We live in a world that is in many ways defined by power. People of power, structures of power, dynamics of power, acts of power. There are times when power is used for good, but it also doesn’t take us long to point to things we see or experience that represent power not used well. So what about Kingdom power? What is God’s vision of power? We kno…

Our relationship with God is based on our willingness to submit to Him. But our relationship with God is built on the fact that God was willing to submit to us, that God became man, and that He submitted to His creation for our benefit because our needs were more important than His needs. Jesus chose self-imposed limitations. God became man—and liv…

In this message Pastor Chris explores the Promise and Problem of more Comfort. Throughout the scriptures we read about God’s promise to be our comforter, we know that comfort is something we all crave and seek, but at the same time living lives that are entirely insulated by the pursuit of more comfort can rob us of the beautiful destiny we’re each…

"Do you know why Jesus washed our feet? Do you know why he died for us? He thinks we’re special. He really does. For some crazy reason, your Creator God thinks you are special. And if someone is that special to you, you’ll figure out a way to serve them, right? If you love someone as much as you love yourself, you’ll figure out a way to serve them,…

In this message Pastor Chris kicks off our new series exploring our 2024 word for the year, More. When it comes to pleasure if we’re honest, we’d all love a bit more! The world seems to promise us that we can live lives off endless pleasure, but yet those promises never seem to quite hit the mark. So how do we hold our desires and longings in a way…

You see, we have a faulty view of what it means to teach our “one another’s.” We make it into something it doesn’t have to be, and I believe those verses that we started with really, truly do apply to all of us. We are all responsible to teach our “one another’s.”So, I want to reset us to an appropriate perspective of what it means to teach. I want…

In this message, Pastor Chris explores the values of Worship, Family, and Justice, why they are so central to God’s call on our church, and the vision he has called us to pursue.Av Grace Capital City

So, what do you think God thinks about words that kill? Proverbs says, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” (Proverbs 18.21) Does that mean God sees them as equal choices? What do you think God thinks about destructive criticism, gossip, sarcasm, gaslighting, broken confidences, bullying, or other … discouraging…

The word "burden" shows up a few different times in the New Testament, and it starts with this one moment with Jesus in Matthew Chapter 11. Jesus is teaching to a community that hasn’t accepted him; they’ve pushed back against him, and Jesus decides to challenge them. But he also reaches the point where he softens. He looks to this crowd and knows …

In this episode, you'll hear a few testimonies from members of our community who participated in the last Form cohort. To apply for the 2024-25 discipleship groups and more information visit our website.Av Grace Capital City

In this sermon, our Justice & Operations Director Hannah Martha Cohen Banks asserts that Kingdom Service is the practice of putting ourselves in discomfort, submitting to the kingdom, so we can partner with the Spirit in the making of all things new and grow in Christlike humility.Av Grace Capital City

"Peace and unity are connected. Unity exists around a big idea — something significant and powerful that pulls us together. And it exists in all sorts of contexts and organizations. We could be talking about the church, but we could also talk about your school, your family, your community, your town, your state, or your country. We could talk about…

In this message, Pastor Chris explores the spiritual discipline of Simplicity and how important it is to keep our hearts and minds centered on God’s best.Av Grace Capital City

This kind of hospitality, this offering of a friendship-love to strangers was kind of a big deal in a culture with all these nomads. A lot of people kind of moved around, they weren’t citizens of a town, or a country, and hospitality was a really big deal. And then there were the widows and the orphans, and others who were flat-out poor. And there …

Even though it's one of the most beautiful, empowering, and freeing spiritual disciplines of our faith, Submission is often noted as the most misused and abused. In this message from Pastor Holly, she gently teaches on what submission is not, what Kingdom submission actually is, the limits of submission, and ways we can practice and grow in this di…

"Now, that word in Romans 12, where we started—that word "honor"—it's a Greek word. It looks like the word "time," but what it means is "prize." It can mean "value," it can mean "respect." It can mean "honor," and it can mean "recognition." I really like that word recognition because I think that gives us a good perspective of what honor is. Recogn…

In our new series, The Outward Disciplines, Pastor Olu explains the need for all of us to engage in these practices in order to continue developing lifestyles modeled after Jesus. Focusing on solitude, he encourages us through Luke 4:38-44, to have a regular rhythm in our lives where we are disconnecting from the crowds and clutter so we can connec…

"When Jesus says, “Love one another,” who is my one another? You see, this “agape” kind of love wouldn’t be so painfully difficult if the people in your life weren’t so painfully difficult. But you are surrounded by a bunch of sinners. If I got to pick my “one another,” maybe loving my “one another” wouldn’t be so hard. But … I don’t. If all my “on…

In this message, Pastor Chris explores Paul’s approach to mission through Acts 17. How do we approach our witness in a way that is truly good news for all people? In a way that invites and doesn’t alienate those who may not know Jesus as Lord?Av Grace Capital City

This message is for everyone, but it is about our responsibility to help others, not about helping ourselves. Here is the big question: “What is your responsibility in helping someone who struggles with mental health?”Av Ben Webb, Associate Minister

Acts 16 is a reservoir of insights and encouragement for those who seek to follow Jesus and share His love, power, and wisdom with others along the way. Often overlooked, yet a cornerstone of missional effectiveness is prayer. In this week's sermon, Pastor Olu underscores the pivotal role of prayer in our spiritual life and service, as it opens our…

"Now, not everyone who is depressed will feel all of these descriptors; but they probably feel some of them. You feel down. You’re irritable, maybe. Maybe a sense of hopelessness. You’ve lost a sense of purpose. Those things you used to enjoy, you don’t enjoy them anymore. There’s this oppressive pessimism – everything is half-empty. Sadness, dejec…

In this week's sermon, Pastor Olu briefly explores a pivotal moment in the book of Acts, chapters 10 and 11, where the Holy Spirit challenges Peter to connect with those he typically wouldn't, revealing God's mission of inviting everyone to His table. We will also hear from key leaders from our community, Krista Kartson, Juddie Otieno, and Dan Drey…

"Anxiety and worry exist on a spectrum. At one end, you have worry and anxiety that are present but manageable … and even beneficial. They press us and push us to fulfill our responsibilities. They act as a prod to do our jobs well. But that's not the complete picture. I think that's a small piece of the picture. Anxiety and worry are usually not g…

"When we let that lie take root, it grows and grows until, eventually, we say, "You're unlovable." It's not that you're never going to be loved; you lie to yourself and think your problem is that you aren't worth loving. No one’s ever going to find you lovable. Eventually, that grows until you begin believing that you don't even love yourself. How …

Pastor Holly dives into two stories in Acts 8 involving Philip, a newly appointed leader in the early church, and leads us to ask ourselves two big and important questions: Are we willing to be interrupted AND ALSO are we willing to be the interruption?Av Grace Capital City

It’s a word we all understand – “ruin.” Something was beautiful once, but no longer. It was useful once, valuable once, but no longer. It has been damaged and wrecked. It has been spoiled. You can ruin a shirt; you can ruin a phone; you can ruin a vacation; you can ruin a career; you can ruin a relationship; you can ruin a person. Have you ever rui…

The story of Stephen in Acts 6 & 7 describes to us the persecution of the first martyr of the newly formed church. There’s so much we can learn from his witness and his faithfulness as it relates to persecution that we may experience in our own walk following Jesus. How do we remain as faith and effective witnesses in the moments persecution comes …

"So, a lot of us … in fact, most of us, maybe … kind of put on these masks. And our masks usually look better on the outside than we feel on the inside, right? And we kind of fear that everyone around is as good on the inside as their masks look on the outside. So, when we compare our insides to their masks, we don’t look too good, we don’t feel to…

In this week's sermon, Pastor Olu leads us to explore Acts 4, which picks up right after Peter and John miraculously heal a lame beggar at the temple. This miracle provokes the people's positive and negative reactions, setting the stage for Peter's impassioned second message. Join us as we learn that, like Peter, we all carry a vital message, and t…

"We talked about raising godly children – which is hard work and requires discipline. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about money – which requires hard work and discipline to handle well. It wasn’t groundbreaking information. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about our hurts, and we …

In Acts 2 we read about the gathering of the early Christians and how they lived out their faith together. In the midst of these extraordinary stories its so easy to miss the ordinary rhythms that were such a big part of their witness, and how their lives truly did demonstrate the presence of God amongst them. In this message Pastor Chris challenge…

"I don’t care whether you are a Boomer, a Gen Xer, a Millennial, a Zer, or even Gen Alpha … the questions are the same: Does your work life matter to God? Does how you work affect your life with God? Does God care? And if he does, should you? What do you think: Is work a necessary evil? Should our goal be to do as little as possible and get past it…

Pastor Chris kicks off our series in the book of Acts by exploring the first chapter and what it means for us to be a commissioned people. Too often we settle for a back seat, spectator role, when God has called every single follower of Jesus to be a part of his work here on earth.Av Grace Capital City

It's dangerous to be in a place where no one cares for you spiritually because it's incredibly easy to drift away from God. We need people in our corner to help pull us toward God. It's that together part of what Doc always says. We've got this saying that we use a lot around here. We're all about doing life with God, for God, God's way … together.…

In this message, College and Justice Resident Faith Anderson leads us through the Old Testament truth that God is a home for us, paralleled with the New Testament reality that He has made His home in us. Now through the gift of the Holy Spirit, how do we embrace the work of making the house of our heart a home? This sermon gives us practical steps …

In this message, Pastor Chris teaches on the Tower of Babel in Genesis, through to the Upper room in the book of Acts, and the importance of learning to posture our hearts and lives in a way where we are able to fully partner with God and His Spirit's work within us. [There are audio difficulties in this episode - they are resolved at the 13 minute…

"How many of you have been wounded? Not physically, but emotionally? … Yeah, that’s a universal, right? Emotional pain, spiritual pain, relational pain? Anger, sadness, bitterness, despair, remorse maybe; you are wounded, you hurt. It's pretty much universal. How many of you are hurting somehow right here, right now? A bunch of you, probably. Becau…

"Paul says, “I've learned the secret … to being content.” That feels a little bit like a letdown. Like, really? Is that a secret you've been trying to discover? Have you been actively pursuing contentment? Look, I think that we all want contentment. But we don't live like it. We live like contentment is right around the corner … and we never quite …

This week guest speaker Katelyn Curran delivers a powerful message on what it means to follow Jesus with resilient faith even in the midst of disappointment. For anyone who has found themselves in a season of disconnection or discouragement this word will be a great encouragement!Av Grace Capital City

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” There are times we fear that God has a sense of humor, right? But what if … what if he is serious? What if God meant them to be so? And what if there was a way to make it so? Not a guarantee but a strategy. What if there was a strategy for raising kids you can be proud of, for raising…

King Solomon was considered to be the wisest man who ever lived and yet, when we look at his life so much of it ended in misery and disaster. Why was this? What do we need to learn about the nature and journey of wisdom from the life of King Solomon, and how can we live as truly wise people even today?…

"How do I live like Jesus when it comes to disagreements? How do I live like Jesus when it comes to the ways in which we don't agree? And then, here's the big idea. Here's the answer at the end of the message. I’ll give it to you on the front end. Here’s the big idea: live in unity and peace with one another. The answer – which feels like it's lack…

Let’s start with the word of the day, the question of the day, and the attitude of the day. • The word of the day is “agape.” There it is in the Greek: ἀγάπη. It means “love,” … but it’s a very special kind of love. We’ll get there. • The question of the day is, “What would agape do?” As Jesus followers, we need to ask this question: “What would ag…

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we're reminded that all scripture is God-breathed, equipping us for every good work. But what about caring for God's creation? Is it truly within the scope of "every good work"? And does the Bible empower or hinder such efforts? Join Pastor Olu and Dr. Jessica Moerman as they explore the deep connection between the Christian f…

In this Message Pastor Chris teaches from 1 Kings 21, the story of Naboth's Vineyard and King Ahab’s efforts to steal it. Learning to discern what is ours to carry and what is not is one of the pivotal steps we all need to take in following Jesus. This story and message gives us an insight into that journey.…

“'Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law.' Guys, I want you to hear it: overcome evil with good. Be a good citizen. Give what is owed, whether that's taxes or revenue, respect or honor. You give what is owed. And everyone is owed love. I promise you that …

"So, we’re kind of like a family, right, a family of Jesus followers? It’s kind of like God is our dad, and we’re his kids. So, we’re going to treat this kind of like a family meeting this morning. Did your biological family ever have family meetings? Maybe your dad or mom laid down some of the family rules … You know, where you could go, what you …

In this message Pastor Chris teaches from Luke 24, and the story of Jesus walking the journey to Emmaus with two disillusioned disciples. Every single one of us walk through seasons of disappointment, and this story can be a great reminder of God's faithfulness to us, even when we find ourselves walking outside of his plans.…

"We’re going to walk through the first few verses of Romans 12 and see what they say about you, what they say about me, and we're going to see what they say about our responsibilities to each other. But it starts with this word, “Therefore …”. When I was in high school, my youth minister taught us that whenever you come across the word “Therefore” …