EPHESIANS | HOW GRACE WORKS - PART 3 by Reality Santa Barbara

Join us Sunday as Stephen starts our new series EPHESIANS | HOW GRACE WORKS. We hope you’ll join us as we worship together!

Pastor Stephen teaches the final installment of our Vision Series - Practicing the Way of Jesus Together in Santa Barbara. We hope you’ll join us as we worship together!

Hear the new mission of Reality Santa Barbara. It’s not a new mission. It’s the ancient, biblical, historical mission from the earliest followers of Jesus, contextualized to our local community—practicing the way of Jesus together in Santa Barbara.

This is week one of a vision series at Reality Church of Santa Barbara. In this sermon Stephen Posey talks about the power of dreaming God-size dreams with God and partnering with God for their fulfillment—for His glory and our joy!

If you and I were to have audience with God almighty, there are any number of things we’d want from Him. We certainly have a few questions for Him. Why this? What about that? What would you ask of the God of all creation? Now this: what is it you think God would ask of you? In Matthew 9, we see Jesus reveal something about what God wants through a series of stories in which people cry out to in desperate need .

Jesus famously said, “In this world you will have trouble.” This was an affirmation of a truth we already know—trouble is unavoidable for all humankind. Thankfully, Jesus didn’t stop there. He also said “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” That’s good news, but how does it actually work? What are we supposed to do trouble comes? This week, we’ll consider what Psalm 91 tells us about trouble.

For the next three weeks we believe God is calling us into a focused, intentional season of worship. We’re asking God for the one thing we need most — His empowering presence. This week we’ll look at a story from John 4 to see what happens when Jesus shows up in the unlikeliest of places to the unlikeliest of people.

Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Joseph Pfeifer, preaches on what it means to be Gracious, Gritty and Wholehearted over 1 Samuel 14

Pastor Stephen finishes the series preaching over Psalm 127

Guest Speaker Bill Clem continues the series Restore my Soul by preaching over Psalm 23

Psalm 126 is a song of ascents—an epic road trip song—a reminder that God was so good “back them” and God will continue to be good in the future, and that goodness is available to Him right now. Psalm 126 invites us to sing along, to remember dreams God gave us, dreams He’s fulfilled, and dreams yet to come. Reality Church of Santa Barbara, it’s time to dream again.

Guest Speaker Casey Shirley continues the series Restore my Soul by preaching over Psalm 34

CS Lewis once paid Psalm 19 was “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world…”. In fact, the scope of Psalm 19 could not be more grand nor its implications more personal. In this message, we’ll meditate David’s word and follow the Spirit’s leading turning our hearts to worship.

Ariel Bournes preached over the Rhythm of Restoration through the principles of humility, prayer and praise. Psalm 51

The Psalms are that sacred space in Scripture where honest humanity collides with loving divinity. Thomas Merton once said the Psalms “represent the experience of men and women who have prayed in every conceivable circumstance across thirty centuries.” In Psalm 42 we get an intimate glimpse into a soul’s pursuit of God’s presence, not simply for enhanced spirituality, but for in a heart-wrenching cry for survival. Let’s consider Psalm 42 as less a poetic contemplation and more of a primal scream.

If someone were to ask you the condition of your soul right now, how would you respond? Are you running on fumes or full to overflowing? Are you anxious or at peace? Discontent or satisfied? Distracted or in tune with the Spirit? Afraid or full of faith? As AW Tozer suggests, “what comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Psalm 103 points a path to restoring our souls and it all begins when your thoughts about God.

The book of Psalms has been a favorite for followers of Yahweh and of Jesus for centuries, because of its visceral, evocative language and beautiful imagery. Psalm 1 is not only an introduction to the book, but a container for all of its themes, and, as we will see, a kind of shorthand for the key tension in all of Scripture. You may be surprised to find out how much practical this ancient Psalm has on offer to the modern follower of Jesus in deciphering (and living out) truth.

The whole world celebrates holidays surrounding the incarnation (Christmas), death (Good Friday), and resurrection (Easter) of Jesus Christ, but very little attention is given to Jesus’ ascension, even in the Church. But the ascension is kind of a big deal. Hebrew Scripture prophecies it. The New Testament’s most quoted Old Testament verse is about Jesus’ ascension. Peter’s Pentecost sermon cites the ascension as proof of Jesus as Israel’s exalted messianic king. When we say “Jesus is Lord”, or “Jesus is King” we mean, Jesus has ascended! But why does the ascension matter to you, right here and right now as a 21st century follower of Jesus? Let’s talk about that.

Throughout history God has used everyday, ordinary people to do extraordinary things in His name. But is there something God looks for in the people He sends on mission? In this message we’ll learn from the details of Paul’s experience immediately after God’s call.