Idaho Grace Sermon Podcast

I know there is much to be fearful of, much to mourn about the state of faith in this world, but take heart my friend—Jesus is building his Church, and the gates of hell have not, nor will they, frustrate his plans for her. 

You will not grow until you let go.  You can move forward.  Your chains can be broken.  But, you have to crawl up on the altar. 

Forgiveness is the key to you walking out of jail.  I’ll never forget being locked inside a padded cell with nothing but the face of the lady I was trying to escape filling the window.  I never want to go back to that again, literally or figuratively.  To get out, we have to face the hurt head-on.

You might feel like it’s Saturday, but just hold on Sunday is coming!  It’s time for a resurrection.  The dead can come to life, the sinner can receive grace, the hopeless can become optimists.   Jesus took care of it!   

What are you desperate for today?  At some level all of us are desperate for something.  More money, healed marriage, a restored relationship or maybe just a relationship,  desperate for peace, something to believe in, desperate for answers,  you lie awake at night waiting for…… fill in the blank. 

In the cave, on the run, in your darkest moment, I just wonder if God is still asking that question: What are you doing here?  He’s asking not to shame or rebuke, but so we can move forward into health and His calling.

The journey is too great for you.  You need rest, food, and strength.  God won’t necessarily keep you from running, but He’ll run with you.  There are lessons to be learned. 

This season of the story isn’t the end.  In fact, as we’re going to see, God sometimes teaches us more about Himself in dark seasons than He does happy seasons.

God hasn’t called us to the mission field.  God has placed us in a mission field. We are to be a church motivated by the great commandment and the great commission.  Love God, love people.  

We have a command and a calling: Love one another. 
We have a qualification of what the love looks like: Love as I have loved you. 
We have the result: All people will know that we are His disciples, if we love people. 
Now, we have the opportunity to not only grasp it intellectually, but to go do it practically.  Love does.  Love is a verb.