed to be a blessing, which often looks like bringing people back into the family of God.

When strangers show up on your doorstep, what is your response? Do you invite them inside and cook a meal, serving them on your finest china? Or do you hesitate even to answer the door at all? In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer introduces the concept of biblical hospitality and challenges us to adopt an elevated standard and reconsider how we engage with those around us.

There’s a story in Genesis 12 where God tells Abraham, “I will bless you... and will bless all people through you.” In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer unpacks the concept of “blessed to be a blessing” and teaches us something fundamental about God’s desire to bless humanity AND his expectations that we are the way this blessing happens. This idea is an essential principle of the whole Bible. It...

In learning to listen and respond to God's calling, there are obstacles along the way that we can run into that interfere and make it more challenging for us. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer looks at the story of Saul, the first king of Israel, to show how a man chosen and called by God struggled to continue to listen and follow God's calling throughout his life and what we can learn from hi...

How do you know when God's calling you? Do you wait for the clouds to part, a dove to descend, or a loud voice from the heavens to call out? One of the biggest challenges in understanding our calling is recognizing it in the first place. Rev. Stephen Lohoefer explores the call story of Esther, to shed some light on the challenges of hearing and accepting God's calling.

What would you do if you heard a voice calling in the middle of the night? Would you follow it? Would you bury your head in your pillow and take some Advil PM? Would you even know what to listen for? Rev. Allie Shulman explores the story of Samuel, a faithful servant of God whose sense of calling flips everything we assume about being called on its head. 

We are all searching for our ultimate purpose and significance. We may not use this language or even be fully aware of this truth, but we experience the effects of this search daily. From the careers we pursue to the people we share our lives with to how we spend our energies and resources - we all seek fulfillment of this deep longing for purpose. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer introduces...

We all feel and experience a deep desire to be well known and well liked, publicly approved of, and applauded. Whether or not we are successful in gaining this approval, it's still something we wrestle with. In this sermon, Rev. Stephen Lohoefer describes how when our desire for recognition grows out of control, we find ourselves caught in the vice of vainglory, and what we can do to escape this v...

"We all long for financial freedom, but what does that actually mean? Does it mean never having to work again, securing our retirement future, or having the freedom to spend without worry? Ultimately, financial freedom is rooted in our desire for control. We want to be able to guarantee our happiness and security - and we trust that financial freedom is the surest way to achieve it. But scripture...

Of all the vices, only envy is no fun at all. At least with gluttony, you get good food. With sloth, you don’t have to do hard things. Envy is just…the pits. Wanting what someone else has or to be what someone else is (lucky, smart, beautiful, etc.) makes you bitter. Resentful. It severs relationships. It can turn an ordinary person into a monster. We know envy is bad for us. But then how come we...