Grace Chapel Knoxville Sermons

Growing in faith and maturity is crucial to our walk as Christians, but the steps to get us there can be painful and scary sometimes. In the first week of our discussion of James, we discuss the need for struggles and trials in our lives to help foster and grow our faith. We also learned that there are sometimes obstacles that hinder growth if we divert our gaze and belief from the one true source of stability in Christ. Most importantly, we are reminded of the hope that we always have in Christ Jesus, and that throughout any hardships that come in life, we can always look to our firm foundation in Him.

On Sunday, we did our yearly church update and spent time looking back in gratitude and looking ahead in anticipation! Join us as we prayerfully commit this year to the Lord and humbly submit our plans to His will. May we all walk in awareness of His guiding presence and live in joyful obedience to Jesus this year.

This Sunday, we finished our year-long discipleship journey by reflecting on three key ways we can intentionally make disciples. Our prayer for the church is that we would embrace disciple-making as a way of life.

This week we had the privilege of hearing from Valerie Bellamy with Compassion First about the powerful work they are doing to care for precious people impacted by trafficking in Indonesia. This is the organization that our own Andrew and Dira Soreano will be serving with as they head out on the mission field in early 2023. Valerie encouraged us to follow our Good Shepherd Jesus in pursuing the one lost sheep; may we all be attentive and responsive to who Jesus is calling us to pursue with his love! For more information visit: www.gracechapelknoxville.net/sermons

Discipleship is something that Christians often compartmentalize into an optional or occasional thing. However, God’s heart for his people is to be in a constant state of being disciples and disciplining others. Through working with others in the body, and prayer we can begin our discipleship journey. While this will be messy and challenging at times, we need to remember that failure isn’t final, there will always be an opportunity to learn and grow.

The gifts from the Holy Spirit seem shrouded in mystery and can be very intimidating. They can also carry scars from people misusing them. However, they are not meant to be a burden, they are truly gifts from God. These gifts are meant to be used to help us as believers to love God and love others well, but it is vitally important that we search scripture to ensure that they are used properly and the way that the creator intended them.

This Sunday we had the privilege of hearing from Pastor Dave Buehring as he shared on how we can discover and use the gifts God has given us. We also had a great discussion as Pastor Dave created an opportunity for some Q&A related to walking in the gifts of the Spirit.

God wants to give us spiritual gifts out of His great love for us so that the church can be strengthened and His Kingdom can be advanced. In today’s sermon, we discuss how important it is to be grounded in love so that we can live with purpose and do the work God has uniquely called and gifted us to do. May we all be open to the gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, and use the gifts He has given, so that we can love other’s well and bring glory to God.

Follow your heart, chase your dreams, live your truth… these are all mantras that the world encourages us to live by, and they all sound very tempting, but what does the Bible tell us about finding purpose for our lives? God designed each of us with a unique purpose and gifting, and he desires for us to walk in that purpose. However, it is not found in adventure or within our hearts, that purpose is found in him. He created you with great intention and care, and his plans for you are greater than what you could ever plan for yourself.

Sharing your faith can feel intimidating. We often imagine scenarios where we are ill-prepared for hard questions or rejected outright, but Jesus taught the disciples how to spread the gospel. He encouraged them to first be people of prayer. He also advised them to be and approach people of peace building relationships while sharing his good news. Finally, he challenged them to be people of power and purpose, to go boldly, in his name, and proclaim the truth with all authority of heaven.

The great commission calls us to make disciples of ALL NATIONS, but as believers and as a part of the American Church, do we have the heart for the nations that God calls us to have? It is tempting to get overwhelmed by the vastness of the world and the staggering number of people groups that are still unreached by the gospel, but all that is required of us is to say “yes” to God and allow him to work great wonders in and through us. We cannot do it alone, but with Him and with a community of like-minded believers, the Lord can and will do great things.

This week Krystal Hawkins brings a message about what it means to share the kingdom with our neighbors. May we all purpose to be more intentional to recognize the opportunities to love people around us well. This powerful and practical message can have a real impact in our lives and community if we will be intentional to consistently apply this in our lives.

The Kingdom is of great value & importance; the unique solution to the brokenness of this world. Because of Jesus it is now present and available - will we repent & participate in Kingdom life now? Advancing the Kingdom is first about its Expansion in my life!

The kingdom of God feels like some magical place that is floating in the sky, but what Jesus preached to his disciples and others is that the kingdom of God is present and available for us on this side of heaven. He wants us to be a part of his kingdom by allowing Him to be the ruler of our lives. It means that we must give up control of our own tiny kingdoms where we think we have control and turn that power over to Him. The kingdom of God is all around us, but it is up to us if we want to participate in His kingdom and give him the authority in our lives that he deserves.

Today we heard from two beloved ministries: Donna Boone & Julio, from Josiah's House, shared an update from the Dominican Republic and Andrew & Dira Soreano shared their upcoming opportunity to serve in Indonesia with Compassion First.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God dwelled in places built by humans who were given very specific instructions by God. His temple was sacred and holy and could only be entered by a select few people who had to go through very particular and detailed instructions to bring sacrifices on behalf of the people. However, that was never the way we were created to know God. He always intended his people to be in intimate fellowship with Him. When Jesus came and died, the veil in the temple was torn allowing us to have access to God the Father through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus did the work of creating that sacred space so that we can enter His presence at any time or place. This amazing gift allows us to carry His presence with us, to bear his likeness, and to wield His power in ways that we cannot even ask or imagine.

Today we are excited to start a new series titled, “The Church in Acts.” When we look back to its origin we see that, from the very beginning, there was a very clear mission for the early church. We also see that there was a very clear message they were to carry to the rest of the world. All of this, powered by the Holy Spirit, is what we are being called into today as Christ followers. We must understand our roots and commit ourselves to this ministry!

The enemy uses many methods to attack us, so it is important for us to be aware of his tactics and ready to stand firm. Distortion, distraction, discouragement, deception, and division are all tools that the devil uses against believers in our daily lives. If we are unprepared, these, often subtle, strategies are able to derail us from the life that God intends for us. This week, we discussed the ways that these schemes can creep into our lives and minds, and some of the tools that we have at our disposal to fight back.

Jesus holds the ultimate victory against the enemy, however, while we are living in this fallen world, God invites us to participate in spiritual warfare against the forces of evil. When we are going into this fight, it is important to remember that our battleground is on a spiritual level, not among flesh and blood. We must identify strongholds that the enemy may hold in our lives and work to replace them through the healing power of Jesus. We also need to be aware of the weapons that we have at our disposal. He has fully equipped us with everything we need to fight a winning battle, but we must be willing to put on His full armor so that we do not fall victim to the schemes of the devil. Jesus is fighting battles on our behalf, so let us join with Him to defeat the enemy and topple the strongholds that we cannot bring down on our own.

Spiritual warfare seems so intimidating and overwhelming, but it is really just about truth and lies. The enemy has convinced the world of so many lies and many of them are very tempting to believe. We want to make spiritual warfare about the “big sins” in the outside world, but that is how the enemy gains a foothold in our lives. He is able to convince us about lies in our own lives and distract us with shame or self-righteousness, but the good news is that Jesus was able to defeat his lies in the desert and then ultimately with his death and resurrection. Now it is up to us as believers to choose whether we want to choose to live within the truth that Jesus offers or succumb to the lies that can entangle us.