Grace for Today - Applied

Welcome

Welcome visitors, Veterans Day, Testimonies, Praise, Corporate Prayer

Opening

Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, “How great thou art, how great thou art.” Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, “How great thou art, how great thou art.”

This well known hymn, second only to “Amazing Grace,” which has been covered by so many artists including Elvis Presley and Carrie Underwood, did not start out as a song at all. In 1885, a Swedish editor and future politician, Carl Boberg was walking home when an approaching thunderstorm sent him running for shelter.

After the storm cleared and Boberg was home, he was deeply stirred by the juxtaposition of the roaring thunderstorm and the tranquility which followed as he sat looking out the open window of his countryside home. The sky had cleared, with parting clouds now backlit by the multi-jeweled hues of the setting sun. Thrushes and finches sang joyfully in the nearby brush, and the knell of church bells resonated in the distance.

It’s there at his kitchen table that the story of, “How Great Thou Art”, began as a poem titled, “O Store Gud,” which translates to “O Mighty God.” It was published in a local newspaper, and put to the tune of a long forgotten Swedish folk song. Over the years, it was picked up and translated through several languages and iterations including German and Russian. Eventually, a British-American theologian and evangelist, J. Edwin Orr heard the English version being sung by a Naga choir from the state of Assam in north-eastern India.

Orr brought the song to America where it was yet unknown, and had it performed at a conference for college students where he was speaking. In attendance that fateful day were the children of Tim Spencer, a singing cowboy and actor who sang in the Sons of the Pioneers alongside Bob Nolan and Roy Rogers. It was 1954, almost 70 years since Carl Boberg penned “O Mighty God.” At that time, Spencer owned Mana Music, inc. and he quickly arranged to buy the rights to the song.

Doing what all good publishers do, Mana Music publilshed “How Great Thou Art,” and got it into the hands of, George Beverly Shea, a famous soloist in Billy Graham’s traveling crusade. The song quickly became the evangelists signature song, and it was heard across the country on live radio, in stadiums filled with people, and during nationally televised events like the 1957 Madison Square Garden Crusade. The rest, as they say, is history.

God’s grace is amazing. Not only is it received in abundance at the moment of our salvation, but it’s activated within us during difficult times, and it overflows from us to bless others. God’s grace is meant to be shared. When we acknowledge, with awe and wonder, the amazing grace of God… That’s how a contemplative moment after a thunderstorm in the Swedish country-side ends up lighting a fire in the heart of an evangelist to ignite a world-wide revival.

Pray

Intro

We’ve been talking about Grace these last three weeks. God lavishes us with His grace in abundance, not because we deserve it, but because His love determined it on the cross. Grace is undeserved and unearned, but the flow of God’s grace never stops springing forth it’s benefits upon humanity. We read in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that, “God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” (NASB)

This is the third and final message in our series “Grace for Today.” We’ve learned so much about God’s grace and how it’s received, activated and applied. These are not the only ways, mind you, I simply chose three main ones for each message. God’s grace is received through His favor, His presence, and by our faith; it’s activated through obedience, humility, and perseverance; and today we’re going to explore how to apply God’s grace in the world around us, through creativity, generosity, and ministry. God expects us to share the abundance of His amazing grace with others.

Creativity

The first application of God’s abounding grace for today is the easiest to recognize, but often the most overlooked by today’s contemporary Christian. Creativity, the manifestation of God’s artistic nature through song, dance, the visual and musical arts. Sadly, we often treat these expressions as periphery rather than central to our faith. We see it as “extra,” but if we look at scripture, it’s easy to see that creativity was God’s first and foremost expression of His grace, right?

In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Before God did anything else… He created. Then, 26 verses later, He says, “Let us make mankind in our image, and in our likeness...” Because of this, we see that we were created to mirror His beauty and imagination. God is the original artist, and we are His handiwork, created to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10)

In the old testament, when God commissions the Israelites to fashion the tabernacle from the finest materials, we read about a man named Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. Exodus 35:31 says that “[The Lord] has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—” This is the first account of God filling someone with the Spirit! The first expression of God’s Spirit filling a man was through works of creativity!

How about David? When the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, an evil spirit was sent to torment him for his disobedience. We read in 1 Samuel 16:23 that “whenever the [tormenting] spirit came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” One of the ways we can apply God’s abundant, overflowing grace is through good works of worshipful creativity. This kind of artistic expression in tune with God’s Holy Spirit can even cast out evil spirits!

The body of Christ needs creative worshipers, we need the artistic expressions to fully communicate the Kingdom to the world. Sermons won’t reach everyone all the time; but a story, a song, or a dance as a manifestation of God’s grace… can open a door to someone’s heart that a sermon alone simply can’t. Just as Carl Boburg’s little poem he wrote in 1885 opened hearts of 350,000 people during the Los Angeles Crusade 64 years later, beauty builds the Kingdom in ways religion never could.

Generosity

The second application of God’s overflowing grace for today that we’re going to talk about is generosity. The word for generosity is rooted in grace according to the Hebrew, hanan which means to show mercy, show favor, or to be gracious. Generosity signifies open-handedness and the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly.

This, too, is a reflection of God’s image, and His unmerited, unlimited, unearned, and undeserved grace. At it’s core, generosity is the willingness to give without coercion, rooted in gratitude to God who pours out good things upon His children. It’s a foundational concept of being a follower of Christ because He also did not withhold His goodness in laying down His life for us. Jesus didn’t withhold anything from anyone - even the worst of sinners, and he encouraged his disciples to share in everything.

Because we have received this great grace, we are able to live our lives from that place of abundance rather than seeking more for ourselves as the world does. We live our lives to give rather than to receive, and we give from love, rather than for it. The grace of God not only enables us to be materially generous, but to be generous in our time, energy and resources. It enables us to be generous with forgiveness and in sharing the good news of the gospel.

In Matthew 5:38–42 Jesus said, “You have heard, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

He is not just instructing us to be generous and charitable with our money and resources, but to be generous with our forgiveness and to be generous with our grace. This demonstrates a lifestyle that is not looking to gain but to give. In every situation, even when we are being treated unjustly, we need to think to ourselves, “How can God use me for good in this situation?” As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:33, “For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”

We have learned that we have access to unlimited grace for good works, remember, “all grace, all sufficiency, and always abundance for every good deed?” (1 Cor. 9:8) We already have it, how can we apply it? The truth is, since God’s grace is ever-flowing to us from heaven, we should never stop applying it here on earth. We should be an open tap, a well-spring of grace in every situation.

Grace should be our default mode of operation. Not something we have to share, but something we can’t stop sharing! True generosity is expressed cheerfully, as “God loves a cheerful giver.” This applies to both material and spiritual liberality as Jesus said in Matthew 10:8 “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

Ministry

The third and final way to apply God’s grace I’d like to talk about today is ministry. Again, there are not only three ways to apply grace… but they’re a good start, and each application has a variety of expressions to explore in your own life. This one in particular is going to leave a lot to be unpacked later.

In its broadest sense, ministry refers to service rendered to God or to people. I picked up the book Keeping Christ in Ministry by Dr. John Harbison which defines ministry as “the release of God’s grace to His people, through which they participate in Christ’s purpose for His church.” Ministry is not a job or a vocation, it’s an expression of God’s grace, a free flow of divine grace through people to others.

The book goes on to illustrate how your individualized passions, personality, and spiritual gift mix enables you to participate in Jesus’ ministry in a unique way. There is no one earth quite like you, and there never will be another you like you ever again. This is why Apostolic ministry is so important. Even though the mission and the message of Jesus never changes, the Kingdom is expanding geographically and generationally. The people who are alive today, have never been alive before. “Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.”

Each individual member of the body has a unique purpose for building God’s church and a hand-picked position in the Kingdom. Ephesians 4:11–12 tells us that “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” Ministry doesn’t stop with the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Christ gave those five gifts to… what? to equip his people for their works of service.

Ministry is not limited to professional clergy. Grace calls all Christians to be apply His grace to those around them as ministers of the gospel. This is no passive calling. There’s no such thing as spectator Christianity! God’s grace actively enlists and empowers believers, engaging them, calling them, and developing them for ministry.

Every member of the body is needed, every unique gift mix is needed, your individual passion, your distinctive personality is vital to building the body of Christ. We need God’s grace to be received, activated, and applied in every person! If you’re not here, the body is incomplete, if you’re not enlisted, empowered, or engaged to build the kingdom there’s important work that’s not getting done.

Let’s see if you’re paying attention, raise your hand if you’re called to ministry… turn to your neighbor and say, “Guess what? You’re called to ministry”

God wants us to know our different gifts and to contribute them generously to the Kingdom. Romans 12:6–8 says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Having different gifts doesn’t just mean you have this one, I have that one. Gifts are multi-faceted and multi-purposed. You have a particular mix of gifts that are unique to you, and you have God’s grace to apply them. Ministry, in every aspect, is a result of the overflowing application of God’s grace to those around us. Whether you are praying for a loved one, sharing the gospel with a friend, or getting to know someone in your small group - you are applying the grace you have received to the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Summary

As I close, I want to caution you about the number one obstacle to applying grace. It isn’t a lack of resources, gifts, or creativity - you have an abundance of all of them through God’s all sufficient grace. The number one obstacle in extending grace to others is bitterness. Bitterness is usually rooted in some sort of offense. Something somebody did or didn’t do that causes you to withhold grace.

There is one scripture in Hebrews that cautions us about offense, saying “make every effort to live in peace with everyone.” Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” We know that God’s grace doesn’t fall short, but it’s we who fall short of applying that grace.

I’ll forgive him up to this point… that’s falling short. I’ll give them another chance if they… that’s falling short. The bitter root which includes envy, idolatry, and offense is a poison to the river of grace. If it causes you to withhold grace… that’s falling short. Bitterness will close the door on creativity, generosity and ministry too. But it’s not easy to find grace in every situation, so what do we do?

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” If you find yourself falling short of the grace of God, simply ask. Ask Him not for more grace - we have all we need, but ask Him to show us how to find it in us. What needs to change in me so that I can apply grace in this situation.

Remember that there is something good in you that God has the grace to bring out of you to apply to this situation - no matter how difficult it is. Ask Him, how can you use me in this situation? How can I show grace to this person? What is in me that God is using this situation to reveal? If everyone did this before getting offended, there would be a whole lot less division in the body of Christ.

In your small groups this week, I’d like you to discuss the three applications of grace we talked about today; creativity, generosity, and ministry. How do you see God’s grace for you flowing through each of them? Where do you need to shift your mindset from lack to abundance?

Also, if you don’t know your particular gift mix, there are several online assessments you can take. Our new members are all directed to giftstest.com which is a free site with a brief by thorough multiple choice survey you can take. The results are private, but please consider sharing them with your small groups this week!

Pray

Lord, thank you for your all sufficient grace! Thank you that you have extended undeserved grace to each of us without our needing to earn it. Help us to remember your grace is available to us at all times in every situation. Use us in difficult situations, Lord. Help us to extend grace even when we’ve been wronged. Give us moments of sabbath rest this week where we can simply enjoy your beautiful creation, perhaps even create something ourselves. Strengthen our calling this week, Lord and may we offer service that pleases you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The intercessors are available to pray with you this morning for grace, for healing, for salvation and intercession for loved ones. The elders and I are also available to pray with you, just ask.

We also lift the tithes and offerings to the Lord this morning. We have a supernatural opportunity each week to demonstrate our faith in the Lord of all by giving a tithe of all our income to the ministry of the church.

Lord, we thank you for every blessing we have in our lives. We believe according to your word that as we give, it will be given to us. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over it will be given. We bless these tithes and offerings, setting them aside as holy unto you. We present them to you with joyful hearts, may they be pleasing to you and bring glory to your name. Amen.

There are three ways to give, digitally, in the basket at the altar, or the box in the vestibule. Those of you who are here for the first time today, just drop that contact card you filled out into one of the offerings - this service was our gift to you and we hope you’ll be back soon.

Finally, we also bless the elements of our Communion with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God our father for the bread, and to His Son who broke it for us. This is Jesus’ body, given for you - do this in remembrance of Him. We also bless the juice, giving thanks for the blood of the new covenant which was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins, as we drink it, we remember His all-sufficient grace.

By His blood we are forgiven, and by His stripes we are healed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Come to the table, pray, eat, drink and may “grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”