Word of Grace Church

In this message, we are opening a study of the Temple - not an exhaustive walkthrough, but God's intention for His Presence to dwell with His people. As we uncover God's instructions to His people regarding the Temple in then Old Testament, we will discover more of His heart for us - His Temple today.

We've been looking for four weeks at an image in scripture that describes our cultural moment and also resonates deeply with our experience. Now it's time to press in, practically. In this message, Pastor Ryan encourages us to not hold back, looking at Romans 12 and the call to put our gifts in motion for one another. Let's Build the Harbor Together.

Our Final Harbor Light is Presence. The Harbor cannot be a Harbor without the Presence of God which stills the storm. He is the one we long for.

As we continue in our Vision Series about becoming a Harbor, we look at what this means for our Formation. We believe that Spiritual Formation, or Discipleship, is a huge part of our lives as believers, and not just individually... because the deepest and most profound things shaping our lives are the communities to which we belong.

As we dive into new vision for the church, we're looking at what it means for us to become a Harbor in terms of the Mission to which we are committed.

Pastor Ryan explores an image in scripture that we believe will shape us as we enter this next season as a church family.

Launching into a New Year, we're also launching into a fresh season with God leading us. In a few weeks Pastor Ryan will be casting vision for the season ahead with an image from Scripture to shape us, but first we want to prepare, and preparation starts with the heart.

As we wrap up the way Jesus taught us to pray, He brings us back to where we started, recognizing who God is and submitting our lives to Him.

The Third step in our study of prayer is to Ask. We come to God for our daily bread and so much more. Pastor Ryan unpacks three ways of asking in prayer.

Our Second Step in praying the way of Jesus is to reflect. We consider the character and nature of God and rejoice in the fact that we belong to Him, because WHO we are talking to is more important than what we say or how we say it.

As we open this series on prayer, we remember that Jesus first invited us to find room for prayer. Pastor Ryan talks to us about the need to Pause if we are going to cultivate a life of prayer.

Speaking of people close to Jesus not understanding Him... we're wrapping up this series with a look at John the Baptist, and his own personal moment of struggle.

Jesus interacts a number of times with two sisters in the Gospels, and each time the exchanges involve some tension, as Jesus doesn't do what's expected or being asked of Him. In each of those moments, and when He doesn't fall in line with our way of thinking, He is always inviting us to something better.

This week, Jesus is at another dinner party, with a very different host. Tensions rise as an unexpected guest does unexpected things.

So many people struggle with feelings of unworthiness and disqualification. In part, that comes from the reality of what we know about ourselves, and in part it comes from our culture of achievement and earning our "lovability." But the Bible reminds us, it's not about us being worthy of God's love... it's about Jesus being worthy, and choosing to sacrifice Himself to bring u...

Jesus comes down from another mountain in Mark 9, and steps into an argument. When He enters the situation, a miracle happens, and there's a massive invitation to each of us as well.

We're looking at the moment when Jesus comes down the mountain and brings Kingdom life to the people, and specifically Matthew gives us two immediate stories of healing, of outsiders.

Still in the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, we see Him have a long and tedious conversation with the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time - a conversation that changed the course of her life.

OK so this is a bit of a sidestep, but if we're looking at interactions Jesus had in the gospels with others, we can't miss the fact that his first interaction upon launching his public ministry, was with the enemy. And in that interaction are huge keys for us as we face spiritual opposition as well.

Jesus will return, and although we won't know the time, we can keep ourselves ready and growing in love with Him and with others.

We're adding a bonus Parable in our Kingdom Vision study as we look at the parables of Jesus. This Father's Day we want to return to the heart of the Rejected Father in Luke 15.

Jesus talks about one of the amazing and challenging realities of His Kingdom in this week's parable: Forgiveness.

Jesus' parables have a way of getting under our skin, and pushing our buttons just like they pushed the buttons of those in His day. In this episode we look at the fairness (or unfairness) of God, and one particular parable of the Master.

We're diving into the Parables of Jesus where He gives us a vision of His Kingdom.

Pastor Ryan unpacks a familiar passage with an often-overlooked focus that holds a lot of encouragement and promise for Moms, and everyone!