The purpose of Grace Church is to ignite a gospel-centered movement. We want to be people who Know It, Live It, and Give It Away. “IT” is the story of Jesus. These are the stories of people attached to that movement.
Akron, Ohio
“It makes sense why nothing else in my life has ever satisfied me. It makes so much sense that the people I was trying to put in my life to give me purpose and meaning and joy and peace…no one can offer me that. No sport, no hobby, no substance, no haircut, literally nothing could […]
“‘This is where the pathway starts where you are going to experience hard things, but I am going to be there. I am going to take you through it and you are going to be alright and you need to trust me.'” – Deb Curtis On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we […]
“The reason that I was able to say yes to Jesus and what He was asking from me was because I was more in tune with the Holy Spirit at that moment in my life.” – Stephen Falbo On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the story of Stephen […]
“If all of us can grasp just a little bit more about the love of Jesus, it changes our life. That's all you need to know!” – Heidi Bogue On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the story of Heidi Bogue. Heidi's story is an incredible one! From being […]
“The two years of building the life I wanted I completely ditched because I wanted to figure out who Jesus was, and it was the best decision I ever made.” “I went from saving souls physically to saving souls spiritually.” – Bryce Fast On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to […]
“It was so powerful to watch the actual light and truth and power of Jesus and His forgiveness in real life.” – Beth Cummins On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the story of Beth Cummins. Listen in as Beth shares her journey from growing up in a small […]
“Missions is also here as well. You can go across oceans, but there are people here who need Jesus as well.” – Maddy Shaffer On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the story of Maddy Shaffer! Maddy grew up in a Christian family surrounded by faith, but in her […]
“I also could feel Jesus' love and hope through the whole thing and I think it was the first time I realized that He has always been with me. When I felt alone in church, He was there. When I felt alone in my family or left out, He was there. It took 40 years […]
“I know there were people who were praying for me that I didn't know, but they were praying for me and I felt it and God was moving through that time.” – Kristin Kauker On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get hear the story of Kristin Kauker! She shares with us […]
“He has you where he wants you in this moment and His plans are so much greater than our plans.” – Jason Mitter On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get hear the story of Jason Mitter. Jason is a long time attender of Grace Church and serves actively in several ministries […]
“I think God anoints work for everybody and it all looks different. Whether it's pickleball, baseball, interviews, or whatever. Ministry can look a lot of different ways. I think when we don't tell ourselves that, we put God in a box.” – Frank Amato On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get […]
“Little stuff like that. Just by us going to this place and introducing the gospel, loving people, and loving Jesus is opening doorways that were completely locked.” – Brendan Ebner On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the story of Brendan Ebner. Interwoven throughout Brendan's story are connections to […]
“I'm very excited. A little nervous and I have many feelings, but it's all for God's glory. I'm very excited to see what God has in store” – Steve LaVoie On this week's episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the fascinating story of Steve LaVoie. Steve's life is an incredible example […]
“Its funny when you say ‘yes' to God…He always equips. He puts people around you that are prayer warriors, puts people around you that are good at leading the conversations and being connectors and leading to the next thing, and people who are strong in the Word and can connect what you're saying back to […]
“I choose Him every single day and it's my most favorite thing in the entire world because of all the uncertainty, all of the fear, and all of the times friends let you down…man, when you have Jesus who can be against you?” – Julie Starr This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get […]
“The faith that you have and the mustard seed that you plant today will bear fruit tomorrow, it will. You may not ever know it, but it will happen in some way, shape, or form.” – Paul Starr This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the awesome story of Paul Star. […]
“Okay God, if this is it, I'm going to kind of test you. Typically that's not a smart idea you know. I said, ‘okay God, if this is really of you, then you're going to make something happen.' I didn't put out resumes. I didn't do any of that stuff, but I'm going to consistently […]
“It didn't fix my depression. I still had that, but I'm no longer going to bed asking if I could not wake up in the morning. I'm going to bed saying, ‘God, I don't know why you have me in this right now, but I know you've gotten me through this far and we're going […]
“We're all holding onto something and that is something that we can't bring into heaven with us. It's keeping us from going all in for Jesus…” – Naomi Bogue This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the incredible story of Naomi Bogue. From growing up in a large family and experiencing […]
“…His plans are always good. It's scary to surrender because it's unknown, but that's faith and trust and knowing that His plans are going to be good.” – Leah Bender This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the touching story of Leah Bender. Leah got to experience the love and faithfulness […]
“He doesn't want you to come when your perfect…He loves you even when you are at your worst, when you are at your lowest. When you feel like you're so broken and no one can love you, He does, and He always will.” – Devin Thompson This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get […]
“One day no matter what I will be cancer-free, I know this. Cancer does not get to end my story. It may end this earthly life, but it doesn't win. There's no scenario in which that happens and I'm good with that, I am very very good with that.” – Jody Shumway On this week's […]
“Why would God create such a beautiful child for her to be harmed so early in her life and be so misunderstood? But now, I can see that I had to get to a place where I also had to be prepared, that I had to trust God and completely surrender to him.” – Jen […]
“There is not one thing that I went through that He did not use for His good.” – Denise Stryker This week on the Grace Unscripted Podcast, we get to hear the amazing story of Denise Stryker. Denise's story is a tremendous example of how across life we will take hits and there will be […]
“He has done amazing things, given me grace again, and favored me. I didn't think that I could measure up to those things you know in a lot of ways because I know my beginnings and what my future was supposed to be…He used me to serve and be served at the same time.” – […]
“All of a sudden, I'm back in Ohio and I was thirty years old and there was this feeling of this can't go on forever. I'm chasing the wind. I'm never getting fulfilled. There has to be something in Christian faith because my grandfather and great grandfather were believers, and they were pastors. There has […]
“Jeff sometimes has those tag lines at the bottom of the notes. This one was ‘total surrender equals total freedom.' That is a huge statement because I always had an internal storm, and if anybody would have ever asked me what do you want? I want peace and freedom from the internal restlessness.” – Tim […]
“When I look at the gifts God gave me and the opportunities He has given me, there is a fork in the road of do I use these for my own comfort, my own success, or my own fame, or do I use these gifts so that they were not given in vain.” – Eric […]
“I try to have my faith be the filter through which I do everything. So, if it's my marriage, if it's the workplace, a family party, or family relationships, I try not to just have faith on Sunday mornings…It's really just living out the calling God has for us to be salt and be light. […]
“If you had a movie title to describe your life, what would it be?…Mine would be The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly because all of us have lives that are a combination of those things. Are you willing to admit the bad, lean into the good, and even look at some of the ugly […]
“For the first time in my whole life, I looked at myself and self-reflected. I am looking at all these kids, ‘yes, Jesus is the best thing ever. Yes, this is what life is about. Yes, you can have joy and all of this stuff.' But I don't have this. I have heard all of […]
“Open up your heart. Jesus is knocking and when you look back across your life, you will see that He has been standing next to every step of the journey in the highs and the lows.” – Stacy Dutt On this week's episode of Grace Unscripted, we get to hear the powerful story of Stacy […]
“It has recently really repositioned me to see that God still has good plans. He is not finished with me yet if I still have breath in my lungs. He is still working, and He's not done.” – Madds Higgins This week on Grace Unscripted, we get to hear the story of Madds Higgins! From […]
“I'm not that person that I used to be. I'm not this person that is still struggling with this daily sin. I am God's child. He loves me. He loved me during the parties. He loved me my whole life. He loved me when I was sinning. When I will sin, He will still love […]
“I feel like God gives us these trials to use for His purpose. If I'm not sharing my story. If I'm not ministering to someone. If I'm not relating myself. I understand mental illness. I get it. I lived through it. I hate it. I hate it, but who else is going to listen?” – […]
“There are hundreds…thousands of people out there who are good at hiding in the corner. Jesus has convicted every single one of us that those are people that we need to reach as well. I think it is really easy to fly under the radar for a very long time and the craziness for probably […]
“Something I noticed looking back, was that my faith wasn't in Jesus. It was in the people that surrounded Jesus. That was a very unstable ground, obviously. In those times of really struggling with my family, and this relationship I had as a teenager, I didn't have a stable foundation because I didn't know Jesus. […]
“…being able to be there for them and saying to them up front, you're going to have challenges that you can't even imagine, but God…so let's place Him at the beginning. Let's place Him in the center and invite Him in, to this marriage, to this relationship, to the raising of these kids, while teaching […]
“I remember talking to a mentor of mine right after I finished my second year of college. I was like, I really don't want to do this whole accounting thing. I feel called to be here right now. It's really hard to focus on debits and credits when life change is happening…I'm still pretty young […]
“I kind of realized that my competitive drive is sort of in things that don't matter all that much. I think God was able to get ahold of my heart and channel it towards anything that matters. You know what, you can actually be an athlete. You can actually be competitive, and you can use […]
“It was probably the angriest I have been at God and also the closest. It's like I have nothing else but faith at this point. Everything that we built, everything that I built, everything I thought I was doing was just done.” – Nate Rayl This week on Unscripted, we get to hear the amazing […]
“I learned about this God who loved me and who sent his son to die for me. I saw that tangible expression of who Jesus was all throughout my freshman year while being at YoungLife and being involved in that community and going to camp. It was displayed in a way that I understood, not […]
“Early on, I realized why God had me in the development field. Most of the people at the time were not followers. It became really apparent that God had me around these people because he loved them enough to share his love with them through me. I don't feel in any way shape or form […]
“If you are seeking identity in people or your career, those things are going to let you down, but the Lord never does. He never lets you down. He is constantly pursuing and loving you.” – Jeri Ball This week's Unscripted conversation dives deep into the story of Jeri Ball. Hear how she went from […]
“When I have no control, I can count on and hold onto Jesus and the fact that he is in control and knows what he is doing. He has my best interest in mind. Even if I have nobody, I have him.” This week's Unscripted conversation jumps into the story of one of Grace's Student […]
“I fell in love with working with teenagers…they have zeal and when they grab ahold of something they will run through a wall. That's why I am more excited about teenagers today than I have ever been. They have so much fire inside them and when they really believe it and when they get ahold […]
“God loved me so deeply to save my depraved heart unconditionally. I had a good sense of hope that it was going to be ok. Sometimes we'll take the biological part really far or the spiritual part really far. Nate was really good about reminding me that while you are learning all these things that […]
“I don't want a relationship with God just because I don't want to go to hell. I want a relationship with God because I want to know this man. He is my father. I love him so much. He loves me so much. It fills all those voids and answers all those questions that people, […]
“When I first came to Grace, I said and I meant, ‘I hate people.' And my shift is so opposite of that now; it is an absolute upside down kingdom. It's an answer to prayer because I literally prayed for months for God to show me people the way He saw them, not the way […]
“For the very first time in my life I saw God not as the wagging finger or the fist about to pound me. I saw the hand reaching out to rescue me and save me. Still to this day when someone asks, ‘What is God to you?' I say, ‘He is the God of the […]
“I am super excited for Feed My Starving Children this year. I think it's ironic that I started volunteering with that in the middle of struggling with anorexia. Since then I've been part of it every year. One year, our slogan on the t-shirt was ‘Hope Starts With Food.' It just hit me- that's my […]