Grace Church Teaching

The basis of Christianity centers on the Resurrection. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead tells us about who God is and how powerful He is. If we have faith in Him and believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, it means we too will be raised from the dead. We will receive new heavenly bodies—bodies that will be strong and full of glory, unlike the mortal bodies we currently occupy that are weak and full of brokenness.

Grace Church en Español se reúne los domingos a las 11am en el centro de estudiantes de la sede de Pelham Rd. Aquí encuentran las grabaciones de la enseñanza semanal. Para más información visite a gracechurchenespanol.org o envíe un correo a rrichard@gracechurchsc.org.

Whether you are the athlete, professor, artist, or engineer, if you are identified with Christ, you are now united as a family—brother and sister—in one body, the Church. Within this new family, your previous heritage is now gone—biological heritage, national citizenship, race, or caste. There are no dividing walls but rather you are now one in Christ. As Paul once said, “We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

Belonging is rooting for something, while at the same time, excluding something else. This plays out in society today with an “us and them” attitude that even carries into our Christian lives; we believe we have the ability to decide who and what is included or excluded from our world. In Ephesians 2, Paul distinguishes Gentiles from Jews in that Gentiles must remember what they never had. Gentiles must recognize—much like we must recognize today— the separation, alienation, desperation, and desolation that lies in the past in order to understand the unlimited blessing there is in Jesus Christ. We must also note that, like the Jews, our self-righteousness serves as a barrier to experiencing God’s embrace. Thankfully, due to Jesus’ death on the cross, the “wall of hostility” has been destroyed and everyone in Christ—both Jew and Gentile—has complete access to God.

One New Humanity

Grace Church en Español se reúne los domingos a las 11am en el centro de estudiantes de la sede de Pelham Rd. Aquí encuentran las grabaciones de la enseñanza semanal. Para más información visite a gracechurchenespanol.org o envíe un correo a rrichard@gracechurchsc.org.

For us to have access to Jesus, we have to declare that we are in a state of emergency. Things are worse than what we can handle and we don’t have the resources to handle it. We need help. While this is true, like Adam and Eve before us, we still try to fix what is wrong with us. Something deep within us wants to boast and take credit for our part in the solution. We must understand the full Gospel. Our works destroyed us. Jesus’ work saved us. We are now His workmanship to go do the good works He prepared for us in advance. So, in essence, salvation is about works…it’s just not my work.

Grace Church en Español se reúne los domingos a las 11am en el centro de estudiantes de la sede de Pelham Rd. Aquí encuentran las grabaciones de la enseñanza semanal. Para más información visite a gracechurchenespanol.org o envíe un correo a rrichard@gracechurchsc.org.

A Powerful Prayer

Paul praises God for the faithfulness that marked Christ followers in the city of Ephesus. He prays that the church will gain deep insight into the Lord’s powerful working and rich gifts in Christ. The foundational request of Paul’s prayer is that God send His spirit to Christ followers to personally engage in life with them and guide them with spiritual wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Paul understands a need for our hearts to be flooded with a godly light, that our eyes are opened to the glorious hope, inheritance, and power of our heavenly Father.

God loved you, chose you, created you, adopted you, purchased you, redeemed you, forgave you, and sealed you. You are His. There is nothing you did to earn these spiritual blessings. They are solely rooted in His character, desire, and good pleasure. Therefore, the stability of your relationship with God is not dependent upon you or your performance. Amidst the truth of God’s immeasurable love for you, there is an even greater story at play. God displayed His plan by uniting Jews and Gentiles as one under Christ, and is in the process of bringing everything in the universe under His authority. Unlike humans who crave control, and when given it, come up short, God has the vision, the plan, and the power to unite “everything in heaven and on earth.”

One of the great questions of the Bible is how God will bring all things back under His authority and direction without destroying everyone and everything. In the book of Ephesians, Paul will bring some light to this great question in the writing of his letter to faithful followers of Christ Jesus. Paul’s letter starts off by making the point that God is the Father of Jesus Christ and that it is through Christ we are blessed by God. Paul then describes the profound blessing from God that He chose us before the world was ever created. God adopted us as His own children and redeemed us through the precious, priceless blood of Christ. God does this not for our glory but for His own; nothing man can do can ever outdo what God has already done for His creation.

The pervasiveness of narcissism has not only integrated our culture but also the church. The lie we are predominantly dealing with is that God exists for my glory – He is most concerned about my health, my fulfillment, my family and my work. In fact, one of the prevailing attitudes today is that God is in the business of making “me” happy. God opposes those who make such lies their truth. Jesus used His most forceful language against these types of religious leaders. It is imperative that our imaginations be captivated by something other than self.

Grace Church en Español se reúne los domingos a las 11am en el centro de estudiantes de la sede de Pelham Rd. Aquí encuentran las grabaciones de la enseñanza semanal. Para más información visite a gracechurchenespanol.org o envíe un correo a rrichard@gracechurchsc.org.

Reading back in Genesis 3:17-19, work became cursed because of the fall — a price for man’s sin, meant to humble him. However, instead of letting it humble us and show us our great need for God, we place our very identity in our work, which leads to boasting or despair. In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon explains the “great tragedy” of how we spend our efforts to obtain that which cannot leave this earth with us. We either fill our days with busyness—arrogantly assuming our efforts can outdo God’s, or we become lazy—assuming our lives should be easier than they are. In effect, our work ethic becomes our idol and/or value and we lose sight of what our value already is in Christ. Instead, we ought hang our soul’s satisfaction on God, work industriously for His purposes, and enjoy the life He gives us. In doing so, we will follow Solomon’s conclusion that “there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work.”