Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

Please excuse the technical difficulties during this Service. We apologize for any inconvenience. Today we celebrate God’s loyal love and truth as the essential reasons Grace Baptist Church has remained faithful to the mission Christ Jesus called us to 60 years ago. In an era where organizational drift is commonplace, we remain committed to the gospel story, by God’s grace and for God’s glory.

As Paul began to take the gospel beyond Jerusalem, he encountered a wide range of people who were bought into an array of religious systems and philosophical thought. Paul’s constant aim was to dismantle their false belief and bring the light of the gospel to bear on their world of darkness. Paul was an educated, quick-witted, and versatile thinker, and yet he demonstrated his dependence on God’s power to save through faith in the gospel.

Too often we find ourselves living for the “here and now,” only to realize it never truly satisfies. That’s because, as Christ-followers, our salvation is incomplete and will only be completed when Jesus Christ returns to gather His people and set all things to right. So, what are we supposed to be about while we’re waiting? Paul answered this question directly: Our salvation brings us the privilege that drives us, the hope that sustains us, and the opportunity to make much of Christ in this present age.

Today, we begin our summer series examining what essentials from the early church remain vital for the church today. First up is their devotion to fellowship. But, just what is fellowship and how are we to engage in true fellowship? Fortunately, we are not left in the dark because in a culture where the Biblical worldview is increasingly seen as a threat to the happiness of a sin-driven culture, we need both “the fellowship” and to be devoted to “fellowshipping” more than we realize.

As Paul finishes his teaching on the unity and diversity of the Body of Christ – the Church – he comes back to the issue of the Spirit’s gifts. Some in the Corinthian church considered the gifts a means of showing off their own spiritual excellence. But Paul is clear: the Spirit’s gifts were never meant for personal glory, but for the health of the Church and the glory of Christ.