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Flourishing Grace Church
Hosted by Flourishing Grace Church · EN
Flourishing Grace Church is a church committed to seeing individuals, families, and communities flourish through the grace of Jesus. Visit www.flourishinggrace.org for more information.
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Who's The Owner | Benjer McVeigh | March 1, 2026
Mar 200:45:25Tap to summarizeJoin Us for Worship: Sundays at 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM https://www.flourishinggrace.org/plan... In this sermon from Flourishing Grace Church, Pastor Benjer preaches through Luke 20:9–19, the parable of the tenants, and shows why this story is one of the clearest snapshots of the whole Bible in just a few verses. Jesus tells of a landowner who plants a vineyard, entrusts it to tenants, and then sends servants to receive fruit, only for each servant to be rejected, shamed, and harmed. Benjer explains how Jesus is summarizing Israel’s history, with the servants representing the prophets God sent again and again, and how the violence against them exposes a pattern of resisting God’s authority. The parable is not just an ancient farming story but a direct confrontation of the spiritual posture that takes what belongs to God and treats it like personal property. Pastor Benjer connects the vineyard imagery to Isaiah 5, where God describes Israel as His carefully tended vineyard and grieves that it produced wild grapes instead of the fruit of justice and righteousness. In Luke 20, Jesus adds a striking twist: tenants. These tenants represent religious leaders who were meant to shepherd God’s people but began to use their position for their own power, comfort, and control. The sermon unpacks how the crowd understands the implications of Jesus’ words when He says the vineyard will be taken from the tenants and given to others. This is not a minor leadership change but a massive shift in how God’s people will relate to Him, moving away from gatekeeping and toward the reality fulfilled in Jesus. A central focus of this message is the shocking moment when the landowner decides to send his beloved son. Benjer highlights how this is not naïve optimism but the heart of God’s plan, that the Son would come in vulnerability, take on flesh, and be rejected by the very people He came to save. The sermon ties the parable to the cornerstone language from Psalm 118 and to the New Testament’s witness that Jesus is the rejected stone who becomes the cornerstone. Benjer points to passages like Hebrews 1 to emphasize that God’s final and decisive word is spoken in His Son, and to Romans 5 to show that God proves His love in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This sermon also presses into a personal diagnosis: we are not owners, we are tenants. Just like the tenants in the parable who used violence to seize what was not theirs, we often grasp for control and claim authority over our lives, our resources, our relationships, our careers, our bodies, our desires, and our dreams. Benjer asks a piercing question that sits at the center of the message: what has God given you to tend for His purposes that you lay claim to for yours. He explains why following Jesus can feel frustrating, because Jesus does not simply offer inspiration, He walks through the rooms of our lives like the rightful owner. The sermon invites listeners to consider where resentment has grown, where a key has been withheld, and where surrender is needed. To illustrate this surrender, Benjer references the classic book My Heart, Christ’s Home, using the image of Jesus identifying a locked closet where something dead and hidden has been kept. This becomes a powerful picture of confession, trust, and the hard honesty of discipleship. The message broadens beyond obvious sin to include grief, unmet desires, and the preferred future that never arrived, the vineyard we imagined years ago that looks nothing like the vineyard we are living in now. Benjer speaks candidly about pain and disappointment while still calling listeners to release ownership and trust God’s goodness and purposes.
Transcribe →Stop Hiding In Church | Benjer McVeigh | February 22, 2026
Feb 2300:39:19Tap to summarizeIn today’s sermon at Flourishing Grace Church in Bountiful, Utah, Pastor Benjer teaches from Luke 19:45–20:8, a pivotal moment in Holy Week when Jesus enters Jerusalem, cleanses the temple, and then faces a public challenge from the chief priests, scribes, and elders: “By what authority do you do these things?” In the Court of the Gentiles, the one place intentionally set apart for non Jews and seekers to draw near to the God of Israel, worship had been crowded out. During Passover, Jerusalem swelled with travelers, animals, trading, and noise, and the leaders treated sacred space like it belonged to them. Jesus quotes the prophets to expose the deeper problem. Isaiah 56 shows God’s heart for outsiders, foreigners, and outcasts, that God’s house would be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Jeremiah 7 confronts the lie that religious activity can function like spiritual insurance, “the temple of the Lord” repeated like a mantra while injustice, oppression, and idolatry continue unchecked. When Jesus calls the temple a “den of robbers,” he is not only condemning corruption, he is revealing how the human heart turns religion into a safe house, a place to hide after we do what we want, instead of a place to meet the holy God who transforms us. This sermon is an invitation to let the Word of God do surgery beneath the surface. We can attend church, sing, confess, serve, join a table group, and even pray, yet still use those good gifts as cover for what is happening Monday through Saturday, how we treat our spouse, our coworkers, our neighbors, what we scroll, what we say, what we keep secret, and what we refuse to bring into the light. Pastor Benjer names three ways this shows up: first, “stuff it under the bed” Christianity, where everything looks tidy on the outside but the bins are packed with unresolved sin, hurt, and grief. Second, treating Sunday like a giant eraser, where we want the feeling of a reset without the healing of confession, repentance, and community. Third, loving church but never surrendering to Jesus, getting stuck at signposts like music, community, or routines, and missing the Person they are meant to point toward. In Luke 20, Jesus responds to the leaders by asking about John’s baptism. It is not a dodge, it is a mirror. If John’s ministry was from heaven, then Jesus’ authority is from God. If it was merely from man, then the leaders can keep control. Their refusal to answer exposes a heart that fears people and protects power, and it warns us about the same impulse in our own lives. The good news is that Jesus does not discard God’s promises because people misuse them. He fulfills them. He is greater than the temple, and all Scripture points to him. If you have been hurt by hypocrisy, disappointed by Christians, or tempted to conclude the gospel is not true, Jesus invites you to look at him, not at the failures of religious performance. As we worship, we want to make space for prayer, just like we did as a church this week during Ash Wednesday as we set aside time to sit with Jesus, open the Bible, and listen to the Holy Spirit. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, today can be your day to say yes to Christ. If you are a believer but you know there are things underneath the surface that need honesty and healing, you are not alone.
Transcribe →Zacchaeus Encounters Jesus | Benjer McVeigh | February 8, 2026
Feb 2000:41:53Tap to summarizeWorship with us 9 + 11am 390 N 400 E Bountiful, UT 84010 https://www.flourishinggrace.org/plan... Today's sermon centers on the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus, a passage that reveals the heart of the gospel and the transforming power of grace. Preaching from the Gospel of Luke 19:1-10, Pastor Benjer explores how Jesus seeks out sinners, calls them by name, and brings salvation that does more than forgive. It reorders allegiance, exposes sin, and gives new purpose. The message confronts a deeply personal question many carry beneath the surface: Is Jesus willing to come near to someone like me. Zacchaeus is introduced as a chief tax collector and rich, meaning his wealth was built on betrayal and injustice. He had aligned himself with the Roman oppressors and enriched himself at the expense of his own people. His sin was not subtle and his reputation was deserved. The sermon makes clear that Zacchaeus represents more than an individual story. He reflects the reality that our sin and our allegiances often stand opposed to God. We build identity, security, and control around things that cannot save us. Yet Luke tells us Zacchaeus was seeking to see who Jesus was. His curiosity was more than intellectual interest. He had grown dissatisfied with the answers his old life provided. Willing to look foolish, he climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of Christ. The message highlights that true spiritual curiosity often begins when previous sources of meaning no longer satisfy. For those who are skeptical, wounded, or unsure, this moment reveals that honest seeking matters. The turning point comes when Jesus stops beneath the tree, looks up, and calls Zacchaeus by name. Rather than waiting for Zacchaeus to clean himself up, Jesus says, “I must stay at your house today.” The sermon emphasizes that while Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus, Jesus had already been pursuing him. Salvation begins with divine initiative. Christ moves toward sinners with presence and fellowship before transformation has occurred. The crowd grumbles because they know Zacchaeus’s history, and their complaint is not unfounded. He has harmed real people. Yet grace does not deny the seriousness of sin. It confronts it honestly. When Zacchaeus calls Jesus Lord, his allegiance shifts. He gives half of his possessions to the poor and promises fourfold restitution. This generosity is not an attempt to earn salvation, but evidence that salvation has already begun to reshape his heart. He now sees the weight of his sin and the worth of his Savior. Jesus declares, “Today salvation has come to this house,” and identifies Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham, pointing back to God’s covenant promise to bless the nations. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. This sermon invites listeners to examine what sits on the throne of their lives and to consider whether they want Jesus to reassure them or to rule them. It is a call to surrender, repentance, and trust in Christ alone. Whether you are exploring Christianity or have followed Jesus for years, Luke 19 reminds us that no one encounters Jesus and walks away unchanged.
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Stop the Works and Rest | Brent Petersen | February 23, 2025
Feb 24, 2025Tap to summarizePastor Brent Petersen from Summit 419 Church in Coalville continues in our series through Luke. Today's teaching is from Luke 6:1-11 the interaction Jesus had with the Pharisees in relation to the Sabbath and the story of Jesus healing the man with a withered hand. A great reminder that to practice the Sabbath is to rest the finished work of Jesus.
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