Grace Community Church VIDEO

This sermon explores the book of Ecclesiastes, focusing on chapters 7 and 8 to highlight the tension between life's inherent vanity and the pursuit of true wisdom. Chris contrasts the fleeting nature of worldly celebration with the sobering yet wise reflection on mortality and reputation. Key themes include the danger of romanticizing the past, the inevitability of suffering and corruption, and the necessity of fearing God amidst an unpredictable future. Ultimately, the message encourages believers to embrace mystery, maintain a fear of God, and find joy in simple daily blessings as they navigate a crooked world.

This sermon examines Mark chapter 15, focusing on the crucifixion of Jesus through three distinct voices: mockery, atonement, and confession. Craig highlights how the ridicule from bystanders and religious leaders fulfills Psalm 22, while the supernatural darkness signifies God's judgment being poured out on Christ as He bears the curse of sin. Central to the message is the theological concept of penal substitutionary atonement, where Jesus absorbs divine wrath to satisfy justice and secure righteousness for believers. The narrative culminates in the tearing of the temple curtain, symbolizing open access to God, and the centurion's confession that Jesus is truly the Son of God. The passage concludes with a call to live as living sacrifices in response to this profound demonstration of love and grace.

This sermon examines the brutal mockery and physical torment Jesus endured prior to His crucifixion, as recorded in Mark 15. Craig highlights how Roman soldiers' cruel jests, including the purple robe and crown of thorns, ironically proclaim the truth of Jesus' kingship while revealing the depth of human depravity. By analyzing details such as Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross, the text underscores Jesus' full humanity and His active concern for others even in extreme weakness. The message emphasizes that the spiritual weight of bearing sin outweighs the physical agony, pointing to the profound mystery of God's love and redemption. Ultimately, the sermon invites listeners to contemplate the unfathomable humility of Christ and the magnitude of the sacrifice made for humanity.

The sermon exhorts believers to engage in spiritual warfare by holding fast to sound doctrine and a clear conscience, warning that drifting from biblical truth leads to the shipwreck of one's faith. Using the example of false teachers Hymenaeus and Alexander, the text illustrates how doctrinal errors inevitably result in practical sin and apostasy. Jeff argues against modern trends that minimize rules or standards, emphasizing that the Christian life is a serious battle against relentless spiritual enemies. By examining Paul's instruction to hand over offenders to Satan, the message reveals a redemptive purpose behind church discipline, mirroring Christ who bore the weight of sin outside the camp. Ultimately, the sermon points to the cross as the definitive victory over evil, offering hope and gratitude for the salvation secured by Jesus' suffering.

This sermon explores the biblical imperative for God to direct human hearts toward His love and the steadfastness of Christ. Drawing primarily from 2 Thessalonians 3, the message highlights God's sovereign power to guide affections and wills, both positively in salvation and negatively in judgment. The preacher emphasizes that a renewed heart is essential for genuine faith and endurance through trials. By examining examples such as Joseph and Paul, the text illustrates how divine direction sustains believers during suffering and fosters unity within the church. Ultimately, the sermon encourages persistent prayer for this spiritual guidance to strengthen personal witness and perseverance.

The sermon explores the theological significance of Barabbas being released while Jesus is condemned, illustrating the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. By contrasting the guilty rebel with the innocent Savior, the text highlights how Christ willingly bore the guilt and wrath deserved by sinners. Drawing on Old Testament prophecies and New Testament teachings, the message emphasizes that God satisfied His justice through this divine exchange. This act demonstrates profound love, offering believers pardon and righteousness in place of their own condemnation. Ultimately, the narrative reveals that Jesus became the criminal so that guilty sinners might be declared spotless sons.

This study defends the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty and omniscience against objections derived from biblical passages that appear to limit His knowledge or control. The speaker addresses verses in Jeremiah where God states He did not command child sacrifice, explaining this as rhetorical language emphasizing the abhorrence of the act rather than a lack of foreknowledge. By examining examples such as Abraham's test, Jesus' knowledge of hypotheticals, and the hardening of Pharaoh, the transcript argues that God infallibly knows all actual and hypothetical outcomes while remaining morally pure. The presentation concludes that human free will and divine decree operate simultaneously without contradiction, urging believers to trust in God's unthwartable plan despite the existence of evil.

The sermon centers on the radical, self-sacrificial love modeled by Paul and ultimately by Christ, calling believers to measure their lives not by productivity or comfort, but by the depth of their spiritual investment in others' souls. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 12, it emphasizes that true Christ-like care seeks people not for what they can give, but for their eternal good, willingly spending time, energy, and emotion—even in the face of rejection or suspicion—while maintaining joy and integrity. The preacher challenges listeners to examine their own lives through a spiritual 'Fitbit' metaphor, asking whether their efforts are driven by self-interest or by a genuine burden for others' spiritual growth and joy. Key themes include the necessity of emotional and spiritual anguish for the sake of others, the joy found in sacrificial service, and the imperative to love even when unreciprocated, all rooted in Christ's example of enduring the cross for the joy set before Him. Ultimately, the message calls for a life of intentional, joyful, and self-giving love that reflects the heart of God.

The central message of this passage is the profound wonder and gratitude that flow from recognizing God's sovereign mercy in saving even the most unworthy, exemplified in Paul's transformation from blasphemer and persecutor to apostle. The sermon emphasizes that salvation is not earned but received as a free gift of grace and mercy, which overflowed in Paul's life despite his past, demonstrating Christ's perfect patience as a model for all who believe. It calls believers to maintain a childlike sense of awe and thankfulness by remembering their former state of spiritual death and the sheer impossibility of their redemption apart from divine intervention. The passage also serves as a sobering reminder to never write off anyone—no matter how lost or hardened—since God's grace is sufficient for the worst of sinners, and warns against spiritual complacency by highlighting the real danger of falling away, as seen in the example of Demas. Ultimately, the response to such grace is worship, gratitude, and a life marked by faith, love, and continual dependence on Christ's saving power.

The sermon centers on the climactic trial of Jesus before Pilate, revealing Him as the true King whose sovereignty is demonstrated in silence, innocence, and rejection. Through a careful examination of Mark 15 and cross-references from the other Gospels, the preacher highlights three key truths: Jesus, the King, speaks not in defense but in divine silence, embodying perfect trust in God's timing; He is falsely accused by religious leaders driven by envy, yet even Roman authorities like Pilate and Herod recognize His innocence; and He is publicly rejected by the very crowd that once hailed Him, illustrating humanity's capacity for fickle allegiance and self-centered rebellion. The passage underscores that every person, like Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin, and the mob, must ultimately choose between Jesus and self-interest, and that the cross—the ultimate rejection—becomes the very means of salvation, as the innocent King willingly takes the place of guilty rebels.

The sermon centers on the proper and improper uses of the law within the Christian life, affirming that while the law is good when used lawfully, it is not the rule for believers under the new covenant. It argues that the law was never intended for the justified—those who are in Christ—but rather for the unrighteous, serving as a mirror to expose sin rather than a means of salvation or sanctification. Drawing from 1 Timothy 1 and 2 Corinthians 3, the message emphasizes that Christians are no longer under the old covenant's letter, which kills, but under the new covenant's Spirit, which gives life and transforms believers into Christ's image through faith and the fruit of the Spirit. The preacher warns against replacing the Spirit's work with legalistic standards, whether from tradition, personal conviction, or religious performance, and calls the church to live not by external rules or spiritual highs, but by abiding in Christ's finished work, walking by the Spirit, and bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, and self-control. This freedom in Christ is not license, but the joyful, sustainable reality of being transformed by grace, not law.

This sermon presents a powerful contrast between Jesus' steadfast, prayerful trust in God during His arrest and Peter's fearful, prideful denial of Christ in the courtyard, illustrating the devastating consequences of self-confidence apart from divine dependence. Through the lens of Peter's threefold denial—triggered by prayerlessness, fear, and a desperate attempt to preserve himself— the message exposes the deceptive nature of pride, which leads even the most devoted believer into spiritual failure. Yet the sermon pivots to the profound mercy of God, who uses humiliation and the piercing memory of Christ's gaze to bring Peter to repentance, demonstrating that true restoration comes not from human strength but from divine grace. The narrative underscores that failure, when met with genuine sorrow and humility, becomes a pathway to deeper faith and greater usefulness, affirming that God's grace is sufficient for the broken and that His grip on His people endures even when they fall. Ultimately, the sermon calls believers to reject self-reliance, embrace dependence on Christ, and find hope not in their own constancy but in Christ's unyielding faithfulness.

The sermon centers on the vital importance of sound doctrine as the foundation for authentic Christian living, drawing from 1 Timothy 1:1–5 to emphasize that true worship and love flow from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith rooted in biblical truth. It warns against the dangers of theological speculation, endless genealogies, and myths—illustrated through modern parallels like cultic beliefs and social media-driven religious narratives—that divert the church from its mission of stewardship and unity. The preacher underscores that Scripture, though penned by human authors, is the living Word of God, and thus demands faithful adherence, not personal opinion or cultural trends. By calling for vigilance in guarding the faith, the message affirms that doctrine is not merely intellectual but life-shaping, essential for holiness and love, and that deviation from truth leads to vain discussions and spiritual ruin. Ultimately, the church is called to remain steadfast between the lines of biblical teaching, avoiding the doctrinal ditch that undermines both belief and practice.

The sermon confronts the profound offense and enduring beauty of Genesis 1:1—'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth'—as a foundational declaration that challenges human autonomy, exposes the rejection of divine accountability, and reveals the ultimate scandal of Christ as both Creator and Redeemer. It argues that this verse is offensive because it asserts a sovereign Creator, a beginning, and moral accountability, directly contradicting the natural man's desire for self-rule and the modern secular worldview that reduces existence to chance or materialism. Yet the same verse is beautiful because it points to Jesus Christ, the eternal Word through whom all things were made, who humbled Himself to bear the penalty of sin and offers salvation to all, including those who oppose Him. The message calls believers to live in gratitude, recognizing that every square inch of life belongs to Christ, and to embrace the truth of creation not as a relic of ancient myth, but as the basis for meaning, order, and hope in a world awaiting restoration. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a response of worship, submission, and faithful proclamation of the gospel in a culture that denies its very foundation.

The sermon affirms the divine inspiration, historical reliability, and sufficiency of Scripture as the sole infallible authority for faith and practice, arguing that the Bible is both a human and divine document, authored by men under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It defends the canon by emphasizing the self-attesting nature of Scripture, the early acceptance of its authority by Jesus and the apostles, and the historical consistency of its content, while rejecting the need for later ecclesiastical councils or traditions to validate its truth. The sermon counters objections by highlighting the overwhelming manuscript evidence for the New Testament, the absence of contradictions, and the fact that Jesus and the early church treated the Old Testament as Scripture without relying on later doctrinal developments. Ultimately, it asserts that faith in Scripture is not based on empirical proof but on the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, which enables believers to recognize the Bible as God's living and authoritative Word, sufficient for salvation, sanctification, and every aspect of the Christian life.

The study centers on the necessity and method of Christian apologetics, grounded in Scripture and the sovereignty of God, rather than human reason or philosophical argumentation. Drawing from Paul's encounter in Athens, it emphasizes that the natural person, though inherently aware of God through creation and the sensus divinitatis, cannot understand spiritual truths apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. The preacher argues that true apologetics is not about proving God through logic or evidence, but about proclaiming the gospel with conviction, recognizing that salvation is entirely God's work, even as believers are commanded to evangelize. The sermon critiques classical, evidential, and presuppositional apologetics as human frameworks, affirming instead that biblical reasoning must be shaped by divine revelation, not human wisdom, and that the ultimate authority lies in Scripture, which is sufficient, trustworthy, and the means by which God brings the spiritually dead to life through the proclamation of repentance and faith.

This sermon presents a profound reflection on Paul's final moments, drawing from 2 Timothy 4 to illustrate a life of faithfulness, hope, and readiness for death. Centered on Paul's confident declaration of having 'fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith,' the message emphasizes that Christian perseverance is not measured by longevity but by faithfulness to Christ, culminating in the promise of the crown of righteousness for all who love His appearing. The preacher underscores the importance of forgiveness, using Paul's release from bitterness toward Alexander the coppersmith and his reconciliation with Mark as examples of a clear conscience before God. Even in the midst of isolation, suffering, and impending death—described through the grim reality of a Roman dungeon—the apostle remains active, purposeful, and hopeful, modeling how believers should live with diligence and joy in the present age while eagerly awaiting Christ's return. Ultimately, the sermon calls the church to embody this same posture: to live faithfully, forgive freely, serve humbly, and trust fully in the Lord's promise to rescue and bring His people safely into His eternal kingdom.

The sermon centers on the profound truth that God's delight in His people is not contingent on immediate deliverance from suffering, as exemplified by Christ's crucifixion, where divine love and suffering coexisted without contradiction. Drawing from Matthew 27:43 and Psalm 22, it confronts the lie that delay or lack of rescue implies divine rejection, affirming instead that God's love is unconditional and sovereign, even in the midst of trial. The preacher emphasizes that true love permits suffering for greater spiritual fruit, that trials often fulfill divine purposes unseen at the time, and that a distorted view of God's affection can chill the heart and hinder intimacy with Him. Ultimately, the resurrection vindicates God's love, revealing that suffering does not negate divine favor, and calls believers to trust God's character over their circumstances, imitating Christ's self-giving love in their own lives.

The sermon centers on the biblical mandate to be prepared to give a reason for the hope within us, rooted in 1 Peter 3:15, where believers are called to defend their faith with gentleness and respect while honoring Christ as Lord. It defines apologetics not as a defensive tactic but as a proactive, Christ-centered explanation of one's faith, grounded in the Christian worldview—a comprehensive lens through which all of life, including ethics, metaphysics, and knowledge, is understood. The speaker emphasizes that a proper worldview is essential for coherent faith, and that every believer, regardless of experience, is called to articulate their faith, not through intellectual superiority, but through personal testimony and humble conviction. The sermon warns against the pitfalls of logical fallacies, false dilemmas, and the myth of neutrality, urging Christians to engage skeptics with truth, logic, and grace, while recognizing that conversion is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit, not human persuasion. Ultimately, the goal is not to win arguments, but to faithfully proclaim Christ with courage, clarity, and love.

The sermon centers on Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane, emphasizing His sovereign control amid betrayal, abandonment, and violence, as prophesied in Scripture. Through the shocking betrayal by Judas with a kiss, the impulsive violence of Peter cutting off the high priest's servant's ear, and the subsequent flight of all the disciples, the passage reveals the depth of human failure and the cost of discipleship. Yet Jesus remains calm and authoritative, affirming that His arrest fulfills divine prophecy, not human schemes, and demonstrating that true power lies not in force but in submission to God's will. The narrative underscores the reality of spiritual warfare, the necessity of prayerful humility, and the profound loneliness Jesus endured—abandoned by friends, family, and even His Father—while offering hope that He remains a compassionate, forgiving Savior who restores even the most broken. Ultimately, the sermon calls believers to extend grace to fallen Christians, recognizing that failure does not erase redemption, and to find deep fellowship in Christ's own experience of isolation and suffering.

The sermon centers on Jesus' declaration in Luke 4 that the prophetic words of Isaiah have been fulfilled in His ministry, revealing God's expansive mercy toward both individuals and nations, especially those considered enemies or outsiders. Drawing from the stories of the Sidonian widow and the Syrian leper, it emphasizes that God's grace transcends ethnic, religious, and moral boundaries, extending even to the most unlikely recipients. The preacher underscores that this mercy is not earned but freely given, reminding believers that their salvation is entirely by grace, not by heritage, morality, or religious pedigree. He calls the church to reject self-righteousness and pride, warning against the subtle temptation to exclude others—especially those who have hurt us or are deemed beyond redemption—since God's mercy is sovereign and unpredictable. Ultimately, the message is a call to live in continual gratitude and humility, reflecting the same mercy that transformed the speaker and all believers, and to recognize that the Kingdom of God includes every tribe, tongue, and nation, not defined by human categories but by divine grace.

This sermon centers on the unwavering faithfulness of God as revealed in 1 Kings 19, where the prophet Elijah, after a triumphant victory over the prophets of Baal, collapses into fear and despair, fleeing for his life. Rather than rebuking Elijah with thunder or fire, the Lord meets him in profound gentleness—a still, small voice—demonstrating that divine presence is not always in dramatic displays but in quiet, sustaining mercy. The passage underscores that God meets people not in their perfection, but in their brokenness, providing for their needs, restoring their strength, and affirming their purpose even when they feel isolated and defeated. The sermon emphasizes that God's faithfulness endures through suffering, grief, and emotional turmoil, and that believers are never truly alone, for Christ is with them always, not by subjective experience but by objective, unchanging truth. Ultimately, the message is one of hope: though life is marked by trial and loss, God remains constant, and His promises—especially the future redemption described in Revelation 21—offer enduring comfort and assurance.

The sermon centers on the historical and supernatural reality of Christ's resurrection as the cornerstone of Christian faith, affirming that Christianity is fundamentally a religion of the miraculous, grounded in divine truth rather than naturalistic assumptions. It emphasizes that the resurrection, foretold in Scripture and confirmed by eyewitness testimony, validates Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, and the conqueror of death, the final enemy. The message underscores the theological significance of the resurrection for justification, the future bodily resurrection of believers, and the believer's freedom from fear of judgment, rooted in God's perfect love and the finished work of Christ. It calls the church to embrace the supernatural nature of the faith, to stand firm in the truth of Scripture against cultural skepticism, and to live with confident hope in Christ's return, knowing that His victory ensures the ultimate triumph of life over death, sin, and judgment.

The sermon draws a profound theological contrast between the Old Testament Passover and the institution of the Lord's Supper, illustrating how the shadow of the former has been fulfilled in the substance of Christ. Centered on Exodus 12 and Mark 14, it emphasizes that the Passover lamb, whose blood protected God's people from judgment, foreshadowed Jesus Christ, the ultimate Lamb of God whose sacrificial death inaugurates the new covenant. Jesus transforms the Passover meal not by preserving its rituals, but by redefining its meaning: the bread and wine are not literal body and blood, but symbolic representations of His atoning sacrifice, calling believers to remember His death, examine their hearts, and look forward to His return. The sermon warns against reverting to Old Testament rites as spiritual practices, affirming that Christ's once-for-all sacrifice renders the old system obsolete, and rejects the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation as a distortion that undermines the sufficiency of Christ's finished work. Ultimately, the Lord's Supper is a corporate, communal act of remembrance, unity, and hope—a foretaste of the eternal marriage supper of the Lamb, where believers will feast with Christ in the perfected kingdom.

The sermon centers on the urgent warning in Colossians 2:8 to avoid being captured by human tradition, philosophy, and empty deceit that oppose Christ's supremacy. It emphasizes that true wisdom and knowledge are found exclusively in Christ, who embodies the fullness of deity and is the source of all spiritual truth, contrasting this with the ever-changing, self-reliant systems of human thought. The preacher argues that cultural trends, moral relativism, and philosophical ideologies—such as those promoting autonomy, redefining personhood, or devaluing the physical body—stem from a mindset opposed to Christ and lead to moral compromise. By grounding faith in Scripture as unchanging and eternal, believers are called to reject plausible but false arguments, resist the influence of worldly wisdom, and live in faithful obedience to Christ, who has delivered them from the domain of darkness. The message calls for discernment, rooted in Christ, to protect the church from being captivated by cultural and philosophical trends that undermine biblical truth.

This passage reveals the profound tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility through the shocking betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples. While Jesus remains in complete control, foreknowing and directing every detail of His crucifixion, Judas acts freely and culpably, driven by greed and a hardened heart that had been progressively corrupted by unrepentant sin. The solemn atmosphere of the Passover meal is shattered by Jesus' direct announcement that one of His closest companions will betray Him, prompting each disciple to question their own loyalty and revealing the danger of a divided heart that professes faith without true surrender. The sermon underscores that proximity to Christ and even participation in His ministry do not guarantee salvation, serving as a sobering warning against hypocrisy and spiritual complacency. Yet, amid this darkness, the story also offers profound encouragement: Jesus' patience, His sovereign orchestration of evil for redemptive purposes, and His enduring faithfulness to those who truly belong, affirm that no betrayal, no matter how devastating, can thwart God's eternal plan.

This is a partial recording of a youth meeting held March 8, 2026.

How does the wrath of God shape the way a Christian lives? This message explores how a right understanding of God's wrath—seen in Scripture and ultimately borne by Christ on the cross—transforms the believer's life. When Christians grasp the wrath they deserved and the grace they received, it humbles them, deepens gratitude for the gospel, and changes how they treat others. It reshapes marriage, softens the heart toward forgiveness, and removes the impulse to keep a record of wrongs. Seeing that Christ drank the cup of wrath for us produces patience, mercy, and humility in every relationship.

Originally published in 1836. This edition has been revised for readability. Greed rarely announces itself. It settles quietly into the habits of church life—into what we excuse, what we overlook, and what we learn to call "normal." It can hide behind respectability, careful budgeting, and even religious busyness, while love grows cold and generosity becomes optional. In Greed: The Church's Quiet Sin, John Harris exposes the subtle ways covetousness reshapes a congregation—how it dulls prayer, weakens compassion, distorts priorities, and slowly turns God's people inward. With sober clarity and pastoral urgency, he brings Scripture to bear on a sin that many believers fear to name, yet feel daily. This is not a book for pointing fingers at the world. It is a call to the household of faith: to repentance without despair, to stewardship without legalism, and to a renewed joy in laying up treasure in heaven.

A sermon from Deuteronomy 34 on the death of Moses—focusing not only on Moses' final moments, but on how he lived in light of a pending, certain death. The message traces the context of Moses' exclusion from the Promised Land (Numbers 20), the seriousness of sin as a denial of God's holiness, and the reality that forgiven sin can still carry temporal consequences. It then highlights Moses' steady faith after God's firm "no" (Deut. 3), showing how true reward is ultimately found not in earthly blessings but in "seeing Him who is invisible" (Heb. 11). The sermon closes by emphasizing God's sovereignty over life and death, the right place of grief, and the believer's hope of final resurrection and seeing Christ face to face.

A sermon on Mark 13:24–31 showing how Jesus speaks of near and far horizons (AD 70 and the final return), why cosmic "collapse" language signals divine judgment, and why believers must anchor their lives in Christ's words—because they alone will remain when heaven and earth pass away.

Jesus confronts a Pharisee-like mindset by showing that He did not break God's law—He broke man-made tradition. In Matthew 9:9–13, He calls sinners, eats with them, and declares, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," exposing self-righteousness and calling His people to extend the same mercy they have freely received.

Jesus' warning in Mark 13 is both difficult and deeply practical: judgment is real, deception increases in desperate times, and God calls His people to be watchful, prayerful, and ready to flee to His appointed refuge. This sermon walks through the "abomination of desolation," connects Daniel's prophecy to Jerusalem's destruction, and presses home the urgent gospel call to flee from wrath and run to Christ.