Grace Assembly Sermon Series

On this Easter, as we celebrate the Resurrection, Pastor Hanah Oti asks us to think about how we respond when God challenges us. Do we embrace all of it or do we disobey? Disobedience can be as radical as Jonah or so slight we don't notice it.

Thank God that despite our disobedience, God reaches out to us in mercy to deliver us from what we deserve.

In order for us to begin to understand the significance and power of Jesus's sacrifice, Pastor John looks back at what the law required of Israel and the sheer volume of atonement offered. Yet the blood of Jesus was greater than all of those ever offered.

Lord, give us all ears to hear.

Concerned some may compare themselves to others and therefore look down on their own prayer life, Pastor John goes to Luke 11. There we can see how the Lord teaches us to pray. Using the Lord's example, Pastor John reminds us how He prayed and encourages us to be confident in our prayer life.

Today Heaven interrupted our plans. All during service, His children, of all ages, unified in His Spirit, heard from the Spirit. And if today we hear his voice, let us not harden our hearts.

Today Pastor John is in pursuit and he is chasing after the enemy of defeat. Inviting our friend Victor Lynn to join him, Pastor uses Victor's life experiences and the Godly wisdom he has gained to encourage us. Then going to 2 Corinthians 4, Pastor John reminds us that even when our outer body wastes away, we still have the power of God inside us renewing us day after day.

Pastor John prays that the Lord will open our understanding and eyes that we may understand His word and perfect will in our lives. He then starts in Romans 12 to help our understanding. And while we often focus on the miraculous and spectacular, Pastor John reminds us that the Lord is into our ordinary, average, every day and all that encompasses. Even our seemingly mundane or disheartening interactions with other people.

Pastor John wants us to get into the place where we can receive what the Holy Spirit has for us. It comes from our perspective of Jesus's sovereignty. We incorrectly measure our experiences by our experiences. Instead Pastor John reminds us when things happen, people are healed, mountains are moved, it's not us. It's by His mighty name.

Since we are in the last days, Pastor John felt directed to speak on the subject of dreams. Going to Acts 2, 1 Kings 3, and Matthew, he demonstrates God working this way. Therefore, it's important we understand them and know how to test them. Pastor goes to 1 John 4 to help us understand how to do this.

After a couple of weeks away due to weather, we were able to gather together to celebrate the Lord. We start by praying for our healing needs and those of loved ones. Pastor John then exhorts us to understand that the Lord is exactly who He says He Is. Even when life doesn't go as we want, it's not God, He Is.

Then going to Luke 23 and 24, Pastor John looks to the Apostles and how their hearts burned when He was with them. If we understand who He Is, His words would mean more to us and our hearts would burn for Him too.

Pastor John shares a brief message of encouragement this week. He reminds us that if there is no Jesus, there is no peace. Conversely, if we know Jesus then we know peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding. So as we navigate this time of birth pains, do you know Jesus?