GCCWS Weekend Messages

The Christmas story often captures our imagination because it is when the majestic and mundane collide. This weekend, we continue our sermon series, The Journey, as we journey with shepherds. Ordinary, average, and at best mundane, in Luke 2, we find shepherds not in a palace but “living out” in a pasture. Then, out of nowhere, the majestic and the mundane collide. First, an angel appears, then a host of angels, and then the shepherd encounters Jesus Himself. On three occasions, the shepherds collide with majesty. And, yet, they don’t keep what they have experienced to themselves. They tell others.

Join us this weekend as we see three responses to what the shepherds share found in Luke 2.

Do you trust God? Most Christians would give a mighty roar of positive approval to this question. Yes, we trust God. Well then, get in! Jump into God’s will for your life. Surrender yourself wholly and completely to his plans. Follow God with total abandon. Do exactly what He asks you to do and do it without delay!

Join me and your GCC family this week as we enter into the lives of Jesus’ parents and learn what it means to trust God – unflagging, unconditional, unreserved trust in God.

A large majority of Americans believe in the existence of angels! Christian or not, angels have captivated our imaginations. That said, what exactly do we believe about angels? What do you believe about angels?

We begin this weekend with a man named John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a messenger of God who prepared the way for Jesus Christ who was the Messiah of God. Luke 1:5-25 records the foretelling of his birth and the story is fascinating. Read it. Pay attention to the details as you read it. Then, come to GCC this weekend and be prepared to begin getting your heart ready for Christmas!

As Thanksgiving approaches, it's common for us to reflect on what we're thankful for. But this year, let's delve deeper. Join us this weekend as will explore profound questions about faith, gratitude, and our relationship with God.

It can be said that without the Holy Spirit, there would be no “missions”.  The great missionary movements of the early church were commanded and appointed by the Spirit of God.  The energy behind the missionary work of the church was and still is today, from the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus himself, promised this would happen when he said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses”….. The disciples had Holy Spirit power then, and believers today have that same power to witness or proclaim the message of the risen Christ.  Let’s pray for another great missionary movement that is empowered and driven by the Holy Spirit.  

Which way should I go?  In Acts 16, Paul is stopped from going southwest by the Holy Spirit and blocked from going north by the Spirit of Jesus until finally permitted to go northwest.  A. T. Pierson, in his The Acts of the Holy Spirit, says sometimes, we are “forbidden in one direction, invited in another…”.  Pierson gave later examples from the history of missionaries: Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) went to India first but was driven on to Burma. William Carey (1761 – 1834) planned to go to Polynesia, but God guided him to India. David Livingstone (1813-1873) tried to go to China, but God sent him to Africa. So, we need to trust the Holy Spirit for direction and rejoice equally in his restrictions; only then will we know which way to go! 

This passage demonstrates an amazing way in which the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers. Those who seek to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit often ask to be shown who in their life God is leading them to seek out. But here, we see the Holy Spirit bringing three men directly to Peter. 

When considering how God may be moving in your life, be careful to consider who He has recently brought into your life. It may be that the person God wants you to reach out to is already reaching out to you.

Phillip’s exit from a thriving revival to encounter one Ethiopian seeker in Acts 8 must have seemed bizarre. Yet Phillip obeyed God’s prompting. In that divine appointment, the eunuch discovered Jesus. God sees people exactly where they are. What might come from radical obedience to that odd divine nudge you can’t shake? The Spirit may seem to lead you away from fruitful work. But God may want to reach one waiting heart through your availability. Like Phillip, obey even when it makes no sense. Sacrifice a comfortable strategy for radical obedience. You could meet a divinely arranged Ethiopian seeking truth today. Be ready to leave the familiar path to follow God’s unexpected lead.

This verse gives us two practices that help determine the Lord’s will.  

First: worship. Worship is not for God’s benefit… He knows how good and powerful He is. Instead, it is for our benefit! We easily forget how good and powerful God is; thus, we often forget who God is. If we don’t know who our God is, how can we discern His will for our lives? 

Second: fast. When we think of fasting, we often think of fasting from food, but that is not the only item that we can fast from. Are you trying to discern the Lord’s will for your life? Have you tried fasting from the item that distracts you most from the Lord?