September 27, 2026 Service - "Jesus: Grace & Truth” - Week 1

Sep 27, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Tending the Sediment of the Soul

What simmers beneath the surface often shapes our visible lives. Like sediment settling in a cup, unseen attitudes and emotions quietly influence our actions. Jesus invites us to notice these hidden currents – jealousy masked as concern, insecurity disguised as criticism. This sacred attention requires sitting quietly before God, letting Him name what we’ve mislabeled. Spiritual health begins when we stop dismissing inner whispers and start discerning their roots. [49:31]

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT)

Reflection: What uncomfortable emotion have you been renaming instead of confronting? How might Jesus want to redefine this stirring in His light?

Day 2: Aligning the Geo Metro Soul

A misaligned car still moves forward – but wears tires unevenly and veers dangerously. Our souls function similarly. We might “keep going” with bitterness tilting our relationships or envy skewing our decisions. The Master Mechanic doesn’t shame our misalignment but offers recalibration through truth and grace. Real transformation happens when we stop justifying our crooked paths and surrender the steering wheel. [55:07]

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLT)

Reflection: What persistent “drift” in your attitudes have you normalized? What practical step could help you realign with Christ’s way today?

Day 3: Sunday Saints and Monday Aints

Faith compartmentalized becomes irrelevant. The Kentucky football coach’s story exposes our tendency to divide life into sacred slots and secular free-for-alls. Jesus demolishes this dichotomy, claiming lordship over boardrooms and bleachers alike. Every moment becomes holy ground when we carry resurrection presence into ordinary spaces. True worship isn’t a weekly event but a continuous orientation. [45:18]

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NLT)

Reflection: Where do you most struggle to live as Christ’s ambassador? What mundane moment this week could become an act of worship?

Day 4: The Ripple Effect of a Yielded Life

Children don’t learn faith through lectures but through lived examples. The way we handle traffic jams teaches about peace. Our response to criticism models forgiveness. Paul reminds Timothy that salvation’s message spreads through aligned living as much as articulate teaching. Our ordinary moments become gospel illustrations when submitted to Christ’s shaping. [01:00:56]

“In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16, NLT)

Reflection: What unconscious habit might be teaching others the wrong lesson about Jesus? What one adjustment could better reflect His character?

Day 5: Grace and Truth in the Mechanic’s Bay

Realignment requires both compassion and correction. Jesus doesn’t ignore our soul’s misalignment (truth) nor condemn us for it (grace). Like a skilled technician, He identifies worn parts needing replacement and areas needing adjustment. Our role isn’t self-repair but trusting surrender – allowing Him to dismantle what harms and restore what heals. [56:28]

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:14, NLT)

Reflection: What area of your life needs more grace to heal? Where might you need truth’s firm hand to guide?

Sermon Summary

Jesus comes to the world full of grace and full of truth. John does not picture Jesus as a little bit of this and a little bit of that, like ingredients thrown together in a cookie recipe. Jesus is fully God and fully man, completely gracious and completely true. The contrast between grace without truth and truth without grace shows up everywhere, from cable news to hard conversations to the ways people follow Jesus at home.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16 to keep a close watch on his life and his teaching. Paul calls this young leader to pay attention to the whole sum of his life, not merely to police everybody else’s bad behavior. The call reaches beyond the pulpit because ordinary followers of Jesus are also being watched by children, coworkers, neighbors, family, and strangers. The life of discipleship cannot get tucked away into Sunday morning while the rest of the week belongs to a different set of rules.

The temptation to separate sacred from secular keeps Sunday saints from living like saints on Monday. Jesus invites his people to let words, actions, thoughts, desires, and responses come under his lordship. The soul requires quiet, intentional attention because things often simmer beneath the surface long before they show up in outward life. The Lord’s conviction does not merely expose the “ickiness” within; it names it truthfully and brings it into the light of grace.

The image of a beat-up Geo Metro driving sideways makes the point plain: knowing something is misaligned does not make it aligned. Jesus acts as the master mechanic who receives the jealousy, anxiety, resentment, disobedience, and hidden stuff that his people finally bring to him. David’s prayer, “Search me, O God,” asks not only for exposure of the wicked way but also for leadership in the way everlasting. The call to obedience means refusing to keep driving with the check-engine light on when Christ is inviting surrender.

Paul finally reminds Timothy that life and teaching affect the salvation of those who hear. The believer does not replace Jesus as Savior, but a faithful life becomes a conduit through which others see Christ’s grace and truth. The way Christians respond when frustrated, angry, disappointed, or under pressure tells those around them what following Jesus really looks like. The Holy Spirit calls every life into deeper yielding so that people might actually see Jesus in his people.

Key Takeaways

1. Tend to the whole life Paul’s command reaches into the inner world and the exterior life alike. The soul cannot be ignored while outward conduct gets managed for appearances. Jesus invites his followers to become honest about what is dwelling, simmering, and settling beneath the surface. [46:20]
2. Name what is actually stirring The Lord’s grace does not flatter hidden sin by giving it a softer name. Jealousy, resentment, fear, and rebellion lose some of their grip when they are brought honestly before Christ. Conviction becomes an invitation to healing when it leads the soul out of hiding and into truth. [48:44]
3. Bring misalignment to Jesus Awareness of a problem is not the same thing as obedience. The misaligned heart needs more than a diagnosis; it needs the master mechanic’s restoring work. Jesus calls his people to surrender what he reveals rather than continuing to drive with the check-engine light on. [55:33]
4. Let Monday belong to Jesus The sacred life cannot be limited to a Sunday morning category. The lordship of Jesus reaches into work, conflict, speech, family life, entertainment, and private thought. The same grace and truth that shape worship must also shape the ordinary places where character gets revealed. [44:59]
5. Others learn Jesus through lives Paul’s warning gives ordinary faithfulness real weight. Children, neighbors, coworkers, and strangers watch how Christians handle anger, pressure, disappointment, and failure. A life yielded to Christ becomes a living witness to his grace and truth.

## [61:28]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:34] - A New Series: Jesus, Grace, and Truth
[31:13] - Jesus Full of Grace and Truth
[33:47] - The False Choice Between Grace and Truth
[36:14] - Paul’s Charge to Timothy
[39:04] - Attend to Your Whole Life
[41:43] - Pay Attention to Your Own Soul
[42:39] - Sacred and Secular Cannot Be Separated
[46:20] - Noticing What Simmering Within
[51:42] - Bringing Misalignment to Jesus
[57:21] - Search Me and Lead Me
[59:23] - Whole Lives Impact Others
[63:12] - Questions for Reflection and Surrender
[67:45] - Prayer Response

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Timothy 4:16
“Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” [36:54]

John 1:14
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” [31:13]

Psalm 139:23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” [57:38]

Observation questions

In 1 Timothy 4:16, what two areas does Paul tell Timothy to watch closely, and who is affected by Timothy’s perseverance in them? [37:04]
According to John 1:14, how is Jesus described in relation to grace and truth? How does this differ from treating grace and truth as competing choices? [33:26]
What examples show the temptation to separate a “Sunday” faith from the rest of everyday life? [42:42]
In Psalm 139:23–24, what does David ask God both to reveal and to do after revealing it? [57:38]

Interpretation questions

Paul tells Timothy to watch both his life and his teaching. Why do these two need to remain connected rather than allowing someone to have right beliefs but a disconnected daily life? [39:06]
Jesus is full of both grace and truth. What can go wrong when a person speaks truth without care, or offers kindness while avoiding what is true? [35:19]
David asks God to search him and also to lead him. Why is recognizing a sinful or unhealthy pattern not the same as being changed by Jesus? [58:01]
Paul connects Timothy’s life and teaching with the good of those who hear him. How can a Christian’s ordinary responses to pressure, anger, and disappointment help others see what Jesus is like without making that Christian the Savior? [01:00:02]

Application questions

What has been simmering beneath the surface lately—jealousy, anxiety, resentment, disappointment, fear, or something else? What would it look like to name it honestly before Jesus instead of giving it a softer name? [48:44]
Is there an area where you have noticed a “check-engine light” in your soul or habits but have kept moving forward without responding? What might a first step of surrender or obedience look like this week? [59:01]
Where is it easiest for you to divide life into sacred and secular—work, family conflict, entertainment, social media, driving, or private thoughts? How might Jesus’ lordship reshape that specific place this week? [45:05]
When you need to address a difficult issue with someone, do you tend to lean toward avoiding the truth or delivering truth without much grace? What would a response shaped by Jesus’ full grace and full truth look like? [35:19]
Think about the people who regularly observe your life—children, coworkers, neighbors, friends, or family. What might they be learning about Jesus from the way you handle frustration, stress, and failure? [01:01:28]
What regular practice could help you give quiet and intentional attention to your soul this week—prayer, journaling, a daily pause, confession, or a conversation with a trusted believer? [46:16]

Sermon Clips

40s

#LiveYourFaith

“People are paying attention. And Paul is reminding Timothy that those around him will see of this great salvation by the way he lives and by the way he teaches. And so whether you ever step foot in a pulpit or whether it's behind the kitchen sink or whether it's at the office or whether it is on the road, whether it's in the hallways of the school. People are learning what Jesus is about and what it looks like to follow him by the way you follow him.”

44s

#WholeLifeWorship

“And I wonder, I wonder, I wonder if what Jesus is working to do in our lives is to marry our whole life, our followership of Jesus, and then every other day of the week that it too would be holy, that it too would be sacred. That on Sunday, we're saints. Right? And Monday, we aren't aints. Right? We're still saints, that we're still following him. And we're allowing our words and our actions and our thoughts and our desires all to be shaped by the person in the way of Jesus.”

61s

#YieldToJesus

“Where is Jesus inviting you to yield to him and to take a step of a step of obedience? Whereas Jesus maybe revealing something within you, and he's asking you to yield or surrender to him. Maybe he's really is asking you to relinquish that negative emotion. Maybe he really is asking you to name that emotion for what it actually is, not masking it with something else. Maybe there's a circumstance, a situation you have found yourself in that the Lord doesn't want you in or a part of or involved with. Maybe he's simply asking you to yield and to surrender and to follow him in steps of faith and of obedience. Where is God inviting you to yield to his lordship in your life this morning?”

42s

#AwarenessToAlignment

“You see, being aware that something is misaligned is not the same thing as bringing something into alignment. Being aware of the problem doesn't simply fix the problem. You see, when we begin to notice what is simmering inside our souls, when we begin to notice these negative emotions or negative experiences difficult circumstances, whatever it is, it is not the same as fixing it.”

71s

#BringItToJesus

“But I'd ask you first to consider this morning asking the question of what is stirring in you that Jesus might be inviting you to notice and to bring before him? What is stirring within your soul? What is stirring in your mind? What is stirring in your heart? What is dwelling within you? What is the the sediment there in the soul that Jesus is inviting you to notice and to bring before him? Is it a negative emotion? Is it a frustrating circumstance or situation? Is it a disappointment? What is it that is stirring in your soul that maybe this morning Jesus is inviting you to simply see and notice and to bring before him? That is the work of tending your whole life.”

53s

#AlignedWithJesus

“as you and I pay attention to our lives and to our teaching, there will be seasons and days that we are always going to the mechanic shop with the Lord. And there's just tweaking and alignment that he's calling us and inviting us to. Because Paul invites Timothy to tend to his whole life, which means he's gonna begin to notice what's under the surface, which means then he needs to align his whole life, what's bubbling under the surface to the way of Jesus, which trickles down to people like you and me that, man, we need to we need to bring our whole lives into the aligning work of Jesus so we can look more like him.”

52s

#SurrenderToGrace

“And I pray, Lord, that you would reveal maybe the some of the ickiness of our own souls. The ickiness, Lord, that's within us. And that we wouldn't feel condemnation for that, but, though, we would feel like this conviction to just reveal those things to you, to notice them, to name them, to give them to you. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see the areas that you're inviting us to let go of or to relinquish or to yield to you, to surrender, Lord. Areas of bondage or areas of sin or temptation, like, to let go and to to receive your grace and your truth, Lord, and follow you in obedience.”

51s

#TendYourSoul

“You see, Paul calls Timothy to tend to his whole life, and he calls us to tend to our whole lives, to begin to notice quietly, and maybe in the quiet with the Lord what he's doing in here. Maybe areas that need a touch of his grace, areas that need that need a realization of his truth, of his word. So maybe a question for us to set with this morning or to ponder is what is stirring in you right now that Jesus might be inviting you to notice and to bring to him.”

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