“Grace at Work: Saved to Serve” (Part 1)

From Salvation to Service Sermon Series

“Grace at Work: Saved to Serve” (Part 1)

KEY PASSAGE: Ephesians 2:4–10 (NASB)

O God, the great Creator and Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, Father of angels and men, Giver of life and Protector of all Your creatures, I pray that You accept our morning sacrifice of praise and worship. You are praised, O Lord, by all Your works, and magnified by everything which You have created. To the honor and praise of Your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we pray. Everyone says, Amen. Please be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

The worship team will lead us in song as we collect our tithes and offerings. Ushers, please pass around the offering plates so we can collect our tithes and offerings.

PRAYER FOR TITHE and OFFERING

Our Father, we offer our hearts to You by giving You our tithes and offerings, and I pray that You receive and superintend these gifts for Your glory. Amen.

WELCOME

Welcome, everyone, to our Sunday Worship Service again. Please stand up, greet the people around you, and tell them that Jesus loves them. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

📖 Wednesday Night is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us for a time of learning, fellowship, and spiritual growth as we study the Word of God! We are studying the Book of First Samuel, and this week we will focus our attention on Chapter 8. I encourage you to please read Chapter 8 and come prepared for Bible Study on Wednesday.  📅 Corporate Meeting—We meet at the church every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. for a prayer meeting. I encourage all of you to please join us during our Corporate Prayer Meeting here at the church.  🗓️ Church Monthly Leadership Meeting is 📍 Saturday, July 19 at 🕛 Noon here at the church. Due to our upcoming church move, all leaders must be present for this month’s meeting. Your voice and presence matter!

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together. Please remain standing as we pray.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let’s pray. I thank You, Father, for truth because truth transforms when our hearts are open to it. Jesus declares that the Word of God is the very essence of truth. And so, I pray that You open up our hearts to receive from You the truth, the whole truth of the Scripture, nothing but the truth, so that we can respond to You, in the name of Jesus, Amen. You may be seated.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

It was a Sunday morning, just an hour before worship service was about to start, when chaos broke out in the fellowship hall—a water pipe had burst open, flooding the carpet and threatening to shut down Sunday service. The pastor of the church hurried in, ready to pray to God for divine intervention. But before the pastor could pray, a quiet member of the congregation, named Brother Paul, stepped forward with a toolbox in his hand. He knelt beside the burst pipe, assessed the damage, and in a matter of minutes, he repaired the damaged pipe.

That morning, as the church service resumed, it was clear that grace had gone to work through a wrench, not just prayer or the Word of God. In that situation, the church did not need a sermon or prayer from the pastor—the church needed a plumber. And Brother Paul’s hands became the hands of Christ in that situation. You see, God did not save you to sit in the pew, sing in the pew, dance in the pew, clap joyfully in the pew, respond with affirmations in the pew, and listen to a bibliocentric and Christocentric sermon in the pew—God saved you to serve.

And so, as prepare to transition into our new church home in the coming weeks and days, I would like to take some time to speak with you about your place of service in the kingdom of God. This is more than a move—it is a moment for you to reflect on how you can use your gifts and talents to glorify God in this new season. Our six-part sermon series starting today is called “From Salvation to Service.”

SERMON EXPOSITION 1

Last week, we concluded our sermon series, “Returning to the Cross,” by reminding you that God’s goal is to conform you to the image of Christ. That is God’s goal for every believer. If you want to sum up all of your life into one line, it is Romans 8:29, “… that you might be conformed to the image of Christ.” And if Romans 8:29 becomes true of your priority, then Romans 8:28 will become relevant in your experience. “For God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.” Far too many Christians today want to skip Romans 8:28 and also want to skip Romans 8:29.

And you cannot have the … blessed experience of seeing God stitch together the unrelated aspects of your life, that is Romans 8:28, unless you are fulfilling His purpose found in Romans 8:29, which is to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. [Watch This] God didn’t take you to heaven the moment you were redeemed—saved from sin by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the Cross—because your redemption wasn’t the end of your story. Redemption was the beginning of your assignment. And the reason you are still here is that Heaven has entrusted you with a mission on Earth. There is something specific, something sacred, that God wants you to do. Your very breath is proof that grace is still working and that you have been saved to serve.

To understand this truth, please open your Bible to Ephesians chapter 2, beginning with verse 4 through verse 9, which explains that you and I were saved by grace. Grace means the favor and kindness of God. Grace means that God does it all for the sake of Jesus. Grace is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself. Grace is the goodness of God freely bestowed on you. You don’t have to repay it, you can’t earn it, and you can’t make it without grace.

Paul says when we could not help ourselves in the first three verses, and then he comes to verse 4, and he says, “but God.” In verse 5, he says God quickened us, made us alive. In verse 6, he says God “raised us.” If you are a redeemed person today, if you have trusted Christ as your Savior, it is your experience of being loved by God, quickened by God, and resurrected and raised by God.

And when He raised you, verse 6 says, He also seated you. He seated you in a place called the heavenly places. Verse 6 says you are seated in Heavenly places, and that word means the spiritual realm. [Watch This] To be seated in Heavenly places means that while you are living on Earth, you are seated in heaven, your new reference point now is the spiritual realm. [“Your new spiritual compass now is the spiritual realm.”] [“Your new point of alignment now is the spiritual realm.”[Your new frame of reference now is the spiritual realm.”]

📡 SERMON ILLUSTRATION: “Seated in Spirit, Not Just in Flesh”

Your reference point is the spiritual realm. It is like taking part in a live teleconference. You are sitting at a desk in Cleveland, Ohio, but you are fully engaged in a live meeting [live teleconference] happening in New York City. Your body, soul, and spirit remain in Cleveland; your interaction, and voice are fully present in New York City. That is the picture Paul paints for us in Ephesians 2:6—God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Though our feet touch Earth, our citizenship, authority, and spiritual position are rooted in Heaven. It is not fantasy—it is reality, by faith in Christ Jesus. God wants you to understand that your identity is not based on where you stand, but on where you are seated. Paul says, we are seated in heavenly places.

SERMON EXPOSITION 2

To be seated in heavenly places means that it is your place of resting, that is your reference point, that is the starting place for every thought that you think, every decision that you make, and every orientation that you have. You work from the spiritual to the physical. But when you don’t have that perspective, it is the opposite – you work from the physical and don’t even get to the spiritual.

With that as a reference point, Paul wants you to know that this is just the beginning. Verse 7 says, “So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” That is a gracious way of saying God is just getting started. When you transition from time to eternity, you will spend the next one hundred quad-zillion years, which will only be the first second of eternity. One hundred quad-zillion of our years equals the first second of eternity in experiencing all that God has planned for you and me.

And all of this happened by grace. Verses 8 and 9 say,  “For by grace have you been saved through faith, it is not of yourself, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast”. In other words, God says there will be no peacocks in heaven. There is no room for pride, self-importance, or self-glorification in God’s kingdom because you are saved by grace, not by works. You can’t earn your salvation. You can’t work for your salvation. If you are here today and you are still trying your best to make heaven your home through good deeds [good works] and going to church every Sunday and keeping the Ten Commandments, then you have not understood the good news. The good news is that you cannot earn grace.

SERMON EXPOSITION 3

God’s holiness is so pure, so perfect, that even on your most righteous day, on your best day, you fall short of God’s standard. Romans 3:23 says,  “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And so, you may be taller than your neighbor or the person sitting next to you, but you are still too short for God. God is too high, and God is too Holy for us on our best days. God has come up with a way to give away salvation. God will give salvation away to every man, every woman, every boy, and every girl who comes to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. Our salvation is based on God’s grace and not on good works.

Now that we have established this point, we will focus on the one verse for the rest of our time, and that is verse 10. Paul says, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” From verses 4 through 7, and again in verse 9, Paul makes it clear—your good works cannot save you. You cannot earn your way to heaven.  But then, in verse 10, after emphasizing that salvation is not by works, Paul made a profound statement: once you are saved, you are saved for works. Many people have it wrong. They are trying to earn their way to make themselves adequate to God, but it is impossible. Verse 10 says God saved you by grace because He has something for you to do.

God says that you are saved by grace, and for the rest of your life on earth, I want you to submit yourself to my purpose, to my pleasure, and my goals. I have work for you to do. Far too many believers today live unfulfilled, weary, and unhappy lives—not because God has failed them, but because they have never stepped into the work by faith He saved them to do. We have missed the foundational purpose of our salvation: that we were redeemed to become God’s workmanship, crafted for the good works God prepared for us in advance.

That is a picturesque word in the Greek text. The word workmanship means masterpiece, or work of art. Workmanship evokes the image of an artist or writer crafting something sophisticated, something elegant out of nothing. Paul says, “We are God’s workmanship.” When it comes to your salvation, God is crafting something. And the something [Watch This] God is crafting is a piece of art. We were created to do good works. God saves man for good works, not by good works.

SERMON STORY 1

When we look at a painting today and recognize it as Michelangelo’s painting, we say, ‘Ah, that’s his work’—because what he created reflects his craftsmanship. One day, Michelangelo, renowned for his extraordinary talent in painting, sculpture, and architecture, came across a block of marble. As he looked at this square block of marble, he said, “I see an angel in the marble waiting to get out.” God is crafting in your life something magnificent, something beautiful, something extraordinary, and something that you have never experienced before.

SERMON APPLICATION 1

God is crafting out of your life something you never imagined you could become. You are God’s workmanship—His masterpiece in progress. And sometimes it is gentle and smooth, but other times it is difficult and painful because divine transformation often requires refinement. Every pain and hurt along the way is part of God's intentional design to shape you for His glory.

God is up to something with you, and He is crafting and creating something He can use for His service. You are; I am God’s workmanship. God is the One who decides what He wants you to be.

Far too many Christians are trying to get God to turn them into what they want to be, rather than saying to God You have the total freedom to turn me into what you want me to be, because God is the painter and we are the canvas. The canvas does not dictate to the painter; the painter dictates to the canvas. But today, we have canvases that want to tell the painter what to do.

SERMON EXPOSITION 3

2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 says this; Paul is writing to his son in the ministry, and he wants Timothy to know about God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, because you don’t get saved by works, but according to, watch this, His purpose and grace which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. God saved you for His purpose. And God is not interested in blessing your purpose. God consistently calls His people to align their plans with His will, and not the other way around. Jesus told His disciples in John chapter 4, verse 34, “I have come to do my Father’s will.”

Jesus says, I am perfect, but it is not about Me. It is about Me pleasing my Father. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. When you become a Christian, you are created in Christ Jesus. You are now in Christ. Christ is your new reference point. You are being recreated for good works. Good works do not save you; verses 8 and 9 make it clear that you are saved not by works, but for good works. You are not saved to do good things. You are saved for good works.

Anybody can do a good thing. You don’t have to be saved to do a good thing. Sinners do good things. Sinners build hospitals. Sinners help the poor people. Pagan and Atheist do good things because a good thing is a good thing. YBill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, MacKenzie Scott, Michael Bloomberg, and Andrew Carnegie do good things through their philanthropic work. You don’t have to be a Christian to help an old lady across the street. You don’t have to be a Christian to help a blind person, to help someone who is sick. Paul says only people who are created in Christ Jesus can do good works.

A good work is a God prescribed action that benefits another in such a way that God is glorified. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine that men will see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” And so, good work is something that benefits the body of Christ. Good work benefits the family of God, and it brings attention to God. Good work brings all the glory to God.

SERMON APPLICATION 2

If there is one foundational truth I want to leave stamped on your heart from this sermon series, it is this: we have been saved by grace, …not to remain passive within the pews……not to be stationary in the sanctuary……not to warm a seat in the church……not to retreat into spiritual complacency…not to exist in the fellowship without engaging in the mission… but to walk in the good works God has prepared for you.

SERMON EXPOSITION 4

The second part of verse 10 says, “Which He hath created [prepared] beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The purpose of God for your life has already been designed. You don’t have to come up with God’s purpose for your life. Before you were born, God had a purpose for your life once you became a child of God. Why is it that so many believers never step into the work God has called them to do? Because they are not focused on the work that God has created, and the problem is that they are focused on the work they are attempting to create. Here is the good news: God has designed a specific path for you, and He delights in fulfilling it through your life. When God gets your undivided attention, He will make known the ministry you are called to fulfill—and the precise season and time in which He intends you to walk in it.

Turn to Philippians chapter 2, which is right after Ephesians. He says, in Philippians 2 verse 12, “So then my beloved just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you both to desire and to work for” what, “His good pleasure.” Paul says, “You must work out your [own] salvation.” This means you cannot work out my salvation, and I cannot work out your salvation for you, because what God has planned for you is not what He has planned for me.

He says you must work out your salvation in fear and trembling. Fear and trembling mean this is serious business. He says, “For it is God who works inside of you both to will and to do His good pleasure.” What is good pleasure? It is God’s good pleasure in the spiritual realm. He says when you become focused on God’s good pleasure, He is at work in you both to will, that is to desire and to work; that is the ability to pull off whatever God wants you to do. You must become consumed with God’s good pleasure. And so, from today, your prayer life should change.

Your prayer should be: “Lord, what do you want me to do for You?” It is no longer about pursuing my personal preferences—it is about surrendering to God’s purpose for your life. The cry of your heart must repeat, ‘Not my will, but Yours be done—accomplish Your good pleasure in me for Your glory.’ That is your new passion. That is your holy ambition.

SERMON APPLICATION 3

If you get saved at age twenty and die at sixty years old, that is forty years of God-ordained purpose over your life. And so, the question on the floor is, and I think this is a fair question, in those forty years, did you fulfill the assignment God placed you on Earth to complete? God saved you to be His workmanship; God saved you to be His masterpiece.

SERMON EXPOSITION 5

He goes with a closing line in verse 10 of Ephesians 2: “… which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” “We should what? – Walk in them.” God has already created the ministry that He wants you to do, and everybody in here today is a minister. You may not be an ordained minister like a pastor in the traditional clergy way of thinking, but if you are saved by grace, God saved you to minister. Ministry is not reserved for the ordained pastor only—ministry is the calling of every believer. This is not rocket science. If God saved you to minister and you are ministering, you are a minister. And the worst thing a minister can do is not be in ministry.

That is why Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He says Don’t tell me there is something I can’t do if God wants me to do it. Many of us want to do the big thing when we are unwilling to do the little things. And God will always test you for the big thing through the little thing. Far too often, we are praying for a mighty blessing from God, but we are overlooking the small acts of obedience God has already placed before us. And if God can’t get you to do little acts of good works, why should God entrust you with greater opportunities for good works? God will never, ever bless a prideful spirit if you are not humble enough to serve the least, whether in a church ministry, where you can bless others. That is why you don’t promote people to be leaders who have never demonstrated themselves to be servants.

Do you know what verse 10 means in closing? It means you are mighty valuable to God. God called you in verse 10, His masterpiece! I don’t know what your mama thought about you, I don’t know what your daddy thought about you, I don’t know what your brothers and sisters thought about you, I don’t know what your “homeboy” or “homegirl” thought about you, but God says you are a masterpiece. You are God’s masterpiece in the making, and you say I don’t see it. You don’t see it, and the reason why you don’t see it is because you are not looking at God’s good pleasure.

God didn’t just save you to come to church every Sunday and sit in the pew—He saved you to serve. The Apostle Peter’s mother was dying, Jesus Christ healed her instantaneously, and the Bible says in [Matthew 8:14-15], ‘and when she saw that she was healed, she got up and served Jesus.’ Far too many believers have become so accustomed to the Cross that they have forgotten its cost. Redemption, salvation, justification, and sanctification demand a response.

Jesus paid it all. All to Him, I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow. He paid for you and me on the Cross. Jesus shed His blood and paid for you, so the last thing He wants to hear from you, having paid that expensive price for you on the Cross, , is that you are not serving in the church. That is the last thing Jesus wants to hear from you, having paid that high price for you and me on the Cross. When somebody pays that much, the product is supposed to work. So what happens when it is clear you are a defective Christian because Jesus paid for you, but you are not serving the reason He paid for you by dying on the Cross?

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION, and ALTAR CALL

It would be helpful for me to close this sermon with a personal inventory—something to carry with you beyond the sanctuary. And I pray that this reflection guides your heart as you walk with the Lord throughout Christian life. Which of these four works are you experiencing today? Is sin working against you because you have not yet trusted in Christ Jesus? If your answer to that question is yes, I challenge you to trust Jesus! Have you experienced God's work for you, in you, and through you?

Are you wearing the “graveclothes” or the “grace clothes”? Are you enjoying the freedom you have in Christ Jesus, or are you still bound by your old life in the graveyard of sin? As a Christian, you have been raised and seated on the throne with Christ Jesus. My challenge to you is to practice your position in Christ, because He has worked for you. Now, let Christ work in and through you so that He can give you an exciting, creative, extraordinary, and fulfilling life to the glory of God. May God bless you!

If you are here today and don’t know Jesus, I want you to come forward so I can pray for you and lead you to Christ. If you need prayer, please come forward so we can pray for you. Let’s stand on our feet and give God some praise because we have been saved to do good works.

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Let’s pray together. Father God, through the grace of Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed, not for rest, but for service. May the Holy Spirit stir every heart with conviction, awakening those called to serve in diverse capacities for the glory of God. Now, be gracious to all of us, cause us to have that God-given conviction that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life are true. And having that conviction, if anyone here today who does not know Jesus, I pray that they receive the gift of life in Jesus. For those of us who already know You and love You, we praise You and thank You for the life we already enjoy, because of Jesus Christ. We pray in His great name. And everyone says. Amen.

God bless you. We look forward to seeing you next week at 10:30 a.m.