GCCWS Weekend Messages

As we continue our study in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul continues his pointed and practical instruction on what the daily life of a Christian should be. Read Ephesians 5:1-7 as you prepare to worship this weekend. Clearly, we are called to imitate God as His dearly loved children.

Whenever you encounter a “therefore” in the Bible, you should ask, What is it there for? The “therefore” in Ephesians 4:25 is intended by God to be a bridge to a very practical description of what the daily life of a Christian should be. Putting off the old self and putting on the new self affects every area of life, and in Ephesians 4:25-32 Paul gets right to the point. He calls us to reject hypocrisy and live consistently faithful lives in Christ. He calls us to put off the behavior that destroys relationships and put on the behavior that builds up relationships. He calls us, as he so powerfully stated in Ephesians 4:24, “to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Join me and your GCC family this weekend as we continue our study in Ephesians!

You’ve heard it before DRESS FOR SUCCESS. Whether you are going golfing, to a nice restaurant, work, have a job interview, or even to school. Certain people in certain environments expect certain clothing. Matter-of-fact, if you aren’t wearing certain apparel for certain places, you won’t be allowed in. Would it shock you if I told you how you dress matters to God? Not in how man thinks, but in another way!

A few weeks ago, we began a sermon series on Ephesians. Ephesians helps us learn how to take what we know and live it out. In Ephesians, Paul demonstrates how our doctrine shapes our duty and our beliefs impact our behavior. In this book, Paul makes the point that we should walk worthy for Christ because we were made worthy in Christ. So, it matters how we dress on the inside.

What do you look for in a church?

For the last three weeks of our study in Ephesians, we’ve had a front row seat to the Apostle Paul’s bold preaching about our glorious salvation in Christ. We’ve learned that in Christ lives are changed, the Church grows, the Gospel spreads across human barriers and around the world, and Christian community comes to life! And then it seems that Paul takes a breath – possibly even a step back – to bask in the unsearchable riches of Christ. With his mind and heart overflowing with God’s amazing grace, he writes in Ephesians 3:14, “For this reason I kneel….” Paul’s change of posture is the first indication that Paul has stopped preaching and has started praying.

"Join your GCC family this week as we turn the page to Ephesians 3:1-13 and discover the gift of ACCESS! God invites us to have personal, full and free access to Him. He invites us into a personal relationship and he welcomes us into daily conversation. We can boldly approach him with our cares and humbly confess to Him our sins. And someday, he will welcome us into Heaven.

Last weekend, Pastor Paul preached a clear, concise and powerful message of salvation from Ephesians 2:1-10. By nature, we are prone to wander away from God because of our sin, BUT GOD wakes us up and graciously draws us to Himself. We become God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. “Therefore, REMEMBER…” That’s how the Apostle Paul transitions from the first half of chapter two to the second half. “Therefore” refers back to the first 10 verses. Paul is saying, “In light of the fact that you have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, you must REMEMBER who you were, who you are now, and how God changed you. Join the GCC family this weekend as we dive into Ephesians 2:11-22 and discover the life-changing power of the blood of Jesus.

It has been said, "Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE." Christianity doesn’t begin with us; it starts with Jesus. Sometime between 60-61AD, a letter was written by a man named Paul from a prison cell. This letter outlines the finished work of Jesus.

This Father’s Day weekend, we continue our sermon series through the letter of Ephesians by looking at one of Paul’s two prayers. He is in prison in Rome and hasn’t been seen by the Ephesians for at least six years. Yet, in Ephesians 1:15-23, the Church finds its founding pastor on his knees.

Join your GCC family this weekend as we continue to study the incredible letter to which we were introduced last weekend – Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We learned that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to Christians who were living in a culture of unbridled materialism and rampant immorality where money, sex and power dominated life.