Gospel Grace Church Sermon Audio

1 Corinthians 15:1-3 - Speaker: Jon Kopp - If you ask a group of self-professing Christians to share the essentials of the gospel message, you’ll likely get a myriad of answers. When pressed to define the core of what we believe about Jesus, some can drift into a mumble of spiritual sounding technicalities and nervous “Well...you knows.” Is this a problem? Is it important to accurately define the gospel? Yes. We believe it is. This study will explore understanding the gospel message, remembering the details of the gospel message, and providing ideas for sharing the gospel message.

- Speaker: Isaac Gagarinas - In this class, Anna Grace Galkin, Pastor Jotham Manoranjan, and Pastor Josh MacAvoy join as guest panelists in a final technology discussion. This panel focused primarily on theological considerations of AI, ethical considerations of AI, and parenting principles regarding kids and technology.

- Speaker: Christopher Hile - In the final week of our study, we explore the prevailing cultural value of relativism and locate it as a question of authority. We also introduce the fourth and final tool for cultural engagement, storytelling. Stories are unavoidable for us as humans, and help us to make sense of the world around us. Stories also help us to show that the gospel is not only true, but beautiful.

Acts 6:8-7:60 - Speaker: Lukus Counterman - The Old Testament recounts how Israel moved from being led by prophets and judges, to the coronation of kings. Do you remember the name of the first king of Israel? Yes, Saul – a man who looked great externally. He stood head and shoulders above the rest. His outward appearance was commendable, but his heart was cold and corrupt. He disobeyed the Lord, and the kingdom was eventually taken from him. The Spirit of God left him, and he spent the last days of his reign in jealous grasping and bitter envy. The hand of the Lord was not on him. But instead of bending to God’s will and bowing to God’s next chosen leader, he resisted and rebelled to his last breath. Saul’s day was past, and God’s favor and blessing were now resting on David, “a man after God’s own heart.” This ancient rivalry reemerges between the first century Jewish establishment and the Son of David named Jesus. The temple looked great externally. It stood tall and appeared commendable. But at the heart o

- Speaker: David Pimentel - This week, we explore another prevailing culture of our time, hedonism. In this lesson, we explore the various presuppositions to such a value, explain bridges and barriers for the gospel, and provide you with more tools for engagement.

- Speaker: Isaac Gagarinas - This lesson gave listeners a chance to participate and apply the technological framework developed in the class. By looking at several case studies, listeners were asked to discern the positives/negatives of each scenario, identify heart issues, apply biblical texts, and propose habit changes moving forward.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 - Speaker: Josh MacAvoy

Acts 6:1-1:7 - Speaker: Jon Kopp - In the early chapters of the Book of Acts, the church is experiencing an extraordinary growth spurt. On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people embraced faith in Jesus, and by Acts 4, an additional 5,000 were added. And as we saw in our last message in this series, that growth is happening even in the face of threats from within and without. God’s word and work will not be stopped. You attack the Apostles and tell them to stop talking about Jesus, and they count it worthy to suffer with Jesus…and they go right on preaching about Him in public and private. The gospel is advancing powerfully, and as Acts 6 begins, the number of disciples is increasing too. But, another threat is about to arise. This time the threat is more subtle than violent persecution or blatant hypocrisy. Growing pains are threatening gospel advance. May God help us to recognize that growth often brings challenges, but when the church unites around the priority of God’s Word and sharing in ministry, God’s word

1 Thessalonians 2-8 - Speaker: Chan Choi - This week, we delve into the narrative of expressive individualism to explore the question, "Who am I?" We will also examine how we can challenge the postmodern narrative and extend the better story of the gospel to discover our identity in Christ. Additionally, we will introduce the tool of "hospitality" to demonstrate how the Christian life is both livable and believable.

Proverbs 9:10 - Speaker: Jon Kopp

- Speaker: Isaiah Maynard - This is part of the "Christians and Technology" teaching series. This class will address the God-given mission of parenting and some of the unique threats that technology, specifically modern, digital technologies, pose to that mission. This class will also provide some practical steps that parents and families can take to help nurture the soul-formation of children as well as orient their entire lives around the transformational power of the gospel.

Luke 10:1-16 - Speaker: Danny Brooks - Along with the familiar ideas of the abundant harvest, few laborers, and prayer for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers, another powerful theme from Luke 10 is that we, like the 72, are sent by Christ and in partnership with Him to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. There are two responses Jesus notes in the passage: rejection and reception. The one comes with a sobering warning of future judgment while the other comes with the promise of great blessing.

- Speaker: Briley Hughes - Now that a foundation for engagement has been laid, over the next several weeks we will be assessing a cultural value of a post-Christian world, understand bridges and barriers to the gospel, and provide a tool for engagement. Today, Briley walks us through the value of inclusivity to demonstrate how the gospel tells a better story.

Matthew 3:16 - Speaker: James Lockwood - This is an overview of the basics of systematic doctrines and how to study the Bible in this way. It especially centers on two doctrines the doctrine of God as Trinity and the gospel of Christ as fully God and Fully man. These ideas are brought together to present a very 30,000 foot view of doctrine and how to study who God is.

- Speaker: Isaac Gagarinas - The rise of the internet changed the trajectory of society in countless ways. One of the greatest was the creation of a new medium of engagement which is the digital world. Now, people have the ability to engage with ideas, videos, music, and content. Friends can both connect with old friends and make new friends they never would have otherwise. But what exactly is the digital world? How should Christians engage it? In this class we start with a biblical anthropology, recognizing that God has created us as embodied beings. As embodied beings, we are made for embodied reality and embodied relationships. Therefore, the goal of this is to rightly value the digital world so that we as embodied beings can rightly engage the digital world.

Acts 4:32-5:2 - Speaker: Lukus Counterman - At the end of Acts 4, the believers experienced sweet community. People were caring for one another and pursuing the good of the church. That is until a deceitful couple named Ananias and Sapphira put God to the test. They thought their fake spirituality would sneak under the radar. Surely, they could be selfish inside and put on a spiritual show outside. Nope. God judged them and displayed the importance of holiness and integrity in the church. The community responded in the fear of the Lord and more and more believers were added to the assembly. This church growth irked the religious leaders of the day, and they turned up the heat of persecution in Acts 5. They arrested, beat, and threatened the apostles. But these Christians were resolved to obey God rather than man. They went on preaching Jesus in Jerusalem and beyond. May the Lord give us hearts of integrity in worship and courage in witness.

- Speaker: Isaac Gagarinas - Today, we take the principles we have discussed so far and apply them to the smartphone. Utilizing Tony Reinke's book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, we focus on the topic of distraction. The smartphone is a modern technology that provides many benefits to society but also comes with dangers. Few dangers are clearer than distraction. This class seeks to consider why our smartphones are uniquely designed to contribute to our distraction and why we ourselves have an appetite for distraction. By understanding our phones and getting at the heart of distraction, we then consider several biblical principles to move away from distraction and move our hearts toward the eternal things of Scripture. It is from these principles and heart postures that we can then form healthy phone habits.

Acts 17:16-34 - Speaker: Christopher Hile - A framework for engagement equips us to take steps toward cultural literacy in order to love our neighbors and reach them with the gospel. In today's lesson, we describe how to enter, explore, and expose the culture around you in an effort to extend the hope of the gospel to your neighbors. This framework is grounded in Paul's speech in Acts 17:16–34.

Matthew 5:1-12 - Speaker: Jared Jenkins - In Matthew 5, Jesus begins his well-known Sermon on the Mount, which serves as the “code of conduct” for citizens of his kingdoms. In verses 1-12, Jesus shows us who these citizens, these kingdom-dwellers, really are. He starts by describing them as “blessed” or "happy". In this chapter, we see Jesus gives a countercultural perspective on happiness and being blessed by God. According to him, true happiness isn’t found by those who pursue riches or achievements. No, according to Jesus, happiness is for those who are lowly and destitute. This Sunday, we will explore the reason for why the lowly and destitute can be called “blessed.”

Romans 15:5-7 - Speaker: Jon Kopp - “Community is not a spiritual luxury or an optional addition to the exercises of private devotion. Such fellowship is a spiritual necessity; for God has made us in such a way that our fellowship with himself is fed by our fellowship with fellow-Christians, and requires to be so fed constantly for its own deepening and enrichment.” J. I. Packer, God’s Words.