Gvf // Grace Valley Fellowship

How do we move from learning about Sabbath to walking in the freedom, rest, and delight promised in Sabbath? In this message, we look at what it means to follow Jesus in His invitation, "Come to Me. You who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Click here to download a Sabbath worksheet for planning your Sabbath. 

In a world of division, loneliness, and social isolation, Sabbath is a place where you show radical grace, generosity, kindness, and love to others, especially those who are not like you. Not because they deserve it. Not because you agree with them. But simply because that’s how God loved you.

On Sabbath, we are invited to join God in mocking & killing the "gods" of this world. It may sound violent. It is. But God insists that the gods of consumerism & insatiable desire, the gods of achievement & creating your own value, the gods of numbing, distraction, & restlessness… they must die. Only when we realize that they have no power over us can we be truly free.

When God wants to lead us into the deep, rich, fullness of life with Him, He gives us nine ways to orient our hearts and one weekly practice: Sabbath. In this message, we explore why God singles out Sabbath as the one thing that we must do if we want to become a people who love God and love others.

Resting should be the easiest thing in the world, but it's not. In this sermon excerpt, we look at five major reasons why it's so hard to rest so that we can recognize these barriers in our own lives.

Jesus invites us to rest. It sounds like the easiest thing in the world... until you actually try to do it. In this message, we explore the possibility that the chronic busyness that passes for normal in our world might be a symptom of a much deeper sickness, a form of spiritual slavery.

We all experience the groanings of this world. We all long for something more in the midst of our struggles. Could it be that our groanings actually point us to the truth of God's glory?

Sometimes the most important truths in life can't be perceived by the five senses. Moses knew this when he stared out at an impassable Red Sea, with the lives of 500,000 of God's chosen people on the line. His faith helped him see what wasn't there: a way out. Where do you need this type of faith in the unseen? Exodus 14.

A beautiful scene emerges in the midst of chaos and loss as one man has a disruptive encounter with Jesus. Scripture text: Mark 5:1-20

Jesus doesn’t want to give us more to do or make our lives harder. He is inviting us to lay our burdens down, to experience freedom, and to step into a new (& better) way of life.

Jesus promises give us a "new heart." He does not just want to fix us up on the outside. He wants to write a message in our hearts, changing us from the inside out. But, in Jeremiah 17, we learn that before He can write His message, He has to address the messages that are already on our hearts.

Becoming a follower of Jesus doesn't just change how you think. It changes who you are. According to the Apostle Paul, the old you, the one that ran from God & lived for yourself, is dead. The things that used to control you, they no longer lay claim to you. You are a new person with a new life.

The earliest followers of Jesus describe baptism as a proof that God loves them, a motivation to radically change their lives, and a source of hope in the face of suffering. How does symbolically submerging someone under water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do that?

For those in search of a bit of help, here's a short guided prayer exercise to practice this week.

We live in a world that is increasingly fragile. How do we become the kind of people who are resilient, the kind of people who do not collapse under pressure?

For those in search of a bit of help, here's a short guided prayer exercise to practice this week.

What does it mean to confess our sins and to forgive the sins of others? How are they tied together? We explore the answers to these questions as we examine Jesus's words in Matthew 6:12.

For those in search of a bit of help, here's a short guided prayer exercise to practice this week.

We pray "Thy will be done." And then we proceed to tell God everything we want Him to do. If God is going to do what He wants, why should we tell Him what we want? In this message, we'll explore the age old question: Why pray? Do our prayers really make any difference?