Category Archives: sermon podcasts

The Need for Grace

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Some of the most emotionally healthy people I know are by no means perfect. And they do not live in a perfect world. They are people who are imperfect, who know they are, and who have found grace in Christ so they can move past their own failings — so they can forgive themselves and let Christ change their hearts. And they live among people who are imperfect. So they show those people the same grace they have received.

In contrast to this, some of the least emotionally stable people I know are those who beat themselves over the head for their failings because they cannot accept the grace God offers them. And they don’t pass such grace on to others — but instead they hold grudges, remember offenses, and keep accounts of grievances.

They live by one of two errant equations:

If I am perfect, then I will be emotionally healthy. 

That’s just plain wrong. Since you can’t be perfect, you’ll never be emotionally healthy as long as you hold to that paradigm.

If the people around me were perfect, then I would be emotionally healthy.

Wrong again.

You’ll never find a perfect family, a perfect workplace, a perfect church, or a perfect neighborhood. Those equations are just false.

This sermon speaks to the universal need we have for grace — the need both to receive and to give out grace.

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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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What does it mean to be a Christ-Follower?

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What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Does it demand things of us?

The Bible clearly teaches that it costs nothing to have your sins forgiven. Jesus paid it all. He took all the punishment as he hung on the cross. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Forgiveness, regeneration, justification — these are free gifts from God through Christ. But the idea of following Jesus without there being a cost in doing so is completely alien to biblical teaching. The New Testament church would have considered such a concept as nonsense. So would Christ-followers in places like Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, or Iran.

This podcast speaks about the meaning of discipleship — the reality of being a Christ-follower.

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