Hello Church Family: One of the ways in which GCT is obedient to the commands of Christ to reach the nations of the world with the Gospel is through the Brett and Taylor Rayl family work at Christ Bible Institute, in Nagoya, Japan as well as their church-planting work through Mission to the World throughout Japan.Nagoya, the Rayl's mission center, is Japan’s major manufacturing city. It is home to...  Read More

Church Family: For the last eleven chapters of Romans, Paul has been explaining the plan of God in saving Jews and Gentiles through Christ Jesus. This bridge section in Romans 11:33-36 brings us from eleven chapters of deep theological truths about our salvation to how it is to be applied to our lives in chapters 12-16 of Romans. Paul pauses before he gets to the application and lets the theology ...  Read More

Church Family: When you read the Old Testament, you quickly see that there were essentially three groups of people: national Israel, true Israel (the faithful remnant) and the Gentile (pagan) nations. You see that the nation of Israel was repeatedly involved in idolatry, apostasy, and rebellion, yet God always kept for Himself a faithful remnant. The remnant was those who trusted in God and would ...  Read More

Church Family: Well, what about the Jews? Has God rejected His people (Rom. 11:1)? They were God’s chosen people, right? If you look at Israel today as a nation, they have clearly fallen away from God by rejecting Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Is this not a failure on God’s part? Why is this even important for us to understand? Because, if God has failed on His covenant promises to Israel ...  Read More

Church Family: Does the Bible contradict itself teaching that God is sovereign over salvation while also teaching that man is responsible?We have seen in Paul’s letter to the Romans, that God is sovereign over salvation. He is King of all. (Rom. 8:29-39; 9:6-29). God has a purpose for every person and He orders and controls them to show His power and to proclaim His name in all the earth. Salvatio...  Read More

Church Family: This past Tuesday, it was my duty and delight to accompany my Dad to Boston general Hospital. We were to fly out of Wilmington early, arrive Boston, take a cab to his appointment with the oncologist, take a cab back to the airport, get back on the plane and fly home to arrive just before midnight. Oh yea, add one very short layover in LaGuardia, NYC each way. We made it to the appoi...  Read More

God, Israel and the Church are three of the main characters in the Bible’s epic story of redemption. In the Old Testament, Israel and God play the lead role. In the New Testament, the Church and God play the lead role. But how do these two main characters, Israel and the Church, relate to each other? Is Israel the same as the Church with just a name change? Or are they completely separate?To under...  Read More

Church Family: One of the greatest promises in Scripture is found in one of the most difficult Scriptures in the Bible to receive. The promise is painted with a metaphor. The context is a potter’s workshop where we find him making clay vessels (pots). The potter has designed and formed vessels to be used for very specific purposes. He has taken a single lump of clay and has freely decided to make ...  Read More

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." - John 17:20-21Hey GCT family,As we continue our study of Jesus' Prayer in John 17 this Sunday, we're going to look at the latter half of the chapter whe...  Read More

Church family: As summertime rounds the corner and comes into full view, we start getting excited because our summer plans will soon be a reality and we eagerly look forward to breaking the routine of the school year, and sometimes we just want a break from the grueling work schedule, the sports practices and games, and even the colder weather! And all of this is good because God gives us differen...  Read More

Church Family: Did God really "Hate Esau?" (Rom. 9:13) Ok, so let's back up and start with the first half of that verse, "God loved Jacob." He did? Jacob the liar, cheater and polygamist? Jacob the husband of four women, and many concubines, resulting in twelve sons and one daughter? Jacob the leader of a dysfunctional family? Jacob the father of sons who hated one of their brothers to the point o...  Read More

Church Family: What Biblical doctrine has created some of the most heated controversy and division since the 4th century? Still today if you hear this phrase within Bible believing Christ followers it can bring heated division. What is the phrase? “God elects some to salvation.” Very often the idea that God chooses some and does not choose others creates within believers and unbelievers alike disg...  Read More

Church Family: I love my Mom. She has been nurturing me for 54 years. Mothers are nurturers. They nurture things, especially their own children. That is what God made them to do, nurture. I love being nurtured by my Mom. Even today, if I go to my parent's house my Mom immediately goes into nurture mode. Steve eat this, drink this, eat more of this, you look tired, you need rest, are you sleeping, ...  Read More

Church Family: Since God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, God will absolutely give us all things with Christ (Rom. 8:32). Whoa! All things?  Will our Father God, who gave up His Son to bear the wrath due to us for our sins, deny us any other good that His chosen people need? Our God who has foreloved us with an eternal love, who has effectually called us, who has justified us...  Read More

Church Family: Do you ever look up into the heavens above during the day or night and let them declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1)? What are the heavens declaring about God? His glory. The glory of God is the splendor and brilliance of all God’s attributes. Glory is not one attribute of God, like His omnipotence. Rather "glory" is the description that summarizes all the attributes of God. Glory ...  Read More

Church Family: I can remember being one of four pastors in a “Bible believing church” when the question was asked by a crew of deacons, “do you pastors believe in predestination?” I thought silently, as the very junior associate pastor, “ummm, yea, it’s in the Bible.” Two of the four pastors quickly said “no” while the third pastor abstained from answering the question. They looked at me waiting f...  Read More

Church Family: One of the biggest questions that we ask God and ourselves is, "What is God’s purpose for my life?" It is easy to think that God plays hide and go seek with His purpose for us, but He doesn't. He wants us to know His purpose for us every day. He is the God of purpose. He has a very detailed and eternal purpose that manifests itself daily in our very mundane lives. God is not random ...  Read More

Church Family: God has had a plan before the beginning of time for us to fully enjoy the benefits of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ and His empty tomb cannot be separated. They are both dependent upon each other. Together they display that Christ’s payment for sin has been accepted and His victory is our victory. Do you enjoy the benefits that Christ has won for you th...  Read More

Our scriptural passages that account for what we commonly call, “Palm Sunday”, are all, interestingly, headlined in our Bibles as, “The Triumphal Entry” (Mt 21:1; Mk 11:1; Luke 19:28; Jn 12:12). I say “interestingly”, because, in truth, if anyone knew how to host a real triumph, and make a grand entrance, it was Rome, with its lavish, elaborate, extravagant, and entertaining propa...  Read More

March 24, 2023 Church Family: I love a good watch. I have worn a watch ever since I was a freshman in high school. Got to be on time, you know. I have always been mesmerized by a mechanical watch. It is amazing to watch the mainspring, balance wheel, hairspring, escapement, oscillator, gear train, dial train and other parts work so precisely to make seconds always be seconds and minutes always be ...  Read More

March 17, 2023 Church Family: One thing that I love watching is the communication that goes on between parents and their young children who cannot yet form words. You know when you see the child who is making sounds, unable to form words, and yet both the Mom and Dad know exactly what the child is saying. There is no confusion in the grunts, groans and sounds of the child as to what they are sayin...  Read More

March 17, 2023 Church Family: Do you remember the last time or maybe you are presently in a time of suffering, hardship or maybe you just need a change in life or maybe a greater opportunity has come your way and you do not know whether to take it or not. Life is full of difficult decisions that have to be made. These decisions will absolutely impact your life, your family, your career, and your h...  Read More

March 3, 2023 Church Family: Does your hope make you happy? It is supposed to. God left you great promises for you to bank on while in this sinful world so that you would be happy. If you do not have a hope that makes you happy then your hope is placed in something or someone on this earth that is broken. Everything on this earth has been subjected to futility (Romans 8:20). Everything on this ear...  Read More

February 24, 2023 Church Family: It is interesting to me how many in this world look at “nature” as innocent, pure and kind. We can make cliché comments like, “get back to nature" thinking that returning to a life that existed before the development of our modernized world will cure all our problems and evil.I love creation. I spend as much time as possible in God’s creation. I especially enjoy wa...  Read More