Grace Messages
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© Grace Community Fellowship Church
Description
Grace Messages is a series of Bible-based, Christian messages that include everything from topical messages, to verse-by-verse studies through various books of the Bible. Our messages focus on expository, dispensational Bible teaching from a free grace perspective.
Each podcast is from a sermon preached at our home church in Newnan, Georgia! Listen to these messages in order, or just choose one that sounds most interesting to you!
For easier topic navigation, visit www.gracenewnan.org/messages Even the Verse-by-Verse studies can be listened to in or out of order.
About the church: Grace Community Fellowship is a Bible-church in Newnan, Georgia, pastored by Pastor John Clark.
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In this sermon, we'll explore the importance of working with purpose as unto the Lord. Let's discover how to find fulfillment in our work and glorify God through our daily tasks.
This morning, we are going to look at the story of Elijah the prophet, and incredibly successful prophet of Israel. He is one of only two men, mentioned in the Scriptures who did not die physically but was translated directly to heaven! He was a man who walked with God, but we are going to see that after many successes, he still failed in a miserable way. What is so incredible though is that his failure came on the heels of one of his greatest recorded successes. And what we find in the life of Elijah is that staying successful is often times harder than becoming successful to begin with!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King, a Gentile king, the story of King Nebuchadnezzar. His is an interesting story because he was in the perfect place at the perfect time in history to be a divine disciplinary rod for the nation of Judah. He was brought to power and given incredible success by none other than Yahweh, Himself! However, it was this truth that was murky to Nebuchadnezzar. He attributed his success to himself and completely disregarded Yahweh.
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Israel, Joash. King Joash is the epitome of a man whose own success messed up his evaluator and made him very forgetful! He rode on the coattails of another man’s spiritual success, and he never really owned or valued what he said he believed!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Judah, Hezekiah. Wow! Where do we start with Hezekiah? This man was probably only second to David in terms of raising the spiritual temperature in Israel across the board! It is what makes his failure, his fall from success, so incredible. His failure happened so suddenly and without warning, it literally snuck up and bit him!
This morning, we are going to look at another successful King of Israel, Uzziah. He was successful, partially, because of the same reason Solomon was initially successful. Uzziah pursued relational intimacy with the Lord! However, as we will see, the initial steps of success often are the first steps towards failure! In the life of Uzziah, we will see that success caused him to think too highly of himself, and it cost him.
Waiting is one of the most common tests Christians face in life. Waiting has many variations - large and small. But the bottom line is that waiting is hard. It exposes us to uncertainty, vulnerability, impatience, and much more. Biblical waiting means "...these tension filled gaps present an opportunity for faith" and its corollary - hope.
Some look at climate change and wonder if we are about to destroy the world. Some watch world events - October 7th, assassination attempt, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and wonder if we are on the brink of WWIII. Christians see these things, and many other biblical indications of the Lord's return and ask, "Is it soon?". Everyone wonders what to do, how to respond, how to be ready. I Thessalonians gives believers some solid answers these questions.
This morning, we are going to look at one of the most successful men who ever lived, King Solomon. Solomon is a picture of a man who grew in the wrong direction! He started well but continued poorly. Ultimately, at the end of his life, he was the epitome of an epic failure.
Sometimes when people “crash and burn” in life, it is shocking. You will often hear someone say, “I never saw that coming!” That may be true, but oftentimes, there are subtle indicators and little things along the way, that would have clued us in to the potential issues brewing. We are going to look at a story this morning where there were plenty of warning signs along the road to success. These warning signs were ignored and not utilized to course correct. We will see the way our group responds to these warning signs indicated they were not ready for success, and this was revealed in an EPIC failure!
This morning, we will consider three primary principles for why perceived success can be dangerous or detrimental to one’s Christian life. Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians 10:12 that this is a very real and present danger to be constantly aware of.
Last week, we reached the climax of Lazarus’ story – Jesus resuscitated him because He IS the resurrection and the life. This morning, we will see something that is still true today. Jesus’ life, ministry, and work on the cross demands a response! These things demand a decision! Will you “believe” in Him OR will you “reject” Him? There is no middle or neutral ground. Any decision or non-decision a person makes regarding this topic has consequences, either positive or negative.
This morning, we reach the pinnacle or climax of Lazarus’ story – his resuscitation. Remember, the main technical differences between a resuscitation and a resurrection is the BODY that a person is brought back to life in. Lazarus will be brought back in a human, physical body to one day die again. In the future resurrection, at the Rapture of the Church, we will be raised in glorified bodies, completely delivered from sin’s presence and in bodies that will never die again. This miracle was the icing on the cake for the purpose of John’s book (John 20:30-31)!
As we continue with the story of Lazarus this morning, we pick up in the middle of Jesus’ conversation with Martha. Remember, Martha has gone out to meet Him on His way into town to get some answers. Jesus is going to give her some answers, including His FIFTH ”I AM” claim recorded in the Book of John. It is quite a claim! Jesus will tell her “I AM the resurrection and the life!” Truly remarkable! Almost beyond words!
Today, we begin a new chapter in John 11, and begin a familiar story with the story of Lazarus. In the beginning of this story, we get to see a unique opportunity for God to get glory through this man's death!
Today, guest Speaker Rob Armstrong fills in to speak from Hebrews 1:1-3. We explore how God wrote the Old Testament, the primary message of the prophets, and 7 unique and wonderful facts about Christ.
We will finish up Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah). Jesus was asked a direct question in verse 24, He has answered it, and they did not like His answer and accused Him of the capital crime of blasphemy. Jesus now responds, and He does so the same way He has been doing in the Book of John: (1) He appeals to the Jewish scriptures, AND (2) He appeals to the signs/works He has been doing. Once again, they do not like His answer and they proceed to attempt another execution…
As mentioned last week, Jesus is in Jerusalem again during the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah) and is now roughly three months away from the Feast of Passover and His crucifixion. Jesus has returned to the shepherd/sheep analogy that He had used three months earlier, and He said something emphatic in verse 28! However, Jesus did NOT stop there! This morning, in our passage, He builds on what He just said in verse 28, and makes the truth of the believer’s security even more emphatic!
As we move from verse 21 to verse 22, we have fast-forwarded in time about three months. We are now roughly halfway between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Passover, where Jesus will be crucified. John puts this section immediately after the Good Shepherd discourse because Jesus returns to this illustration three months later with the same group to once again affirm His identity and the value of what He came to do.
As we continue looking at the powerful and piercing metaphor Jesus shared regarding shepherds and sheep, Jesus shared an incredible truth in verse 11…He is THE Good Shepherd. He is the One the Old Testament anticipated with this metaphor. Couple that with the fact that Jesus used the phrase “ego eimi” (I AM) to describe Himself four times in this passage, and we can see that He is saying that He is Yahweh the Shepherd – the ONE they were expecting! This morning, He will go on to explain WHY this is the case – WHY He is this GOOD shepherd!
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