Grace And ?
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· 16 viewsTranscript of quarterly "interactive service" in which congregational responsive readings and songs are interspersed into the message.
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1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
On Wednesday, I attended the funeral of a friend whom some of you may remember me talking about a few weeks ago.
On Wednesday, I attended the funeral of a friend whom some of you may remember me talking about a few weeks ago.
On Wednesday, I attended the funeral of a friend whom some of you may remember me talking about a few weeks ago.
On Wednesday, I attended the funeral of a friend whom some of you may remember me talking about a few weeks ago.
Mac was buried in a family plot in a cemetery in Eclipse.
Now, I know that for many of you, Eclipse might as well be Saskatchewan, and it surely isn’t Suffolk — at least not the REAL Suffolk.
So let me tell you a little about it. It’s an old watermen’s community with skinny roads winding alongside the banks of Chuckatuck Creek. As in this part of Suffolk, many of the families there — including Mac’s — have been there for generations, and even if they no longer have a financial connection to the water, I believe it still runs through the veins of many people there.
The cemetery where Mac was laid to rest is across the road from a little church, backed up against a line of woods, and Mac’s gravesite is right on the far edge. So as we stood listening to the eulogies of two fine pastors — including the one who led Annette and me to Christ — we were, mercifully, in the shade.
As we stood listening, I was struck that there could hardly have been a more peaceful spot for Mac to have been laid to rest.
Indeed, Mac knows a peace now that is without compare, but that has nothing to do with where his remains may have been planted.
Grace & Peace
Grace & Peace
Mac’s peace is a result of the grace of God, and, indeed, he knew some inkling of it even as he suffered through the final days of his battle with cancer.
Mac faced cancer and his impending death as he had faced everything since the time in 1999 when he and Peggy — much like Annette and me a few years later — were led to Christ by a sweet and obedient man of God in their home.
He faced it all in the joy of someone who had absolute confidence in the promises of God to those who have received His saving grace.
His wife, Peggy, told me that the day before Mac died he had expressed the one complaint she had heard from him throughout his long illness.
“Why is He keeping me here?” he asked her.
Mac was ready to go home and meet his Savior.
He was ready to experience the complete peace that awaits those who follow Jesus Christ in heaven.
But that peace is only available to those who admit they are sinners, who believe that only the grace of God can save them from the penalty they owe for their sins, and who commit themselves to following the Christ who died to pay that price.
You see, God’s grace is not the end of the matter when it comes to salvation. It is intimately connected to other wonderful gifts of God. Today, we will look at four of those gifts during today’s participatory service.
We will begin with a look at grace and peace.
Grace & Peace
Grace & Peace
We search for peace in our homes, on our city streets and between nations, and we continually see just how impossible it is to attain separate from God’s grace.
Husbands and wives argue, and divorce is just as common among Christians as it is in the secular world.
We move to the country to get away from crime in the city and find that crime doesn’t recognize the same borders that we do.
And the 20th century is a lesson on tenuous hold we have on peace.
Arguing for the need to stop German imperialism, HG Wells in 1914 published a book entitled The War to End War, and the title became a catchphrase about World War I.
But then the world found itself once again in global conflict in the 1940s. This time, more than 73 million people are estimated to have died.
And then the United Nations was formed in the wake of that tragedy — in part to assure that such a thing might never happen again.
But there has been no time since then in which wars have not been fought in some part of the globe.
Clearly, we humans are not very good at this peace thing.
But God is good at it. He will eventually establish His Son’s Kingdom on earth, and we will beat our swords into plowshares. We will no longer study war.
On this side of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, God brings personal peace to those who follow His Son. And He does it the way He does so many things — by His grace.
We see the terms “grace” and “peace” showing up together 36 times in Scripture. Together, they are part of the Apostle Paul’s favorite greeting in his letters.
Here are just a few examples.
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
The message is clear: If you are a recipient of God’s saving grace, then you should be experiencing peace in a way that the world cannot.
The world for these first-century Christians was anything but peaceful. They were being persecuted and killed. But the God of peace could give them the kind of contentment that my friend Mac had, even in the painful throes of end-stage cancer — a peace that passeth all understanding.
The Apostle Peter also wrote about this, urging the church in Jerusalem to obey Christ and experience grace and peace “in the fullest measure” (1 Peter 1:2c)
The very knowledge of God and of Jesus, he wrote, would multiply grace and peace in their lives ().
Remember that this is the same Peter who had denied Christ three times. If ever there was someone who might have been haunted by his past, it would have been Peter. But he had found peace in Jesus Christ.
And John, writing from exile on Patmos brought greetings to the seven churches in Asia from Jesus Himself.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
The message to us is clear: Whatever you are going through, whatever you have done, God wants you to have peace. And the only way you will have it is through His amazing grace.
RESPONSIVE READING ()
Leader: I will extol You, my God, O King,
Leader: I will extol You, my God, O King,
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Leader: Every day I will bless You,
Leader: Every day I will bless You,
Congregation: And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Leader: Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
Congregation: And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Leader: Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
Congregation: And His greatness is unsearchable.
Congregation: And His greatness is unsearchable.
Leader: One generation shall praise Your works to another,
Leader: One generation shall praise Your works to another,
Congregation: And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Leader: On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
Congregation: And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Leader: On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
Congregation: And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Congregation: And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Leader: Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
Leader: Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
Congregation: And I will tell of Your greatness.
Leader: They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
Congregation: And I will tell of Your greatness.
Leader: They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
Congregation: And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
Congregation: And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
SONG
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now am found,
‘Twas blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace.
Grace & Mercy
Grace & Mercy
God is gracious, and God is also merciful.
The prophet Jeremiah may have understood this better than anyone.
Jeremiah had watched as the people of Judah followed their own passions, chased after false gods and failed to put their trust in the one true God.
And then he watched as Jerusalem was conquered, the temple was destroyed and the people were taken off into exile in Babylon, all as a result of the people’s unfaithfulness to their covenant with God.
Everything he had known — everything he had treasured — was in ruins, and it appeared that God had utterly turned His back on His people.
And in the book of Lamentations, we see this weeping prophet’s devastating description of what this all felt like.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.
Lam
17 My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.
Have you ever wondered where God is in your times of trouble? Jeremiah did.
But then, in that same chapter, Jeremiah remembered that God is faithful.
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
READ
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” “Steadfast love” is one of the translations we have for the Hebrew word “chesed.” Your Bible may translate it as “lovingkindness” or “loyal love” or “faithful love.”
It is one of the Old Testament concepts of grace.
In the New Testament, we see grace and mercy appear together four times.
One of the most important is in the book of Hebrews, where the writer of that epistle draws a clear connection between receiving God’s grace and God’s mercy.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Heb 4:16
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have received both God’s grace and God’s mercy.
Here, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we, like Jeremiah, can have CONFIDENCE that God will be merciful to those who love Him.
In your time of need, draw near to His throne. Rest in His grace. Find comfort in His mercy.
RESPONSIVE READING ()
145:8-13
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
PSALM
Leader: The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Congregation: Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
Leader: The Lord is good to all,
Congregation: And His mercies are over all His works.
Leader: All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
Congregation: And Your godly ones shall bless You.
Leader: They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
Congregation: And talk of Your power;
Leader: To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
Congregation: And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
Leader: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
Congregation: And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
SONG
My Chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace
Grace & Power
Grace & Power
The God who in His great grace broke the chains that kept us in bondage to sin also promises us that we have His power within us in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Paul experienced this power when he prayed three times for the Lord to take away the the thorn in his side.
9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
You see, we want to be powerful on our own. But true power, as Paul learned is a function of the Holy Spirit, the power of Christ, dwelling and working within us.
As we decrease, He increases.
There may be no better example of this principle than the life of Stephen.
We see in Acts, chapter 6, that Stephen was one of seven chosen from the Jerusalem church to be the first deacons of that church, men chosen to serve tables so the apostles could spend their time in study and prayer.
He alone among the the seven is described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”
And it is instructive to see what happens to Stephen.
Filled with grace, he was also filled with the Spirit. And filled with the Spirit, he was filled with the grace of God. And filled with God’s grace, he was filled with the power of God within Him.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
Stephen’s great faith enabled him to perform miracles. Now I do not want to suggest that any of us will perform miracles — or see them performed for our loved ones — if we only have enough faith. I don’t think it works that way, and, more importantly, I don’t think we should conclude that the lack of a miracle of healing, for instance, suggests that our faith is not strong enough.
God is sovereign, and He heals whom He chooses to heal for His glory.
But your faith could give you the power to display the image of Jesus Christ, just as it did Stephen.
You see, the religious leaders in Jerusalem were not happy that this movement of Christ-followers had survived Jesus’ crucifixion, and as that movement gained momentum, they mounted a concerted effort to destroy the Way.
Soon, they identified Stephen as one of its primary leaders.
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.
There was a trial, during which Stephen gave a rousing sermon that brought such conviction to the hearts of those who heard it that Luke describes them as having been “cut to the quick.”
That’s exactly the sort of reaction we should expect from the gospel having been shared with power.
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Having heard the message of the gospel — the good news that Jesus Christ suffered and died and then rose again so that those who believe in Him might have eternal life — one can respond in faith or one can respond by turning away and continuing in rebellion against the rightful King.
As he preached the good news of Jesus Christ during his trial, Stephen saw the religious leaders of Jerusalem respond with rebellion, picking up stones to kill the messenger of peace that God had sent to them.
But filled with the grace power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen did something remarkable as he was being stoned.
60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.
The power to forgive, even in the midst of your persecution. That’s the kind of power that accompanies the grace of God. If you follow Jesus Christ, you can have this same power. But you can only have it insofar as you give up your own strength and rely on His.
He will lift you up.
RESPONSIVE READING ()
RESPONSIVE READING ()
14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
Leader: The Lord sustains all who fall
Congregation: And raises up all who are bowed down.
Leader: The eyes of all look to You,
Congregation: And You give them their food in due time.
Leader: You open Your hand
Congregation: And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
SONG
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace
Lauren Towers
Lauren Towers
I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
10:28 PM (14 hours ago)to me 📷Lyrics for music sections. Please excuse the horrendous capitalization, clearly the autocorrect on my phone has no concept of proper grammar!
I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
Break #1:
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now am found,
‘‘Twas blind but now I see.
I’m alive and well, Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again.
‘‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Amazing love, how can it be
That You my King should die for me?
My Chains Are Gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, My Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing Grace.
Amazing love, I know it’s true.
And it’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
Break #2:
My Chains Are Gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, My Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing Grace
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word My hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
My Chains Are Gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, My Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing Grace
Grace & Truth
Grace & Truth
If you have made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then you have experienced this unending love and amazing grace that we have been singing about this morning.
Break #3:
And as you have received His grace, you have also benefitted from His truth.
My Chains Are Gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, My Savior, has ransomed me.
The Apostle John talks a lot about Truth in his books.
We all recognize the words of Jesus as recorded in
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Later, as Jesus stood before Pilate, who was trying to decide whether to honor the demands of the Jewish religious leaders to crucify Him, the Son of God would assert His rightful kingship before this Roman ruler.
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
“My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me,” Jesus had said earlier in His ministry. Those who follow Jesus know Truth personally. They should never have to ask, as Pilate then did, “What is truth?”
Jesus has testified to the truth. And He still does through the Holy Spirit.
The question we must ask ourselves is whether His truth is evident in the lives of those of us who call Him Lord.
Do our actions and our words shout the truth of Jesus Christ or do they whisper the lies of the ruler of this world?
Do
Hear the words of the Savior. He is the Word who became flesh; He is full of grace and truth.
He is the very Word of God, who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things came into being.
In Him is life, and His life is the light of men.
RESPONSIVE READING ()
Leader: The Lord is righteous in all His ways
Congregation: And kind in all His deeds.
Leader: The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
Congregation: To all who call upon Him in truth.
Leader: He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
Congregation: He will also hear their cry and will save them.
Leader: The Lord keeps all who love Him,
Congregation: But all the wicked He will destroy.
Leader: My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
Congregation: And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
SONG
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine.
But God, who called me here below
Will be forever mine,
Will be forever mine,
You are forever mine!
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace.
You are my King,
Jesus, You are my King.
You are my King,
Jesus, You are my King.
Amazing love, how can it be
That You my King should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it’s true.
And it’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You
Amazing love, how can it be
That You my King should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it’s true.
And it’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood, His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing Grace.
Unending love, amazing Grace.
Benediction
Benediction
3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
3