Grace Community Church: Painted Post, Corning

God restores. The gospel is all about restoration: restoring sinful, lost mankind to a holy and loving God. Jesus came to give us devastating restoration – restoration that is extremely powerful and effective.

Wherever the Lord has you, whatever season the Lord has you, David tells us the way to peace and blessing isn’t found in fretting. It’s not found in the path of the wicked or godless even if for a short time they look like they’re flourishing. Peace and blessing and life is found in centering our souls and our lives on God.

God’s greatness is found not only in the transcendence of His glory, but it’s also found in the immanence of His presence. He is a God who draws near to the brokenhearted. He is a God who hears the cries of the weak, the helpless, the needy. He is a God who loves us.

Guest Speaker Joel Hudson

Life produces growth. Living things grow. In Luke 8 Jesus tells a familiar parable and the main point of the parable is about growth…and lack of it.

Joel Hudson

What Jesus invites us into is abundant life, not death. He calls us to die to death so we can live to life. He calls us to loose our grip on trinkets so we can grasp true treasure. Jesus doesn’t just give us life, he is our life. Jesus doesn’t just give us treasure, he is our treasure!

Even if your faith is weak, turn that weak faith towards Christ. We may have weak faith but we have a strong Christ who saves us by his power and grace. We have a Savior who restores us to God by his obedience.

God can use our feeblest and most imperfect efforts but we need to give Him something to work with.

When you find yourself struggling with doubt, take encouragement, So did the disciples even with the risen Jesus standing before them. Jesus didn’t sideline them – just to opposite! – he revealed his greatness, commanded them to get busy,

The work of the Spirit to make us more like Jesus begins on the inside and works its way outward. He changes both our attitude and our actions because who Jesus is, he is through and through.

What’s the next step in the discipleship journey? We all should be asking that, not only for ourselves (growing), but for what we can do to help others take that next step (going).

If the Lord tarries, one day each of us will be put to rest, but the switch isn’t on “off”, it’s on “sleep” and at that last day the resurrection power of Jesus will course through us and we will rise up in newness of life never to die.

Maybe you’re in a season of victory and success. Good for you! Enjoy it! Thank God for it! Maybe you’re in a season of loss and failure, of suffering and sorrow and it hurts. And you feel disoriented – you can’t see how God’s promises help in this season. Let weakness be your superpower.

History (as we know it) doesn’t end on a dark note. The world doesn’t end in a cataclysmic explosion or a meteor killing everything or the oceans covering the world. History ends with Jesus coming back and setting everything right. It ends on the brightest note of hope, so we can live every day in that hope with simple faith.

Being ready and watching to me isn’t an intangible, sentimental, thing. It’s discipleship. Recommitting ourselves to rooting our souls deeply in the word of God. Jesus said abide in me – that’s being rooted and established in Christ. It’s letting God’s word feed and nourish our hearts, minds, and souls. Being ready is asking the Holy Spirit for transforming grace. To break sin’s hold, break worldliness, repent of hard-heartedness, and ask God for a soft heart. And taking the good news out into a world that needs it more than ever.