Church Family:Before we forgive others, remember this: in Christ, we were forgiven first. Forgiveness doesn’t start with our strength, maturity, or emotional readiness; it starts at the cross, where Jesus bore our sin, paid our debt, and set us free from condemnation. We don’t forgive to earn God’s favor; we forgive because we have already received it. A forgiven mindset changes how you experience...  Read More

Church Family:“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) is not just a line we recite; it is a prayer that will change your life. Many of us wake up in the morning feeling that we do not have enough. Before our feet hit the floor, we carry quiet worries: I didn’t get enough sleep, I don’t have enough time, I don’t have enough energy, I don’t have enough money. Jesus meets our anxious thinki...  Read More

Church Family: Over the past several years, GCT has experienced significant growth, which has brought the need for meaningful changes in how we care for everyone who calls GCT their church family. Unfortunately, I have not done a good job of sharing the task of “shepherding the flock of God that is among us” (1 Peter 5:2). By not delegating well to other elders, I have left some pastoral needs unm...  Read More

Church Family: Everyone has a kingdom. Your kingdom is the sphere where what you say, do, and decide makes a difference; it is the space in this world that you have been entrusted to steward. Your kingdom is everything you have say over: your time, words, resources, decisions, and relationships. And Jesus demands that we are to radically rethink how we live in our kingdom as we pray, “Our heavenly...  Read More

Church Family: On resurrection morning, the silence of the tomb was shattered. Jesus Christ walked forth, triumphant over death, declaring, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is meant to change every single thing in your life. Yet so often, we forget what resurrection power really is. We forget what we have been given and w...  Read More

Church Family: I am presently sitting in a hospital surgery center waiting for news on my mom's somewhat minor surgery. I am surrounded by other patient's loved ones also waiting for their news. Understandably, many here are burdened with anxiety and fear. You know when you experience that deep sense of unease in your mind and heart, a troubled spirit caused by uncertainty or disbelief; when God f...  Read More

Church Family: Do you see the moment God has given us? Right here, Pender County is among the top three fastest growing counties in North Carolina, with Pender’s population rising over 21% since 2020, adding tens of thousands of new neighbors in just a few years. This is not an accident; the Lord has placed GCT as a living witness in a county that is swelling with people who need hope, a church fa...  Read More

Church Family:The providence of God is not cold fate; it is His sovereign and loving hand wisely governing every detail of our lives. Sometimes in this life there befalls us a difficult providence of God. This is when a challenging or seemingly negative event in life, which is still under God’s sovereign control and part of His divine plan, is directed toward us by God’s loving and purposeful hand...  Read More

Church Family: Following last Sunday's worship service, we discussed the financial steps that will bring our building project to completion. Providentially and expositionally, the next Scripture we get to in the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew 6:1-4, in which Jesus encourages a deeper commitment through the discipline of giving. He desires that our giving would be motivated by the personal reward o...  Read More

Church Family: The Gospel is shocking! Astonishing! Outrageous! Words fall short! The Gospel of God bursts onto the scene as His divine rescue for sinners like us who deserve nothing but His wrath, yet Jesus arrives with joyful, overflowing, eternal mercy! Abundant joyful hope surges through every vein of the gospel, so let it surge through our spiritual veins as well.Picture Paul, foaming at the ...  Read More

Church Family: Loving our enemies is not optional for disciples of Jesus. It is one of the clearest ways we show we belong to our Father and not to the spirit of the world. Jesus teaches in Matthew 5 that true righteousness transforms the heart, not just the actions. He reveals the deep roots of sin: anger that fuels murder, lust that gives birth to adultery, deceit that twists promises, retaliati...  Read More

Church Family: Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38-42 pierce our daily lives with countercultural clarity: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye.’ But I tell you, do not resist the one who is evil... If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” In our world of quick comebacks and vengefulness, whether at work, on Highway 17, on social media, or in family conflicts, ...  Read More

Church Family: Allow me to make a claim; there is no sin more tolerated or widespread among Christians than legalism. Our struggle at GCT most likely will be legalism not wokeism or liberalism. Most of the time we look at legalism as just someone being overzealous rather than them perpetuating anti-gospel sin. We tend to look at adultery and theft as more heinous than legalism. But look at Jesus’ ...  Read More

Church family: Jesus calls us, His Church, to use God’s law lawfully (1 Timothy 1:8), especially for the unrighteous among us, not for those who have already been declared righteous in Christ. Understanding God’s epic love story of law and Gospel helps us apply it rightly and avoid the legalistic trap of misusing it. Otherwise, we either miss salvation altogether or make ourselves a legalist, putt...  Read More

Church family: Do you struggle with lying? Most of us don’t want to admit it, but if we are honest, every one of us battles with truthfulness in some way. Dishonesty is a manifestation of our sinful rebellion against God and desire to advance our own interests above others. This is our reality that Jesus came to change. Maybe we exaggerate a story, hide a mistake, or promise something we never fol...  Read More

Church family: Divorce can be one of life’s most painful experiences, often following years of hardship and deep emotional struggle for spouses and their children. As a pastor, I have seen how complex and heartbreaking it can be to discern when divorce is biblically justified. Even after careful study of Scripture and related writings, the answer is rarely simple.Last week, we began our discussion...  Read More

Church family: About 1 in 3 of our families at GCT have gone through the heartbreak of divorce. This isn't theory; it is our story. It's important to remember that divorce has significantly impacted the lives of many people in our church family. If you have been through divorce, please know or be reminded that you are loved fully. There are no scarlet letters here at GCT.As a pastor, few subjects ...  Read More

Church Family:  Despite the world's noise, welcome to the joyful 2026 New Year! Jesus Christ, head of our church, reminds us again that we are God's living household, a radiant pillar and buttress of truth, overflowing with His grace, mercy, and peace (1 Timothy 3:14-15; 1:2). He draws us together to love deeply from pure hearts and clear consciences, building one another up in sweet harmony—this ...  Read More

Church Family, As we welcome a brand-new year, my heart is full of excitement for what God is doing amongst us as GCT. In recent years, several men have come to me to discuss their calling from the Lord into some level of pastoral ministry. These conversations have led me and the elders to great conviction from the Lord to raise up these godly men to preach, teach, and shepherd God’s people in the...  Read More

Church Family: Christmas is the story of God’s joyful redeeming love in Christ Jesus—a love so beautiful that angels announce it, study it, and overflow with joy over it. From the fall to redemption, the angels saw humanity rebel against God, God promise a Savior, the Son of God humble Himself to become human, and then suffer and die, rise again, ascend in glory, and save sinners in a way that mak...  Read More

Church Family: Last night I witnessed my friend Paul Godridge fully experience the incredible Christmas gift in Jesus Christ. As Paul passed into eternal life, no wrath awaited him, no judgment did he face, and he had no reason to fear death! On the other side of Paul’s life on this earth is one thing and one thing only: a radiant, loving, and joyful God who has forgiven all Paul’s sins, welcoming...  Read More

Church Family: The greatest danger to our celebration of Christmas isn’t the culture “out there” but what happens in our own hearts—we grow bored with the most breathtaking story in history. As followers of Jesus, we must fight, spiritually and intentionally, to keep Christmas about what God meant it to be: the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s glory isn’t a decorative theme added to the story...  Read More

Church Family: Most weekdays before I hop on Highway 17, I pull up the “Hampstead Traffic” page on Facebook. It is rarely uplifting—not so much because of the traffic, but because the comments are a loud reminder that the native tongue of our sinful hearts is grumbling, complaining, and whining. Scrolling that page often exposes my own struggle and, at the same time, stirs a fresh resolve to grow ...  Read More

Acts 6:3 – “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”Church family, when you see the word deacon, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of the political power center in a church; this is the “board” that tells the pastor what to do and makes decisions behind closed doors that no one really knows about....  Read More