Text: Luke 10:25-37 | Listen to Message Christ’s Neighborly Love In Part I, we saw 4 qualities of Christ-like neighborliness that are illustrated by Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan: a good neighbor sees, feels, risks, and sacrifices. Furthermore, the truly compassionate understand that “neighbor” is not something you have but something you are. But, strictly speaking, these good principles are not good news. You see, most of us do not instinctively act this way toward our neighbors – and none of us treat all of our neighbors this way all of the time. In the area of loving our neighbors […]
Whose Neighbor Am I? Part I
Text: Luke 10:25-37 | Listen to Message 4 Qualities of A Good Neighbor In Luke 10, Jesus tells the familiar parable of “The Good Samaritan” from which we can distill four principles of what it looks like to be a Christlike neighbor. 1. A Good Neighbor Sees. It’s a simple fact that the Samaritan saw what the priest and Levite had already seen that day: a beaten, bloody body lying in the road. But where the religious leaders had seen only a problem to avoid, the Samaritan saw a neighbor to help. If your eyes are open, of course you see […]
Text: Luke 10:1-24 | Listen to Message Gospel Privileges The contemporary Christian often excuses him or herself from sharing the Good News of Jesus with others because… “I’m not exactly sure how to start that conversation.” “I might get in a situation where I don’t know the answer to something.” “It might put our relationship in an awkward place.” “Someone might reject me and then I’d be sad.” Interestingly enough, when Jesus commissions a bunch of ordinary followers to be ministers of the Gospel, he presupposes dangers far worse than these! He says, “I’m sending you out as lambs in […]
Cancerous Communication
Text: Ephesians 4:25-32 | Listen to Message Sticks And Stones Everything that comes out of your mouth is simply the overflow of what’s already dominating your heart. If you are a critical, complaining, truth-twisting gossip, it’s because your heart is full of spiritual cancer. It’s a simple fact that meek, forgiving, loving people don’t talk bad about others. Here’s something to remember whenever you hear someone gossiping or being critical of others behind their backs: you haven’t necessarily learned anything about the persons being discussed, but you’ve learned a ton about the person doing the discussing. He or she is proud. […]
Text: Luke 9:23-27, 57-62 | Listen to Message You First In Part I, we looked at what it means to deny – or even die to – yourself in order to follow Christ. In Part II, let’s go further in the same text and consider what it means to accept a new priority and agenda for your life. In this conversation that Jesus has with the crowds and with a few specific individuals, he shows us four things we tend to give our first and ultimate allegiance to: 1. Power, Prosperity, and Peace. This is what it means to “gain the […]
Service Spotlight: Angie Ham
Show me a thriving church, and I’ll show you a number of volunteers whose faithful service goes virtually unnoticed. Without these unsung heroes, much of the church’s ministry – and maybe the church itself – would fall flat. These servant-hearted individuals are not motivated by recognition; they’re driven by their love for God and others. These service spotlights are designed to affirm and encourage all of our volunteers – especially those who work behind the scenes – and to express gratitude for your selfless ministry. We see you, we honor you, and we thank God for you! This month’s service […]
Text: Luke 9:23-27, 57-62 | Listen to Message Identity Crisis Christianity is often seen as little more than praying a prayer, changing one’s attitude toward Jesus from negative to positive, or adhering to a prescribed list of moral/spiritual behaviors. But when Jesus himself talked about what it meant to be a Christian – a follower of Christ – he had something radically different to say: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake […]
Mistakes on The Journey
Text: Luke 9:37-56 | Listen to Message The Remedy For Pride Jesus’ disciples are stumbling and bumbling their way through this section of Luke’s Gospel, displaying a remarkable lack of self-awareness: First, they can’t cast out a demon that Jesus gave them power over (Luke 9:1), apparently because they’re relying on their own technique and experience rather than trusting God for a fresh work of grace. Second, they can’t grasp what Jesus means about suffering and dying because they’ve already decided that this is not how the story – his or theirs – is supposed to go. Third, they’re arguing about […]
One Greater Than Moses
Text: Luke 9:28-36 | Listen to Message Experiencing God’s Glory It’s a fantastic story: Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray with Peter, James, and John. Suddenly, the Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah show up, and Jesus begins radiating a brilliant and blinding white light from within himself. The disciples are getting their first glimpse of his eternal and divine glory, long veiled by the ordinariness of his humanity. They witness firsthand the splendor, majesty, beauty, and awesomeness of the glory that flung the universe into existence by just a word from his mouth! And they hear God’s voice […]
Now Hiring: Executive Pastor
As Grace City Denver continues to grow, we’re looking to add a full-time Executive Pastor to our leadership team. This individual will work closely with the Lead Pastor in implementing our Christ-centered vision, values, and priorities. We’re seeking someone with the heart of a pastor who understands organizational thinking and is skilled at building systems for volunteers to work within. The ideal candidate has a skill set, gifts, and areas of expertise that complement, rather than duplicate, our Lead Pastor’s strengths. Someone with a strategic/systems mindset will be a better fit in this role than someone looking for a few years of experience before becoming a […]
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