Grace Downtown

What gives you a sense of satisfaction, the feeling that you're worthwhile, that the things you do aren't in vain? Do you have faith in yourself? Faith in your work? Faith in your faith?

Pastoral Fellow Andrew Russel shares how the book of Romans doesn't just leave us dwelling on our sin and the way it works in the world but goes on to point us toward deep, heart-changing hope.

Pastor Glenn continues our deep dive into the book of Romans. Paul's extended introduction gives a fuller picture of the "bad news" of the way sin works in our lives. After outlining sins of disobedience and sins of religiosity, Paul turns his attention to the ways in which we make excuses for the sin in our lives.

Paul opens the book of Romans by denouncing illicit activity in a way that would likely get his listeners' heads nodding—but then he asks them to take a look at themselves...

Randy Newman (not the singer!) is an author and Christian teacher who has spent years helping people learn how to talk about their faith with people who don't yet share it. In "Everyday Evangelism," a class we held this past weekend, he let us know that it doesn't usually get easier, and then helped us learn how to have those conversations anyway.

In order to appreciate just how good the "good news" is, we have to confront the reality of "bad news"—and of our part in it.

Pastor Glenn kicks off ROMANS: THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL, an extended sermon series taking us through the entire book of Romans. In this first sermon, we wrestle with what makes the Christian story "good news" when compared to the claims of other religions and philosophies.

God reveals himself through the world generally and then through his Word specifically. Pastoral fellow Andrew Russel shows us why these facts should lead us to sing.

We all want the things we spend our time on to matter, but how much of a legacy can we really expect to secure for ourselves or our families?

Pastor Glenn continues our series looking at the attributes of God as described in the psalms.

One of the darkest, most depressed passages of the Bible is also one of its most stirring statements of faith in the goodness of God...even when that goodness seems hidden by darkness.

How do we reconcile the fact that we don't want to be judged with the fact that we often want to see judgment passed upon others?

Matt Miller takes us through Psalm 63, what the wilderness means for our humanity, and what the psalm tells us God means for our experience of the wilderness.

Pastor Mike continues our series exploring the ways in which the Old Testament Psalms teach us to celebrate Jesus.

How can we lament and respond to the chaos of the past few weeks?

In the wake of violence and despair, does the Bible offer any kind of comfort, wisdom, hope or paths forward?

Hopes that have gone unfulfilled. Prayers that seem to have gone unanswered. If you made a list of God's attributes, would "generous" be on there?

Pastor Glenn continues our series on the Psalms.

We're mixing it up this week: We taught Lectio Divina in our 2013 prayer workshops and then again in our recent class on praying privately, but it's a difficult exercise to go through on your own. This week's Grace Downtown podcast gives you prompts for the four readings that make up Lectio Divina, and spaces them out appropriately so that you can have time for the necessary reflection in between. Use this week's podcast as a way to structure your devotional time or as a way to help prepare yourself for longer periods of prayer.

Amid storms of suffering, tragedy and struggle, does Christian faith offer any substantial hope or comfort?