Antioch Centre

04/21/2026

Chris Gerard
4-21-26
I used to work in an organization that had an interesting tension between grace and rules or “the law”. I have noticed a lot of times that people seem to think that grace is the opposite of law. That is not scriptural, faith is the opposite of law. You are justified by faith, or in the Old Covenant by the law. In the days of the law, there was no grace. In the New Covenant, grace is abundant. But not to those who still believe they are justified by the law, scripture tells us that it is by grace we are saved through faith.

So what comes first? By grace, or through faith? I think that is where we get things wrong. We overemphasize grace to avoid being legalistic, but we forget that without faith it is impossible to please God. Grace is what God does for us; it has nothing to do with what we do. Or what someone does for us for that matter. Most people will talk about “giving someone grace” but what they are really doing is avoiding conflict. I do believe we can give people mercy. They do not like tension so they use grace to avoid it. Tension is not a bad thing; tension actually creates choice. I can keep being what I am, or I can accept the challenge of faith and become something different. The in-between is the tension. What grace has provided to you free of charge, faith then becomes about receiving it. By grace and through faith happens together, and this is the work of God. Using a structured program to help people find salvation through this process can be a beautiful thing if man does not get in the way.

I loved the Karate Kid movie for this reason; the lesson was even more valuable than the end result. The lesson revealed who the student was. Grace is not about what we apply before the lesson is learned, it may make you feel better and help avoid the tension, but the student learns nothing.

04/13/2026

Chris Gerard
3-31-26

Scripture tells us that Jesus was the word in the flesh and came and “dwelt” among us. The word dwelt is the word tabernacle, a moving sanctuary. He carried the presence into areas the temple could not reach, He came with no judgment and true prosperity. I like using that word because it ruffles some feathers, but true prosperity is the ability to meet the needs of a broken down humanity. Because of some abuse, we think it is all about jet planes and Cadillacs so we reject the entire concept, or another way to say it is we “throw the baby out with the bathwater” which is easier because then we are not responsible to raise up a baby.

Jesus displayed the quality of His life to overcome death even before He was crucified as an example of those that would come after Him, a new creation called to live as He did. He went to the places no one wanted to go, and reached people in the darkest places of that day. He wasn’t trying to get them into the temple; He was a temple with arms and legs who brought the service to them. His only requirement was a repentance that required people to change how they think but in that requirement He helped them to get there, His goodness changed their minds and made them think they could live differently. His death conquered sin, but His life conquered death.

Many will come together to celebrate Easter in some type of building; we do this once a year. We can come together and celebrate an event and still miss the point. The same Spirit that conquered the grave lives in me. That is not just a declaration we make in the light, but also in the darkest of places. That is where true prosperity is found, and He died to ensure that we would absolutely prosper in the places where He is needed the most.

04/13/2026

Chris Gerard
3-28-26

I was thinking the other day about archery. When I was in high school, we had a window of time where we practiced archery. I say a window of time, because it was only enough time to learn the basics of shooting with a bow and arrow and not enough time to be preoccupied with necessarily hitting what you were aiming at. I never did get a bullseye, but I did, at least, hit my target and that was enough for the teacher to be pleased.

As a young believer, I was preoccupied most of the time with trying to be holy. I struggled with perfectionism, and I rarely enjoyed being a Christian because I felt like my walk with God was the equivalent of the sound of a bunch of arrows bouncing off a tile floor, never hitting the target. Jesus told His disciples, “I no longer call you servants but friends”. We spend most of our time thinking of ourselves as servants trying to please a master, when walking with God is discovering that we have the privilege of being called His friends. What does that mean for us? Well in archery terms, Jesus hit the one and only bullseye. We can aim for it as well, but the truth is He is just happy that we are attempting to hit the target to begin with. He is not hard to please, He loves it when we enjoy the process with Him.

Not everything has to be a bullseye, don’t be so preoccupied with pleasing a master that you miss the privilege of growing and learning new things with a friend.

04/05/2026

03/23/2026

Chris Gerard
3-23-26

Everything that God gives to us He gives to us as children of God. That is such an amazing act of grace, our response to this should be to live in constant thanksgiving and praise! But what He truly wants is for us to grow up in all things and mature as sons and daughters. There are two factors to this: responsibility and accountability. We take responsibility for what we have been given in Him, and we seek out accountability from the mature for what we have become in Him, (account for ability). 2 Corinthians 7:1 tells us to, “perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord”. Perfect means to grow up into completion, or to mature.

The fear of the Lord is both the beginning of wisdom and the hating of evil. You could even say that hating evil is the beginning of wisdom. Our response to our salvation is to grow on to completion by abiding in the fear of the Lord, meaning we trust in His ability to accomplish this and to fully resource us. We do not rely on our own resource and live in constant fear; we have found a complete confidence in who He is and His nearness to us. When we praise Him we are acknowledging that He is near, and that we are ok with it. This is where wisdom begins as well as where we find our pathway to maturity. We could say the fear of the Lord is the catalyst to maturity in the Body of Christ and we cannot truly grow without it.

03/11/2026

Greg Runyon
3-11-26

Luther, ‘the just shall live by faith’. The Wesley’s, ‘holiness’, next? Roger Williams and the Holy Spirit’s revelation concerning water baptism by immersion. Guess what? All of the ‘ecclesiasticals’ of that era opposed it because? Infant baptism was the only accepted form at that time. What to do? The ‘ecclesiasticals’, the Massachusetts Bay Court and Roger Williams which ended in the banishment of Roger from the Colony.

Why? The religious spirit declares, ‘Revelation stops here.’

Nearly every generation after experienced a spiritual awakening where God shows some ‘old’ yet ‘new revelations’. With these truths burning in their hearts they pressed on through the forces of hell that was unleashed by the ‘established’ church order of the day. Yet, each new group had allowed their revelation to degenerate into dogma and musty doctrine with nothing left of the initial life heralded in their generation.

So, when religion shouts, ‘Revelation stops here’, the ecclesiastical establishment settles for stale dogma and new ‘reform’ moves rise up to capture the next revealed truth and revelation.

We are good at taking dying embers and turning it into a world wide blaze, because we are journeying on towards the Finish and Christ will be all in all.

03/11/2026

Chris Gerard
3-10-26

Romans 4:19-21
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Abraham is considered to the be the father of our faith, what did he have faith for? His faith was not for salvation in that day, he simply believed God and took Him at His word as he journeyed through an unknown land. He did not stagger at the promise of a son, scripture tells us he remained strong in faith because He gave glory to God. 1 Chronicles 16:7-36 provides a blueprint for what giving glory to God means which is just focusing on His attributes, if we followed this blueprint in every church service, would our faith grow? Jesus asked this question about His return, “Will I find faith on the earth”? Clearly, this matters to Him.

Focusing on the attributes of God grows our faith. If someone was asked to pray for an individual who was sick, usually we focus on our own faith. Or maybe even the lack of it. What if instead, we focused on His great love? Would our faith be energized? When I focus on myself or my own abilities, fear and insecurity is usually the end result. Our faith was designed to grow in love, or more specifically, His great love for all of humanity. God’s love knows no impossibilities and we were never meant to walk the earth with anything less than full persuasion of who He is and will always be.

03/10/2026

Greg Runyon
3-10-26

I am still on Reformation. I am surprised as I read about it and how it spread like wildfire in Europe. God was not done with ‘the just shall live by faith’. New revelation from the Word of God concerning His nature and relationship with man came, showing that ‘faith’ was not enough.

John and Charles Wesley came with the Holy Spirit’s light revealing the issue of ‘holiness’ without which no man shall see God. Heb. 12:14 again not new but right out of the Word of God! Not new, but a new revelation from an age-old truth from the Word of God.

This message was proclaimed in every village and hamlet and up to the largest cities of England, Scotland and Ireland. Guess what? Cruel treatment was heaped on all who would believe such a strange new doctrine and it was labeled heresy.

Who showed disfavor? The ones who gave us ‘the just shall live by faith’. It was unconceivable to them that there could be any further unfolding of God’s revelation that what they had. Surely, Luther could not have missed ‘holiness’? They forgot how they were persecuted, and they now were the ecclesiastical persecutors of the new truth. Why?

The religious spirit once again declared, ‘Revelation stops here.’

03/10/2026

Greg Runyon
3-9-26

Oh, Oh, been thinking again…

What we call persecution is relative. Place your definition of persecution next to a member of the underground church in China or Iran, you will see our persecution in the West does not even compare.

When you consider persecution you have to include those who were labeled heretics. Persecution of heretics has always been a part of Christianity from the earliest days it was around. And, usually enthusiastically endorsed when any ‘new truth’ is presented and it encroaches on the ‘old’.

When Martin Luther received ‘divine revelation’ ‘The Just shall live by faith’. It was taken right out of the Word of God in Romans 1:17. The Reformation began as people realized they were delivered from religious enslavement to forms, rituals, and indulgences and they were free to live their lives by ‘faith’.

There was nothing new about this truth. This verse in Romans was a foundation that Paul an apostle made doctrine to build by. Over the centuries this truth became misplaced and forgotten and the ministry of Martin Luther revived it.

As might be expected, the ecclesiastical fathers unleashed the full fury of the church upon all who believed such heresy. Why? Did you forget the religious spirit declared, ‘Revelation stops here’?

03/05/2026

Chris Gerard
3-4-26

We know scripture tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. We are also told to guard our hearts, for out of it flow the issues of life. I read a definition on hope the other day, the joyful expectation of something good. When I am hope FULL I wake up believing that good things are coming. We were not created to dread and fear the future, or to be hopeless.

God created us to be a faith FULL people, and faith is the substance of things hoped for. The people of God should be the most hopeful people on the planet but without hope faith has nothing to work with. So maybe it is time to ask yourself a question? Are the issues of life out of my control or have I just ceased to guard my heart well? Do I just need to renew my hope levels? Renewing and maintaining hope is the difference between someone who reigns in life and someone who loses their hope and is defeated by disappointment. Sometimes we will be disappointed, that is inevitable. But the people of God should never choose to camp there. Not when there is so much good to come.

02/27/2026

Chris Gerard
2-27-26

During a worship service a few weeks back I seen a picture as I was worshipping. I seen this dark land that was full of houses. One by one, I started to see houses turning on lights and pretty soon all of the houses were lighting up what was formerly a deep darkness. This morning the Lord gave me verses in Isaiah 9:2-3;

2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 You will multiply the nation,
You will increase their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy of harvest,

I heard the Lord say, “I am reviving families. Households will begin to come under my authority and return to my blueprint. Marriages will find new strength in me. Pray fervently, but with joyful expectation and praise for those who have lost their way, I am returning prodigals to their homes. Renewed joy will be an indicator of this move, and supernatural forgiveness will become a new normal. Darkness is being overcome by my light and prayers for the prodigals in my name will be answered. Many will return and even the elder brothers will relent to my kindness. For my justice is unlike man’s justice.”