Grace Chapel Knoxville Sermons

This sermon from Mark 10:17–31 shows us that while the rich young ruler came eagerly to Jesus, he was unwilling to surrender the “one thing” that held his heart: his wealth. Jesus reveals that every person has something they may cling to that threatens to take His place, whether it’s possessions, pride, control, or comfort. Out of love, Jesus calls us to let go of whatever holds us back and follow Him completely. Though surrender feels impossible in our own strength, God makes the impossible possible through His Spirit. True life and lasting riches are found not in holding tightly to temporary treasures, but in releasing them to embrace a real and eternal relationship with Jesus.

In Mark 9:30–50, Jesus redefines true greatness for His disciples. While they argued about power and position, Jesus pointed them instead toward humility, servanthood, and purity. He embraced a child as an example of receiving the least and warned His followers to take sin seriously, guarding both their own hearts and the influence they have on others. Greatness in God’s kingdom is not about prestige or control, but about sacrifice, holiness, and living at peace with one another. True greatness looks less like power and more like purity, as we live as salt in the world for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom.

In Mark 9:14–29, we encounter a desperate father, a suffering son, and a group of disciples unable to help. Jesus steps into the chaos and reminds us that the answer is always to bring our brokenness to Him. The father’s honest cry, “I believe; help my unbelief!”, is the kind of prayer Jesus honors; one that admits weakness yet trusts His power. Christ not only heals the son but restores the father’s shattered faith, showing us that prayer is not about our strength but about our reliance on His presence, compassion, and authority. True faith grows as we bring our doubts, struggles, and even our unbelief to Jesus in prayer, trusting Him to do what only He can do.

In Mark 9:1–13, we see Jesus transfigured before Peter, James, and John, giving them a breathtaking glimpse of His glory and confirming Him as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets through the appearance of Moses and Elijah. This passage reminds us that intimacy with Christ invites us into moments of revelation where His true majesty shines through, not to keep us on the mountaintop, but to strengthen us for the challenges of everyday life. Just as Jesus was transformed before His disciples, we too are called to be transformed—no longer conformed to the world, but renewed in mind and spirit, with unveiled faces reflecting His glory. In Christ, we dare to hope, believe, and live in the freedom of His Spirit, trusting that the light of His presence is far greater than anything this world offers.

In today’s sermon, we take a look at Jesus healing a man’s physical blindness, and we see Peter’s eyes opened to the reality of Jesus as the coming Messiah. The good news of Jesus' power and presence is essential for us, as we also learn the cost of following Him. The question for all of us is, who do we say that Jesus is? May we fix our gaze upon Jesus as he brings true sight to our eyes!

Jesus understands his purpose and has compassion on those in need. He has no patience for the pessimism, distraction, and attacks of his skeptics. As his disciples, will we learn to bring what we have in our hands and invite him to permeate our hearts? Or will we keep our eyes only on what we can see - like our limitations and our overwhelming challenges - and find our hearts hardened in the process?

In today’s sermon, we see Jesus healing two people in very unlikely and even controversial ways. In these two stories, we see Jesus' loving, personal touch to heal. We are also taught about the power of faith, not only in our own lives, but also learn how our personal stories of faith can grow and produce faith in others. May we all see Jesus’ touch in and through our lives as He does all things well.

Jesus wants to free us from false and external forms of justification that keep us from a genuine repentance and true purity and healing. In this passage, Jesus makes it clear that we should not substitute traditions and outward behaviors to keep us moral and pure. Instead, let’s allow the Lord to expose broken ways of living and thinking that keep our hearts defiled and in bondage, that we might come to Him for true purity of heart.

From Genesis to Revelation, God is described as a Shepherd to His people, and in John 10, Jesus Himself says He is, in fact, the Good Shepherd. Let’s look at the intimate bond between the Shepherd and his sheep, that we may claim as David did, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

We all feel the deep need for approval, security, and worth. In this Family Sunday message, we explore what happens when our identity is unsettled—and how the world’s solutions just bury us deeper. Drawing from Ephesians 3, we’ll see how being rooted and established in God’s love frees us from needing others’ approval, self-protection, and the drive to prove ourselves. It’s not about self-love—it’s about knowing whose you are and being freed to love from the overflow.

What does it truly mean to live out grace? In this week’s message, Kristen shares both personal stories and biblical examples that challenge us to go beyond mercy and embrace grace as a defining trait of our faith. From Mephibosheth to Peter, we see how God’s grace restores, uplifts, and transforms lives. Join us as we reflect on how we, as a church and as individuals, can be known by our love and grace in a world that desperately needs both.

On Sunday, Pastor David Thompson shared a special Father's Day message.

The hows of church aren’t obligations; they are responses to something incredible being made available. In this message, we explore the stunning contrast in Hebrews 12 between Sinai and Zion—between fear and full access to God. Through the blood of Christ and the anointing of the Spirit, we can draw near. As an anointed people, we gather and we extend.

The Church isn’t just tradition—it’s the present-tense expression of a new world that’s coming. This message draws a straight line from Christian eschatology to why we gather now, showing how the Spirit-empowered Church can align with the coming Kingdom because our future has been defined, revealed, and secured.

This week, we hear from Allison Allen, who shares on Psalm 84.

This week, we hear from Pastor Jonathan Allen, who continued in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6.

This week, Diane Spencer brought such a beautiful message about motherhood and being seen by God. Through the examples of women in the scriptures, we were pointed to times where women who were otherwise unseen were valued and validated by God. Hagar, Hannah, and Mary show us that we are important to Him, and even when our circumstances are difficult, He cares. Whether it is a season of longing, loneliness, or despair, the Lord is with us and loves us right where we are.

This week, we discussed two stories in the life of Jesus that, at first glance, may seem unrelated, but as we learned, they were actually more alike than they appeared. We opened with the story of the disciples in the boat with Jesus in the midst of a raging storm. While they were panicked and feared for their lives, Jesus calmly spoke to the wind and waves, and they subsided. Then we read about Jesus meeting the demon-possessed man on the shore and freeing him from his torment. Though these stories seem different, upon closer inspection, we see that Jesus was calming storms in both, and the responses from those who witnessed them were similar. Now, all of these years later, we serve the same God who can calm the storms in our lives, but will we trust in his almighty power, or will we fall victim to the storm of fear within our own hearts?

He is risen! What a beautiful Easter service celebrating our risen savior! This week we looked at the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and what this, the most important day we celebrate as Christians, means to our faith. While our human nature may crave revenge and justice, Jesus came to bring a message of forgiveness and healing. His death and resurrection serve as reminders and mandates for us to be ever mindful of the forgiveness we received from his that we do not deserve, so that we can be living examples of that in our own lives. This forgiveness is not easy, but it is freedom. If we can follow the example of Christ, we can walk in a freedom that is unlike any other.

Jesus often taught large groups with short and simple parables. This week, we read the parable of the sower, but our discussion was about more than just this parable. We dug into the reason why Jesus spoke in parables that may have felt confusing to the large crowds and how as believers now we are invited (as the disciples were) to ask questions and learn the meanings behind why Jesus taught the way he did or to just take these stories at face value and pat ourselves on the back for reading them.