Grace Raleigh

Understanding salvation is vitally important to our faith. And yet we so often base our understanding on misconceptions and poor teaching. This morning we are endeavoring to understand the miracle of salvation in a way that inspires and uplifts.

How can we know when God is speaking to us? How can we be sure that we've heard His voice? This week, we take a look at these questions that can sometimes confuse us and lead to uncertainty.

Even in her grief, Mary Magdalene showed up — ready to serve and honor — even when hope seemed gone. This Easter, we'll look at what happened when faithfulness met an empty tomb and everything changed.

Two weeks ago we were challenged to love and serve like Jesus does. But we didn't talk about what makes that possible. So this week we revisit the idea and ask how it's possible for us to do something that comes so unnaturally.

There is a tremendously challenging and appropriate teaching from Jesus when He encounters a man of means who wants to follow Him. As American Christians, we should lean all the way in to this conversation.

Having just arrived from Istanbul, where I had the honor of spending the week with pastors from a persecuted country, I wanted to take a Sunday morning and share with you a bit of what I gleaned from the experience.

We all have fears in life. Fear of change, fear of loneliness, fear of rejection, to name a few. But what if these fears are holding you back from all that God has for you? What if that next step of obedience, of doing it scared, actually leads you to find more of Him? 

The transfiguration of Christ is one of the more remarkable moments in His incredibly remarkable life. This Sunday, we reflect on that moment and what it means for us to simply marvel at our Savior.

We all have big plans and dreams for our lives. But what if God has bigger and better ones? And what if He insists that we live the life He has for us rather than our own?

Garbage in, garbage out. This is a universally familiar phrase. But what if there were something to it? What if this were actually one of the most important principles in personal holiness? Wouldn't it be worth a second look?

The Parable of the Sower is one of Jesus' most famous parables. Nevertheless, it is often misunderstood and therefore misapplied. But what if there were a way to understand this parable that informed our response to God's Word today?

Sometimes a need seems blatantly urgent to us. It consumes our focus and our prayers, and the need seems incredibly obvious. But it's possible in these times that God sees a greater need than we do and addresses that need first.

As we open our series in Mark, we begin by reflecting on the remarkable recruitment of the disciplines and what that means about Jesus' belief in and pursuit of us.

The Bible talks about finances way more than we do. So this week, let's have a frank discussion about them.

When we think about how to be a good husband or wife, we often forget that it is our sacred duty to participate in their sanctification by loving them toward Jesus.

This week we will spend time with a prayer out of Deuteronomy called the Shema. In this short prayer, we find a clear and concise definition of our call to love God wholly.

We all leave a legacy or inheritance to the generations that come after us. What sort of inheritance will you leave?

As we begin the new year, we focus our attention on a magnificent prayer Paul prayed over the church of the Colossians and ask what it looks like to pray it over ourselves for this year.

This Christmas Eve we're reflecting on this year and how we can be still, be small, and behold, as the Holy Family might have just after Jesus' birth.

Zechariah prophesied that the coming Messiah would arrive in Jerusalem as a king, but not a conquering one. What does it mean to us that Jesus arrives in our lives, but never desires to conquer us?

Likely with the help of a world-famous song, Isaiah 9:6 has become the most recognizable messianic prophecy of all time. It has also become known as a Christmas prophecy. This week we look at the rich description of Jesus found in this famous verse.

As we begin to look at what the Old Testament tells us about the coming Christ, we turn our focus to the promised new covenant in Jeremiah 31. Why was this new covenant SO MUCH better?

In a life full of blessings from God, one blessing shines above the rest – that we get to be in His presence. This week we are reminded that our lives should motivated and sustained by the fullness of joy that is only available in God's loving presence.

It's time for a campaign update, and it's time for us as a church to put our focus on taking this step of obedience together.

What if true humility isn't a reduction of ourselves, but simply seeing ourselves as God sees us – and the result is much greater productivity in His kingdom?

Worship is our response to who God is and what He has done for us. When we worship, it glorifies God and shapes our hearts toward, and focuses our minds on, the things of God – bringing hope, joy, peace, and rest. This Sunday, we will pause and spend our morning worshipping together. The beauty in corporate worship is not only the songs we sing, but the fact that we sing them together. We hope you'll join us as we declare and celebrate the greatness of our God and all He has done for us.

Psalm 126 is a song of exultant joy. It shows us the path to joy in our lives and even helps us find optimism in the pain.

It is no mistake that the Psalms of Ascent begin with a Psalm of repentance, as every journey with God begins with a first step of repentance.

Psalm 121 speaks to us about God's provision and protection as we travel in our faith. It is a psalm of trust, assurance, and hope. It serves to remind us that, while our journey may be difficult, God promises to be with us every step of the way.

In our final week of our culture-defining series, we arrive at the apex trait we want to be true of all partners. We want to produce kingdom builders.

What if the Bible told us there was one simple thing on which we could focus, and the rest of life would just kind of fall into place? Well guess what… it does!

Being conduits of grace may be the trait that comes most naturally and is most foundational to our culture as a church. We are a church that offers lots and lots of grace. So this week we ask what is the source of Grace's grace?

Perhaps our most foundational trait, that which truly defines who we are at Grace, is that of Partner. This week we explore what it truly means to partner in life and in ministry.

At Grace, we are Step Takers. We take steps of obedience. This week, we are challenged to take a step of faith together as a family of faith.

The church in Corinth faces many issues and questions that our modern church faces today. To all those questions, then and now, Paul offers the singular answer of the gospel.

In Philemon, Paul leaves us a tremendous example of how Christians should seek to change the minds and behaviors of those around them.

Romans is one of the most complex and theologically rich books in the Bible. This week we make it approachable and applicable for all Christians. 

Though 1 & 2 Timothy, as well as Titus, were written specifically to pastors, there is advice within them that rings true for all believers. 

Fear and anxiety are on the rise these days. However, fear and anxiety are nothing new. In the book of Philippians, Paul gives the people of Philippi some excellent advice on how to develop a mindset like Christ to use as a tool to ward off the fear they dealt with daily. 

We've all encountered some type of legalism in Christianity. In the book of Galatians, Paul addresses some legalistic views that began to spread throughout the region and reminds the churches in Galatia of their faith and how that impacts their life. 

As we dive back into our New Testament series, Twenty-Seven, you'll hear about lousy poker players, top-notch detectives, three great untruths, emotional reasoning, fickle feelings, competing realities, the power of the mind, a great migration having nothing to do with wildebeest, Monarch butterflies, or Canadian geese...all in service to Paul's overarching message to the Ephesians!

One of our faithful ministry partners, Sarah Prince, is our guest speaker today and is going to share a bit of her family's story of faith, struggle, and triumph in service to God and His kingdom in South Africa.

Most of us would probably not say at first glance that we struggle with idolizing comfort. But the reality is we are so culturally numb to this that we are far more susceptible to this idol than we realize. And the consequences are disastrous.

Self-discipline, diligence, and order are very good things. But when we allow our bent towards those things to go too far, we begin to idolize control. And when we do that, we are ultimately just getting in God's way.

To some extent, the approval of others is a fundamental need in today's society. We require approval to thrive in areas such as interviews, marriage, and friendships. However, when seeking the approval of others becomes an idol, we end up living a life we never intended and find it difficult to break free from it.

What happens when being in charge becomes our identity? Anger unravels our lives.

When we make something an idol, we put it in a place of worship. The problem is, idols cannot bear the weight of our worship.

This week we pause and appreciate the imagery of the two most important Christian traditions, baptism and communion.

God, amazingly, offers us perfect peace. What does this mean, and how might we attain it?

On this very special Mother's Day, we have the opportunity to dedicate some children to the Lord and explore what it means to be a spiritual family of faith.

We often fall into the trap of insisting that God should make sense to us. But Isaiah reminds us that we should actually be comforted by the mystery of God.