Grace Chapel Church Podcast | Franklin, TN

Pastor Rob kicks off our new series with an introduction using Acts 1:1-8. One of the major problems in our culture is that we often think that what we need is some new knowledge, some piece of information we don’t yet have. And yet what we need most is not some new secret knowledge to breathe life into something ancient, but something ancient and transcendent to inform how we navigate the new challenges we face as a culture. Our hope as we go throughout the series is that we will all be encouraged to open our Bibles and get into the scriptures to glean a deeper understanding of what God might want to do with us as we receive power to be His witnesses in Middle Tennessee, the Southeastern US, and to the ends of the earth.

Using Hebrews 2 as a backdrop, Pastor Rob speaks on how our default thinking as it relates to God is that if we do the right things and behave in the right ways, then we will have God's pleasure and power in our life. But what Hebrews tells us is that we have a founder (i.e., author, originator, hero, champion, captain) of our salvation who sees us and defends us and stands between us and the enemy. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what shameful act is hanging over your head, no matter what struggle has held you down, through the sacrifice of Jesus, Jesus Christ, our Captain, is not ashamed to call you sister or brother. He is not ashamed of you.

With the backdrop of Jesus' high priestly prayer recorded in John 17, Pastor Rob speaks on unity and makes the call for all of us to set our gaze higher to Jesus. Whatever state you find yourself in today, whatever loss you feel, whatever despair, angst, pain, or sorrow, look to Christ. Cry out to Him. Christ alone has the power to rescue, to redeem, to restore, to forgive our sins, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, to clean us up, and to make us new. Church, Christ is not divided. His Kingdom is not in trouble. The Gospel will go forth, and Jesus will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Dr. Michael Brown of askdrbrown.org brings a sobering but much-needed word on the current state of sexuality in our culture. He challenges us to approach this issue, and all issues for that matter, with both the Truth of the Gospel and with the Grace of Jesus. Our hearts should so break for people who are caught up in sin that even when we are speaking from the Truth of God's Word, it is with compassion in our hearts and tears in our eyes. Parents should use caution with the presented material, especially around kids, as it may not be suitable for all age groups.

Dr. Michael Brown of askdrbrown.org brings a sobering but much-needed word on the current state of sexuality in our culture. He challenges us to approach this issue, and all issues for that matter, with both the Truth of the Gospel and with the Grace of Jesus. Our hearts should so break for people who are caught up in sin that even when we are speaking from the Truth of God's Word, it is with compassion in our hearts and tears in our eyes. Parents should use caution with the presented material, especially around kids, as it may not be suitable for all age groups.

In this one-off message, Pastor David, Grace Chapel's Family Pastor, brings an incredible word on vision. The central question that Pastor David poses is, can we, this side of Heaven, become like Jesus? If people watched our life outside of Sunday morning, would they come to the conclusion that we are a disciple of Jesus? Pastor David also gives some practical examples of bad vision, as well as guidelines for cultivating good, godly vision.

"Do not covet" - the tenth commandment and the final message in our series, Ten. Pastor Rob defines covetousness as an inordinate desire for something or someone without regard for the rights and feelings of other people. While there are many things we covet, four main things are possessions, people, physique, and power. The cure for covetousness is contentment and we find six keys to contentment in Philippians 4: Rejoice always, be reasonable, give thanks, request and release, think on good things, and imitate godly conduct.

Nearing the end of our series on the Ten Commandments, Pastor Rob speaks on the ninth commandment – do not lie. This commandment deals not only with lying, as in speaking falsehood, but it also addresses lying about other people. Pastor Rob challenges us all to be people who are not just concerned with not lying but to be people who champion Truth. He ends his message with three practical questions to ask yourself as it relates to bearing false witness: 1) Am I telling the whole truth? 2) Before I talk about them, have I talked with them? 3) Do I stop slander when I see it?

In Part 9 of Ten, Pastor Rob returns to speak on the commandment "you shall not steal." There are two categories related to this commandment: wrong taking and wrong keeping. God takes the sin of stealing very seriously, whether from Him or others. If you've stolen something - resources, time, credit - the challenge to us is to go make it right, with others and with God. He is an endless source. He’s not short on resources. He’s a God of abundance! There’s nothing that you need that He can’t give. The more you see the generosity of this all-powerful God who loves you, knows every little intimate detail about you and cares more than you can ever imagine, the more you can give yourself away and model His love and generosity to the world around you.

In Part 8 of our series on the ten commandments, Pastor Jimmy covers the commandment - you shall not commit adultery. Jesus expounds upon this commandment by saying that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Lust is the dehumanization of a person into an object. Related to this topic, Pastor Jimmy speaks on the epidemic of pornography, divorce, and remarriage. We need a lot of grace around this issue. We do not need a mob ready to throw stones, but a community to help hold marriages together.

In Part 7 of our series on the Ten Commandments, our Family Pastor, David Green, speaks on the sixth commandment - you shall not murder. Looking at both the Old Testament law and the New Testament explanation from Jesus about this commandment, Pastor David unpacks what it looks like to "be angry and not sin." He challenges us to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal places in our hearts where we are not loving our enemies and are not loving our neighbor as ourselves. Pastor David gives three practical things we can do as disciples of Christ to reflect the heart of God in the sixth commandment: 1) Go back to commandments one through four, 2) be discipled, and 3) make disciples.

In our Ten series, Pastor Rob speaks on the 5th commandment - honor your father & mother. In this commandment, God gives an incredibly profound truth – a nation that undermines God’s design for the family unit will be a nation that will not survive for very long. A nation of children that hate their parents, dishonor their parents, and rebel against their parents will be a nation that will not last. In this message, Pastor Rob gives some practical ways to honor your parents. However, the unfortunate reality is many have grown up in a dysfunctional home that was harmful and abusive. This happens way more often than we’d like to think, and harm can take on all kinds of different and horrific forms: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and more. If this is your story, we'd love to help guide you to recommended counselors and support to help you process whatever trauma you have endured – simply email us at care@gracechapel.net.

The fourth commandment in our Ten series is to "remember the Sabbath." God gave the Israelites a weekly reminder of their dependence on God. Pastor Rob challenges us all to dedicate one day of the week to rest. In American culture, the idea of taking a Sabbath is so foreign because even when we do have a day off, there's a nagging feeling that we ought to do something productive. But what this commandment teaches us is that the Sabbath is an invitation to allow God to provide what you could produce but choose not to. Ultimately, our strength comes not from how hard we work but from how well we rest.

In Part 4, Pastor Rob covers the third commandment - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. As one of the most misunderstood commandments, Pastor Rob shares that while it certainly means that we should not use God's name flippantly or irreverently, it is so much more than that. If we look at it only from that perspective, our obedience becomes about the rule itself rather than why the rule was created. The third commandment is also telling us to not put God's "stamp of approval" on something that God has absolutely nothing to do with – don't leverage the name of God for your selfish purposes. Are there things in your life that you know God is not pleased with and you know it’s sin and you know that God knows it is sin, but you’re using the grace and forgiveness of God as a way to excuse your sin?

This week, Pastor Jimmy continues our Ten series through the Ten Commandments with "make no idols." This commandment can be confused with last week's, which was "no other gods." A god is something that you place your trust in to take care of you and protect you, whereas, an idol is anything that diminishes, competes with, or distracts you from the one true God. We all have idols, but Pastor Jimmy teaches us that before we even start trying to deal with the unholy idolatry in our life, we need to make a place and a time to be with the Lord. It’s His presence, not our plan that is going to make the biggest difference in your life.