Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/2b3dz2z8 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked , please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked , we explore the evolving landscape of omnichannel strategies with Kate MacCabe, founder of Flywheel Strategy. With nearly two decades of experience in digital strategy and product management, Kate shares her insights on bridging internal silos, leveraging customer insights, and designing omnichannel experiences that truly resonate. From the early days of DTC growth to today’s complex, multi-touchpoint customer journeys, Kate explains why omnichannel is no longer optional—it’s essential. She highlights a standout example from Anthropologie, demonstrating how brands can create a unified customer experience across digital and physical spaces. Whether you’re a marketing leader, UX strategist, or product manager, this episode is packed with actionable advice on aligning teams, integrating user feedback, and building a future-proof omnichannel strategy. Key Takeaways: ✅ Omnichannel vs. Multichannel: Many brands think they’re omnichannel, but they’re really just multichannel. Kate breaks down the difference and how to shift toward true integration. ✅ Anthropologie’s Success Story: Learn how this brand seamlessly blended physical and digital experiences to create a memorable, data-driven customer journey. ✅ User Feedback is the Secret Weapon: Discover how continuous user testing—before, during, and after a launch—helps brands fine-tune their strategies and avoid costly mistakes. ✅ Aligning Teams for Success: Cross-functional collaboration is critical. Kate shares tips on breaking down silos between marketing, product, and development teams. ✅ Emerging Tech & Omnichannel: Instead of chasing the latest tech trends, Kate advises businesses to define their strategic goals first—then leverage AI, AR, and other innovations to enhance the customer experience. Quotes from the Episode: 💬 "Omnichannel isn’t just about being everywhere; it’s about creating seamless bridges between every touchpoint a customer interacts with." – Kate MacCabe 💬 "Companies that truly listen to their users—through qualitative and quantitative insights—are the ones that thrive in today’s competitive landscape." – Kate MacCabe Resources & Links: 🔗 Learn more about Flywheel Strategy 🔗 Connect with Kate MacCabe on LinkedIn 🔗 Explore UserTesting for customer insights for marketers…
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A tartalmat a Grace Point Baptist Church biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a Grace Point Baptist Church vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.
Grace Point Baptist Church located in South Kansas City
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A tartalmat a Grace Point Baptist Church biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a Grace Point Baptist Church vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.
Grace Point Baptist Church located in South Kansas City
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Forgiveness is one of the most powerful concepts in the Bible. In Matthew 18, the apostle Peter asks Jesus for some guidance with regards to forgiving a brother who seems to have offended him frequently. Within the church family, there will always be people who offend or hurt one another, hence there will be opportunities for forgiveness to be practiced. While it is hard, forgiveness is powerful because it removes the authority of the enemy over our relationships in our church. It cuts to the very root of unforgiveness, which is pride. Peter was looking for a statute of limitations on forgiveness, a number that he could attain and thereafter, he would no longer have to practice forgiveness. But Jesus responds with an answer that suggests we should not be counting the times we are called to forgive our brother or sister in the Church. We have no right to count the number of times we forgive. Jesus proceeds to tell the parable of the unforgiving servant. Insurmountable Debt The story is about a king who discovers that one of his servants owes him a debt of ten thousand talents. In the Roman empire that was the equivalent of two hundred thousand years of wages! Jesus made the sum practically inconceivable. When it comes to debts, we underappreciate the gift of salvation we have been given. We don’t grasp the astronomical debt we owe because of our sin in comparison to the holiness of God. When we get a glimpse of how much we have been forgiven, we can’t help but praise God and thank Him for the great gift of grace that we have received through the Gospel. Getting back to the parable, the servant begs for mercy. The king doesn’t simply extend mercy; he wipes the slate clean, forgiving the entire debt. This level of grace is hard for us to grasp; it even offends us. But, I am that servant, and so are you. We who have been washed by the blood of Jesus have been forgiven much. Miniscule Debt The parable continues in verse 28, “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.” The much-forgiven servant finds someone who owes him the equivalent of one hundred days’ wages. He grabs him and throws him into debtor’s prison. The same one who had received incredible grace is the one who now shows anger without any mercy at all. Soon the report of what the servant has done gets back to the King. He is furious. The king goes back to the original punishment and has the unforgiving servant thrown in prison for what would seem like eternity. Jesus delivers the punchline in verse 35, “ So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” God despises unforgiveness. If we hold unforgiveness in our hearts, we are willfully stepping outside of the grace of God, and it is painful. When we don’t forgive someone, we are bound by our unforgiveness (see Matthew 16:19). Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
“When I get to Heaven I shall see three wonders there. The first will be to see many people there whom I did not expect to see, the second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see, and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there ” John Newton. The great hymn writer understood that it is all about grace, the unmerited favor of God shown to those who believe in the name of Jesus for salvation. We love grace when applied to ourselves, but sometimes, when we see grace applied to others, it offends us. The Kingdom of heaven is counter-intuitive and even offensive to our fallen human reasoning. Grace Extended In this parable, Jesus talks about a master who hires laborers to work in his vineyard. During the first century Roman empire, these day laborers may have been foreigners who were offered little to no protection from the Roman labor law. They were vulnerable and often abused. The master agreed to pay those hired at the break of dawn, a denarius for their day’s wages. This would have been an acceptable wage at the time. The laborers go to work in the vineyard, but then the master decides to hire more laborers. He hires people at five different times during the day; 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 5pm. When it came time to pay the laborers at the end of the day, those hired at 6am were shocked to discover that everyone received the same payment, even though they had toiled for many more hours than the others. It didn’t seem fair. Grumbling at Grace The hard-working laborers began grumbling (see Matthew 20:11-12). Grumbling is a sin that is often overlooked in our churches and homes. We tend to look at grumbling as less than desirable, but not really sinful. This is because grumbling is so easy to do, it is second nature. When we are troubled by something we struggle to keep quiet about it to those around us. But what does the Bible say about grumbling? A classic biblical example of grumbling is found in the children of Israel in the wilderness, they grumbled a lot even after God performed so many miracles on their behalf (see Exodus 16:8). But grumbling is also addressed in the New Testament (see James 5:9, Philippians 2:14). Albert Mohler writes, “ To grumble is to complain about the goodness of God. In this sense, grumbling is the consummate act of ingratitude .” We like to justify our grumbling, but grumbling doesn’t fix anything, it usually leads to gossip. Grumbling is a sign of weakness; it takes courage to sit down with someone and humbly share your offence or disagreement and constructively seek to grow in understanding and love for one another. The laborers in the parable were grumbling because they felt that the decision of the master was unjust. But the master has every right to do what he wants with his resources (see Matthew 20:14-15). This parable speaks to us about the sovereignty of God. His decision to show grace to whomever He chooses. We sometimes struggle with this, because we don’t have a right perspective of the holiness and the sovereignty of God. The creator has every right to bless His creation as He chooses. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
The Unexpected Kingdom. Part of the "Stories Jesus Told' Series. March 16 2025 Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/
The Parable of the Talents is one in a set of parables focused on the return of Jesus. Jesus was preparing his followers for his departure and the formation of the Church. This parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven. What does the king expect of his people? Or more directly, what does Jesus expect from us? The Talent The Greek word translated as “talent” is the word “ talanton ”, which was an ancient weight of currency. The master entrusts each of his servants with differing weights of currency. Some scholars say that one talent was worth about twenty years of wages. In the same way, when Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave the Holy Spirit to the church and entrusted the church with the task of preaching the Gospel to every people group on the earth. (see Acts 1:8). In verse 15 we read that the master entrusted the talents according to the ability of the servant. The master knew the individual and their ability. If five talents were given to a person who has little ability, it would be a load too heavy to bear. It would end in discouragement and pain. God knows how He has designed and created us; He knows our abilities. We are all assigned talents and responsibilities from the Lord. God has given each of us a ministry, and it is our privilege to serve the Lord and multiply what He has given us for the Kingdom. The Reckoning The master comes back and calls the three servants to give an account of his entrusted treasure. Notice that he never told the servants to go and trade or make a profit. But they knew him and what he would have desired for them to do. All three servants responded in proportion to the relationship they had with the master. The Faithful Servants The first two servants were incredibly successful, doubling their Talents. The first servant didn’t seem to worry about the potential for loss. He boldly traded because he knew his master, and he knew his master was more interested in faithfulness than profit margins. When it comes to the kingdom of heaven, our Lord desires faithfulness and obedience far above what we accomplish in human understanding (see Micah 6:8). Our lives should be lived with eternity in mind so that when Jesus comes again, we will be expectant and fearless because we know we have done what he asked us to do (see 1 John 4:17). The master was pleased; he rewarded both diligent servants with an incredible promise (see Matthew 25:21). Their faithfulness gave each of them a capacity for greater service and responsibility. We simply have no idea how incredible heaven will be and how great are the rewards that God has in store for his faithful children (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). Are you living for eternity? Are you being faithful with the talents that the Lord has entrusted to you? Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
From time to time, Jesus would address a small group of people when he was teaching. This parable in Luke 18 was one of those occasions. We read in verse 9, “ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.” It would seem that this group had two primary character flaws: 1: They trusted in their own righteousness . They thought that their actions gave them right standing with God. This is self-righteousness, and it is rooted in pride. Notice how Jesus ends the parable in verse 14, “…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 2: They treated others with contempt . Self-righteous people look down on others; they operate out of a “spiritual caste system” that views less religious people as unworthy of their time. We see this today when people display spiritual elitism, when they claim to have a special knowledge or superior access to God. Before we judge too quickly, we must remember that we will always have a root of pride in our lives; it is part of our fallen human nature. We are sinners saved by the grace of God (See Isaiah 64:6). Jesus, speaking to this select group of self-righteous people—and to us— tells the story of two men going to the temple to pray. The Pharisee Seeing a Pharisee pray would have been a normal and expected thing to witness. The Pharisees were the best of the best when it came to following the law. They were held in high esteem by the common man. Everyone looked up to the piety of the Pharisees, but this man was the epitome of a self-righteous person. Tax collector Seeing a tax collector pray would have been a shock to the hearers. Tax collectors were seen as corrupt and sell-outs to the Roman Empire, making a living by stealing from their fellow Jews. The hearers would have been wondering why a tax collector would even be going near the temple, let alone praying. Jesus allows us to eavesdrop on the prayers of the two men. The Pharisee’s Prayer “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” (Luke 18:11) In reality, this wasn’t a prayer; the Pharisee was putting on a show, praying to himself and to those within earshot. To this man, prayer was a way of being recognized and praised. He begins his prayer by comparing himself to other people. If we are honest, we are all guilty of comparison; daily we come across people who don’t measure up to our standard of decency or accepted behavior. We can be tempted to judge the addict, the homeless, the corrupt businessman, and many more. We can easily be guilty of our own self-righteous thoughts for which we need to repent. Comparison can become deadly for our spiritual growth. Our standard for holiness must be Jesus, and him alone. With Jesus as our standard, we will always grow in humility and dependency on his grace and mercy for our daily lives. This Pharisee, looked down on the tax collector and mocked his prayer, mocked his display of worship. The Pharisee didn’t realize that he himself was the one who was far off from God. The Pharisee continued to speak about his accomplishments and his religious credentials, all the while reinforcing his own self-righteousness. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
We live in an age when people avoid the inevitability of death. We don’t like to talk about death. When someone dies, often their body is quickly cremated, and those who are grieving try to move on as quickly as possible, avoiding pondering on the destination that we all face:, heaven or hell. Jesus spoke a lot about heaven and hell, in particular the parable of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16. Without getting too caught up in the metaphor of the parable, we must be careful not to miss the real reason for the parable. This parable had a twist at the end that, I believe, revealed the primary reason that Jesus taught it. Two Different Men The two main characters in the parable are a rich man and a poor man who was called Lazarus. The rich man remains nameless, but he was exceptionally wealthy and ostentatious in displaying his wealth. The rich man trusted in his riches; this was his downfall. This is also the downfall of our nation. The irony is that the statement, “ In God we trust ” appears on the currency that we really trust in. Self-sufficiency is a fatal pitfall (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus gives the poor man a name, Lazarus. Everyone in the town would have known the name of the rich man. But Jesus knew the name of the poor man. God sees the downcast, the broken, and the poor. Two Different Destinations As the story is told by Jesus, both men die and Lazarus is given a personal escort to the side of Abraham, which in Jewish culture would have been the place of greatest honor. From a temporal place of suffering and pain, Lazarus is lifted to an eternal place of peace and comfort. Then the rich man dies, and he is sent to Hades, a place of torment (Luke 16:22-23). At death, the rich man enters into eternal punishment and eternal poverty, while Lazarus is eternally wealthy in paradise. The difference between the two men was not riches or poverty; it was faith (see Ephesians 2:8). In his suffering, the rich man cries out to Abraham, asking him to send Lazarus to help him. He still sees Lazarus as a lower-class man, someone to do his bidding (Luke 16:24). Abraham responds by letting the formerly rich man know that his situation is permanently set (Luke 16:26). Jesus taught that Hell would be a place of excruciating eternal suffering, but the worst part would be the complete absence of the grace of God—that is what makes it Hell. As Jesus continues to tell the parable, we see the twist in the tail; the rich man seems to fear for the plight of his brothers. This rich man was probably not a bad person by human standards. He displayed concern and love for his family. The reality is that there will be people in hell who, by our worldly standards, did good things. But all our good deeds are worthless when we stand before Jesus on judgment day; the only thing that matters is our response to the Gospel message. One True Book The rich man, again seeing Lazarus as someone to do his bidding, begs Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to go and warn his family. Abraham responds in verse 29, “ They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” Abraham is talking about the Holy Scriptures, the Hebrew Bible, which we call the Old Testament. We know, looking back from a New Testament perspective, that all the Law and the Prophets point to Jesus. The Old Testament is a revelation of Jesus fulfilled in the New Testament. Luke 16:31, “ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. ’” Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
If we are honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that there are people that we would not be concerned about being outside of the grace of God. We all have a line. This is part of our fallen human nature. During the time that Jesus walked the earth, the nation of Israel had people that they hated so much they declared them to be beyond the hope of redemption. A Question for a Question Jesus confronted this way of thinking and challenged the norms of culture during his earthly ministry. We read about his confrontation with a Mosaic law expert in Luke 10, and we know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Sometimes we forget that Jesus told the parable in response to a challenge. A lawyer had posed this question: “ Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?” To the lawyer’s chagrin, Jesus answers the question with a question, asking, “What is written in the Law? ” In response, he begins sparring with Jesus. Jesus directs the man to an authority that they can both accept – the law of Moses (Luke 10:26). The lawyer answers Jesus’ question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. He connects these two different passages, showing a good understanding of the law of Moses. “And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Jesus commends him and seems to move on, but the learned man is not satisfied. He knows that he is not perfectly loving towards his fellow man, so he is looking for a definition that will lower the bar on the requirement of the law. He asks Jesus, “ Who is my neighbor ?” A Parable for a Problem Jesus tells a parable to correct the scribe’s false understanding of who his neighbor was. In this parable, a man is beaten to the point of death, and three people walk past him as he lay on the side of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. The priest, who should have been the first to help, walks by on the other side of the road. A man from the tribe of Levi does the same thing and keeps on walking. The third person to come by is a Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by the Jews because of racial position and religious differences. The Samaritans were judged and condemned by the Jewish people. We do not know if the injured man was a Jew or Gentile, but it made no difference to the Samaritan; he did not consider the man’s race or religion. The Samaritan only saw a person in need of assistance, and he assisted him by going above and beyond in his care. A Question for an Answer Jesus made his point by asking the scribe a laser sharp question, “ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Luke 10:36). Once again, the lawyer’s answer reveals his personal hardness of heart. He refers to the Samaritan as, “ the one who showed mercy .” Jesus then tells the lawyer to “ go and do likewise ,.” Jesus means that the man should start living what the law tells him to do by following the Samaritan’s example of merciful care, irrespective of the recipient’s race, religion, financial position or nationality. The lesson is the same for us. If someone has a need and we have the means to help, then we are to give generously and freely without expectation of return, regardless of the recipient’s race, religion, socioeconomic status, or political views. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
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Grace Point Baptist Church's Podcast
Sunday February 9 2025 Matthew 13:1-9 The Parable of the Sower Pastor Athol Barnes Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/
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Grace Point Baptist Church's Podcast
Once upon a time… We all love a good story, don’t we? Jesus was the greatest storyteller when he walked with his disciples. He taught many things in what we call parables, which are simple stories that reveal a deeper meaning. Jesus spoke in parables not simply to teach moral lessons in a way people would remember but to reveal the kingdom of heaven. There are multiple layers to every parable that Jesus taught, but each one shows us something about God’s character and our own hardened, sinful human nature. Thirty-five percent of the content in the synoptic Gospels is the parables that Jesus told. If parables were Jesus’ primary teaching method, then they should be very important for us to study. What is a Parable? The word parable means “to set alongside”. A parable is a story that is set alongside a timeless truth to reinforce or to clarify a certain truth. Dr/ Albert Mohler defines a parable as, “ Surprising stories and word pictures drawn from the familiar, that powerfully reveal to us the unfamiliar”. God uses this concept throughout the Bible. Sometimes God uses historical accounts to stand as a standard to reveal His character and nature. In the Old Testament, God frequently God referred to himself as, “ I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt ”. The Egypt deliverance was their great story. The books of Esther and Ruth reveal aspects of the nature of God and the Gospel. The prophets were sometimes called upon to act out the message in sometimes uncomfortable ways, providing a visual parable if you will (look at Jeremiah and Hosea for example). Job is a true story that has become a parable for the sovereignty of God. Our creator knows our mind is wired for story because He created it that way. Our creator came, teaching in parables 2000 years ago, and they still speak to us today. Truth Obscured When Jesus first taught the parables to the original audience, they were obscure; his listeners didn’t grasp the true meaning of what Jesus was saying. The disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 13 verse 10, “ Why do you speak to them in parables?” They noticed that Jesus was not explaining the parables to the people. Jesus answered in verse 11, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Why would Jesus intentionally obscure truth from the very people he came to save? The disciples and the people thought they knew who Jesus was. They were expecting a messiah who would overthrow the Roman empire and re-establish the great nation of Israel. The disciples were trying to help Jesus create a following by revealing who he was, or at least who they thought he was. Why was Jesus hiding the truth in stories? While Jesus explained the parables to his inner circle, he was really speaking to the church that would be birthed after his ascension. The parables are for us, revealing truths about the Kingdom of Heaven. In verse 12, Jesus explains that there are two kinds of people, those who hear and understand, and those who hear and do not understand. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
September 11, 2001. A horrific attack shook the world, affecting countless lives. It was traumatic for the survivors and those who lost loved ones. It was a doorway that everyone had to go through. Only the Lord knows the doorways of grief and trauma that potentially await us this year. From Successful to Suffering The biblical figure Job had to endure terrible and painful doorways. He was blameless and upright according to Job 1:8, yet Satan was permitted to inflict terrible things on this righteous man. In all he endured, Job did not sin lose his faith in God (see Job 1:22). Job’s friends’ slander and accuse him as they try to make sense of his suffering. In chapter 19, he tries to defend himself. Through all this, God seems to be silent and preventing Job from finding relief (see Job 19:8). It is evident that God is showing Job that the only way forward is by going through the doorway of suffering. Suffering can be an intensely lonely time in a person’s life. Job laments that everyone has deserted him (see Job 19:13-19). As Job is making his plea for mercy, he knows that God has allowed these awful events to happen (see Job 19:21). Job recognizes God has permitted his pain; he doesn’t give Satan any acknowledgment. If we learn anything from the account of Job, it is a study in the sovereignty of God. We don’t know why God allows suffering, but ultimately, we know that God has promised to work it all for our good and for His glory. There are countless stories of people who have gone through the doorway of incredible pain and suffering allowing God to use their pain for His glory. From Pain to Perspective From verse 25, we notice Job changes his focus. It seems as if he had a prophetic revelation that went millennia ahead of his current situation and points to the redeemer, a portrait of Jesus. What shifted? Job walked through the doorway of suffering and found that Jesus was right there. God gave Job a revelation of what is to come, the eternal and abundant life that Jesus offers. While Job was on the inside of the door, he was experiencing excruciating physical pain, trauma and even slander. He was frozen, stuck in his pain and trauma. But when he took his focus off his immediate situation and turned to the Lord, he walked through the doorway of trauma and found that God was already there. He was not alone; God had never left him (see Deuteronomy 31:8). From Hurting to Healed The promise of God’s presence is echoed throughout Scripture, culminating with the giving of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to the church. Sometimes when we encounter suffering, we freeze, not knowing how to move forward through the door that we are facing. There are times when God seems far off; we get stuck, paralyzed by the trauma or the unknown of living beyond the current painful situation. We cannot see what healing would even look like or how to get through the doorway. Are you dealing with trauma? Stuck on the threshold of the door, paralyzed by trauma or fear of the unknown? When you experience trauma that was not your fault and not your choice, God invites you to work through the effect of the trauma. That is what God did for Job; He can do that for you. Healing will come as you step through the doorway by allowing God to change the effect of the trauma. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
As we stand on the brink of a new year, I want to spend the next two weeks focusing on the prospect of changes that we all will be facing in the coming year. Changes can be likened to doorways. Sometimes doors open to us, and we have the choice to step through them into a life change. It may be a new relationship or a job, or even a new home. Some people will graduate or receive a promotion. Others will retire. New doors can be stressful yet exciting, filled with potential. When we as believers face a new doorway, we must have faith to step into the unknown. Jesus described himself as the door in John 10:1-13. From this passage, we see that Jesus is the only door to eternal life, Jesus is the key to abundant everyday life, and Jesus is our Good Shepherd when we face life-altering doors. Jesus is the only Door to Eternal Life In John 10, Jesus declares that he is the only way of salvation; he is the only door to a relationship with God, sadly this doctrine is not widely believed in many Christian circles. A recent survey of 3100 people who claim to be born again Christians found that only 25% believed in the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. I want to categorically state today that as long as I am called by God to preach the Word of God, I will hold to the truth that Jesus is the only way of salvation. If Jesus was not the only way of salvation, there would be no point in proclaiming the Gospel; it would be irrelevant. Jesus makes the statement in John 10 verse 9 that he is the way of salvation. There are several other verses in the Bible that explicitly declare that Jesus is the only way of salvation (see John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5). No other religion has a god who did what Jesus did. Jesus is the only savior who stepped down from his throne in heaven and paid the price for our salvation by giving his life as a ransom for our sins. We don’t have to do anything to earn salvation, and we cannot add to our salvation. Jesus is the Key to Abundant Life in the Daily Doors of Life Once we have established that Jesus is the only door to eternal life, how does this knowledge affect our day to day lives in 2025? Jesus said in John 10:10, “ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus came not only to save us but that we may have abundant life. This abundant life begins when we are truly born again and begin our relationship with our Creator. This abundant life is not exempt from the trials and pain of life; rather, it is a life of peace with God, a life that lives to glorify God and enjoy His presence even in the midst of suffering. To live this abundant life, we have many daily choices to make. Little choices that either lead to life or produce a slow death in us. Every day we are faced with new doorways as decisions are presented to us. Doorways of Distraction There are doorways of distraction: spending hours on social media, online browsing, watching hours of TV, listening to unhelpful podcasts, or the distraction of pornography. These doorways lead to a slow death in us, not eternally speaking, but a numbing of the mind and soul. I challenge you this year to make a radical decision to change what you are feeding on. When you decide what to watch, read, listen to, and consume, ask yourself: is it producing life or death in your heart and mind? Doorways to Transformation We have the choice every day to open the doorway to things that are life giving and supernatural. This doorway is opening the Word of God and prayerfully allowing the power of the Word of God to transform our life. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/
Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/
Imagine you were tasked with the greatest announcement in all of History. Imagine that God put you in charge of making the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the promised Messiah. How would you go about it? Today you might launch a mass media campaign, or a viral video series, maybe spend a lot of money on TV commercials. Obviously, none of these methods were available in the first century, but God used a very unlikely method all the same. First God used ancient prophets who wrote and taught about a coming messiah. Most of them were alive around seven-hundred years before Jesus was born. But then God is silent for four-hundred years, until a small group of shepherds have an angelic encounter that announces the birth of the Christ child. The shepherds seemed to be unlikely candidates for a world-altering announcement. The shepherds heard the angel’s pronouncement and saw the host of angels singing—and they believed. As they believed, they responded in four ways to the incredible news they had heard. The angel of the Lord made the message personal for them, saying in Luke 2:11, “ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord .” This child who was born was for them, it wasn’t a child who would be disconnected from their lives. By visiting the shepherds, the angel revealed the grace of God toward all of mankind. Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel, In fact their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, and it probably kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean. God does not always call the rich and mighty; frequently He calls the poor and the lowly (see Luke 1:51-53). The shepherds got it, and they responded in faith in four ways: 1: They Believed Now it may seem obvious that they would believe. They had just had an incredible supernatural encounter the likes of which very few humans have ever witnessed. But they had to believe the word of the angel. But what about us? I am sure none of you have seen a mighty host of angels, but there is a promise when we believe by the power of the Holy Spirit (see John 20:29). Do you believe? Believing always requires a response. There is always an action or a step of faith that follows belief. The shepherds responded. 2: They Obeyed (Luke 2:15). In verse 15a we read, “ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “ Let’s go …” Notice that in verse 11, the angel didn’t tell them what to do, but rather it was an invitation. When Jesus is presented, there is always an invitation. And their faith compelled them to go and see the Christ. Even as a baby, he changed lives, and he is still changing lives today. Some people have suggested that these shepherds were some distance away, it was not a simple task to find someone to take care of their sheep. But they worked it out, they were not going to miss this opportunity. How often we are given opportunities to encounter the Lord, but we find it too inconvenient. We know we really should go to that prayer meeting, or that life group, but we feel a bit tired. It is just a little inconvenient. And so, we miss out on what may be a special time with the Body of Christ. When the Lord gives you an invitation, always respond even if it is inconvenient, maybe, especially if it is inconvenient! This leads to the third response: Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
What is God inviting you to believe? Last week we talked about what it means to believe in Jesus for salvation. To illustrate my point, I professed that I believed the chair could hold me, but if I didn’t act on that belief by stepping on the chair, no one would believe that I actually believed that (see Romans 10:9). Believing always requires a response, an action or a step of faith that follows belief. In Matthew 2, we read about a group of wise men who simply believed—and acted in response to that belief. Who Were the Wise Men? To understand why the wise men’s active belief is significant, we first need to understand who they were.Our cultural and traditional Christmas scenes get two things wrong about the wise men, which are also called magi: The wise men did not arrive along with the shepherds. When they visited Jesus in Bethlehem, he was not a newborn, and Mary and Joseph were not living in a stable. Their visit likely occurred six to eighteen months after the birth of Jesus. The number of wise men. Though tradition says three, we do not actually know how many magi there were. From the three gifts listed in Matthew 2:11, many people have assumed there were three kings from the Orient, but this is not certain. What we do know is that when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city. In addition to these common misconceptions, it’s also important to understand that these wise men were not Jewish. They were Gentiles, outside the covenant people of God. By bringing these wise men to the feet of Jesus, God was revealing right from his birth that Jesus was the Savior of the whole world (see John 4:42). Romans 15:12 says, “ …The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” What Did the Wise Men Do? The magi responded in faith—to the sight of a star in the sky. They traveled for months, crossing thousands of miles of desert and mountain and harsh conditions, to see the “king of the Jews”, though they themselves weren’t Jews (see Matthew 2:2). Just consider the journey that the magi took. It was a huge undertaking to travel great distances 2000 years ago. There was no air travel or trains, no Holiday Inn Express, no Quick trip to buy a snack on the run. They had to plan and carry all their provisions. Journeys were dangerous, not to mention expensive. These men had to spend a huge sum of money to travel to a small insignificant town in Israel. What did the Wise Men Bring? The wise men didn’t come empty handed. They brought gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These seem like strange gifts for a one-year old. Why not a car seat or changing table or some other culturally appropriate baby gift? The gifts, though strange to us, were actually symbolically significant and probably provided the money for Mary and Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. The gifts are also prophetic. The wise men knew what many people celebrating Christmas today don’t know—the purpose and the mission of the life of Jesus. Gold: the precious metal represents that Jesus is the King Frankincense: the strong smelling fragrance indicates that as Jesus lived, the fragrance of his life impacted many with miracles and teaching (see 2 Corinthians 2:15). Myrrh: the embalming substance used at burials was a prophetic declaration that Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. He came with the purpose of being a sacrifice for our sins. Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/…
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