Grace City Church

As we continue teaching through the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5:21–30, we explore Jesus's call to become people whose hearts match their actions. David teaches rather than settling for outward obedience, Jesus invites Kingdom People to examine their desires, pursue reconciliation over anger, reject lust at its source, and use imagination for good.

As we continue in our teaching series through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the charge to be "Salt and Light" as Kingdom People. Emma teaches us what it means to give people "a taste of God" as salt and "live as a light" just as Jesus is the Light of the World.

What does life in the kingdom of God actually look like? In the Beatitudes, Jesus paints a surprising portrait of the people who belong to His kingdom. They are poor in spirit, mournful over sin, meek rather than self-promoting, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and committed to making peace. These qualities may seem weak in the eyes of the world, but Jesus calls them blessed.

In this message, we’ll explore how the Beatitudes are not merely a list of virtues to achieve, but a vision of the kind of people Jesus forms by His grace. As followers of Christ living between the arrival of the kingdom and its future fulfillment, we are invited to embrace the tension of the “already and not yet” and become people who make the kingdom visible wherever we go.

In our final regular episode before the summer break, we reflect on the Spiritual Gifts series and the tension it created within our church family. Why did this series feel both encouraging and challenging? What does it look like for Grace City to become a community that is activated in the power of the Holy Spirit while remaining grounded in love, wisdom, and healthy community?

Then we discuss a practical framework for understanding spiritual power through four key elements: Authority, Gifting, Consecration, and Faith. Together, we explore how spiritual gifts fit into a larger picture of discipleship, why fasting and consecration still matter today, and how faith can shape the environment where God's power is displayed.

Most importantly, we discuss how these practices draw us toward hearing God, walking in humility, and helping others. Whether you're still processing the series or wondering how to take your next step, this conversation will encourage you to pursue a deeper and more active life with the Holy Spirit.

After nine weeks exploring the gifts of the Spirit, we gathered for a panel conversation to answer some of the most common questions people have about spiritual gifts. How do you discover your gift? What’s the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts? What happens when we get it wrong? How do we practice the gifts with faith, humility, and discernment?

In this conversation, we discuss practical ways to discern and develop spiritual gifts, the relationship between gifts and spiritual maturity, and how we can create a church culture where people are free to take risks, learn, and grow. Most importantly, we reflect on how spiritual gifts are meant to point us beyond themselves to Jesus—the Giver of every good gift.

Whether you’re still exploring your gifting or have been walking with Jesus for years, we hope this conversation encourages you to abide in Christ, serve others in love, and remain open to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Max and David sit down to dive deeper into the gifts of intercession, healing, and miracles - discussing the importance of the supernatural worldview behind it all.

Jesus didn’t simply save us for the future. He invites us to participate in His Kingdom now. Through intercession, healing, and miracles, we see a God who listens, restores, and intervenes. Join us as we conclude our series on the gifts of the Spirit by exploring what it means to live in the power of Jesus today.

This week on The Follow Up, we’re going deeper on the two gifts Brian called “gifts that perceive” — discernment of spirits and the gift of faith. We talk through what it actually looks like when someone discerns something about a person or situation, and why the real question isn’t what did you see but what do you do with it. We unpack the difference between genuine discernment and a critical spirit — why one serves the body and the other tears it down — and how love is the only thing that keeps these gifts from becoming weapons. Then we turn to faith: not saving faith, not the fruit of faithfulness, but the Spirit-given ability to look directly at impossibility and still hold to the promise. We wrestle with Hebrews 11:39 — the faith hall of fame for people who never received what was promised — and what that means for anyone staring down their own unanswered prayer.

What if you’ve been carrying a spiritual gift your whole life and never had a name for it?

In this message, we explore two of the most underrated gifts of the Holy Spirit; the Gift of Discernment and the Gift of Faith. We break down the three domains of discernment (the Holy Spirit, the human spirit, and the demonic), what it looks like when discernment goes wrong, and why the church desperately needs people who can see clearly and act on what they see.

We also unpack the Gift of Faith, not saving faith, but the Spirit-given capacity to look directly at impossibility and still hold to the promise. From Abraham to George Müller, we trace what this gift looks like in real life and why every church needs people who carry it.

These two gifts are not opposites. Discernment without faith produces cynicism. Faith without discernment produces naïveté. Together, they produce exactly the kind of person the body of Christ needs right now.

📖 1 Corinthians 12:10 | 1 John 4:1 | Romans 4:18–21

In this episode of Grace City Church’s The Follow Up, Yasmin and Brian unpack the questions, tensions, and misconceptions surrounding one of the most debated spiritual gifts in the New Testament. From personal prayer language to public expression, from skepticism to spiritual hunger, we explore how the church can avoid both denial and disorder while pursuing discernment, maturity, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We talk about:

* Why has this gift caused so much confusion and division?

* Can tongues be emotional, learned, or even abused?

* How do we pursue spiritual gifts without hype or pressure?

* What does a healthy, Spirit-filled church actually look like?

Whether you’re curious, cautious, skeptical, or hungry for more of God, this conversation aims to bring theological clarity, pastoral wisdom, and practical insight to a topic many Christians have questions about.