Feb. 22, 2026

Is pride blocking the grace of God in your life? 

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 34:17 min into the video. The music "Are You Washed in the Blood", "I Bow Down", "Revelation Song", "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us", and "Cares Chorus" are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

The World You Live In - You live in a world that rewards self-sufficiency. From childhood, the message is clear: figure it out yourself, stand on your own two feet, and take credit for what you earn. Even inside the church, that voice can follow you in. You dress it up in spiritual language, but underneath it is the same drive — to be in charge of your own life, to carry your own weight, and to prove that you have what it takes. The best version of your life would be one marked by peace, community, and a deep sense of being carried. Yet pride — often invisible to you, obvious to everyone else — keeps standing in the way.

 The Challenge - Pride is not just a personality flaw — it is a sin that quietly cuts you off from the grace of God, and it is far more active in your life than you probably realize.

 The Calling - Pastor Dave calls you to clothe yourself in humility — to make it a daily, deliberate choice, the way you put on a garment each morning. The path he lays out is straightforward: confess your pride, ask the Holy Spirit for help, acknowledge God as the source of everything good in your life, and live for His glory rather than your own. Then, as an act of that same humility, release every worry and every burden to a God who is not just aware of your situation — He is actively, personally interested in you.

 Why This Works - Humility removes the obstacle. As Pastor Dave described it, pride is like holding an umbrella up in a downpour of God’s grace — you stay dry, but not in the way you want. The moment you lower it, the grace flows. And this is not passive. Humility is an active posture: it means acknowledging that your time, your talent, and your treasure are gifts, not achievements. When you live that way, Scripture promises that God will lift you up in His timing — and that He will carry what you were never meant to carry alone.

 This Works in Real Life - Think about what happens at work when a decision goes your way. It is easy — almost automatic — to let that quiet voice say, “I made the right call.” Pastor Dave admitted he did exactly that in a team meeting this week, caught himself patting his own back, and said out loud, “Well, that’s a good illustration for Sunday’s message right there.” Pride is that quick. That ordinary.

Or think about Joseph — thrown in a pit by his brothers, sold as a slave, falsely accused, forgotten in prison. Every circumstance screamed that God had dropped the ball. The proud response is to rage, escape, and self-rescue. The humble response is the one Joseph eventually modeled: “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Humility does not require comfortable circumstances. It just requires trusting the hand that holds you.

And when the anxiety hits — about your job, your health, your kids, your future — Pastor Dave reminds you that worry is a divided mind: part of you trusting God, part of you holding a backup plan. Casting your cares is not weakness. It is humility in action. It is saying, “I was never meant to carry this, and the God who is interested in me is big enough to hold it.”

Your Next Steps - Pastor Dave closed with four concrete moves you can make this week:

• Confess. Name your pride out loud to God. “Lord, I have been relying on myself. I need You — every hour.”
• Ask. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and humility. He gave you this promise: ask, and it will be given.
• Acknowledge. Every time something goes well today, pause and say, “God, that came from You.” Do it until it becomes instinct.
• Honor someone else. Pastor Dave noted — unprompted, straight from the Spirit — “It’s harder to be prideful when you’re honoring someone else.” Find one person this week and do just that.