The Serious Sin of Slander
James 4:11-12Please turn in your Bibles, if you’re not there already, to James 4. Today we come into a section of Scripture that I do pray God would use to preserve our church and to strengthen our church, that each of us today might have our eyes opened and hearts softened to the severity of one of the most common and accepted sins within Christian culture. This is the dangerous sin of slander, to speak against someone, to make an…
How to Rejoice and Give Thanks
Psalm 100 My name is Bret Hastings. I am one of the pastors here at Grace Church, and it is a pleasure to be here with you this morning on this final Lord’s Day of 2024. It’s hard to believe 2025 is here already, isn’t it? I also think that this is a very poignant time for reflecting on the year past, maybe ‘cause the time following the holidays, it’s often met with sadness. The holidays are such a joyful…
The Beauty of God in Christ
Philippians 2:6-11 Please turn in your Bibles to Philippians, second chapter, Philippians chapter 2, which is a most fitting passage for this Christmas season to reflect on the glory of God in Christ. I suppose it’s no secret to say that I am a sucker for all the sappy, sentimental trappings of the season. Don’t laugh too hard on that. But gaudy Christmas sweaters? You guys know I love them, Santa hats, curling up with a cup of cocoa in…
Joy and the Christian Mind
Philippians 2:1-8 We have officially entered into the holiday season, the Christmas season, and we are so eager to embrace the spirit of the season, which is a spirit of joy and gratitude in Christ our Savior, and to think about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And we celebrate our faith in him that’s given to us as a gift of his grace. I have had the epistle of the Philippians in my mind and on…
The Weapons of Christian Warfare, Part 1
Ephesians 6:14-17
The Character of True Repentance
James 4:7-10
The Great Danger of Friendship with the World
James 4:4-6 If you would turn to James chapter 4; it’s been a little over a month since I was up here last, and in that sermon, we began to look at chapter 4 of this letter together, and those first three verses in chapter 4. And I really do believe that those make for a good one-off sermon because of how intensely practical they are in helping us to think about and to deal with conflict righteously. And I…
Jesus Orders the Supper
Luke 22:14-20 We’re going to prepare our hearts for the blessing of celebrating the communion ordinance. And in preparing our hearts, it’s the Lord who has brought us into a special text in our study of Luke’s Gospel, and it’s the institution of the Lord’s table. This is what the Lord set up for us, set this table, prepared it for us, and invites us to come. So if you would turn to Luke 22 in your Bibles. Luke 22,…
The Nature of Our Warfare
Ephesians 6:10-13
Holiness for the Holidays
1 Samuel 1:1-18 As the holidays are fast approaching, my think Lowe’s has had their Christmas stuff out since August now. But the, the holidays are upon us now again already. My kids, they decorated our basement with Christmas stuff last week. The students they wanted to decorate down in the, the big room down in the student center last week. Thanksgiving is only 11 days away now. Christmas is coming and with the holidays approaching, I thought it would…