Grace Messages

Legalism and legalistic thinking are dangerous and unhealthy for the Christian life. Now, nobody wants to be called a legalist, and I would venture to say that most Christians do not think they are a legalist. However, legalism and legalistic thinking dominate Christianity and Christian teaching. It is a complicated subject because it is nuanced and more subtle than we typically recognize. So, what is legalism and why is it so dangerous?

Main passage: Romans 7:1-11

Enjoy a sermon on love, specifically Biblical Love. Love is described in 1 Corinthians as the most important quality for a Christian. The question is, what does Biblical Love look like, and how can we have a mindset of love?

Today, Pastor Carl Greene explores the lives and strong faith of four different mothers in the Bible, and encourages all women in their own faith in this Mother's Day Sermon.

Rob Armstrong fills in for Pastor John Clark today, and preaches on the topic of fear, focusing on 1 John 4.

As we pick back up this morning, we are in the middle of a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus, where He has just restored Peter to leadership through a three round Q&A and three follow-up commands. This morning, Jesus will explain a little more about His plans for Peter’s life and his death. Naturally, this creates some questions for Peter, but then Peter gets distracted; his focus begins to wander. There is always and only ONE PRIZE…Jesus Christ, Himself. Let’s not get distracted!

As we pick back up this morning, we are in the middle of a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus! One of the main reasons this account is here is that John wanted others to know that Peter was restored by Jesus to a prominent leadership role in the building of His Church, in spite of his denials of Christ. Jesus puts Peter through an awkward three round Q&A that makes Peter uncomfortable, and He also reaffirms his purpose and role going forward with three commands.

Easter 2025 sermon on how the death and resurrection of Christ is sufficient for our today, our yesterday, AND our tomorrow!

This morning, we fast-forward a little bit to consider another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. A little bit of time has passed since Jesus' appearance to Thomas and the other ten disciples, and they are also in a different location. This final chapter of John is very personal, and one of the main reasons it is here is to inform John’s readers of Peter’s restoration following his denials of Jesus. This morning’s passage simply sets the stage for that restoration. The events of this passage are very similar to an event that happened three years earlier at Peter’s initial calling to discipleship.

Last week, we looked at Jesus' appearance to ten of His disciples (Thomas was absent) in the Upper Room. For the next week, the disciples bent Thomas’ ear about Jesus being resurrected and he is NOT buying it! He emphatically states that certain criteria have to be met in order for him to believe. Thomas wanted to personally see and physically handle Jesus’ body to believe He was indeed resurrected. We do not have that opportunity today, and so we are exhorted to believe on the basis of the eyewitness testimony of those who did see Jesus.

This morning, we consider another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ. This is His first appearance to the disciples as a group. Thomas was missing from the group during this meeting, and quite frankly, He missed a lot. This section of John contains his recording of the Great Commission. Once again, the disciples will be surprised to see Him and He does and says some things here, that we must slow down and really investigate to truly understand.