My kids are now getting old enough that they have started bringing home report cards from school. I remember those days, when my report card would provide a very clear-cut indication of how I was performing in each precisely defined subject. I also remember what it felt like when I graduated from school into life. All of the sudden things weren’t as cut and dry anymore, and very often I found myse...  Read More

It has been so encouraging to see so many new faces attending Grace lately and to welcome some of those as new members. God adds to His church. We are grateful.I am so thankful that Grace is a welcoming church; grateful for this cultural value. Of course, our desire to be a welcoming community of believers is birthed by and reflects God’s welcoming posture toward us.  - He pursued us when we were ...  Read More

Outside of 1 John, the word “propitiation” shows up two more times in the New Testament. The first is in  Romans 3:23-25 where Paul writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. The second is in Hebrews 2:17 where...  Read More

If someone asked you what you do to grow in your faith, what would you say? Many of us would perhaps start with things like personal prayer and Bible reading or attending corporate worship or serving others. However, have you ever thought about how the annual church business meeting can help you grow in your faith? In Acts 2:42 we are told that the first church in Jerusalem devoted themselves to f...  Read More

In 1 John 3:11 we are reminded that the gospel is intended to produce in our lives a love for others. Does this also mean that we have to like others? There is a difference between loving others and liking others. Liking another person means that we have a personal preference for that person, a natural affinity for him. And so the reality is that there are going to some people in our lives who we ...  Read More

Have you ever heard someone refer to be “being led by the Holy Spirit?” As we have dived into 1 John over these past few weeks we have seen that John consistently emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individual believers, as well his role in the corporate life of the church. Specifically, John emphasizes over and over again that a key role of the Holy Spirit is to keep us grounde...  Read More