Sermon Tone Analysis

“I shall be telling this with a sigh; Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

— Robert Frost

“Somewhere ages and ages hence,”… somewhere much further down the road… we will be afforded the grace of “hindsight”… the opportunity to reflect on the myriad of times we’ve met diverging paths — those forks in the road — and chose one over another… uncertain of the outcome… or the impact they will have!

Today, we stand at a fork in the road…

We’ve been given an invitation… We’ve been invited to participate in the eternal dance of the Trinity…

We’ve been invited into a Journey with Christ — the Journey of Grace!

The decision we make moving forward will have “made all the difference.”

“The way I see it, there are only two reasons people come to faith: they have some sort of crisis, or they are born into it.”

One pastor tells the story of a young woman sitting across from her at a small cafe…

They had met 7 months prior when He had moved to Chicago to take a new pastorate, and their families had become close…

This morning, the young woman had popped by the cafe they frequented to grab a quick cup of coffee and noticed her friend sitting at a table with papers scattered about… feverishly grading them for a class he taught…

The topic: “Faith in the twenty-first century”.

Noticing the topic, the woman said: “The way I see it, there are only two reasons people come to faith: they have some sort of crisis, or they are born into it.”

He paused for a minute… the statement was loaded… For his friend, a self-proclaimed atheist, religious faith was being run through two filters.

Faith was either the result some out-of-control situation in a person’s life… or it was outside their choosing.

Either way, she didn’t particularly find faith to be a compelling option for her life…

He said, “That’s really good — I think you are spot on.

Can I offer a third option?”

She nodded.

“Some people are compelled by it.

What I mean is that they see something in the lives of someone they know — something deep, rich, and beautiful.

Their lives — the way they embrace faith, God, Jesus, or whatever you want to call it — is so compelling that it makes people ask questions.

They start to pursue it solely based on the evidence of someone else’s life.”

“I hope to live that kind of life.

I hope to live a faith-filled life that is compelling enough to inspire people to ask the question, ‘So, What’s the deal with the God you trust?’”

Is that the kind of Life that you want to live?!

The Faith-filled Life is only found as we Journey with Christ!

Let me tell you:

There is NOTHING more beautiful… more handsome… more appealing to the world then the life of a believer who is COMPLETELY “sold out” for Christ!

The Christian Faith is compelling…

WHY?

Because Grace is compelling.

But… What is Grace?

Dr. David Busic lists:

God’s unmerited favor.

God’s undeserved love.

The favor given to someone who deserves the opposite.

The absolutely free expression of the love of God finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver.

God’s no-strings-attached goodness.

There is no doubt that these are all definitions of Grace that we have heard…

Dr. Busic states: “All of these definitions for grace attempt to describe those indescribable and astounding aspects of God’s loving response to undeserving humanity.

This is why we use the word ‘amazing’.”

— Dr. David Busic

Grace is an absolutely amazing thing!

This is why the Apostle Paul redefined the Greek word “charis”, which was a common word meaning “gift” or “favor,” to describe “all that God has done for us in Jesus” (Busic, 25).

The root of “charis” is “char” — “that which brings joy.”

When you consider all that Jesus has done for you… When you sing songs of worship… when you seek out His presence… what do you feel?

Grace evokes feelings of Joy and Gratitude.

Busic (quoting Yancey) goes on to say: “The underlying meaning of Grace is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less than he already does.”

Yancey states: “Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.”

Let me tell you:

“You cannot pray more, give more, serve more, or sacrifice more and cause God to say, ‘She is doing so much better.

She is finally getting herself together.

I love her more now than I ddid before.’”

(Busic 27)

You Are Loved As You Are!

Nothing depends on what you do, or how you behave…

The very first inclination of God’s heart is Love for You!

(I know someone need to hear that today!)

We need to understand… We CANNOT do anything to make God love us!

He already does!!!!

We like to talk about Justice, Mercy, and Grace in the Modern Church… and we often attempt to make them equal, or the same, but… that’s not true!

There is a difference between Justice, Mercy, and Grace…

Justice is getting what you deserve.

Mercy is not getting what you deserve.

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.

We deserve death, but… God gives us Grace!

Jesus gives us a good illustration of how this works:

Jesus presents us with a story that makes absolutely no economic sense!

It’s an unwise business practice… it’s reckless behavior… it alienates the hardest working workers, and encourages laziness....

But… It’s not about business practices… It’s about Grace!

Grace is the favor and faithfulness of God embodied in the person of Jesus… mediated by the Spirit… at work in this world to align the world to the beautifully life-giving, redemptive purposes of the Father.

And it is poured out on us through Jesus!

Grace is an invitation to step into a new journey of life… into a new perspective… a new way of seeing and experiencing the world in light of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus!

Grace is a deeply personal experience!

“Jesus invites us to a journey.

‘Come, follow me.’

It is a simple invitation to go on an adventure with a beloved friend.”

— David Busic

Faith is more than intellectual assent…

It is an invitation to a journey with Jesus!

When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

He was talking about relationship.

He was describing discipleship as relationship…

The Journey of Grace is relational to the core.

James K. A. Smith describes discipleship as “a kind of immigration, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.”

When you migrate from one country to another, you are not just changing locations… you are changing allegiances… citizenship… cultural perspectives…

Smith goes on: “In Christ we are given a heavenly passport; in his body we learn to live like ‘locals’ of His kingdom.

Such an immigration to a new kingdom isn’t just a matter of being teleported to a different realm; we need to be acclimated to a new way of life, learn a new language, acquire new habits — and unlearn the habits of the rival dominion.”

Christ teaches us those things… not because we deserve His help… because of His Grace!

Speaking of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus… Dairmaid MacCulloch said: “A person, not a system, captured [Paul] in the mysterious events on the road to Damascus.”

It was a PERSON who changed him, and that PERSON was Jesus of Nazareth!

Paul’s name change — from Saul to Paul was more than a conversion… It was an awakening!

It’s all because of Jesus!!!

Grace is ROOTED in Jesus.

It’s an invitation to step out from where we’ve been and into the story of where Jesus is leading.

Grace is an all-consuming… life-transforming… on-going invitation to let go of the all the heavy burdens and baggage we carry everyday, and to travel lightly into the Kingdom of God…

It is an invitation to step onto “the road less traveled.”

Grace Calls Us to Follow Jesus.

I want you to hear this: (Dr.