July 1, 2022 Church family: Redemption always starts with something really bad, but then God makes that bad into something really good. To understand the majesty of the good in God's work of redemption we need to look at the bad. Every human being of all time has been at one point in their life enslaved to sin (John 8:34). You may be enslaved to sin as you read this. As a slave to sin we served th...  Read More

June 24, 2022 Do you have a “but now” moment in your life? Have you experienced God’s gift of the “but now?” Two of the greatest words in scripture – “but now” (Romans 3:21). “But now” means something has changed. There was a then and now there is a now. The “but now” has happened and has brought us a remedy for our total sinful corruption (Romans 3:10-18). The “but now” has put an end to the futi...  Read More

June 17, 2022 Church family: Have you committed sin with your mind by thinking evil? Have you committed sin with your heart/soul by desiring evil? Have you committed sin with your body by doing evil? So, the answer to all three of those questions for every human that has ever lived is “Yes – Yes – Yes.” You are not alone.There is no part of us that has escaped the devastation of sin, which is the ...  Read More

June 10, 2022 If you tell me that God is unfaithful does that make Him unfaithful? God chose Israel. He blessed them. He promised through an eternal covenant that they would have great privileges even before the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. God gave Israel His spoken Word, the living oracles, so that they would not live in darkness like every other nation. God called them in right...  Read More

June 3, 2022 Have you ever owned something that was not operating like it should? It was not fulfilling its intended purpose and function. That is the story of mankind. Since sin entered the world with Adam and Eve, we have failed at God’s intended purpose for us – Glorifying God through delightful obedience. In response to mankind’s brokenness, our redeeming God decided to choose one man, Abraham...  Read More

May 27, 2022 Hello Church Family: Do you struggle with moments of spiritual hypocrisy or are you a life-long-card-carrying spiritual hypocrite? Do you declare biblical moral truths with your mouth and yet live out your life morally opposite of that truth? I am sure that you have heard from others who may have been in church or around Christians, or you may have experienced for yourself, the intera...  Read More

May 20, 2022 Church family: Does the above statement look familiar to you? Do you know what it is and where you've seen it before?If you've been around GCT for any amount of time, you may have seen this statement posted up in our building, and I encourage you to look for it this Sunday! This statement constitutes the Vision and Mission God has given for us here at GCT.I come from a business backgr...  Read More

May 13, 2022 Church family: Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone's partial judgment? Someone else was shown favoritism other than you. Have you seen partiality or favoritism today? It is generally everywhere. Partiality is when a person judges somebody else based upon what they see on external appearances rather than what is true of the heart. We can be more partial to those who are ...  Read More

May 6, 2022 Church Family: Don’t you love it when someone else’s faith produces some good works and sends them your way? I love seeing and hearing people in our church actively working goodness in the lives of others and around our community. It makes me happy. But it makes God so much happier! In fact, God expects good works to be flowing from our faith.God created us for good works in Jesus Chri...  Read More

April 29, 2022 Hello Church Family: So, I was invited to attend a class at UNCW yesterday. During the class the topic of church came up and was discussed. Several of the college students gave their brief history of their church experience. Guess what the majority reason given by the students for not being part of a church today? Their words were consistently, “I was hurt by the church.” That is al...  Read More

April 22, 2022 Church Family: God is Kind. He is not just nice but Kind. His kindness never ends. In fact, God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Mat. 5:45). This means that God is so kind that He keeps pouring out blessings upon those who hate Him. God in His kindness provides for those who love Him and those who hate Him every day and yet th...  Read More

April 15, 2022 Church family: Why is the worst Friday in history the best Friday in History? Well, in order for there to be a resurrection Sunday there had to be a crucifixion Friday. Both had to occur for us to obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:9). Jesus Christ, on crucifixion Friday, accomplished our salvation by these seven works.First, on the cross Jesus re...  Read More

April 8, 2022 Hello Church family: The cross, we wear them as jewelry, put them on bumper stickers and t-shirts, we make them out of chocolate and cakes, we tattoo them on us, we put them on windows and walls and steeples, but what does the cross mean?As a Christian, the cross is central to everything we believe. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus has fully absorbed the wrath of God that you ...  Read More

April 1, 2022 Hey Church Family: Here is some great news that comes with the gospel - God created joy and pleasure and He wants you to experience the inexpressible joy and pleasure within His commands, statutes, definitions and His presence. But beware, the world does everything it can to tell you the opposite. They say that God exists to make you miserable and to kill your joy. They say that God ...  Read More

March 25, 2022 Church Family: Have you ever tried to push down something that refuses to be pushed down? When I was a kid, and my older brother and I were out swimming, my brother always had this great brotherly, loving desire to hold me under the water until he would see submission bubbles. I did not want to be held down to the point of breathing water, I wanted oxygen, so I fought back. Much lik...  Read More

March 18, 2022 Church family: When we talk about the gospel we tend to think of a specific message that is aimed at convincing people to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. However, the gospel is so much more than what we have made it. The gospel is the POWER of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). We have most likely heard that the Greek word for power in the Bible is dynamis which is where...  Read More

March 11, 2022 The gospel is for your joy today and the joy of your friends who interact with you. Why was Paul eager to preach the gospel to believers in Rome who were already Christians (Romans 1:15)? Because God wants them and us to grab hold of the truth that the gospel is the power for our daily lives today and for those who interact with us. In other words, we cannot love the gospel and at t...  Read More

March 4, 2022 Hello Church Family: If you have ever made a wrong turn onto to the wrong road you quickly realize that you need to turn around and go back to get to the correct road so that you can get to where you are trying to go. This is also true when we consider salvation. The road to salvation must be the biblical gospel road or we will not arrive at salvation.   How do we make sure that we a...  Read More

February 25, 2022 Church Family: Do you ever feel the weight of shame from something in your past? Do you feel that God could never set you free from that shame? Do you feel like God would never use you in His kingdom work because of your history?The story of the Apostle Paul reminds us that God cares for the shamed through Jesus Christ. Jesus has come to cover your shame through His gracious clea...  Read More

February 18, 2022 Hello Church Family: Consider for a moment a few of the powerful works of the Holy Spirit in your life today.-All moral transformation in your life is the work of the Holy Spirit.-Every victory over sin is the work of the Holy Spirit.-Everything that you know about God is the work of the Holy Spirit.-Everything you know about Jesus is by the work of the Holy Spirit.-All your unde...  Read More

February 11, 2022 Church family, we are part of an outpost, the Grace Community Outpost. An outpost is known as a small military camp some distance from the main force or it is also known to be a remote part of a country or kingdom. As a local church, Grace Community Church of Topsail, we are called to be a remote outpost of the Kingdom of God behind enemy lines in this world.In our GCT outpost of...  Read More

January 4, 2022 Church Family: Did you know that everyday our Heavenly Father seeks people to worship Him (John 4:23)? Right now, whatever you are doing, wherever you are doing it and however you are doing it, our Father in heaven is seeking you to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. His desire is that you would worship Him in “whatever” you do (1 Cor. 10:31). "Whatever" are you doing right now? Is i...  Read More

January 28, 2022 Church family:Do you live your life trusting that you are counted as completely righteous by God by the faith that He has given you In Christ?Or do you live your life hopelessly and endlessly trying to achieve a holiness that you think will one day satisfy the Holy Creator God? As humans we were designed to work so that we can eat, survive and achieve. However, this God-given desi...  Read More

Church Family: The life that you and I have today is something we have done nothing to deserve. Each moment of our lives is a gift from God in His story of redemption. Our lives are a gift for a little time and one day those lives will be taken back for either the glory of God or for shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:1-2). Daniel 12, is the chapter that is called, “The End.” God says there...  Read More