Grace Fellowship Sermons

Becoming a Christian is incredibly easy considering Jesus did all the work. However, following Jesus is quite challenging and difficult. He demands of His followers everything in their pursuit of Him; but, at the same time He offers them everything - the Kingdom of God. True followers of Jesus seek to set their face like flint, as Jesus did, in their pursuit of representing Him well in their lives.

How should we respond when the enemies of God reject Him or speak against His name? As Jesus and His disciples travel from Galilee toward Jerusalem, He prepares them for life and ministry after His departure. In today’s passage, the disciples learn a crucial truth: God does not call His people to defend Him with force, but to represent Him faithfully before those who oppose Him, praying that they might turn from their sin and trust in Christ. The kingdom advances not through coercion, but through witness, patience, and the sovereign work of God in the hearts of sinners.

(Luke 9:51-56; Gen 3:15; Matt 4:17; Matt 5:17; Matt 9:13; Matt 16:23; John 7:30; Isa 50:5–7; Heb 12:2; Rom 5:3–5; John 4:20; 1 Kings 12; 2 Kings 17; Luke 6:22–23; Luke 6:26; 2 Kings 1:10–12; Matt 17:18; Mark 4:39; Mark 8:33; Amos 3:12; John 4:3–4; Luke 9:5; Heb 9:15; John 3:17; 1 Pet 2:21–23; Phil 3:19; 2 Cor 10:3–5; Acts 8:14–17; Acts 8:25; 2 Pet 3:7; Rev 20:9; 2 Cor 6:2)

(Luke 9:51-56)

Greatness is a word our culture celebrates and relentlessly pursues, but what does Jesus say makes someone truly great? In this passage, as the disciples begin to measure themselves by performance, status and rank, Jesus redirects their ambition toward a radically different kingdom perspective. Here we discover that in God’s kingdom, the path to standing tall always begins on bended knee.

The teaching of Jesus baffles the world because it cannot imagine any allegiance greater than self- preservation. The Kingdom of God reorders our thinking and priorities around the surpassing value of Christ, producing a life that challenges the world’s assumptions about success, security, and self-fulfillment because all of life is bound up in following Him.

(Luke 9:23-27, 4:18-19, 9:1-2, 10:1-12, 9:62, 9:18-22)

Today Jesus confronts His disciples with a defining truth: what He does always flows from who He is. This is critical, because when His identity is misunderstood, His mission is distorted. And when His mission is distorted, disciple-making collapses. In the end, if we get Jesus wrong, we get life itself wrong.

(Luke 9:18-21, 2 Sam 7:12–13; Isa 11:4; Deut 21:23; Matt 16:13; Luke 4:18–19)

We value asking questions to better understand how to live life in a God-centered, Christ-exalting way. We believe that church should be the best place in which people can get solid answers to life’s questions from God’s Word.

1. (01:15) Many people talk about Adam being in glory, but does the Bible indicate he was in a state of grace? While he was covered with the skins of a sacrifice, the New testament frequently compares Jesus as the second/different Adam. Because of the frequent references to sin and fallenness, is it possible that Adam did not place faith in the Lord's redemption?

2. (11:35) We are to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, so would you say that some Trinitarian viewpoints (such as modalism that openly denies God exists in three persons) presents God as someone other than who He truly is and is therefore a form of idolatry?And if that constitutes idolatry, would you say that the Arminian system of belief is also a form of idolatry?

3. (25:50) How do I remain faithful to Christ without withdrawing from the world or conforming to it? Tension between engagement and separation is persistent. Looking for the right line.

Faith is often formed in uncomfortable spaces where responsibility feels heavy and resources feel insufficient. Why is this true? Because Jesus does not avoid tension—He creates it. In our text, Jesus deliberately leverages the moment of need to shape the citizens of His Kingdom, teaching His disciples to trustfully distribute what only He can supply.

Herod Antipas appears between the mission of the Twelve (9:1,10) as a warning against spiritual exposure to Christ without saving trust in Christ. Herod had been informed about Jesus, unsettled by Jesus, and yet remained curious to know more. Herod shows what the twelve (and us) will face on the mission to make disciples — that knowledge, proximity, and interest about Christ do not save apart from genuine

Luke 4:43 clarifies that Jesus was sent for the purpose of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Today we will see that the privilege of fulfilling this purpose was always something he intended to share.

Every follower of Christ will meet moments that feel impossible. A life-changing diagnosis. A crisis in the home. A financial collapse. A deep disappointment. These are the moments that test our theology, stretch our emotions, and expose where our trust truly rests. Yet in Scripture and in our lives, these are the very places where Jesus does His deepest work.