November 2014

But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”   Romans 5:20, HCSB 
Grace – it’s a word thrown around a lot in Bible Study and Worship.  We read about it.  We talk about it.  We sing about it.  And, we pray for it.  But, do we really appreciate what “it” is?  Max Lucado says, “Grace is God’s best idea.  His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly – what rivals it?”   
Preachers everywhere tell their congregations of the “unmerited favor” which is completely and totally a free gift of a loving God to his rebellious children.  An old hymn that we don’t sing nearly enough tells us about,  
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.  Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse with- in; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Do you have this grace?  This wonderful, transforming, reviving, revitalizing passion that is the direct result of Jesus Christ’s living in you?  Just let that sink in for a minute:  if you trust Him as your Savior, Jesus Christ lives in you!!  You are a repository of the greatest gift ever conceived by the mind of God.  Each one of us carries within us the antidote for sin, guilt, shame, heartbreak, loneliness, brokenness, and defeat.  It’s the “marvelous grace of our loving Lord”!  Luther said, “Should anyone knock at my heart and say, ‘Who lives here?’  I should reply, ‘Not Martin Luther, but the Lord Jesus Christ.’”  Is this the grace you have? 

 
Starting this month in our Worship time together, we will begin looking at this most exciting and precious of gift – the grace that enables our salvation.  If you have it, and you’re like me, you need to learn more about it – what it really is, what it cost, and what it can do.  If you don’t have it, you need to hear about the God that loved you so much that, before the world was created, He knew about your sin and arrogance and disobedience – and He loved you anyway.  You need to know that His decision to sacrifice His Son on the cross at Calvary was for no reason other than to cover you with this grace, forgive you of your sin, and bring you back to Him.  And, you need to know that grace was what caused Jesus Christ to pick up your sin, and mine, and say, “You cannot possibly pay the debt for this – but, I can.  And, I will, because I love you.” 
So, please plan to be here on Sunday mornings at 11:00, when we’ll take a deeper, closer look at the indescribable love of our Father, as evidenced through grace:  “Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, Freely bestowed on all who believe; All who are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive?  Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will par- don and cleanse with-in; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.” 
In His Love, 
Bro. Heath

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