Grassroots Messages

Evan begins a new series on the Holy Spirit by exploring how we can gauge whether we are living in the spirit or in the "flesh".

The Church doesn't have a mission, the mission has a church. This week Evan wraps up our series "What is the Church" by discussing 4 things that will help the Church be focused more fully on participating in God's mission of redeeming all creation back to him.

Why do we eat small pieces of bread and drink little sips of grape juice every single week? What is communion, why does it matter, and why do we continue to practice this ancient ritual? Evan gives us the history and the continued importance of the Church's participation in what we call Communion.

What is Baptism? Why do churches dunk or sprinkle human beings with or in water? Is there a point to it? Is it necessary in order to get to Heaven? Evan digs into our practice of Baptism, why we do it, and the importance of making yourself vulnerable by getting soaking wet in front of your friends. 

Why do we gather together and worship every Sunday? Does it not seem redundant? Songs, prayer, sermon, communion, more songs. Every. Single. Week. So what's the point? Why do we do this? Evan goes into the great importance that gathering together holds. Join us as we discuss the reason for Worship. 

Today Evan addresses some of the issues surrounding the current cultural climate in the wake of George Floyd's death. 

Why does the institution of the church matter? Why is it a good thing? Today we look at the institution of the church and how it connects to our faith today.

Today we begin a new series, looking at the question, "What is the Church?". This week we go through a few misunderstandings of how we treat the church, as well as think about some possible new mentalities regarding the church.

This week Evan wraps up our series "What is Scripture?". While we're wrapping up this series, for now, we know there is so much more to this topic. Our hope is that what we've discussed the past few weeks will spark a conversation and the desire to learn more about the topic of scripture in all of us.

How did we get the texts that are included in the Bible? Where did they come from? Who chose what should be included? Join us as we take a look at the creation and history of one of the most influential books in the world.

The Bible is central to our understanding of our faith and our understanding of who God is. Biblical reading is a skill that is developed over time. Often exploring the scriptures can bring a lot of anxiety and even more questions. Can your upbringing change the way you read the Bible? Is there a “right” way to read the Bible? Is there a right or wrong translation? What’s the closest to the original text? What should be my “go-to” translation? Can’t I just sit and read? Why does context matter?Pastor Evan Savage unmasks some of the mystery of how to read the Bible.

What is scripture? Evan kicks off this series with a background on the bible, and how it applies to our lives so many years after it was written. 

Join us for Easter Sunday at Grassroots!  Evan speaks this morning about the foundation of our faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And how, as Christians, we are called to live a life of faith based in that foundation.

Was it really necessary for Jesus to become human? What was the purpose? The point? Join us as Evan discusses the importance of Jesus becoming human during the second week of our series "Who is Christ?".

"Jesus is God" is one of the hardest things to believe in all of Christian thought. How can a human be divine? Evan explores this doctrine as we open up our series "Who is Christ?". 

Human beings have been on a redemption journey with God since day one. God's goal is to bring us back and that came to an ultimate climax in Christ.

We are created, all of us, regardless of race, creed, faith, or lifestyle in the image of God. When we recognize that image in our lives we recognize the necessity of loving one another with the Love that God has created within us.

With all of this talk on what God does in the world, it begs the question, "what does this mean for the Church?" God loves to do what God does. But God also urges, nay calls us to join with him. God's plan, ultimately, is our plan. Join us as we discuss our role in God's mission in the world. 

Evil. What's the deal? Did God create Evil? Why does God allow evil to continue to exist? In this message, we will take a dive into the "problem of evil" and quite possibly, begin to transform our perspectives on the issue at hand. 

God continues the process of extending his goodness in his continued work, or providence. Join us as we discuss how God continues to operate in the world today. 

Why study the creation story? Does it even matter? Is the point of the creation story the timeline as detailed in Genesis 1 or is there something greater the account is trying to teach us? In our first week on What Is God's Plan, Grassroots Lead Pastor, Evan Savage, dives into God's first work: Creation

What is the Trinity? How does it affect our faith and the way we worship? This week, Evan Savage answers those questions during the final week of the WHO IS GOD series.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} God is here and he is far. He is big and he is small. This means that we must expand our understanding of god beyond what we think we should. 

Foundations are important, especially in the guise of faith. Without an understanding of the foundation of your beliefs, what is there to build off of? Today we dive into the greatness of God.

Foundations are important, especially in the guise of faith. Without an understanding of the foundation of your beliefs, what is there to build off of? Today we dive into the foundation of who God is beginning with His goodness.

li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} span.s1 {font: 10.0px Menlo} ul.ul1 {list-style-type: disc} Often, our idea of what God is remains infantile. We were never asked to believe something greater...

2019 was a year of transition for Grassroots. New pastor, new vision, mission, and values statements, new teams...etc. And while that seems to be a lot to accomplish in 1 year, we did it. Now, we enter into 2020 and we are prepared for this new decade. Join us as we enter into the '20's' full steam ahead and ready to see what God does in our community and in our city.

During the final week of Advent, we discuss the gift of hope.  Evan Savage teaches on what it means to have hope as Christians, especially at Christmas.

During the third week of Advent, we discuss the gift of peace. Specifically, the need for us to embrace and accept the gift of peace in a chaotic world.

Do you remember the best Christmas Gift you ever received? Remember that feeling when you opened that gift? How great the feeling was? Now imagine that feeling when we come into the greatest gift God has given us...his perfect love. Listen with us as we learn about this love and how It is God's love that caused Christmas. 

We sing songs like "Joy to the World" every year around this time, yet joy is one of the most misunderstood things in our world today. What is Joy? Is it mere happiness? Or is something greater? 

It's easy to get caught up in the need for self-preservation, but God calls us to be generous people. The Motive behind our generosity should be about understanding that the grace of God is so great that everything we have is His. In this sermon, pastor Evan Savage wraps up our series "Thankful" by talking about the "Three M’s" of Generosity: Motive, Measure, and Method. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 14.0px}

Have you ever heard the saying, "Patience is a virtue?" What on Earth does that mean? Is it that we should strive to be patient people? Is it patience that makes us virtuous people? This message from Evan Savage will continue on in our series "thankful" and look at how a patient heart leads to a thankful heart. 

Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things to do especially when someone has wronged you well beyond the point of deserving forgiveness.In Matthew 18:21-35 (the parable of the unforgiving debtor), forgiving doesn't mean ignoring people's mistakes and failures and pretending they don't exist. Forgiving is choosing to see the need for God's grace in others' hearts and as an expression of God's grace.  It is not just a moment of pain, it is a moment of grace.

If we are going to be thankful it must come from our heart, not our circumstances.  American consumerism says that it ought to work the other way.  If we can just get one more, something nicer, a little bigger only then we will be satisfied and thankful. If things are right on the outside, then it will bring peace inside.  Scripture says the opposite.This week we discuss becoming content in what we have, based around Psalm 23 - "Because the Lord is my shepherd I lack nothing."How would living with a heart of contentment change in our day to day life?

It's a lullaby we've been coaxed into believing without realizing it: self-preservation. It has become the point of so many of our lives. The pursuit of comfort and success has taken over for the calling of the gospel. Maybe it's time to reprioritize...

Being a good neighbor might seem insignificant. Especially in a world with so much violence, hatred, sickness, death...etc. But God works through the moments far more than he works through the events. Each of those moments causes a ripple effect that can move through our churches, neighborhoods, and even our city in ways bigger than we can imagine. 

Fear, in the most practical of terms, is the emotional response to a thing that keeps us from experiencing that "thing." There are many things that we fear and a lot of times fear keeps us from doing what God calls us to do. This sermon will help us navigate that fear. 

Time. Some would say that it's a commodity that is worth more than anything. You can't get lost time back, yet so many of us jam-pack our days to be as full with "stuff" as possible.  Maybe that's the reason time is often the biggest excuse of why we don't make room in our schedules for the much-needed community time.

Often in the "Christian walk" people get worried about parting. Oddly enough, Jesus partied... and he partied well. This week we are talking about what it looks like to through more and better parties with our neighbors.

Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves, what if we took it as literally as possible and we started to love our PHYSICAL neighbors as ourselves. Join us as we begin our series on learning to neighbor well.

God commands us to LOVE Him, but do we truly understand what that means? It's easy to just associate love with a feeling, like when you first start dating. Puppy love is fine and good, but it's far from understanding what love is. What does it look like to love with ALL of your heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This week Evan Savage talks about what it means to love with ALL of your mind.

God commands us to LOVE Him, but do we truly understand what that means? It's easy to just associate love with a feeling, like when you first start dating. Puppy love is fine and good, but it's far from understanding what love is. What does it look like to love with ALL of your heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This week Evan Savage talks about what it means to love with ALL of your strength.

God commands us to LOVE Him, but do we truly understand what that means? It's easy to just associate love with a feeling, like when you first start dating. Puppy love is fine and good, but it's far from understanding what love is. What does it look like to love with ALL of your heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This week Evan Savage talks about what it means to love with ALL of your soul.

God commands us to LOVE Him, but do we truly understand what that means? It's easy to just associate love with a feeling, like when you first start dating. Puppy love is fine and good, but it's far from understanding what love is. What does it look like to love with ALL of your heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This week Evan Savage talks about what it means to love with ALL of your heart.

Tithe.  It's the dreaded "five letter word" that makes people's skin crawl. It seems that many churches are ALWAYS asking for money and time. Passing baskets, online giving, fundraising, volunteering... it's very easy to see why this topic has become taboo to so many people over the years. In this series Evan explains on why the habit of tithing is so important in the Christian faith.

Tithe.  It's the dreaded "five letter word" that makes people's skin crawl. It seems that many churches are ALWAYS asking for money and time. Passing baskets, online giving, fundraising, volunteering... it's very easy to see why this topic has become taboo to so many people over the years. In this series Evan explains on why the habit of tithing is so important in the Christian faith.

How do we, as Christians live in an ever-growing secular world? Do we get on our own personal soapboxes and shout a fire and brimstone sermon into the air? Do we just accept everyone and everything for what and who they are and hope it all turns out"okay"? Matt Nyberg talks about finding and living in the "gray" areas and how maybe that's a better place to be sometimes.

We all have that one relative... you know... the one who can't help bring up politics, troll you about politics on social media, the one that slams every person on the opposing side of THEIR politics. Or maybe that's you? In any case, where does this all fit into the Christian faith? 

We've been going through our series "ASK (Because Questions Matter)" trying to dig into questions submitted by our congregation. This week Evan addresses the question "Why did I grow up learning that I couldn't wear flip flops in church?". Do I you need to kneel while praying? Do you NEED to dress up? What's the point? Many of us grew up in the legalistic version of church. Is that all REALLY necessary?