Even though we are redeemed, we are still in a broken, dark world. Further, all of our brokenness may not have gone away when we were saved. Pastor John reminds us that even so the Lord wants to deal with our brokenness.

Going to Romans 8, he begins to point out that nothing can stop the will of God to make us whole. And even if words fail Him, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

Pastor John reminds us God is working; God is always working. What we may miss is that He's working in you. Since the first time you asked for forgiveness until your last breath, the Lord's Spirit is at work in you. But before He fills us, He needs to empty us. Pastor John then instructs us that we need to understand how to grow.

At Grace, we are expecting that God is birthing something in and through us. We don’t know what it is but Pastor John wants to make sure we get prepared. For this he goes to 1 Corinthians 3 and looks at division within the early church.

Rather than focus on their mistakes, Pastor John speaks of what the Lord has stirred his heart over. That is we are all co-workers with the Lord and our spiritual siblings and our labor is in love.

But we must ensure we don’t labor in vain as our motives will be tested by the Holy Spirit and God’s fire.

Pastor John starts by warning us that over time he’s learned four easy steps to failure. Instead, he warns us to not forget our first love. Rather, Pastor John encourages us to delight ourselves in the Lord.

As a child of God, we need to live in the confidence that we are chosen! Pastor John goes to John 15:16-17 and uses Jesus's words to prove this. Ultimately, we are chosen to be grafted into, abide in, dressed by the Father, and bear much fruit to the glory of God. Pastor John then goes on to describe the fruits we are chosen by God to produce.

To start, Pastor John reminds us Jesus wants a relationship with us. He wants to reveal Himself and so much more to us. But we have to listen. We have to apply it to our lives. We have to accept the fullness He gives in life, including His Holy Spirit.

Pastor John then finishes up his three points from Matthew 4 of how Satan may tempt us. He previously spoke on the areas of physical and intellectual; today is spiritual. But the solution is the same - take up the sword of the Spirit, the Living Word.

Pastor John returns to Matthew 4 and this week focuses on tempting God. It can be easy for us to ask the Lord to prove Himself. Instead, if God has addressed the problem, we should never doubt Him. Instead of testing Him, just embrace His words over our life.

Service starts by looking at one of Satan's favorite tactics - doubt. To help counter it, Pastor John goes to Matthew 4 and shows how Jesus models overcoming for us by first addressing our flesh.

In preparation for next week and a shifting in the spiritual realm, Pastor John looks at fasting in the Bible. Going to Joel, he emphasizes we need to fast and focus on the Lord so we can get clarity from God. We need to learn to host the Spirit of God; fasting is intended to help us with this essential.

Going to Luke 1, Pastor John looks at the miraculous births of John and Jesus and contrasts Zechariah's and Mary's responses. Ultimately, we need to adopt Mary's attitude and state “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to [His] word.” Let us embrace the living words God speaks over and to us and do what He says.