Sermon CDs are available through the resource center for $2.00. You can request a single sermon or an entire series. Please e-mail Marilyn Looney mlooney@gracefl.org to order a set. She will contact you when the order is ready to pick up in the resource center. You can also subscribe to the sermon Podcast. Instructions for setting up the Podcast are here.

When a friend or family member is struggling with a personal challenge, inwardly we wish we knew the right things to say or the direction in which to point them for help. Too often we say nothing fearing we don’t really understand. Truth be told, sometimes we don’t understand. This 3-week series will equip you to help friends dealing with life-altering illnesses, suffering with grief, or straying from God, by getting beneath the surface to what they’re really up against.

Have you ever wondered… Is there really a place called “Heaven”? If so, what will it be like? Who will be there? Will we know one another? What will people do in Heaven? Won’t Heaven be boring? Can anyone be absolutely sure he or she will go to Heaven? If you have ever pondered questions like these about Heaven, you’re not alone. Most of us have questions about this place as well as our own ideas about what Heaven will be like. If you would like to discover what the Bible has to say about Heaven, please join us for a seven-week series on Heaven: A Place prepared for You.

Mother's Day message from 2007 and 2008 found here.

There comes a time when we realize distance exists between ourselves and God—we feel separated and small. In addition, most of us have relational gaps with others we don’t know how to bridge. Over the next 3 weeks we are looking at how God has built a Bridge for us to connect with Him, how we cross those bridges to reconcile with others, and how God enables us to bridge into our community through service. Be sure to make your way to Grace this Easter season as we explore The Bridge.

Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don’t resonate with the church and organized Christianity. This series will be an overview of the six most common objections emerging generations have with church and Christianity along with the biblical answers to these objections and examples of how churches are facing this challenge.

Lion Chasers! "God is in the business of strategically positioning us in places that may terrify us. These may seem like terrifying 'Lions' to us. However, we are called to chase lions and look for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, taking risks to reach for God’s best. When we don’t have the courage to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities."

John Riley has visited Grace many times over the past few years.  He delivers a thoughtful and engaging message through a wonderful, humorous delivery style.

Simple works! The reality is that churches with a simple process for making disciples are successfully expanding the Kingdom of God. During this three week series, we will look at the simple discipleship process we are instilling at Grace to "Outfit Disciples for the Journey of a Lifetime."

The hospitality industry is a 3.5 trillion dollar business that focuses on creating wonderful experiences for their guests so they will not only return, but also encourage others to experience it for themselves. If there was any organization that should be intentional about offering wonderful, "Wow!" experiences for their guests, it is the church of Jesus Christ.
 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood." Solomon said, "Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life."
One thing is certain, life is full of lessons and some of us tend to learn quicker than others. In this brief series on Life Lessons, we'll look at two life lessons and discover that the instructions of Scripture are indeed the key to real life.

What's the best way to jump into a pool in order to make the biggest impact? Only one answer: the good old fashioned cannonball!
This is a vivid image of how God wants us to live our lives, making "ripples," by touching the lives of others for God's glory. Throughout the series we will not only learn that God has created us to make a significant impact upon the lives of others, but we will look at the risk and the rewards of ripple making.

Simple
Process
for Outfitting Disciples

What is the Purpose of the Church?  How are we fulfilling our mission? Is 1 Hour a week enough time to Know Christ? During this series we will explore these questions as we strive to become the Church that God has called Grace to be.

Statistics show that Christians in America give proportionately less to the work of God's Kingdom today than we did during the Great Depression. Like no other time in history, God has positioned His people today with unprecedented wealth and opportunity to glorify the risen Christ by mirroring His generosity. During this series we will discover how Jesus defines generosity, not the size of the gift, but the condition of the heart: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".

From the time we were children we have heard the story of the baby Jesus and how the shepherds and magi came to see him on that night when the sky was ablaze with angels. In our Advent messages we will look at the "prequel" to the Christmas story and discover the decision that led to the very first Christmas. We will also reveal the top ten questions that people would like to ask God about the Christmas story.

Trusting God is easy when the skies are blue and the waters are calm. But life on this side of heaven includes turbulent moments where we wonder what God is up to. In this series, "Trusting the King When You Don't Understand," we will look at how Jesus, His disciples, and common everyday people responded to the storms of life and how their faith was challenged. As we wrestle with the uncertainties of life, we will see how Jesus wants us to trust Him, even when we don't understand.

What happens when two competing forces collide? When Jesus arrived on planet Earth, He brought with Him a very real manifestation of the Kingdom of God. As he assembled his team of disciples, and traveled throughout Israel, Jesus began to demonstrate the evidence and power of God's Kingdom through his transforming teaching and his miracles of deliverance and physical healing. During this series of messages from Mark's Gospel, we will focus upon what happens when the Kingdom of God collides with the kingdoms of this fallen world and what it looks like to live within the Kingdom on a daily basis.

Few people in our culture truly understand why Jesus came to our planet. Most would say "He came to die for our sins." While that response is true, there is more to the story than Jesus dying for our sins so we could go to heaven. Jesus came to Launch nothing short of a Kingdom Revolution that would be at the very heart of the His disciples' message and mission. Through the pen of Mark, a second generation disciple, we will discover some of the core ingredients of this Kingdom Revolution and of becoming a maturing disciple of Jesus.

Jesus gave His followers a crystal clear mission before He left this earth: "Make Disciples." Just how does a church go about accomplishing this mission? This weekend we will take a look at how God has given us a strategy to become an "Outfitting Center" for developing maturing disciples.

The Scriptures are clear that maturing disciples are to open their arms and offer hospitality to those in need. Jesus not only modeled this but he clarified, through the story of the Good Samaritan, who are neighbor is: Anyone who needs God's mercy, grace, and love. Jesus has left His Church with the responsibility and privilege of extending generous hospitality to strangers. Who knows, some might turn out to be angels!

Take a look at the homes in your neighborhoods: inside them are families who are desperately in need of truth, love, and a life change that comes from knowing Jesus. Join us at Grace at Fort Clarke as we search the Bible for answers to  issues for Men, Women, Relationships and Families.

A special Memorial Day message that looks at our responsibilities to our God and each other as we also honor the men and women that place their life on the line for us daily.

It’s a best-selling book, the movie will draw millions, and the Code is raising some interesting questions: Is the Bible reliable and authentic? Was Jesus merely a man? Was Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus? Did the Christian Church create the divinity of Jesus?
Join us at Grace at Fort Clarke as we seek to answer these questions and evaluate the claims of the Da Vinci Code. Whether you have read the book, plan to see the move, or are just interested in learning more about the history behind Christianity, we welcome you and your family to this special series.

The Lenten season is a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal of our commitment to Christ and His calling upon our lives. This five week series leading up to Easter will focus on the implications of Christ’s work upon the cross and His bodily resurrection. The story we will weave through each of these messages will be of five men, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian, who dared to make contact with the most violent society of people ever studied by anthropologists: the Waodani, in order to bring them to faith in Christ.
This story was recently released in a major motion picture called, “The End of the Spear.” We will learn that the Easter message is much more than a story about an empty tomb; it reveals the heart of God who dared to make contact with us so we could experience His grace personally and then follow the example of Jesus by daring to make contact with others.

God deserves for us to live not merely good lives, but great lives focused upon the mission that He has entrusted to all of His followers. This series focuses upon: Why Good is Not Enough when it comes to being a Christian or a Church; What it takes to move from Good to Great; What Discipleship in HD really looks like; and Where we can start to attain greatness in God’s eyes as we begin a New Year!

This Advent series is based upon the book and the newly released film, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” We will cover issues of temptation, deception, forgiveness, courage, leadership, God's mercy and grace, and the tremendous cost that God paid to rescue our souls. No matter how difficult the consequences regarding our choices, when our lives feel as though the enemy has us in “checkmate,” the message of Advent is The King still Has One More Move! ”Good Friday is Not the end of the Story; Easter has the final word! God loves each of us enough to send His Son to pay the price for our sins. Therefore, we should respond in gratitude and praise for Who God is and all that He has accomplished for us!

One of the most Serious Issues facing our Culture today is Personal Finances. Unfortunately, the Church is no better than the world when it comes to Consumer Debt and Free Spending. However, as Believers, we are Trustees of all that God has entrusted to us and we have a Fiduciary Responsibility to Manage all the Funds He places into our hand. This series gives biblical support as well as practical steps on how God's children can experience the Joy of Financial Freedom.