As Christians, we desire to walk in victory and truth, overcoming all the works of darkness. We want to be able to tell others that Jesus can heal, deliver, restore and bring them into perfect victory as well. It all starts with getting honest with ourselves about our failures and temptations, and then looking to God to bring us into the victory that the cross has provided.

This episode covers five myths about temptation that rise up and rob us of an honest walk before God as we try to seek His face and grace to overcome. It concludes with four keys to victory, which are covered in greater depth in Pastor Joe's eight-part MP3 series, How to Overcome Temptation. Full transcript and show notes available at empoweringgrace.org/podcast41.

In this episode, Pastor Joe discusses the three kinds of faith found in Scripture – 

One of the things people sometimes do is try to operate in a mature faith – a faith that commands, or faith that receives answers to prayer – before they have learned to trust God with their whole hearts. They hear a powerful testimony from someone and then immediately shoot for the faith of God and the God kind of faith, without first establishing faith in God ... and they can get discouraged. Nobody likes to be a beginner. We all want to be at a PhD level, when, if we're being honest, many of us are barely in college yet.

But there's good news! God wants to make it easy to establish our relationship and trust in Him so that we can advance to bigger and better forms of faith! Tune in for four foundational principles to establish your faith in God.

This episode is from sermon one in the Have Faith In God series newly available at empoweringgrace.org. Show notes, full transcript and more resources available at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast40.

Our Season Two finale episode contains the two truths you need to know about about persevering through trials. Pastor Joe McIntyre also will share:

A full transcript and show notes are located at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast39.

Season three of the Empowering Grace Podcast will return fall 2023!

God says you are a new creation and your old mindsets have passed away. Included in this re-birth is the authority to exercise dominion over every principality and power in our sphere of responsibility.

The devil's strategy is to is to do everything he can to keep us distracted from this revelation so we don't see the truth about our authority in Christ. A distracted church is a powerless church!

That's why Paul didn't pray that God would just send down revival from heaven. He said in Ephesians chapter one that God would grant us a "spirit of wisdom and revelation" so we'd know the hope to which we were called, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in us, and the exceeding greatness of His power working in us who believe.

Instead of just sending down revival from on high, God's contending to wake us up so that we release revival from Christ within us, the hope of glory.

This sermon is number eight in a 10-part series, One Spirit. Pastor Joe McIntyre has also written a book on this topic, The Eternal Defeat of Satan. Show notes and a full transcript are at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast38.

Love is the fiery, zealous nature of God. Sometimes people say, "God is love... but He's also holy," as though holiness is in contrast with love. God is actually holy love, simultaneously. God has a holy determination to see His purpose accomplished that is unmoved by what any human or spiritual being does. And also, His purpose is carried out through loving relationships with His people. Tune in to this episode for more from Pastor Joe McIntyre on this zealous love.

Full transcript and show notes are located at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast37.  

This episode is about what Pastor Joe McIntyre calls The Community of Shared Life, and the resulting blessing. It’s shifting our view of church life from an audience-performer structure to a collaborative, united people who encourage and serve one another. 

In Psalm 133, David writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity…It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there, the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” In this passage, the Lord is essentially saying, Oh, look at that church love one another, I'm going to command blessing on them. That would mean that we have a part to play in drawing the commanded blessing of God! 

The path out of a self-centered existence is to commit yourself to edifying others, gaining a greater vision of faith and love in the process (and – resulting blessing!). 

A full transcript and show notes are located at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast36.

Spending time with the Father each morning could be the lifestyle shift you need to move your Christian walk from reactive mode to proactive mode, and super-charge your relationship with Him through intimacy.

Many Christians feel they should spend time with the Lord each morning, but schedule demands or personality types make it difficult to sustain, and the enemy seizes the opportunity to introduce guilt, shame, and condemnation. That's not from the Lord! The Lord is extending an invitation and opportunity each morning to His beloved children.

In this episode, Pastor Joe McIntyre discusses the various breakthroughs and benefits to "morning God time," beginning with his own journey as a professional night club musician and retail employee with an a-typical schedule. He then shares six different ways to receive "manna in the morning," based on different personality types and interests.

Full transcript and show notes are at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast35.

This episode is all about optimism for a glorious Church, and experiencing the fullness of God's glory in your personal life here and now (not waiting for heaven!). 

Crucify the way of thinking that says, "God is mostly concerned about my performance -- He likes me when it's good, and He's not happy with me when it's not good." God does want us to live above sin and there is a healthy method and mindset towards repentance when we fall short. But first of all, He wants us to live above unbelief. 

When we live above unbelief, we have more faith in the power of the finished work of Christ to make us accepted by God than we do in the power of our struggles to make us unacceptable. As long as we are mourning over our weaknesses, we are in unbelief. 

The goal? To believe that the Father so wants you in His presence that He has made all provision necessary for you to live as though you'd never sinned, even as you struggle with your flesh.

Full transcript and show notes are located at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast34.

God intends us to live free from fear. Second Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. Yet in our culture, we have been programmed to fear. Some fears – like fear of sickness or death – are felt more acutely and often drive our behavior. Others are more subtle, yet can still drive our behavior. For example, condemnation is actually fear of rejection by God, and if we're feeling unworthy we won't feel empowered to possess the promises of God. Some of us are also tormented by a fear of a prior fear returning, which creates an open door towards that very end! All fear is from the enemy and preventing you from living in God's fullness. Tune in to this episode to discover the keys to freedom.

This sermon – a special extended episode – is the entire first sermon in the eight-part MP3 series, Grace to Overcome Fear. Show notes and a full transcript are at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast33.

Listen to Part 1 here.

Why is it that some people get healed while others don't? When a person does not receive healing, the most commonly taught idea is that God, in His sovereignty and infinite knowledge, chose not to heal them. God obviously didn't want to, or He would have. But that idea does not hold up under an examination of Scripture. While there are some aspects to healing we may not have the answers to until we get to heaven, God's word tells us that there are some very clear things that hinder people from being healed. Forgiveness -- three facets of forgiveness -- is one hindrance.

Episode 32 is pulled from sermon one in the Forgiveness and Healing MP3 series. A full transcript and show notes are available at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast32.