OUR GOD IS A GENEROUS GOD

The second mark of our culture at Cross of Grace is generosity. God did not spare his only-begotten Son, but graciously gave him to us. When this grips our hearts, we are eager to share whatever we have with each other - our lives, our time, our talents, and especially, our treasure. God has been generous so we should be generous. As we generously give of our finances, we should expect to receive joy and see a return upon our investment: more neighbors added to our family, more needs met within our church, more missionaries sent, more churches planted, and more glory to the God who’s at work among us.

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TRUE JOY IS FOUND WHEN WE SEEK IT IN JESUS

The gospel is the foundation of our life together as the household of God that is Cross of Grace. Our doctrine is like the walls and pillars that protect the purity of our gospel and support the structure in which it is found. Our culture is what it's like to experience life in the house. And when you look in on our life together, the first mark of our culture is joy. We are a joyful people because we’re convinced that there's nothing better than believing in and belonging to Jesus. The Apostle Paul agrees, and his words in Phil 3:7-9, celebrate our conviction that true joy is found when we seek it in Jesus. 

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THE GOOD NEWS OF EASTER

The good news of Easter is the good news of new life. Deep down, we all want this. But if we're being honest, we struggle to believe we can really have it. Into this struggle, the story of Easter speaks with the power to change our personal stories now and forever. What’s the story? That Christ is crucified for you to do away with the old. Christ is risen for you to bring you into something new. Christ is welcoming you - whoever you are, whatever you've done, however you've regarded him before - to receive all this as your own through faith in him. 

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THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

This past Sunday, we began a sermon series on church membership. 5 weeks of asking and answering the questions: “What makes us who we are?” and “What’s it like to be us?” The most important thing that shapes who we are is what we believe. The heart of what we believe is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of our life together in the household of God that is Cross of Grace Church. 

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GIFTS TO EACH FOR THE GOOD OF ALL

Pursuing the gifts of the Spirit is not optional to us. We need them to become all that Christ wants us to be. But far too often, our desires for them are not too strong but too weak. This is why God gives us 1 Cor 12:1-11. A passage meant to move us, change us, and stir our hearts to earnestly desire all the grace he has to give. Listen to Sunday’s sermon to be energized in your pursuit of the spiritual gifts.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

LOOKING BACKWARD & LOOKING FORWARD

In Communion, past, present, and future collide. It’s true, Communion is our present sharing in the peace created through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peace with God. Peace with each other. Peace in an embattled world. Freshly experienced as the Spirit works through the Supper to bring us into the presence of Christ. But, as we enjoy this moment, we’re meant to look backward to that moment when peace was established, and forward to that moment when peace will be perfected. As often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, the Lord of the Table anchors our hearts in the reality of what he accomplished all those years ago, and increases our anticipation of the joys that await us for days without end.

LISTEN TO THE COMMUNION HOMILY HERE

KNOW THE ENEMY. KNOW CHRIST’S VICTORY.

In his classic work, Chinese General, Sun Tzu famously wrote, "If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." As we learned back in Ephesians 6:10-20, there is a real spiritual battle being raged all around us. A real enemy of our souls and a whole host of dark forces that are opposed to the progress of our mission and our pursuit of maturity, unity, and joy in Christ together. But taking a page out of Sun Tzu's book, if we know the enemy of our souls and are wise to his schemes, and we know ourselves - that we are safe and secure with the victorious Christ, we need not fear the result of a lifelong - history spanning, bigger than us, war of the seen and unseen worlds - battle of spiritual war. Revelation 12:1-17 is given to us so that we would more clearly understand the story of spiritual war - who our enemy is - and the strategies of spiritual war - what he does to oppose us - so that we'd more urgently, intentionally, and expectantly respond by taking refuge in Christ, placing his armor over the weak spots where we're most vulnerable, and marching on in the confidence of his victory. 

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AND OUR JOY ALONG THE WAY

The Bible teaches that marriage is a good gift of God. But if we’re honest, marriage can often seem like an obstacle to our joy instead of an opportunity for our joy. We’re prone to settle for less than God has for us and believe the lie that the best we can do is “Make it work,” and just try to “get by.” Revelation 19:1-10 is given to us to raise our low expectations and convince us that the joy ceiling for our marriages should be set according to the heights of joy we're headed toward. The perfect union between Christ and his bride to which our marriages point. Our spouses are our closest traveling companions as we move toward that Great Day. It’s God’s desire we’d enjoy life with them all along the way. Listen to the sermon to learn more about how we can do this.

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CLOSING IN PRAYER

After 5 months, we came to the close of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. How did he finish off what is arguably the most complete outline of the Christian life in all the Bible? Did he say, “Now go out there and do it! You got this! Go be the church through whom God is working in the world!” No. Far from concluding with a call to get out there and do our part to make all the blessings of Ephesians a reality, the Apostle concludes with a call to prayer. He does so because we need God to make any of Ephesians work. We can’t put on God’s armor, have healthy marriages, enjoy peace with one another, or be God’s church without God’s help. Prayer is how we connect ourselves to God and all that he’s doing. So it’s to prayer we must turn if we want to be the church God is using to do his work in the world.

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THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

In Ephesians 6:10-20, the new set of clothes we put on in Christ includes armor for battle. Satan and the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6:12) are real and really intend to oppose the progress of the gospel, the progress of our growth in Christ, and the pursuit of peace within the Church. But, even as the struggle is real, we “take up the whole armor of God” (6:13) and fight with confidence that we will win because Christ has already won. We look to him and are strengthened to stand firm in these evil days because he’s already stood underneath the wrath of God, the curse of death, and all the hatred of the devil and emerged victorious on the other side.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE