GVF // Grace Valley Fellowship

In a culture of endless wanting, Psalm 23 opens with a bold confession: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” This message invites us to slow down, breathe deep, and rediscover the soul-rest that comes not from having more—but from knowing the Shepherd.

Have you ever experienced the power of a well-placed question? What if God did for someone else what you longed for Him to do for you? God's mercy is both scandalous and healing-revealing our deepest motivations. Jonah ends with a question, not a resolution. The final thread is left in our fingertips. Will God's mercy melt us before it moves through us?

Something is happening to men—and it's time we talk about it.Deaths of despair are soaring. Men are falling behind in education, work, relationships, and health. Loneliness, addiction, apathy, and isolation are eating away at an entire generation.If you care about being the man God designed you to be—if you care about the future of your sons, your brothers, your friends—this conversation matters.Download the accompanying handout: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ftonyormrmasrkajco3mc/The-Crisis-with-Men-Handout.pdf?rlkey=7nl5zlzhei47s9i419z4hby7f&st=unve61aj&dl=0Download Pastor Paul's slide deck: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9nc0nxo4kfgxtjzbytdag/The-Crisis-with-Men-Slide-Deck.pdf?rlkey=jsizp498g3j54gml5zw2a1pwg&st=tp8mlqvu&dl=0

Some change looks dramatic on the outside — but still leaves your heart untouched.In Jonah 2, we hear a desperate prayer from the depths. Jonah sounds like he's finally changed… until you realize he hasn't. Not really.This story is a mirror. It shows how hard it is to truly change — and how easy it is to settle for surface-level surrender. It exposes how slow our hearts can be, even when our words sound right.But it also shows us something else:That when we hit the bottom, God is already there.Deep change doesn't begin when we try harder.It begins with a desperate prayer — and a God who refuses to give up on us.

Jonah ran. Jonah slept.And God hurled a great storm at him — not to destroy him, but to wake him up.Maybe the chaos in your life isn't proof God has given up on you.Maybe it's proof He hasn't.This is the story of a God who refuses to give up on you — even when you give up on Him.

What do you do when you don't want to be seen?When facing God feels more painful than running from Him?Jonah didn't argue. He didn't plead.He just ran — trying to escape the gaze of the One who knew him completely.This story isn't about a fish.It's about protest, shame, and the grace of a God who refuses to turn His face away.

Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was dead.She couldn't see what God was doing—until He spoke her name.The Easter story is more than a historical event or a theological idea.It's personal.Jesus—the risen Word of God—comes looking for us.Not as a concept, not as a symbol, but as a living Savior who calls us by name.Because when He speaks your name, everything changes.

The drama of Peter's life over the course Holy Week and the days beyond offer a compelling "Before and After" story. With words of challenge, hope and promise, they offer a fitting study for Palm Sunday, and prepare us for the week to come.

This is the final message of Ecclesiastes—the Teacher's last word after a lifetime of searching. In these final chapters, the Teacher pleads with all of us—especially those who are young—to learn from him: If you want to live a life of real joy and lasting significance, you have to stop trying to take it for yourself.True joy and significance cannot be achieved or seized.They can only be received as gifts from the God who made you.Obedience and surrender aren't barriers to joy—they are the way to Joy.God's commands aren't given to steal your life, but to lead you to Life.If you're still breathing, this is advice worth hearing.

In the second to last chapter of Ecclesiastes, we get uncertainty, predictability, inevitability, and mystery. Is that enough rhyming for ya? What do you do when you don't know? In chapter 11, the Preacher offers us three things we don't know and three things we can know. This chapter picks up the pace, calls us to a decision, and frames the end. Join us!

Fasting has been practiced by followers of Jesus for thousands of years—but it's often misunderstood. Some see it as deeply spiritual, others as outdated or even unhealthy. So why does the Bible talk about it so much? And should you do it—or not? In this message, we explore what fasting is (and isn't), what it's for, and how it can become a way of reconnecting with your hunger for God.

If you knew your time was short, how would you live? Ecclesiastes 9 reminds us that death is certain, and almost nothing else is. But instead of despair, the Teacher urges us to live fully, love deeply, work with passion, and trust God with what we cannot control. This isn't about reckless indulgence. It's about learning to receive each day as it's meant to be: a gift from God.

Have you ever asked, or been asked, why do good things happen to bad people? Or, similarly, why do bad things happen to good people? The Teacher is going to survey the moments that show a gap between what we ‘know' and what we ‘observe'.The Teacher gets more philosophical in this chapter. And, with the help from a few other Philosophers, we'll learn how to live wisely when life/God doesn't make sense.

What can a columnist, a theologian, a philosopher, and the writer of Ecclesiastes show us about search for the good life? In short, wisdom can help us with a lot of things. At the same time….Join us to “be alienated from what we think we know in order to genuinely grow.” (B.Brock)

We spend most of our lives avoiding this one truth: death - but the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 7 tells us it's the key to wisdom, purpose, and a better life. Down through the ages, Christians have practiced memento mori-"Remember you must die"-not to live in fear, but to live with clarity and meaning. What if what we've been avoiding is exactly what we need to face?

We're often told that more money means more happiness, security, and freedom—but the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 5 says otherwise. He warns that wealth can distort our vision, create anxiety, and leave us emptier than before. So, if more money isn't the answer, what is? Join us as we explore the Teacher's wisdom on contentment, worship, and finding true fulfillment in God.

We search for meaning in all the usual places—success, wisdom, pleasure, hard work—but the Teacher in Ecclesiastes finds that none of it fully satisfies. Then, in Ecclesiastes 5, he offers a different kind of answer: Stop talking. Start listening.Could it be that the key to a meaningful life isn't found in more striving, but in learning to listen—really listen—to God? Instead of trying to control life or fill the silence with words, the Teacher invites us to slow down, be still, and receive. Join us as we explore how listening to God in worship can change not just how we approach faith, but how we experience life itself.

Where am I going in life? This tends to captivate the modern mind. Qohelet, the author of Ecclesiastes, says that is our very source of pain. Workism is making us miserable, oppression is widespread, and people are lonely. Even wisdom fails in securing fame. In this chapter (4), we're offered a new question to ask. For our hearts to be indexed away from me, and to focus on we.

Why do we feel the pull of eternity while living in a world bound by time? In Ecclesiastes 3, the Teacher uncovers the profound tension between our longing for something lasting and the fleeting nature of life's seasons. How can we find peace in this tension? And what does it mean to live meaningfully when the future feels so uncertain? Explore the wisdom of the Teacher and discover how God invites us to embrace life as a gift, woven with eternal purpose

What if all your efforts to create happiness and meaning are actually driving them further away? In Ecclesiastes 2, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes hits rock bottom, confronting the stark truth: every attempt to create lasting meaning or happiness is fleeting, ultimately undone by the certainty of death. But it's here, in this moment of despair, that he uncovers something extraordinary. He realizes he doesn't have to strive to make his life meaningful—because meaning isn't something we achieve; it's something God gives. When the Teacher finally lets go of the need to control and define his life, his hands are open to receive life for what it truly is: a gift from God.

If you had the wealth, skill, power, charisma, and know-how to get everything you wanted in life, what would it actually get you? This week, the Teacher from Ecclesiastes shares the story of his infamous “pleasure experiment.” He pursued it all—wealth, career success, fine food and drink, the arts, and even sexual indulgence—looking for something that would give his life meaning and fill the void. But none of it did. None of it could. Now, he doesn't want you to make the same mistakes he made. If you feel the pull of a longing that nothing in this world can seem to satisfy, maybe this story is for you.

What do you do when life stops making sense? It's not a question of if—it's when. And when you find yourself in that place, God has just the guide you need. We don't know his name; he's simply “the Teacher.” In Greek, they call him Ecclesiastes. In this message, we uncover the raw, unfiltered wisdom of this ancient book and its bold declaration that “everything is meaningless.” But here's the paradox: the Teacher isn't offering despair—he's pointing the way to discovering real meaning.Curious, profound, and sometimes shockingly honest, this journey will challenge your perspective, tear down the illusions we cling to, and open your eyes to what truly matters. Come ready to wrestle with life's hardest questions and uncover the hope waiting on the other side.

We all tell ourselves stories—some true, some comforting lies. But what happens when those lies are exposed? In this message, we journey into the Gospel of John to discover how Jesus, the Light of the World, reveals the truth about our hearts. With the help of a Greek tragedy, a lobotomist, and an 18th-century theologian, we explore Jesus's invitation to face the uncomfortable reality of self-deception and step into the freedom that only He can bring.

What if the universe has been trying to show you something all along - but you just can't see it? What if it's been whispering a name? In the message, we follow the Apostle John as he leads us past an ancient festival of light, through timeless wisdom and prophecy, and back all the way to the beginning... of everything. There he invites us to hear the Word that speaks life, to see the Light that lets us see reality, and to wrestle with what this might mean for us today.

How do we get in on the life transformation that is promised in the Scriptures? What does this look like in my life? In this message, we dive deep into Romans 12 and explore how God's grace renews our minds, reshapes our habits, and pulls us into life-changing relationships.

How do we share Jesus in a post-everything world? In a hostile culture, and with many of us having an emotional hang up to words like ‘evangelism', witness, etc., tune in to discover how Jesus' authority sends us in simplicity to offer a compelling (missional) alternative.

Sometimes what we really want & need can only be found on the other side of crisis & hardship. This is so easy to say and so hard to embrace. In this message, Luke will lead us through a series of crises, forcing us to slow down and watch how Jesus not only meets us in these moments but also uses them to bring about a new, deeper wholeness. It's a reality that we'd all like to avoid. But we can't. It's not if, it's when. Crisis is coming for all of us, and Jesus wants to meet us there.

We began last week our two-week focus on life with Christ: what does it mean to "abide in Him"? This week, we consider this question: "What does ballroom dancing teach us about life with Jesus?" If you want to learn more about how to experience the dance of life with Jesus, come join us this week!

How do we live out a life with Jesus that survives and thrives in the jungle of everyday life? And how do we do that - not just in the high points of inspiration and revelation - but in the everyday places of frustration and temptation? This week, we'll begin a two-week pause in our study of the Gospel of Luke to think about how living with Jesus is rooted in the reality of Jesus living in us.

Viktor Frankl, the neurologist and holocaust survivor, once said: “Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response, lies both our growth and freedom.” In Luke 8:22-25 we see this space occur in the life of the disciples. We're confronted with two questions. One is a diagnostic one, the other a directive. Tune to learn how to ‘hear', trust, and choose our response.

According to the Scriptures, the most important thing you can do with your life is love God. Period. That's it. If you only get in on one thing in this life, get in on that. But what if we don't love God that much? Love is not the kind of thing that you can just manufacture on your own. So, what do we do? In chapter 7 of his gospel, Luke unfolds this intimate, shocking, slightly scandalous story about a woman bursting into a refined dinner party. It's a story that helps us see what's going on in our own hearts so that we can get in on what's most important.

Today, we are excited to welcome a missionary leader from India who serves on the Lead Team of Concentric, an alliance of ministries across the globe who do disciple making movements according to the Jesus lifestyle.

Since ancient times, Christians have seen God's work of salvation as a mosaic. In isolation, our lives might look small, random, even broken. It's hard to make sense of things. But Jesus picks up broken people and broken lives and sets them into a work of God that is bigger and more beautiful than we can possibly imagine. In this message, Luke helps us see the bigger picture as Jesus encounters an outsider, a grieving widow, and a man on death row.

Today, we welcome Duffy Robbins: renowned conference speaker, Grove City College professor, and friend of New Story.

You've probably heard the quote: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." We cannot be certain Gandhi said that, but you've almost certainly felt that before. According to Luke chapter 5, Jesus came for the broken, for those who are unhealthy, and for the sinners. And that's good news. But turn the page to chapter 6 and we immediately feel the tension. Jesus calls these sinners-made-disciples to live out a radically different, whole, healing, forgiving, pure way of life. A way of life that frankly feels impossible if you've ever tried to live it. This week, we'll explore what sinners (like us) are supposed to do with this.

This is not a sermon. Not really. It's just a story... or, better, an invitation. You are invited to imagine what it must have been like to encounter the famous, rule-breaking, leper-healing Jesus of Nazareth. Some were furious with him. Others worshipped Him. No one could quite figure Him out. What about you?

Some wounds you cannot see. Luke, the physician turned Gospel writer, seems to think that all of us are sick. Maybe not physically. But all of us have something deeply broken in us. In Luke 5, he presents two stories of physical healing that expose our need for a yet deeper healing, and that is where Jesus wants to meet us. Jesus wants to meet us in the place of our deep woundedness. That's where we experience His healing power.

The invitation of Jesus is (& has always been): "Follow Me." But what exactly does it mean to follow Jesus? In this message, we'll attempt to piece together the broader Jewish context of 1st Century rabbis and disciples in order to makes sense of what it means for Rabbi Jesus to invite you and me to follow Him.

Does it ever feel like there's just too much going on in your life to ever find some peace & quiet? I would venture say to say that you're not the only one! Psalm 131 gives us beautiful imagery to begin to understand what it means to find peace with God.

In Luke 4, Jesus goes to his hometown. These are the people who should know Him the best. These are the people who grew up with Jesus. But, when He announces who He is and why God has sent Him, it doesn't go so well. That's putting it mildly. (They try to throw Him off a cliff.) Luke leaves us wondering: Why is it that those who are far from God seem to joyfully receive Jesus while those who grew up with Jesus seem to struggle to see Him for who He really is? And how might this same danger lurk among those of us who grow up with Jesus today?

To be tempted is to be human. Since Adam & Eve, temptation has been part of the human story. In Luke 4, Jesus, "the son of Adam," is getting ready to step into the mission to which God has sent Him. But first, God leads Him into the wilderness. There He must confront a series of subtle temptations, temptations that are truly tempting because they sound like truth, temptations that we all must face.

Julian was raised Christian. He grew up going to church, was baptized, went to a Christian school and then, in his early 20s, he walked away from the faith. This is how the Roman Emperor Julian became known as Julian the Apostate. This is also how Julian has become a kind of patron saint to the millions who grew up in church, knew Christianity from the inside-out, and have walked away from the faith. Julian's story has become an important case study for those of us who live in a post-Christian world. In this message, we'll listen to Julian's story, probe the unexpected success of the early Church, and hear God's missionary plans for Abraham as we try to begin to figure out: what does it look like to reach our world for Jesus when our world is full of Julians?

Francis of Assisi was a simple man who changed the world by living like Jesus. That's it. He sought to literally do what Jesus did: embrace lepers, serve the poor, love his enemies, own nothing, and trust God for everything. To this day, Francis's joy-filled life stands as a convicting and inspiring reminder that the life and teaching of Jesus is not impossible to follow. Rather, it is the way of pax et bonum (peace & all good)!

If you are looking for a spiritual guide, you will be hard pressed to find one better than Bernard of Clairvaux. He is famous for his historical and political exploits. (After all, he was involved in untangling a Church schism and starting the Knights Templar!) But his theological and devotional works are worth savoring. He was a student of the love of God and of the human soul, making him a faithful guide to those seeking to know God and know themselves more deeply.

In the 4th century, after the Roman Empire was officially declared "Christian," thousands of men and women fled to the deserts of Egypt. They were literally following Jesus's example of going into the wilderness to face their demons. This week, we'll explore the story of one such "Desert Father" named Evagrius. In the wilderness, Evagrius faced his own demons and learned to help others face theirs. He then went on to give us a taxonomy of temptation that we know as the seven deadly sins.

When God chooses young David to be his anointed King, he describes him as 'a man after my own heart'.  But as the story plays out, David is also shown to be Israel's greatest sinner (on more than one occasion).  How does this work?  How can one be a sinner after God's own heart and what does that mean for your life?   This will be the question we ask on Sunday as we read of beginning of David's story, looking at the birth of the prophet that would ultimately anoint him (Samuel).

What does it mean to know God? What does that look like? How does it play out in my everyday life? The Bible contains some wonderful summaries in answer to these questions and the passage before us describes its answer to these questions using the language of "walking'.  To know God is to walk daily with him, talking with him (prayer), hearing from him (scripture), and having your life transformed by him.  This sermon will zero in on the specifics of the transformation that God is working in those who walk with him.

From the Garden of Eden to the final pages of scripture in the new heaven and new earth, we read God's extraordinary autobiography. The author and the finisher of our faith has designed humanity to be the living and breathing embodiment of his image, right at the heart of his creation. Now, because of Jesus' entrance into, and redemption of, our part in the grand story of God, we together have a unique opportunity to reveal a mystery that was hidden for ages but is now able to be displayed in the Church. What a calling! Let's explore this beautiful and glorious gift together.

In Scriptures, we are commanded, urged, and warned to remember/do not forget... more than 100 times. The Psalms repeatedly teach us to "remember" in our prayers. One gets the sense that how we remember is critical. According to the Prophets and Apostles, remembering appears to be a spiritual practice that is essential to knowing God and ourselves more truly and more deeply. In Psalm 103, David leads us in how to coach your soul in this spiritual practice of remembering.

Thousands have gathered for the worship concert. Asaph, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, steps ups to the mic: "My name is Asaph... and this song… is about how I almost lost my faith.” That's how Psalm 73 begins. For thousands of years, believers have been using this psalm as a guide to praying our doubts.