Encountering God's Grace

MY Story: Speeding and getting Caught

Trouble?

Have you ever been in a situation where you really knew you were in trouble? I mean, you got busted. You got rolled. And you knew you were guilty?

Ya, I’ve had a few times like that. (story of street racing).

Parents have a way of finding out though.

Turns out someone elses parents, called my parents.

Feeling: “Shoot, I’ve done wrong. I’m guilty. I’m caught.”

Grace is when you are given something better than you deserve, by another person.

2 Levels of Grace: Cop

No Ticket:

Grace might be when you get pulled over by a cop for driving too fast, and he could have given you a ticket, it would have been fair and just; but instead he leaves you with a warning. The cop in that instance showed you grace. I personally don’t seem to get that lucky when I’ve gotten pulled over, but I’ve heard many stories from friends who have.

For a cop to let you off the hook for speeding is one thing, but it honestly doesn’t cost him all that much.

Pays the Ticket

I want you to imagine for a moment that the cop did write you a ticket. Once again, that would be fair and just. Let’s say you, as a broke college student, didn’t have the money to pay the fine. So, you went to court to plead with the judge to take away your fine. The cop who gave you the ticket is there in court too.

The judge says, “young person, you are guilty, the fine must be paid. You can pay at the booth down the hall.” You don’t know what you are going to do, you don’t have the money to pay it.

But the same cop who gave you a ticket walks across the courtroom and says, “come with me. He then walks you down the hall to the payment booth, pulls out his checkbook, and pays the fine for you. Now that’s a whole new level of grace.

God’s grace is more like this. It is sacrificial grace.

We must Receive God’s Grace through faith in Jesus

We have all sinned

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

“…but I’m generally a good person.” by what standard?

The good person test:

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever had hatred towards someone?

Have you ever coveted something that someone else had?

Have you ever taken the Lords name in vain?

Have you ever looked at someone with lust?

Have you ever disrespected your parents?

Sin leaves us unsatisfied, trapped and Seperated from God:

Broken relationship in this life

Eternal separation from him in the next, in hell.

Brandon Flowers:

As a 19 year old, Brandon Flowers, lead singer of the The Killers, became a rock-star. His first album was a hit, allowing him to skip the typical hardships of trying to make it as a musician, and he began to play stages all over London. He worried that if he didn’t adopt the Rock and Roll lifestyle of “sex, drugs and rock and roll” he would be left behind as a musician. Brandon quickly fell victim to this lifestyle. And they made it really far as a band winning MTV awards, UK festival awards and has been nominated for 5 grammy awards.

Although sin may have given him short term pleasure, it ultimately let him down.

In the Killers more recent years, Brandon expresses in the song “Fire in Bone” how he felt.

“I felt cast out… I felt darkenss, I felt no good, I felt low down, I felt alone, I felt unknown, I felt fire in bone… I felt big-time, I felt ‘major leage,’ I felt wierd sin, I felt ripped off, run down, empty, unseen…”

The Only Solution: Jesus’ Death on the Cross

We receive God’s Grace as a free gift, through faith.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

It’s like the cop who paid for my ticket.

God became man. Jesus Christ

He lived a perfect life without sin.

He died in your place on a cross.

He rose again.

To encounter God’s grace, is to receive the grace that Jesus offers you for your sin.

You must Admit your sin though.

You must believe that Jesus really did die for you.

You must commit to follow Jesus.

This is the secret to life. It is the key to being free from anxiety. It is the key to your purpose in life.

Who Would Want a Sinner like You?

No matter who you are, or what you have done, Jesus died for you and offers you his grace.

Jesus wants a sinner like you.

The Grace of Jesus

I want to show you a classic video that illustrates the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It is meant to show how He pursues a personal relationship with us, even though we have gone after other things.

Everything Skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VGwVtYxEy8

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You don’t need to be perfect before coming to Jesus.

And all we need to to do is repent and believe in Jesus, thus receiving the gift of eternal life.

John 1:12 NIV

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

Are you ready to encounter God’s Grace?

The A.B.C.’s of receiving God’s grace are simple:

Admit: That you are a sinner and in need of Jesus as your Savior.

Admit

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Believe: Believe that Jesus died on the cross, paying the penalty for your sin, and rose again on the third day.

Believe

John 3:18 ESV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Commit: Give your life to Jesus as Lord of your life. That means he calls the shots now.

Commit

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

God offers you his complete grace, 100% forgiveness of sins.

If you are ready to receive God’s grace and commit your life to Christ, I am going to give you an opportunity to do that right now. I am going to pray a sample prayer, and you can repeat it after me. You can do this whether it is your first time ever receiving Christ, or if you know you need to recommit your life to Christ.

“Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner.”

“I have broken your law”

“I have loved other things more than you.”

“Please forgive me of my sin.”

“I believe that you died on the cross for my sin.”

“…and came back to life on the third day.”

“Thank you for saving me!”

“I commit my life to you.”

“From this day forward.”

“Use my life for your glory.”

“In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

Connection Card: We want to know if you made that decision tonight. So we have an easy way to let us know, it’s called a connection card. Whether you prayed that tonight or not, we want to hear from you where you are at in your faith so we can help you take your next step.

“I committed my life to Christ for the first time.”

“I recommitted my life to Christ.”

“I am wanting to grow Spiritually.”

“I have questions about faith that I would like answers to.”