My Partnership with Grace I
1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
· I do not deserve Grace because I….
o We can all fill in this blank with old and new things. Right?
o I do not deserve because I did this or that… and because I did not do this or that…
· But by the grace of God I am what I am (an Apostle)
· BIG BUT! How many of you are glad that that word is there? (Have you seen the movie Shrek? Donkey sings a song at the end of the movie remember? (I like big Buts and I cannot lie…)
o The enemy the devil has twisted this to mean today “By the grace of God I can get what I want”
o What I am, not who I am!
§ Is there a Difference?
· What I am is a child of God, called to be a Minister, who I am is Jerry Lillard
· Grace guides us to be a “what” you are already a “who”
· Grace has already been given through Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9) to become someone.
o By the Jesus Christ we have been made the righteousness of God, we have been adopted into his family, made the Children of God.
o Now we can receive the Grace of God to become something and to do something for him.
o Grace makes me what I am
§ Can you or I say today, what I am today is because of the Grace of God. What I am right now is what God has done. It is all his doing?
· Remember it’s not who I am it is WHAT I am.
o Can I say my laziness is from God, my bad temper is from God, my fear is from God….of course not, this is my doing.
· his grace to me was not without effect.
o Can his grace be without effect? Yes, if we do not partner with Grace for God’s purposes.
§ In other words, “As I partnership with his Grace”
o No, I worked harder than all of them—
o yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
o Grace guides my life in a certain direction, in a path, into a lifestyle, into obedience.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. NIV
· It teaches us to say “No”
· If you will live for God in Prague you will have to allow the grace of God to guide you, to teach you to say NO.
o ungodliness and
o worldly passions, and
o to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age
o while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ
· We have lived here for going on 11 years and this is not an easy city to live in and serve God. This city has unclean spirits living here, worldly, new age, and many more. There will; be the temptation to forget God, live in compromise and some of the BIG ones are you will be tempted and attacked by some of the most negative and complaining spirits around.
1 Peter 4: Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2 As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. NIV
Saying No is the harder way, the world is teaching us to say yes to anything that makes us feel good.
· Grace teaches me to say YES to God.
o Lets become the people of God that say yes to our God given destiny. To be what he needs us to be. To fulfill the purpose that he created us for. You may not be called to be an Apostle, maybe you are, but you are called to be something for God.
o Prayer:
§ For those that know they are not fully walking in the grace that God has given.
§ For those that have said too often yes to the world instead of NO!
§ For those that want to get back on course with God’s plan for your life.