LaGrave Live

LaGrave Live

LIVE Evening Worship Service - Powers, Principalities, and the Promises of God

About The Service:
Pastor Jonker will preach on Ephesians 6:10-20.

Order of Worship:
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About Us: 
We are a traditional CRC church in the middle of Downtown Grand Rapids, MI, worshipping at 8:40am, 11:00am, and 6:00pm. (10:00am and 6:00pm during the summer months)

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The June special offering is for Pine Rest Patient Assistance Fund: Part of Pine Rest Foundation Fund offering financial assistance for individuals, families and children who need care.  

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Stand Firm in the Armor: Faith, Children, and the Promise That Christ Already Reigns

Worship Rooted in God’s Sovereign Grace

This LaGrave Live church service from LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church opens with a call to worship from Psalm 145, praising God’s greatness and the way one generation commends His works to another. Reverend Peter Jonker then frames the evening around the book of Ephesians, beginning with readings from the opening chapter. He highlights three major proclamations: that believers are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that God’s plan is to unite all things in heaven and earth under Christ, and that Christ already possesses power above every rule, authority, power, and dominion.

Prayer for Children, the Vulnerable, and the Congregation

The service includes a congregational reading from Our World Belongs to God, followed by an evening prayer centered especially on children and young people. Reverend Jonker thanks God for the gift of life and prays for children living in poverty, hunger, war, conflict, neglect, and abuse. He also prays for the church’s own children’s ministries, including Kids Hope and youth ministry leadership, asking that LaGrave’s children feel known, loved, and formed within God’s love. The prayer also lifts up members of the congregation who are sick, in hospice, grieving, or otherwise in need of comfort.

The Armor of God and the Reality of Spiritual Struggle

The sermon is based on Ephesians 6:10–20, where Paul tells believers to be strong in the Lord, put on the full armor of God, and stand against the devil’s schemes. Reverend Jonker describes Paul’s picture of spiritual warfare as vivid and serious: on one side are the powers of darkness, spiritual forces of evil, and flaming arrows; on the other side are ordinary believers wearing the armor of God. He emphasizes that this struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and spiritual forces that work against God’s people.

Passing Faith to the Next Generation

To bring the passage into ordinary life, Reverend Jonker focuses on the struggle to pass Christian faith to the next generation. He cites demographic concerns about the growing number of religiously unaffiliated people, often called “nones,” noting the rise from small percentages in previous decades to much larger numbers today, especially among younger generations. He mentions research from Ryan Burge and describes the concern many churches feel as they wonder how to help children, grandchildren, and young adults remain connected to faith, worship, Scripture, and the Christian community.

Principalities, Powers, and the Culture That Shapes Young People

Reverend Jonker explains that the spiritual battle is not primarily against individual neighbors, critics, or young people who reject religion. Instead, he says the battle is against deeper powers and systems that shape culture. Drawing on Christian Smith’s Lost in Transition, he names several forces affecting younger generations: moral relativism, rampant consumerism, intoxication or escapist experience, sexual confusion, and radical individualism. He describes these not merely as isolated choices, but as cultural forces that sweep people along and make it harder for young people to receive and live within the Christian faith.

Warning Without Fear

Although Reverend Jonker takes the struggle seriously, he warns against panic. He places Ephesians 6 in the larger context of Ephesians, where Paul confidently proclaims that believers are chosen by God, that Christ reigns above every power, and that God’s plan to bring all things under Christ cannot be stopped. He cites C.S. Lewis’s warning that people can give the devil either too little credit or too much credit. For Jonker, the church must be vigilant without becoming fearful, protective without becoming overly sheltered, and confident that children ultimately belong to the Lord.

Standing Through Prayer, Truth, Love, and Presence

The sermon closes by returning to the armor of God as a practical pattern for faithful living. Reverend Jonker describes the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit as ordinary but powerful practices: teaching the faith, telling the truth, doing justice, bringing peace, praying, worshiping, and staying present with the next generation. He recalls research from the Fuller Youth Institute suggesting that one of the strongest predictors of faith continuing in a child’s life is having several caring adults in the congregation who know, love, and pray for that child. The message ends with encouragement: keep praying, keep loving, put on the armor, and stand.