Gvf // Grace Valley Fellowship

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul tells us that God's will for your life is this: "Don't get drunk." But that's only half the story. Understanding why Paul might be so concerned about our behavior... and why he would compare getting drunk with being filled with the Spirit, that's what makes this passage beautiful. Paul isn't just giving you some new rules to follow. He's giving you a new vision for your new life with God.

Why you do what you do matters. The life promised by Jesus isn't just a matter of obeying some rules. It's becoming a whole new person. It's the start of new desires and... repulsions. This week, the Apostle Paul guides us through five practical (& pressing) issues in order to help us see how the love of God transforms our motivations and our lives.

If discipleship is following Jesus, that means we must know who He is (His identity) and what He came to accomplish (his mission).  We will examine Mark 8:27-9:13 – the account where a few of His disciples catch a glimpse of His glory and tease out a few implications for us.https://newstorychurch.life

How can I truly believe in Jesus... and still live like I don't really believe in Him? How can I know that He calls me a saint... and still feel like such a sinner? If you've ever asked these questions, you're in good company. This message is for you. Before the Apostle Paul instructs us on how to live as a saint (a beloved child of God), he pauses to make sure that we appreciate the magnitude of change needed. This isn't a matter of changing some bad habits or learning a few new things. Jesus is doing something much more radical: You are becoming a new human.https://newstorychurch.life

What unites us in Christ doesn’t destroy your individuality or personhood. Each one of us is uniquely gifted by Christ. In this message, we'll discuss how knowing and embracing our different spiritual gifts is essential to becoming who we are called to be.

When we ask the Apostle Paul to help us find a life worth living, he starts by pointing us towards all the people we find annoying. You know. "Those people." The ones who seem to ruin everything, make your life difficult, and hold you back. The Apostle seems to think that "those people" are not a barrier to the life you are called to live, but they are the surest way to the life that is truly life.

Do you ever feel forgotten, like God may have left you behind? Today we will examine two gifts that God has for each one of us to help us during any difficult season of life. Guest speaker: Carl Green. Executive Vice President, Global Training Network. www.gtn.orghttps://newstorychurch.life

Throughout the Scriptures, we find this uncanny link between eating together and God drawing people into relationship. In this message, we'll pull on this thread, looking at food through the lense of Scripture, history, culture, and neuroscience. In each of these, we get the idea that God is somehow using our tables & our menus to call us into relationship, heal what is broken, and form us into a new people.

At some point, God is going to drop an opportunity at your feet. It will be an opportunity to take on new levels of responsibility, to really make a difference in someone else's life. But it will be costly. It will require you to commit. And, it might impact your lifestyle. It might take away your freedom. It might hurt you financially. What are you going to do? What story are you going to live?newstorychurch.life

Ruth doesn't fit our mold for greatness. She's an impoverished, powerless, voiceless, immigrant widow. But, somehow this woman finds her way into the very heart of God's story. Her little story becomes part of God's epic story. Her name will forever be spoken with names like Moses and David... and Jesus. How? How do normal people Ruth (like you & me) get in on this vast, epic, beautiful story of God? Parental Guidance Suggested. This passage does include some adult themes. If your kids are listening in, you might want to skip the part where Ruth starts "uncovering feet."

How do I find my place in the story of God? In the Book of Ruth, an impoverished, hurting, broken old widow named Naomi shows us an unlikely way to get in on God's Story: by bitterly complaining. If you've ever felt like God has disappointed you or like God is against you, Naomi might help you find your way into God's Story too.

Your life is a story. With every day, every decision, every relationship, with every thing you do, you are writing the next line. Which is to say: Your life has a plot. It has meaning. It is headed somewhere. The question is not: Is your life a story? (Of course, it is.) The question is: What story are you living? In Colossians 2, the Apostle Paul gives us a vivid picture of how Jesus takes your old story, the script that this world has handed to you. He renders it powerless and invites you to begin a new story with Him. www.newstorychurch.life

Here we examine the only Biblical passage that exposes us to the life of Jesus between the end of his birth events and the beginning of his public ministry as see what it has to say to us in as we begin 2023.www.gvf.church

God is with us. Here. Right now. But how do you experience a God that you cannot see? In this message, we'll explore how God's love breaks through the boundaries of space and time, shame and guilt, anxiety and fear so that we might live in His transforming presence.www.gvf.church

118 views  Streamed live on Dec 11, 2022How do you face an unknown future? When you consider the upcoming week, year, or season of life how do you feel? Fear, anxiety, and the need to control outcomes: this is how we usually respond to the unknown. The Apostle Paul invites us to consider a new possibility: hope. This week, we'll explore how a 2,000 year old event - the arrival of "God with Us" - might reshape how you think and feel and press into your future.www.gvf.church

In this series, we'll explore how the Advent (literally "Arrival") of God into our world redeems and transforms time itself. Jesus is "God with Us" in our past, present, and future. It's mind-bending, heart-twisting stuff. In this unconventional sermon, we explore everything from Swiss theologians and the neuroscience of memory formation to Robert De Niro and what it means to "forget" in pursuit of the deceivingly simple question: How does the arrival of "God with Us" transform your past?Resources: Here is a guide to the Five "Hs" in section 6 of "My Spiritual Growth Plan" https://www.gvf.church/s/Spiritual-Fo...How Sharing Your Past Can Set You Free From Your Past is a helpful interview with Child and Family Therapist, Kelly Raudenbush. https://youtu.be/Ce_Opf1nKn4The reflection song is Cluttered Soul by Joel Ansett. https://youtu.be/1nmMUqTuQZQwww.gvf.church

You know the feeling. It's like you can't keep your head above water. As soon as you make it through one crisis, the next wave crashes over you. This is increasingly "normal" in our world. Chronic stress, anxiety, fear, outrage, and hypervigilance: these words increasingly describe us. We all know that this is an awful way to live. We know that this is not the way of Jesus. But what are we supposed to do? Our problems feel like unconquerable giants. In Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul prays that, in the same way the Israelites of old were empowered by God to take possession of the Promised Land, we might be empowered by God to take possession of the life that God has promised us.www.gvf.church

We live in a divided world. It really feels like the social fabric of our nation is tearing apart. While social critics ponder political polarization, we just try to make it through Thanksgiving without our family members tearing each other apart over politics. But none of this is new. In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul shows us a way forward. The social divisions keeping us apart are destroyed by Christ. Unity is possible. Jesus makes a new people and a new way of peace in this new creation community we call the church. www.gvf.church