Word of Grace Church

In this message, we are opening a study of the Temple - not an exhaustive walkthrough, but God's intention for His Presence to dwell with His people. As we uncover God's instructions to His people regarding the Temple in then Old Testament, we will discover more of His heart for us - His Temple today.

We've been looking for four weeks at an image in scripture that describes our cultural moment and also resonates deeply with our experience. Now it's time to press in, practically. In this message, Pastor Ryan encourages us to not hold back, looking at Romans 12 and the call to put our gifts in motion for one another. Let's Build the Harbor Together.

Our Final Harbor Light is Presence. The Harbor cannot be a Harbor without the Presence of God which stills the storm. He is the one we long for.

As we continue in our Vision Series about becoming a Harbor, we look at what this means for our Formation. We believe that Spiritual Formation, or Discipleship, is a huge part of our lives as believers, and not just individually... because the deepest and most profound things shaping our lives are the communities to which we belong.

As we dive into new vision for the church, we're looking at what it means for us to become a Harbor in terms of the Mission to which we are committed.

Pastor Ryan explores an image in scripture that we believe will shape us as we enter this next season as a church family.

Launching into a New Year, we're also launching into a fresh season with God leading us. In a few weeks Pastor Ryan will be casting vision for the season ahead with an image from Scripture to shape us, but first we want to prepare, and preparation starts with the heart.

As we wrap up the way Jesus taught us to pray, He brings us back to where we started, recognizing who God is and submitting our lives to Him.

The Third step in our study of prayer is to Ask. We come to God for our daily bread and so much more. Pastor Ryan unpacks three ways of asking in prayer.

Our Second Step in praying the way of Jesus is to reflect. We consider the character and nature of God and rejoice in the fact that we belong to Him, because WHO we are talking to is more important than what we say or how we say it.

As we open this series on prayer, we remember that Jesus first invited us to find room for prayer. Pastor Ryan talks to us about the need to Pause if we are going to cultivate a life of prayer.

Speaking of people close to Jesus not understanding Him... we're wrapping up this series with a look at John the Baptist, and his own personal moment of struggle.

Jesus interacts a number of times with two sisters in the Gospels, and each time the exchanges involve some tension, as Jesus doesn't do what's expected or being asked of Him. In each of those moments, and when He doesn't fall in line with our way of thinking, He is always inviting us to something better.

This week, Jesus is at another dinner party, with a very different host. Tensions rise as an unexpected guest does unexpected things.

So many people struggle with feelings of unworthiness and disqualification. In part, that comes from the reality of what we know about ourselves, and in part it comes from our culture of achievement and earning our "lovability." But the Bible reminds us, it's not about us being worthy of God's love... it's about Jesus being worthy, and choosing to sacrifice Himself to bring us to God.

Jesus comes down from another mountain in Mark 9, and steps into an argument. When He enters the situation, a miracle happens, and there's a massive invitation to each of us as well.

We're looking at the moment when Jesus comes down the mountain and brings Kingdom life to the people, and specifically Matthew gives us two immediate stories of healing, of outsiders.

Still in the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, we see Him have a long and tedious conversation with the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time - a conversation that changed the course of her life.

OK so this is a bit of a sidestep, but if we're looking at interactions Jesus had in the gospels with others, we can't miss the fact that his first interaction upon launching his public ministry, was with the enemy. And in that interaction are huge keys for us as we face spiritual opposition as well.

Jesus will return, and although we won't know the time, we can keep ourselves ready and growing in love with Him and with others.

We're adding a bonus Parable in our Kingdom Vision study as we look at the parables of Jesus. This Father's Day we want to return to the heart of the Rejected Father in Luke 15.

Jesus talks about one of the amazing and challenging realities of His Kingdom in this week's parable: Forgiveness.

Jesus' parables have a way of getting under our skin, and pushing our buttons just like they pushed the buttons of those in His day. In this episode we look at the fairness (or unfairness) of God, and one particular parable of the Master.

We're diving into the Parables of Jesus where He gives us a vision of His Kingdom.

Pastor Ryan unpacks a familiar passage with an often-overlooked focus that holds a lot of encouragement and promise for Moms, and everyone!

Pastor Ryan talks to us about Marking this Moment, and continuing to Carry God's Presence forward.

After the Resurrection, Jesus comes and goes, and has a special encounter with two disciples who are headed away from Jerusalem.

In the early hours of Resurrection Sunday, Mary couldn't see Jesus through the lens of her tears, but then He called her by name and everything changed... she carries the good news for the first time - "I have Seen the Lord!" We celebrate the moment on which all history hangs in this episode - the Resurrection of Jesus. Remember with us and hear what it means for us today.

Standing before that vast crowd... the ones who had turned on Him, Jesus was brought out for all to see. Pilate called to them, "Behold the Man! Behold your King!" and they replied "He's not our King, Crucify Him!" Never do we see a more perfect picture of Jesus' Passion and Purpose... If you want to See Jesus, behold the man.

As Jesus enters the city to kick off Holy Week, there are back-to-back episodes with Jesus in Luke 19, and we investigate how each of the characters in the story react to Jesus in both.

We open our Easter journey this year with the moment that leads into it, in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus has an interaction with a man who is "the wrong guy," but this wrong guy made a couple right moves, to see Jesus. That's when everything changed.

Dr. David Welle joined us to unpack Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler, and how God invites all of us to put Him first.

Pastor CJ jumps in this Sunday morning to talk through three wrong ways we look at God, and three ways that Jesus shows us something different.

After the renewal, we're given a final brief insight and lesson from Josiah's life. It's a challenge to keep seeking God, even when we've been in a great season of blessing.

What comes next after making room for God by clearing away idols, and responding in repentance and obedience to His Word? Josiah shows us the completion of the pattern as he re-establishes true worship, declaring who God is and what He has done.

After clearing away all the idols and distractions, Josiah turned his attention to restoring the Temple, and in the process, they rediscover the Book of the Law. When Josiah hears God's Word, he is instantly repentant and everything changes.

Kicking off our Character Study in the life of the King who followed the Lord most closely, we look at the heart of Josiah before he ever had instruction from the Lord or even an example to follow.

The overarching thrust of our passage in Acts 2 is that the believers did everything together in unity as Family. Pastor Ryan explores the Rhythm of making Family a priority, as difficult as it can be in our individualistic world.

Pastor CJ walks us through the ways we're called to engage with God and our world as a daily Rhythm, just like breathing.

Join (the reverend) Bill Mullet as he leads us through an investigation of prayer as a primary rhythm of our lives as followers of Jesus.

Take a look with us into our Rhythms with the Word of God and it's power in our lives.

One thing that we surely need - Rest for our souls! That's what Jesus offers to us, and from the beginning we see God has a plan for us to engage with Him by resting.

As we enter a new season, we want to line up our lives with the ways of God. Pastor Ryan talks about the Rhythms we see in scripture, beginning with time.

As Jesus brings this Manifesto to a close, He calls us to make a choice - to follow Him and build our lives upon His ways, or to take the more popular way and build our lives upon foundations that shift beneath us.

Jesus continues to impart wisdom for approaching one another in relationships.

As Jesus enters into the final push of His manifesto, He teaches us about relating to one another in His way of flourishing. First, He addresses a constant temptation for us in how we see one another, and calls us to put our focus on what's happening in our hearts once more.

Jesus moves into a new set of thoughts, teaching us on how to live in right relationship with God and with one another, but first, He wants to point out a couple of things that hold us back from that life of rich relationship He desires for us. In this message, Jesus talks to us about our treasures.

Jesus shifts the focus in the middle of His Prayer, from praying toward Our Father, to asking of Him.

We dive into the Lord's Prayer in this look at the practices that followers of Jesus have embraced for two millennia.

We skip ahead to Jesus' instruction on fasting, but first, in our chaotic time, we remind ourselves WHY we keep our minds on things above.