- Grace is free. It cannot be earned. No one can be good enough or “do” enough to obtain this undeserved gift that only God can give. All we need to “do” is to believe and receive. What exactly is this gift of grace? God forgives us for anything we have done or will do wrong, releases us from guilt and shame, and frees us so we do not need to live a wasted, empty, fruitless life. Just as with the woman - caught in the very act of adultery - who was brought to Him by others who wanted to see/hear His condemnation, God gives us this gift with no condemnation. He does challenge her (and us), though, to “go and sin no more” or - in today’s language - just “stop it” so we can start to do meaningful things.

- How do you handle disappointment? Do you get frustrated, give up prematurely, or perhaps ultimately sabotage yourself and your potential? Or, do you fully trust God and realize that our disappointments are not necessarily God saying “No.” God allows circumstances - both good and bad - to help us proceed down His path for our lives, towards His appointment. In this message, Pastor Randy Don Giovanni shared with us his journey to the discovery of this truth. Pastor Randy’s use of humor and real life experience takes what is often a very painful topic and helps each of us see the goodness of God even when we are faced with disappointment and failure.

- The arrival of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of the modern day church; and the beginning of the end time. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Godhead and came to make Christ known to us and to serve as down payment on our inheritance - a small taste of all of the wonderful glory yet to come. With this gift from God, we are fully empowered to live to our utmost spiritual capacity. In this sermon, Pastor Doug challenges us to remove our mental blocks and “get hung up” on being filled with the Holy Spirit.

- On the day that Christ ascended into heaven, the day of ascension, He instructed his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promised arrival of the Holy Spirit. In this sermon, Pastor Doug, lays the background for the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost - the 4th of the 7 Jewish feasts - and continues to illustrate how Christ’s life fulfilled the promise that was being pointed to in each one of these feasts. As Christ left, he said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would empower the disciples (us) to accomplish even greater things than He had done. This is because, wherever we go, the Holy Spirit is within all of us, enabling all of us to do the work of God.

- Have you ever been offended? Of course, we all have. The human ego has an intense need to feel right, admired, important, successful, etc. Have you ever been offended by a Christian, a church, or maybe even God himself? Perhaps God did not answer your prayer according to your expectations. How did you respond? Did you allow this incident to isolate you from from other believers, the church, or even from God? The truth is, sometimes God must offend us to cut through our firmly held opinions, attitudes, and mindset to get our attention. Then, God wants to reach through the offense to expose our true faith and humility and free us to receive His grace. In this inspiring message, Pastor Doug shows us how to get beyond offense and to reach God’s provision on the other side.

- In this message, Pastor Doug shares the stories from both The Bible and current times where people gave faithfully to the kingdom of God and trusted God to provide for all of their needs. It is not the size of the gift that matters; it is what giving does in our hearts. For example, the poor woman in Mark 12:44 who gave two pence gave more than those who gave larger gifts, as she gave all she had to live on. She gave out of lack, and gave from her heart. These gifts multiply the most. We are encouraged to find growth by stepping out of our comfort zones, and learning to feel the wind in our wings, so we can live beyond how we thought we could.

- In this message, Pastor Doug and Executive Pastor Steve Croft team up to share the vision of what we are planning to do to increase our capacity to reach those in our community who need Christ in their lives (i.e. everyone). As we consider that we’re in partnership with a God who has no limits, this truth can make a significant difference in how we view the options of expanding our church facility and what our personal role can be or should be. And, don’t miss the the video segment of Tom and Sue Combs, long-time Rockford Res members, who share their inspirational story of pushing past their perceived limits and following God’s leading.

- Have you ever had an event for which you wanted everything to be “absolutely perfect?” For example, your wedding, your inauguration into a new role, or perhaps a play performance. Wasn’t it exhausting? And that event was supposed to last for just for a very minimal time - perhaps just one day, or slightly longer. Now - imagine for a moment - your only hope of spending eternity in heaven with the Father depends upon your “Perfect Performance” for your entire life. This week Pastor Doug shares the exciting news that as we become members of the Godman race, we do not have to carry around that burden. Thanks to God’s grace, we can rest on the only perfect performance ever given, by the very first Godman: Christ.

- A new immortal body, and a life that never ends, this is the hope of the resurrection. After one of the most chaotic weeks in history with an unprecedented earthquake, a total eclipse of the sun, the temple veil being torn in two, another earthquake, an angelic appearing,and witnessing many who were raised from the dead, the excitement was far from over. Christ returns with the keys to death and hell in his rightful possession after descending into lower earth, rearranging hell, and reclaiming those believers who had died before He had paid their price. Pastor Doug explains how all of these strange and wonderful events fit together as the ultimate plan of our redemption.

- Tragedy to Triumph. In one moment, the DNA of every believer was changed from “lost” to “life” with the utterance of these three words: “It Is Finished.” The first Adam’s sin was erased by the Last Adam’s sacrifice. In this very special Great Friday story, Pastor Doug sheds new light on one of the most familiar events in the Christian faith. We are now left with only two choices - the same choices represented on the hill of Calvary that blessed day by the other two crosses: mock or believe.