At The Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin continued the series Everyday Heroes by talking about the pivotal New Testament figure of Paul. In doing so, he emphasized the crucial role that grace played in Paul's life and ministry...and should play in ours. The text of focus was 1 Timothy 1:12-16, which you can read in the New International Version via the Bible Gateway website: [link]...
God's grace to Paul...and accordingly, to us as well...was the theme to Philip's message. And how does this grace work? First, it pursues us while we are still separated from God. Then, we are saved by grace...by faith, as the pastor stressed, since we cannot earn it by ourselves, but rather only by the one who earned it for us. Once saved, grace defines us...as opposed to hubris (arrogant pride)...as we carry on God's grace from us to others. And finally Philip (and Paul) pointed out that grace calls us into service...which in turn goes back to God working through his grace to pursue us...
When exercising grace, I'm doing things differently that the good-for-good, evil-for-evil system of interactive behavior that permeates this world of ours. It matters not whether I feel wronged by another or that I did something to deserve whatever ill treatment I think I've received...the "grace reaction" covers it all. Grace is a kind of "paying forward" whereby goodwill, forgiveness, and love serve as testimonies to God's presence in our hearts. There's no doubt about it: we all could use more grace in our lives, both in terms of receiving it and giving it to others. And the source of it all is God, through Jesus Christ...
The Family Church Sunday morning sermons can be watched on their YouTube video site, which you can get to with this link: [link]. The Sunday services are at 9:30 and 11 and feature the weekly message as well as great praise music, opportunities for discipleship and learning, friendly folks...and some terrific coffee...
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