Category Archives: grace

The Nature of Grace

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A pastor I knew had just cared for the funeral of a woman who had never given God the time of day until the week before her death. There, on her death bed, she repented of her sin and placed her faith in Christ. The pastor, hoping his people would rejoice over this child that was lost and had been found, mentioned this on the following Sunday in the morning worship service.

He was surprised when a woman spoke up with: “That’s not fair.”

It’s not fair.

It’s grace.

But if you have been working hard to coax God to accept you, it’s a little exasperating when you hear of someone who finds what you’ve been looking for comes by grace.

This podcast speaks of the nature of grace, looking at the parable of the workers.

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A Powerful Thing: Grace…

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I finally made it through all 102 minutes of Babette’s Feast. I have always wanted to watch it, but the distinct lack of fast cars and powerful weaponry made it difficult for me. However, working on a short sermon series on grace, and reading Yancey’s What’s so Amazing about Grace (for the second time) I was inspired to watch the DVD.

I won’t detail the film here except to say that it communicated to me a fresh picture of my own inability to appreciate the greatness of the grace God’s given me. I would guess that my failure to grasp the depth of God’s grace is partially due to what Frederick Buechner says about all of us.

People are prepared for everything except for the fact that beyond the darkness of their blindness there is a great light. They are prepared to go on breaking their backs plowing the same old field until the cows come home without seeing, until they stub their toes on it, that there is a treasure buried in that field rich enough to buy Texas. They are prepared for a God who strikes hard bargains but not for a God who gives as much for an hour’s work as for a day’s. They are prepared for a mustard-seed kingdom of God no bigger than the eye of a newt but not for the great banyan it becomes with birds in its branches, singing Mozart. They are prepared for the potluck supper at First Presbyterian, but not for the marriage supper of the lamb…. ~Frederick Buechner as quoted by Philip Yancey in What’s so Amazing about Grace?, pp. 62-63.

Yep. That’s me. God’s grace is so much bigger than anything I could hope to produce or contribute to my own walk with him.

That’s what hits you between the eyes when you watch Babette’s Feast — not the power of a fast car or a super-weapon, but the power of grace. As the feast is prepared, the mentality of those receiving it is such that they simply want to get through this to give honor to Babette. But as they begin to enjoy the luxury of her gift, they become new inside and release old grievances, spreading the grace they are receiving.

May we all invest our lives in celebrating the power of grace.

Characteristics of Thankful People

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I thought this Thanksgiving week that it would be wise for us to take a Thanksgiving Quiz. This is not the standard Thanksgiving Quiz, with questions like, “How many turkeys can dance on the head of a pin?” Instead, the questions are more about your own heart of thankfulness.

So — let’s give it a try. There are ten T/F questions. Count every one you say “true” to:

  1. I follow Jesus’ example and give thanks for meals (John 6:11).
  2. When I sing songs to God, I am purposefully thanking him for his goodness to me.
  3. I have personally given thanks to God for his mercy in the past week (Psalm 136).
  4. I thank God for hard things that come into my life because of how he uses them to change my heart.
  5. I thank God for my church family.
  6. When I place my tithes and offerings in the plate, I am expressing my thanks to God.
  7. I thank God that I can do things for him (1 Timothy 1:12).
  8. I give thanks because I know it pleases God.
  9. When I catch myself being ungrateful, I apologize to God and thank him for his grace.
  10. I am careful not to give thanks simply with my lips, but also with heart.

How did you do? I hope you scored a ten, but whether you did well or not, it’s good to talk about being thankful. In this podcast, you discover three characteristics of thankful people.

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