Grace Messages

This week, Paul addresses and answers the question – “Is God unjust?” The reason Paul addresses this perceived objection is that the Jew of his day was upset that God was apparently showing mercy to Gentiles. If Paul’s teaching was true, it appeared that many Jews would be judged and many Gentiles would receive mercy. Surely, according to the average Jew, that is unfair of God to do so! Let’s see why all of us can be thankful that God is NOT fair – He does not give us what we deserve!

Last week, we saw that “not all Israel is of Israel,” meaning that NOT all of the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have put their faith in God’s Messiah. This week, Paul is going to address the common misconception of the Jew of his day involving their physical lineage from Abraham. The Jew of Paul’s day incorrectly assumed that they were getting into the Kingdom through their physical relationship to Abraham. Paul is going to use the history of the Old Testament in the selection of the patriarchs to show them that the physical birth principle for salvation has NEVER been in God’s plans.

This morning we will look at the unique blessing and privilege of the Jewish nation. It is because of their uniqueness as a nation, that their apparent rejection by God is a “pink elephant” in the room that Paul must address. Has God rejected Israel? Has God’s promises to the nation failed? Join us as we continue to explore this tension created by the gospel of grace.

Romans 9:1-3

Encouragement for all Moms on Mothers Day 2018

Speaker: Carl Greene

Today, we look at the event where the believer’s good works will be evaluated as to their acceptability to the Lord. This event is known as the Judgment Seat (or “Bema Seat”) of Christ. Listen as Pastor Clark explains why “good works” and their acceptability will be the focus of this judgment and NOT the believer’s sins committed after they are saved in the final week of Acceptable Service.

The perfect example of Acceptable Service is none other than the example of Jesus Christ, who came NOT to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). His mindset of love and service are clearly shown in the account of Him washing the disciples feet. Join us as we explore how Jesus esteemed others as more important than Himself in this beautiful display of agape and grace-driven service.

One of the primary functions of church body life is the “One-Anothering” of One Another. The Scripture is full of examples and exhortations to be dependent, loving channels to one another in the body of Christ. Join us this week as Pastor Clark teaches the proper mindset for fulfilling all of the “One Another” commands in Scripture and how this fits directly into the topic of Acceptable Service.

Speaker: Pastor John Clark

So far in this study, we’ve looked at the keys and hindrances to acceptable service.  This week, we look at one of the tools, or resources, that God has provided to the believer to serve acceptably…spiritual gifts.  The Bible teaches that only you are gifted and wired to do what God created you “in Christ Jesus” to do! (Ephesians 2:10).  So, how do we utilize the resource of spiritual gifts to serve God acceptably?

For many Christians, the combination of legalism, false guilt, and self-serving motivations hinder them from Acceptable Service. This tri-fecta of motivations is easy to slip into if the believer is not aware of them. Join us as we identify what these look like in the Christian life, and how to avoid them.