Grace Assembly Sermon Series

Pastor John goes to Revelation 12:10-12 to familiarize us with an enemy of the Spirit - Satan our adversary and accuser. And when we're not careful, we sometimes buy into what he says about us. Other times, we may even align with him, the Devil, turn on other believers, and call it ministry.

Instead, Pastor John encourages us that when these thoughts and behaviors come to us, we need to recognize the source and reject it for what it is and submit ourselves to God.

Pastor John starts today by reminding us the one thing we need to be a true disciple - passion, desire, zeal. Instead of asking Jesus to back up what were doing, we need to desire to do what He is doing.

He then goes to Matthew 12:22-32 and warns us how easy it is for us to blaspheme the Spirit and sin against Him. We need to use Godly wisdom and discernment and make sure our passions and wisdom are in alignment with God.

Today we have a guest speaker Ken Barkhau share about the Gideons and their efforts to bring the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.

Afterwards, Ken digs into prayer. Jesus did it. It's simple. It's essential. Yet how often do we miss this important spiritual tool? Remember, God doesn't answer prayer, He answers people.

Today is spent in a time of worship and deliverance. Pastor John takes a brief moment to warn us to be aware - while Christians can't be possessed by evil, we can create paths of oppression that lead to sin, health issues, and even spiritual death.

Going into the biblical wayback machine, Pastor John goes to Matthew 26 to look at the heart of Jesus. During His time of great testing, when He was surrounded by His closest followers -  who were also betrayers and deserters -  Jesus called them friends and showed them compassion.

Pastor John points out that the enemy seeks to take our faith by killing it, stealing it, and destroying it. So fight back. Not with other believers but with our true enemies - our flesh and the earthly powers that seek to undermine our walk with Christ. After all, "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Just know that sometimes this involves pressing into the battle; other times it's being still before the Lord.

Pastor John starts by reminding us if we've been born again by the Spirit of God, then His Spirit is in us. Then everything that He is is within us and His presence is always with us; even when our feelings want to tell us otherwise.

So why do we look outside of us for that which is within us? We must stop being me-ology minded and be kingdom minded. We must learn to discern His Spirit and His leading. Without it, we will dry up spiritually.

Returning to where he left off last week, Pastor John dives deeper into worldly or carnal Christians. This idea  can be understood in a wide variety of ways. So going to scripture Pastor John defines this, shows us the dangers, and gives us the Lord's warning about this mindset.

After worship, Alex Parker shares about how the Lord has been generous and tender to her and her family over the last 10 days of grief they endured.

Pastor John Thrift then goes on to describe the three kinds of people that can be found in today's church:

- the unbeliever (1 Cor 2:14), 

- the believers that are able to overcome their sinful desires and suffer with Him (Romans 8:12-17),

- and the worldly believers that don't allow their old self to be crucified (Romans 6:6-7, 1 Cor 3:1-3) and they let sin control / influence themselves.

With the love, grace, and mercy of the Lord, may we rightly identify which one we currently are.

Pastor Richard Oti tells us both God and the enemy use our memories when talking to us. Pastor Richard then reminds us that we need to actively remember the things that build us up in the Lord.