Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

September 19, 2021 | Our Story: By God’s Grace, for God’s Glory | Psalm 115:1-3

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.

July 18, 2021 | Engaging the Public Square

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.

July 11, 2021 | Eschatological Living: Living Now in Light of Christ’s Return

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 ...

July 4, 2021 | Devotion to the Fellowship and to Fellowshipping

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.

Devotion to the Fellowship and to Fellowshipping

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.

Why We Join, Part 3

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.

Why We Join, Part 2

As Paul continues to educate the Corinthian believers about the Church and their place in it, we take the opportunity to understand the reasons being an invested partner in a local church – Grace Baptist Church – is both a great privilege and protection. Today we learn three more reasons why this is true as we explore the joy of belonging to a committed group of Christ-followers who understand and practice mutual dependence and care.

Crucify the King!

This weekend, we see the final trial of Jesus before Pilate and the final betrayal of Jesus by His own people. The Messiah is rejected by those who claimed to be waiting for Him, as pain, mockery, humiliation, and condemnation, move the story to the foot of the cross.

We'll Take Barabbas!

As we finish John 18, we come to see the third betrayal of Jesus. First, there was Judas, and then Peter. But now we see the betrayal of the people. Faced with the choice between a robber and the Savior, they say “We’ll take Barabbas!” Their disastrous choice stems from their inability to see Jesus rightly, as Heaven’s King who brings a Kingdom, not of this world, but endued with the truth of eternal life.

Jesus: On Trial

Having been arrested, Jesus now faces interrogation from three officials. Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate, all have the opportunity to question Him. And while it may appear the Jewish officials and the Roman government are in charge, the fact is Jesus is controlling every step on His path to the Cross. And along the way, we see the Savior as the Sovereign King, the Unapologetic Teacher, and the Courageous Shepherd.

Peter: Bravado and Denial

This weekend, we continue our walk through John’s Gospel and encounter Peter, the leading disciple, as he denies any association with Jesus three times. This tough fisherman had boasted he would give his life to protect Jesus only hours before, yet, his bravado was no match for his deep seated commitment to self. This weekend, we learn the simple truth that there is a good amount of Peter in us all.

Previously in John's Gospel ...

As we prepare to re-enter our study of John’s Gospel next weekend, we spend this weekend reminding ourselves of where we’ve been, and what we’ve learned. Think of it as riding in a hot- air balloon that slowly travels over the landscape of John’s writings about Heaven’s King, Jesus the Christ, who is God the Son.

Reach: Conviction and Habit

Change is hard. And lasting change can, at times, seem impossible. It’s easy to make steps towards change, it’s another thing entirely to begin to faithfully walk in new rhythms. But we need more than willpower and more than determination. This isn’t a program problem — it’s a worldview problem. For real lasting change to happen, we need to reinforce and reinform what we believe, and then we need to form habits that are reflective of those beliefs. One is not enough without the other.

Reach: Why Should We?

Years ago, Becky Pippert wrote a book on evangelism entitled, “Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World.” Now that’s an arresting title, and even a bit intimidating. As salt, we really like the salt shaker. It’s home. It’s comfortable because everyone is like us, and likes us. Outside, the world is just waiting to “a-salt” us, or so we think. Whatever the case, the whole idea is that our relationships are actually opportunities for the Savior, who means everything to us, to become everything...

Cross-Shaped Engagement

Cross-shaped love is the essence of Biblical engagement in the life of our faith family.

Engage: Why Should We?

Everyone agrees. There is a big difference between a spectator and the person who is in the game. When it comes to church life according to the Bible, every Christ-follower is in the game with an essential part to play. In fact, the health and maturity of the Body of Christ depends on each of us giving our best to the team, engaging one another in life, truth, and service. We’re all in the game, and to win we’ll need what every member of the team contributes, to the glory of Christ.

Gather: Why Should We? Part 2

This weekend we continue our consideration of Gather. Our goal is to build on the foundation of last week and pray for continued growth. Lots of people have their own understanding of what the Gathering should be, what it should look like and how it should feel. We all have preferences, but ultimately, Christ followers ask, “What does the Bridegroom think? What does He want my motivation to be?” We’ll consider all these things in Part 2 of our Gather, Engage, Reach series.

Gather: Why Should We?

This weekend, we begin a new series meant to help us make the most of our partnership with Grace Baptist Church. Have you ever asked the question “Why should I go to church?” The Biblical answers may surprise you, but they are sure to make you think and, hopefully, remind you of the privilege that it is to be a beloved member of the Church, the Bride of Christ.

Running the Race to Win

The Savior

As we bring our Advent series to an end, we rejoice that the child born at Christmas is God the Son, sent by God the Father, to be the Savior of the world!

The Shepherd

In the Ancient Near East at the time of the prophets, the label “shepherd” was combined with that of king to describe the actions that a good king took to rescue, restore, provide, and protect his people. Against the backdrop of the predatory leaders of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel declares God’s promise that one day, God Himself will arise and shepherd His people providing all they need perfectly and eternally.

The Servant

Once again, we ask the question: What child is this? In Isaiah 52 and 53, we find an answer: He is the Servant who suffers in our place and for our benefit. This text walks us through the career of the Servant, from exaltation to humiliation and then back to an exalted position once again. And we must ask: Who is the Servant serving? The answer is two-fold: First, the Servant is serving the Triune God in carrying out the plan of redemption. But He is also serving us. His humiliation, sacrific...

The Sovereign Son

Today we begin the season of Advent, which comes from the Latin for “coming.” We celebrate the coming of Messiah, the Promised One, whose coming brought the light of salvation to a dark world. This year, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we will spend 4 weeks answering the question, “what child is this?” The first of many correct answers is found in Isaiah 9: He is the Sovereign Son who alone will bring peace to our souls, and eventually to all creation.

The Thankful Life

We all agree gratitude is an essential element in the well-lived life. No one enjoys an ingrate. But for the Christ-follower, being thankful is more than a social skill. It is the natural response of those who have been chosen by God and adopted into His family! As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us realize the privilege that is ours to live out the Love, Peace, and Word of Christ with abundant thankfulness.

The Thankful Heart

This weekend we begin a two-week series on the Biblical privilege of gratitude. Throughout the Bible, the thankful heart is seen as the joyous response to the greatness of our God, and His love for us. As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, we are reminded that as redeemed and beloved children of God, we always have a reason to be thankful.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

In this final section of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, we grapple with the overarching evidence of the believing community’s sanctification: the unity of the church. But what does this unity look like? What is its source, nature, and purpose? Fortunately, we are not left to our own imaginations or desires in answering these questions. Jesus gives us all the answers as He calls us to a unity that flows from our maturity.

Jesus Prays for His Followers

In this second section of His High Priestly prayer, Jesus prays for His followers. In the first section, we saw Jesus as the pattern for our identity. Here we see His disciples as the pattern for our spirituality.

Jesus Prays for Himself

As Jesus approaches the cross, He turns to the Father in prayer asking for what has been sovereignly decreed from before time began. By so doing, He models for us not only the privilege of prayer, but the perseverance necessary to accomplish the work God has given each of us to do. Are you willing to invest yourself, to spend and be spent for the glory of God, to accomplish the work He has given you to do?

Joy and Peace in the Midst of Sorrow

The disciples of Jesus are overwhelmed with sorrow, and Jesus, being the Good Shepherd desires to comfort them. He is in the final stages of His farewell discourse and continues to instruct them on the reality of His death, resurrection and eventual departure. He will not abandon them. Through His victorious cross, He will provide them joy and peace.

The Spirit at Work

It shouldn’t seem hard for us to imagine the bewilderment the disciples must have been feeling through these last few chapters. And, as their understanding of Christ’s path to the Cross and back to the Father becomes clearer, so also does their dismay about what it will mean to lose the physical presence of Christ with them. But in our verses today, Jesus wants His followers not to feel alone but filled and empowered. Not sorrowful but joyful. Not fearful but expectant.

Praying Strategically

This weekend, we bring our series on prayer to a close with a deep dive into what it means to pray strategically. If we look at the prayers of Paul, we find the requests he brings before God the Father are much more lofty, more noble and spiritually elevated than our usual prayers. The reason? Paul most often prays strategically. That means he focuses on strategic spiritual needs knowing that if God grants those, all the other temporal things will be granted as well.

The Rules for Prayer

This week we will look at four basic rules for prayer, and then a fifth rule which calls us to pray even when we break all the rules. What does this mean? Only this: Strive to pray with a prepared heart and a desire to approach God properly. But, rest in the fact that our loving Father hears and responds even to defective prayers. The bottom line is this: Pray as best you can, but also pray when you are not at your best!

The Practice of Prayer

When Jesus exhorted His disciples “When you pray..,” He showed them that prayer is not optional. But how are we supposed to pray and for what are we to pray? This weekend we enter into the murky waters of the “how to” of prayer. But, we do so realizing that no pattern or phrase can make our prayers worthy of being heard or answered. It is all grace and that grace is found in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord alone.

The Nature and Purpose of Prayer

Over the next four weekends, we will be thinking deeply about prayer and reminding ourselves of its importance in our lives as Christ-followers. We begin by simply asking “What is prayer, and what is its purpose?”

Bold Witness in a Wicked World

This weekend, we look at the task of Gospel witness in a world that is at enmity with the Gospel message, and find assurance that it is still the Lord’s mission, and He is working in and through us to accomplish it right on time.

Abiding in Christ

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

The Helper We Need

Last week we sat with the disciples and heard Jesus call us to true belief in who He truly is: the only Savior, and God in the flesh. This week we will again learn from Jesus about the critical evidence of true belief: obedience to God the Son, and reliance on God the Spirit. It is an essential truth that whatever God commands of us He is faithful to enable in us through the Spirit He has given to us. Sadly, we too often forget about God the Spirit’s place in our lives, and fail to rely on al...

Believe in God

This weekend, we continue in our study of John’s gospel. This text is all about true belief, that is, faith that trusts in who Jesus really is, and what He has accomplished. The disciples have walked with and learned from Jesus for years and yet, they still were confused. Like them, we need to understand and fully trust what Jesus says about the fundamentals of saving faith. First, only faith in Jesus brings us into a forgiven relationship with God the Father. Second, those who are true belie...

The Beauty of Serving

We wrap up our series - The Beauty of the Burden - this weekend, acknowledging that Christ has changed our identity, given us a new way of loving and living, freed us from self-focus, and gifted us for a reason: that we may serve Him joyfully, and faithfully, and hear “Well done, you good and faithful servant” when He comes again. But what does it mean to “serve Christ”? This weekend we look into our own hearts and give ourselves a spiritual performance review. May the Lord enable in us what ...

Holy Spirit Gifted

This weekend, we see how the Holy Spirit equips us with gifts that benefit the various parts of Grace Baptist Church. We agree with the apostle Paul; we do not want to be unaware of how these gifts serve, unite and build up the Body. As the Spirit equips us, we become a body that is increasingly captivated by Christ, who then makes and multiplies those that want to follow and worship Jesus with us.

Jesus Frees Us from Self-Focus

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Jesus Empowers New Living

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and Godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

Jesus Changes Our Love

Continuing on in “The Beauty of the Burden,” we remember from last week how our new Gospel-Identity is established by the foundation of love Christ established. This week, we examine the rhythm and outflow of Gospel-Centered Love. Jesus being our perfect example, we are encouraged to pursue our joy in loving the way that He loved.

Jesus Changes Our Identity

This is the first of a six-week series called, “The Beauty of the Burden.” In this series, we will examine how to walk in the set of expectations and responsibilities we have for one another as we follow Christ. In other words, we want to discover what it means to be a “one-another” kind of believer. To do this rightly, it is fitting to begin by discussing our identity in Christ. God put you here for a reason, and it is our privilege and joy to help you discover why.

Loving Like Jesus; Identifying with Jesus

This weekend, we journey back to the Passover meal once again to hear Jesus tell His disciples He will die, and then leave for a place where they cannot come. The disciples certainly would have been confused and afraid. What kind of Messiah comes, dies, and then leaves us? But, Jesus quickly gave them orders as to how they were to live after His departure. In fact, He took an old commandment and intensified it: Love one another as I have loved you!

The Beginnings of Betrayal

This weekend, we journey back to the Passover meal once again. Jesus has modeled love and humility by washing the disciples’ feet ... even Judas’. Now the mood changes drastically, from brotherhood to betrayal. The drama is thick and emotional here and the questions are many. What are we to make of Jesus’ troubled spirit? How does Satan “enter into” Judas, and does this mean Judas is not responsible for his actions? Lastly, what light do we take away from this dark text?

Jesus, the Model Servant

This weekend, we see Jesus as exemplifying great love and sacrificial service. But He is more than just an example to admire. He is the LORD we are called to imitate.

The Great Sadness of Unbelief

This weekend we open ourselves up to one of the hardest themes in John’s Gospel: The great sadness of unbelief! This is a very difficult text, not because it is unclear, but because it is very clear. John the Apostle first explains the vast unbelief of the Jews regarding Jesus, the Messiah, and he does it in such a way that we may wonder just what saving faith looks like! But John does not leave us hanging. In the end, he finally defines saving faith in a way that all of us can understand as ...

Facing the Cross

With the coming of some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus, the pace of the story picks up rapidly, heading for the Cross. This weekend we see Jesus teaching us about dealing with despair, about the purposes of His death on the cross, and His direction for our lives if we are to be sons and daughters of God.

The Nature of Discipleship

Sometimes, things aren’t quite what we expect. Vacations sometimes don’t measure up, food isn’t as good as we hoped, and relationships don’t deliver on what was promised. But other times, things end up being far better than we ever could have expected or hoped. We see here in John 12 that the crowd who came out to meet Jesus in His Triumphal Entry had the wrong expectations about who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. But the reality of our Savior and what it means to follow Him is far...