Grace Chapel Church Podcast | Franklin, TN

In Part 5, we get to the part in the Apostles' Creed about belief in the Church and in the communion of the saints. Pastor Rob encouraged us all to take one step further into commitment in the local body through serving and/or getting into community through Life Groups. If you would like to serve on our Guest Services team (greeters, ushers, parking, check-in, and welcome team) or find a group to do life with, you can begin by filling out the digital connection card at www.gracechapel.net/connectcard and we will be in touch soon!

Grace Chapel's founding pastor, Steve Berger, returns to the pulpit to bring a great word on the Holy Spirit. While it's impossible to uncover everything about who the Holy Spirit is in a single message, Pastor Steve gives us a foundation of what His activity looks like: The Holy Spirit hovers over chaotic, dark, deadly circumstances, He acts as the Word of God is spoken to bring new life, and He is with us, in us, and upon us to give us the power to be a witness for Jesus.

As we continue to make our way through the Apostles' Creed, Pastor Rob focuses on Jesus the Son - the Incarnation of Christ, The Suffering of Christ, and the Ascension of Christ. Pastor Rob challenges us all with the question, "If Jesus is truly your King, what assignment has your King given you to do?"

In part 2 of Anchored: The Apostles' Creed, Pastor Rob focuses on the first line of the Creed – I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. The central question of this message is, "Do you approach God from the standpoint of a business relationship, or do you approach Him as the Father He longs to be?" A business relationship is based on what we do, a family relationship is based on who we are; a business relationship is based on doing, a family relationship is based on being. If you are a believer in Jesus, you have been adopted by God and the Father promises that you are now a child of God.

The early Church was a community of people so tightly knit together, so unified, and so for one another, that even the gates of hell couldn't prevail against it. The early Church was fearless, impossibly joyful, and in constant trouble! A church so “anchored” in the Truth of the Word that even the greatest of powers of this world couldn't take them out or slow them down. Using the Apostles' Creed as the framework of this new series, Pastor Rob challenges Grace Chapel to learn from our predecessors' example and anchor ourselves in the Truth of God in the times that we're entering into.

Pastor Steve and Pastor Rob share our annual State of the Church message. We celebrate all Jesus did in and through us in 2020 and look forward to where the church is headed in 2021. Pastor Steve, the leadership team, and the elder board also announce that Pastor Steve will be transitioning out of his Senior Pastor role to pursue unique mission opportunities the Lord has placed in front of him and Sarah. This transition has been in the works with our leadership team and elder board for over three years and we are so excited for Pastor Steve and Sarah as they step into their next chapter of ministry. Pastor Rob will be stepping into the Lead Pastor role and the future is bright here at Grace Chapel!

Regardless of the circumstances, the mission of the Church remains the same. In this one-off message, Pastor Rob speaks on what it means to be a passionate servant of Jesus. Before we can make disciples and fulfill the Great Commission, we have to BE a disciple first. To do this, we must count the cost, lose our life, and follow Him.

It's now 2021 and Pastor Steve brings a message for the new year entitled, Pace, Priority, and Purpose. He takes an in-depth look at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke chapter 10 and unpacks pace problems, priority shifts, and purposes fulfilled. We must never lose sight of what our true purpose is: Love God and Love People (even our enemies), seek God first, dwell in His Presence, sit at His feet, hear His word, behold His beauty, and inquire in His temple. We fulfill our purpose by having our pace in-line with our priorities.

Today, Pastor Steve wrapped up our Christmas mini-series talking about the meaning of Savior, Christ, and Lord. Our hope and prayer are that we will all behold Him in greater ways this Christmas season. There is only one Savior, Christ, and Lord, and the only One who was crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected. Jesus is the only One who God has highly exalted and given the name above every name and He is the Only One who will cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He is Lord!

In Part 2 of The First Christmas, Pastor Steve takes a detailed look at the environment surrounding the birth of Jesus. Roman conquest, oppression, persecution, and more accompanied the miraculous arrival of Jesus. Not only is it good for us to understand the scene around Jesus' birth, but it also has applications to us today – Jesus isn't afraid to enter our deepest and darkest characteristics. We need to be people who know how to find Jesus in the midst of our own darkness because He’s there, hasn’t forgotten us, and is still in charge!

In order to understand the power, meaning, and significance of the Christmas story, we first have to understand the backstory. In Breaking The Silence, part one of The First Christmas, Pastor Rob explores what is happening in the 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew. What we see is that while it seems that God is silent during this time, He is orchestrating a series of events that led up to the birth of Jesus, including the establishment of a common language, the Peace of Rome, and the development of a road system that allowed the eventual Gospel to spread like a wildfire. The lesson for us this season, and really in 2020, is that often the times when God is silent is when He's doing His best work.

In the final part of From Above, Pastor Rob speaks on the wisdom of humility. We live in a culture where humility is often overlooked and pride is regularly put on a pedestal and celebrated! The Gospel subverts both self-pity and self-righteousness. The Gospel levels the playing field of humanity and enables us to view ourselves accurately because the gospel says that we are more stained with sin that we’d ever want to admit, but more cherished and loved that we could ever possibly fathom.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Pastor Steve brings a message entitled, Eternal Thanksgiving. While we will give thanks forever in Heaven, he focuses on giving thanks in and for everything while here on Earth. We can be eternally thankful in all things and for all things because nothing can undo or overcome God’s eternal blessing in our lives. In Christ Jesus, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, chosen, holy, blameless, loved, adopted, favored, redeemed, forgiven, promised a heavenly gathering, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and have a guaranteed inheritance.

We're so honored to have Pastor Ian Gilchrist from Grace Chapel Fairview in the pulpit today! Pastor Ian brings a much-needed word and reminder out of 1 John that we are to not love the world and fall into deception, but instead, instructed in all things to abide in Jesus. As we continue to navigate the world that God has put us in, we must remember our calling doesn’t change with the news of the current day.

Fresh off a trip to the war-torn Middle East, Pastor Steve returns to the pulpit to bring an update on his recent missions, as well as address the current issues we're dealing with here in the U.S.