Grace Sagola Church

The life of a disciple is the primary evidence to a watching world of having encountered the living God. When we are born into God's family our lives will be a reflection of His leadership

Do Christian's really need to "go to church"?  Is a "church" even a place where people can "go"? What if, instead of a building, the church was a people who defined themselves in relationship with God and in community with Christ and one another? 

The indwelling the God's Spirit is the number one most important and essential component to true discipleship. Without God's Spirit we are left under the curse of self-rule, self-righteousness, and death. 

The Christian's path towards maturity must begin with Jesus' righteousness and not a self-determined form of external adherence to a list of do's and don'ts.  For our righteous acts are but filthy rags before the perfection of God Almighty. 

The Word of God is the greatest resource given to mankind for our equipping in discipleship.  Yet living in a world of the embarrassment of spiritual riches for the availability of God's Word, we must ask the question "Are we using the Bible the way God has intended?"

What is a disciple? Jesus will give his followers an answer to this question that wasn't very popular then, and still isn't today.

The character of God as redeemer is most clearly seen when we submit our life circumstances to Him: to allow His purpose and His glory to shine through our trials. 

The story of the shepherds invitation to witness the brith of the Messiah teaches us God's design of humility for those who follow His Son.  This story also provides for us the pattern of God's involvement for us to first "come and see" and finally "go and tell". 

The title of Immanuel is often head at Christmas, yet for those it was prophesied to it had a very different context than what our contemporary Christmas traditions impose. 

The coming of the Chosen One was described with the metaphors of "light" and "victory", but more than anything he would be One to define and declare God's kingdom and government. 

The coming of the Messiah was foretold with key insights that were overlooked by those at the 1st Christmas and are also easily missed in our modern culture today. 

God's Chosen One is a title that speaks beyond Christmas. The grace of God has delivered the gift of the Messiah for which we celebrate Christmas.  However, the Chosen One is primarily given to bear the sins of the world. We now live in the middle of Jesus' first advent and His soon coming return. 

When God made the human creature, he instituted a covenant relationship by which they would join together in serving as His image bearers. This covenant is called marriage.  Although our world today has many perspectives on the subject, the scriptures are crystal clear about the nature of God's design for oneness between a man and a woman. 

God's design for marriage is modeled by Jesus, such that husbands would demonstrate the love of Jesus in their sacrificial love for their wives. 

The maturity of a Christian in their devotion to our Lord is found in our obedience to the Lord's commands. Nowhere are the effects of either our rebellion or our submission to Christ more evident than in the covenant of marriage.

If Jesus is truly in charge, then we must follow His leadership in each sphere of our lives.  Nowhere is this more critical than in the foundation relationship and covenant of Marriage.

The end result of satan's scheming after Christians is to render us as ineffective.  One of our enemy's greatest weapons against us is the constant reminder and crippling effects of guilt and shame.  We, however, must hold fast to Jesus and find that the exaltation of His glory will be our greatest defense. 

The evil one is often referred to as "the tempter". Our depravity has handicapped our ability to follow the Lord as we ought. We are easily tempted towards sin.  What we must learn is how very dangerous that temptation is. 

The enemy will often work to remove peace from our lives. True, lasting, and holistic peace can only come from the Lord of all peace.

"A house divided, will not stand." This truth has served the schemes of our enemy to make the people of God effective in our expression of the body of Christ. The counterattack for Christians will require our dedication to God's truth, and much practice on our part. 

Death is the final certainty for sinners, and without God's intervention we will all be controlled by our fear of death.  Fear itself is wielded by our enemy to make us ineffective in our representation as image bearers of God. 

The most vile of satan's lies doesn't show up in the highways and byways; the most heinous of lies are targeted right inside the church. False teachings have been a plague against the church from the very beginning.  We must learn how to identify them and protect ourselves from their abusive deception. 

The enemy is above all else - our "accuser".  His targeted attacks will manifest in our fear of exposure and in our pretending that everything is fine.  But there is good news for the sinner who walks in the light - Jesus saves! 

Our enemy has developed and fine-tuned his strategy of attack to deceive us.  His skilled attack has gone unnoticed by too many, and when that happens, we are hoodwinked and captured to carry out his will. Then we end up advancing the plan of the devil rather than glorifying God. 

There is a spiritual battle taking place right now.  Our adversary is skilled and conniving in his attack.  We must resolve to avoid ignorance of his schemes and learn how to follow Jesus' instructions as we are swept up in this war.