Although lauded in much of the Church for her character, wisdom, and holiness, Mary is not as often recognized for the tremendous burden she carried in being the mother of Jesus. Faced with confounding experiences of a son whose relationship with God went beyond her comprehension and bearing the grief of knowing her little boy was destined to suffer, Mary’s experience of the person of Jesus was wholly unique, as was her steadfast loyalty and love. In his book, The Lord, Romano Guardini says of Mary, “Not understanding, never was she to lose heart, never to fall behind. Inwardly she accompanied the incomprehensible figure of her son every step of his journey, however dark. Perseverance in faith even on Calvary—this was Mary’s inimitable greatness.” What can we learn from a woman who willingly sacrificed it all in her faith for the Messiah she once held in her arms?

February 25 | The Burden of Mary | Witness | Barry Rodriguez

Every generation in human history has had its own version of elders bemoaning “kids these days” and discounting their passion and new ideas as nothing more than youthful exuberance. Never before, however, has such a deep and profound level of disrespect for older generations become so accepted among the young. Into this context we seek the wisdom of God about how the older generations of Grace can become “worthy of respect,” as Paul exhorts Titus to teach, even when elders no longer have the implicit respect of the culture at large. Perhaps, through the humility and self-giving love of Grace’s elders, we can demonstrate even in our modern world that there is another way for different generations to live together.

May 5 | God’s Invitation to the Elders | All In The Family | Tim Ayers

Continuing with the theme of generational respect (or lack thereof), we turn to the children of Grace Church. Raised in a culture that idolizes youth and disrespects the elderly, “kids these days” – even well-meaning Christ-following ones – have a lot of bad habits and worldviews to unlearn. If the younger generations of Grace want to experience the best that life has to offer, they must learn how to accept wisdom from those who have come before, as Proverbs 4 teaches so well. If the young people of Grace can learn how to humble themselves and learn from their elders who have walked with Christ for many years, they may find new direction and hope in this confusing and anxious time.

May 12 | God’s Invitation to the Children | All In The Family | Barry Rodriguez

With God’s provocative call to the husbands in our minds, we now consider what the Spirit may want the wives within our spiritual family to hear. To that end, we turn to Colossians 3, in which the Apostle Paul speaks directly to the families of the church in Colossae. Yet again, Paul is speaking into a highly patriarchal culture, but his encouragement goes far beyond the customs of the day: inviting followers of Jesus to “clothe themselves” with the characteristics of Christ. As we reflect on our own culture, which so often infantilizes, demeans, and enables unresourceful husbands, the wives of Grace must consider what it would mean for them to be champions of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience in their marriages. Perhaps through this posture of self-giving love they can demonstrate to the world that there is, even in marriage, another way to live.

May 19 | God’s Invitation to the Wives | All In The Family | Amy Christie

230- God's Invitation to the Wives

In the final week of our series, we are going to turn our attention to a demographic quite often overlooked when speaking of families in our suburban context: those who are single or single again. In a culture focused heavily on dating and one in which weddings are a $70 billion industry, it can feel extraordinarily isolating if you are not in a romantic relationship. In his letter to the church in Corinth, however, Paul makes a shocking claim: it is better to be single! His reasoning? That single people have the ability to fully dedicate their lives to God’s kingdom. Although our culture today is quite different than that of ancient Corinth, the invitation to see singles as a gift in our community is a strong one for us to consider. What might it look like for the singles of Grace to serve with wholehearted devotion as their spiritual family surrounds them with love?

May 26| God’s Invitation to the Singles | All In The Family | Barry Rodriguez

We send Maron off to her 3 month sabbatical and wrap up our All in the Family sermon series talking about God's invitation to Singles.

230 - God's Invitation to the Singles

In his ministry on earth, Jesus presented a radical vision of an “upside-down” kingdom taking root in human society: a community in which the last were first, in which the poor were blessed, and in which true leaders were servants of all. Yet of all his teachings, one stands out as probably the most shocking and seemingly impossible: that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. How could this be? Does Jesus really expect us to do this as his followers or is this just idealism? In this message we will explore the basics of Jesus’ most difficult teaching and explore how we might begin to practice it in a nation filled with tribalism and hate.

June 2 | Loving Your Enemies | Love Your Enemies | Barry Rodriguez

231 - Love Your Enemies

The theologian Dallas Willard has been quoted as saying that loving one’s enemies is the true test of Christlike character. It seems that Jesus would agree. As we continue into the next verses of this radical passage, we see that the inverse of Jesus’s teaching – loving only those who love us, doing good only to those who do good to us in return, etc. – makes us no different from the rest of the world. If we truly desire the gospel message of Christ to stand out in a broken society, we must consider carefully whether our actions indicate that anything has really changed in us at all, or whether our behavior makes us indistinguishable from everyone around us.

June 2 | The Litmus Test of Christlikeness | Love Your Enemies | Barry Rodriguez

Amy, Barry, and Tyler catch up on Grace Kids Camp and later discuss how we love our enemies in today's world with the training and practice!

February 25 | The Burden of Mary | Witness | Barry Rodriguez

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