Grace City Denver

What’s commonly called the Mosaic Law or the Torah is actually a covenant between God and Israel. And it’s important to note that redemption precedes regulations. God had already rescued Israel and called them his treasure before giving them any rules to live by. But Israel also discovers they cannot approach a holy and transcendent God without a mediator.

Many people believe Jesus probably rose from the dead, but they never think about this reality or let it shape their lives. But we do exactly that in this message. If Jesus rose from the dead, that means he's defeated the penalty, power, and even presence of sin. And that profound implications for our lives.

On the other side of deliverance, the Israelites encounter the wilderness - and the lack of basic resources. Rather than trusting God, they grumble and complain. But God graciously provides food and water in spite of his people's faithlessness.

On the surface, these are three disconnected narratives: Israel defeats Amalek in battle, Moses tell his father-in-law about God’s rescue, then Moses learns to delegate and share leadership. But the common theme is that God’s people needed a mediator. Moses’ mediation of deliverance, the Gospel, and the Law points to our perfect Mediator, Jesus Christ.

The Israelites didn’t just experience God’s miraculous deliverance through the Red Sea, they sang about it. Exodus 15 is a song of praise – the first in the Bible – extolling the greatness of God for destroying Israel’s enemies. If that seems unchristian to you, this message explores themes of God’s holiness, love, justice, and redemption through strength.

When the LORD led the Israelites out of Egypt, he laid a trap for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. God would part the Red Sea for the Israelites and then drown the armies of Egypt who chased after them to enslave them. The instrument of life and salvation for those who trusted in him would be the instrument of righteous judgement for their wicked adversaries.

On the night of the first Passover, the Israelites killed a spotless lamb and applied its blood to the doorpost of their homes. That blood stood between them and the Destroyer, having purchased their redemption. Many years later, the ultimate and final Passover Lamb gave his life and poured out his blood for our redemption from sin and death.

When God told Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” he hardened his heart in proud rebellion. At times, he feigned repentance just to get God to take the plagues away, but he never turned from his sin to serve the Lord. God confirmed Pharaoh in his rebellion and justly punished him in return, demonstrating that a proud king was no match for his power and glory.

Pharaoh refused to obey God’s command to let the Israelites go, asking, “Who is this Yahweh, that I should obey him?” He’s about to find out. Ten plagues (or “strikes”) will reveal his sovereignty over all the gods of the Egyptians and over every facet of creation. Even in judgment, there are numerous opportunities for mercy available to all who choose to fear and trust the LORD.

Moses must be feeling good after gathering the elders of Israel, telling them of Yahweh’s impending deliverance, and seeing them respond in worship. But Pharaoh has different plans. He doesn’t acknowledge Yahweh, he accuses the Hebrews of laziness, and he doubles their workload. The people groan to Moses in despair, and he openly accuses God of evil. God’s response is to say, “Step back and watch what I do next – for I AM a covenant keeping God.”

After 40 years in the wilderness, Moses encounters an astonishing sight: a bush is burning but not being consumed. The LORD speaks to him out of the bush and commissions him to go to Egypt to liberate his covenant people. But Moses is more focused on his fears and his sense of inadequacy than on who God is and what God has called him to do.

Exodus 1 ends with the recognition that Israel needs a deliverer, and Exodus 2 begins with the birth of that deliverer. But before Moses can save anyone, he himself needs to be saved from near certain death. In the eighty years that follow, God uses both the miraculous and the mundane to prepare him to partner with Yahweh in the stunning rescue of God’s people.

We begin the story of Exodus right where Genesis left off, with the twelve sons of Jacob – and they’re multiplying rapidly. The new Pharaoh sees them as a growing threat that must be stopped, using the weapons of slavery and slaughter. So the Israelites go from experiencing God’s favor to experiencing affliction. Where is God? Does he even care?

Message from Sam Sawyer on January 11, 2026

Everyone is a seeker. We're all pursuing something we believe will make us happy - will satisfy us. Many of our pursuits provide temporary pleasure followed by shame, emptiness, and more craving. Jesus invites us to a better pursuit. He calls us to seek God first as our sovereign King, our standard of goodness, and the Savior of our every aspect of our lives.

Message from Sam Sawyer on December 28, 2025

With generation after generation of God's people failing to keep the terms of their covenants with God, God promised a New Covenant. It would be enacted on better promises - and it would be unconditional. God would write his law on hearts, wipe away sin, give personal and direct knowledge of himself, and send the gift of the Spirit. Jesus ratified this New Covenant with his blood, so eternal salvation is found in him alone.

Hundreds of years after the Exodus, the Israelites decided they wanted a human king just like all the other nations and kingdoms. After a disastrous few decades under their first king, Saul, the Lord chose the shepherd boy David to lead them. And God made a covenant with David that his throne would be established forever. By the end of the Old Testament, however, centuries passed without a king on David's throne. Then Jesus came - the ultimate seed of David - to fulfill all the promises of the Davidic Covenant.

After the Tower of Babel, humanity had again lost the plot of living as God's people in God's place under God's rule, receiving God's blessing. So God essentially rebooted the storyline with one childless seventy five year old pagan man named Abram. If he trusted and obeyed God, God would make him into a great nation, give him a promised land, and bless all the peoples of the earth through him. Where Abram and his offspring doubted, feared, and failed, Jesus ultimately fulfilled the promises of this covenant.

Our true and lasting hope is rooted in the promised Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, the last Adam who restores all that the first Adam lose.

When you move to a new area, what should you be looking for in a church? Given that a church is called and commissioned to help form you in the image of Christ, you must care about what a church believes and practices.

John concludes his Gospel with an unabashed purpose statement: he wrote these eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life so that others would believe in him and receive his gift of eternal and abundant life.

Peter had failed and everyone knew it. He had denied Jesus three times during his darkest hour. Even if he wanted to follow and serve Jesus, how could he? He was disqualified, right? Wrong! Jesus tracked him down, forgave him, and reminded him of his calling and commission.

The disciples knew the ethical teachings of Jesus, they’d seen his exemplary life, and they even knew (from Mary) that he’d been raised from the dead. But none of these things changed them . . . until Jesus came. His presence brought the peace, the pardon, the purpose, and the power they were missing.

It’s Sunday morning after Good Friday. None of the disciples are at the tomb, watching for Jesus to rise from the dead as he promised. But Mary goes to anoint his dead body with burial spices. The tomb is empty! Jesus is gone, but his graveclothes remain! What does Jesus do to prove to the original skeptics that he is indeed alive – and that everything has changed?

Even in the “passive” events of Jesus’ death and burial, God is working. His Old Testament promises and types are being fulfilled. A fountain of spiritual cleansing is being opened up. And Jesus is going into death and the grave ahead of us to fundamentally transform the nature of those things.

After a long leadup, Jesus is finally crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. His only crime, as indicated on the inscription above his head, is that he is “the King of the Jews.” This death is not a haphazard sequence of tragic events; rather, it is the fulfillment of the Law and prophets, orchestrated by the Master Storyteller himself. And when Jesus cried, “It is finished!” he meant it: salvation’s plan was completed and there’s nothing left but to believe.

Pilate is caught on the horns of a dilemma. Though he’s pronounced Jesus innocent three times, the Jewish religious leaders relentlessly demand that he be crucified. Pilate can condemn an innocent man or lose his own job – and perhaps his life. In this intriguing story, the religious leaders are the real blasphemers, the governor is powerless, and the guilty is set free because the innocent chooses to die in his place.

The religious leaders have brought Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate, demanding his swift execution by crucifixion. In the ensuing power struggle, both the political and religious authorities reveal their hypocrisy and their lust for power. In stark contrast, Jesus reveals his real power, paradoxically, in sacrificial love. Which kingdom’s agenda will you follow?

After Jesus is arrested in the garden, he’s whisked away to an illegal trial in the middle of the night at the home of the high priest. While Jesus courageously affirms his public Gospel message and defends his disciples, Peter caves under the pressure of the moment and denies him three times.

The Last Supper has been finished. Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley with eleven of his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the point of no return. Jesus knows full well Judas is leading the religious and political officials to this exact place to have him arrested. He’ll be dead within hours. What do we learn about the identity and love of Jesus through this story?

Too many people view the local church with an individualistic, consumer mindset: "What's in it for me?" But Scripture teaches that a sovereign God has placed you in his body to live out the ideals of unity-in-diversity and interdependence while pursuing the purpose of God's glory and the building up of the church.

The command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is a call to be devoted to him with all that we are and all that we have. Passive, lukewarm, culturally-accommodated living has no place in the Christian life.

Psalm 49 reminds us that wealth, status, and power cannot save anyone from death. Both the rich and poor alike will face the grave, and no amount of money can ransom a life. Those who trust in riches are ultimately fools, for their glory and possessions will not follow them. The wise instead put their hope in God, who alone can redeem from the power of death and give true life.

This Psalm about the city of Zion (Jerusalem) is really about the great King of the city, who is celebrated particularly for his sovereign protection. In spite of every advantage, the city failed to be "the joy of all the earth." But the King returned to his city, fulfilled its calling, and built a new holy city called "New Jerusalem."

Psalm 47 is a joyful call for all nations to praise God as the supreme King over the earth. It celebrates His power, His righteous rule, and His victory on behalf of His people. The psalm envisions all peoples uniting in worship, acknowledging God’s reign over every nation forever.

This is a royal wedding song celebrating the king and his bride. It praises the king’s majesty, righteousness, and victory, portraying him as a divinely anointed ruler. The psalm also honors the bride, calling her to leave her past and embrace her new royal identity. Ultimately, it points beyond the earthly king to a messianic figure whose throne is eternal.

This song proclaims God as a refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble, unshaken by chaos or catastrophe. It invites us to be still and trust that God is sovereign over all nations and nature, our fortress in every storm.

This Psalm is unique amongst the psalter because it not only laments the painful and humiliating things God is doing to his covenant people, it also accuses him of unfairness. God has seemingly disciplined his people even though they've done nothing wrong. How do you respond when you sense God's injustice like that in your life?

In this message we explore some of the history and challenges of downtown Denver, provide a brief biblical theology of City and Mission, and share practical ways of living on mission in a neighborhood that needs the hope, love, and shalom of Jesus Christ.

This text addresses the question, "Where is God when life hurts?" The writer assumes the presence of pain means the absence of God. Yet he instructs his soul to continue to hope and trust in the God of his salvation.

This psalm reminds us that God is especially near to those who show mercy to the vulnerable—because He Himself is a God of mercy. David, suffering physically and emotionally, is betrayed by a close friend—pointing us forward to the ultimate betrayal Christ would endure. Yet even in pain, David clings to the steadfast love of God, trusting that God will raise him up. The psalm closes in worship, anchoring our hope not in circumstances, but in the unchanging faithfulness of the Lord.

We are not only saved from something, we are also saved to something. The response of the rescued is to testify to the goodness and greatness of Jesus Christ.

Amidst the trials and uncertainties of life, in both your silence and your speaking, hope in the Lord.

In Psalm 38, David is tormented physically, emotionally, psychologically, relationally, and spiritually because of his sin. But instead of concealing it, minimizing it, rationalizing it, or blaming someone else, David owns it. He confesses his sin and cries out to God to discipline him in mercy and to rescue him.

It's natural to envy or even despise the wicked when you see them enjoying a level of success and prosperity that is unfair. But this Psalm guides you to redirect your focus and perspective so that you can find your delight in that which truly matters for eternity.

Jesus provided the simplest explanation of discipleship when he called fisherman to leave their nets and follow him so that he could make them become fishers of men. Discipleship means following Jesus and being transformed by Jesus in order to live on Jesus' mission.

In John 17, Jesus prayed that his followers be characterized by seven character traits: faith, joy, holiness, truth, mission, unity, and ultimately love. He prayed that the Church would be filled with these traits simply by living in union with him. This message explores the centrality of love to the effective functioning of the other character qualities.

Just before Jesus went to a cross to lay down his life for our sins, he prayed. What we observe in this prayer is a passion for the glory of God, a commitment to saving and sanctifying his own, and a love for countercultural unity. To the end, Jesus prayed and worked for the Father to be known by the world, so that more people would be saved by faith in him.

Jesus told his disciples he was going away for a little while, and they would experience sorrow. But his resurrection would conquer sin and sorrow, so that believers could experience both immediate and eternal joy – joy that transcends circumstances. To experience this joy now, we must simply trust him and live as if what Jesus said is true.