Grace in a Crisis (2)

(S1) — SERIES — Life: we only have ONE! What are we doing with OUR one...

“The real proof of the transformation Jesus brings, is not in the habits we practice, but in the lives we lead.”

How do our lives as follower’s of Jesus, impact our RELATIONSHIPS — FINANCES – PRIORIES – GROWTH — CRISIS

50+ years of my life as a Christian…my share of crisis

God’s greatest life transforming work — Crisis — Each time, GRACE supplied all I needed!

The apostle Paul’s crisis —

2 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)

...I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

(S2) — Life was a crisis since he met Jesus — Strength beyond himself — A confidence that was divinely inspired

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

There is no LIFE without CRISIS — Health/Economical/Loss/Family/Spiritual — There is always GRACE...

BIBLES— HANDOUT— PRAY

(S3) — Pattern of crisis — Going through one /Knew someone in one/One on the horizon

Highway — Semi — Uphill — Downhill

LIFE HAPPENS — We are either coasting down hill or doing our best to just get through the next crisis.

Having faith/following Jesus, does not give us a pass on heartache?

John 16:33 “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

Common question asked in a crisis is why? Why me? I don’t deserve this!

The western, "Unforgiven," — William Munny said to Little Bill before he shot him, when Little Bill objected by saying, "I don't deserve this," Munny said, "Deservin's got nothing to do with it."

(S4) — Question — How can we better prepare ourselves for a crisis? How can GRACE give us the confidence…like Paul...

The real proof of the transformation Jesus brings, is found in...who we rely on in a crisis, and how we live when we are not in crisis.

Paul learned as a follower of Jesus, whether life was like going uphill or downhill — Grace was all he needed — Nothing more, nothing less! Just GRACE!

Before we look at Paul’s crisis and how he found CONFIDENCE…in grace...

What is a crisis? — “A dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life”

Tragedy — Death — Job — Diagnosis

Less familiar definition — “Stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, is determined; triggering a turning point.”

(S5) — All crisis change us, depending on the severity or length…make us BITTER or BETTER

“A significant event LEADING to a significant CHANGE”

A crisis can be good as well as bad — First day of school — College — Baby — Wedding

A crisis in my life — When I met Jenny!

Paul’s crisis (2) through this lens — Significant event — Encounter with Glory

2 Corinthians 12:2–3 (NLT)

I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body.

Out of this world CRISIS — Doesn’t understand it — Can’t explain it —

2 Corinthians (TTC)

“Divinely granted ecstatic experience with God”

“Visions (Theoponies ) — Means of divine communication

“How God let himself be known to the people and what he was about to do through them.”

Abraham (oak tree) — Moses — Samuel(voice) — Peter (Large sheet, 4 corners) — John (Revelation)

Divinely granted ecstatic experience with God — CRISIS — Significant event LEADING to a significant CHANGE.”

When I met Jesus — Following Jesus meant significant change.

We could say that his life has been nothing but a crisis since Paul met Jesus...

Read 11:23-28

Paul like all Christians, did not get a pass on adversity — Yet, there was something he possessed that is very obvious in his writings — CONFIDENCE

2 Cor. 5: 6 We are always confident...7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

Galatians 5:10 I am confident in the Lord...

2 Corinthians 1:15 “because I was confident of this...

Phil. 3:4 I myself have reasons for such confidence

(S7) — Four ways he experienced GRACE in CRISIS

1. Grace in the NEARNESS of God

2 Corinthians 12:4 (NLT)

I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

Third heaven — Highest glory — Closest to God you can get and live to tell about it

Near My God to Thee...

We find this grace in PRAYER — The ability to draw near to God

James 4:8 “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

When were the times you felt this closeness to God? Was it in the midst of a crisis — Significant event that set you on a course of significant change?

“Prayer is the grand means of drawing near to God” (Letter to Miss March, 3–29–1760); it is “the breath of our spiritual life” (J.W. NT Notes).

(S8) — How do we experience grace a crisis? In the nearness of God...

2. Grace in the HEALING nature of God

2 Corinthians 12:5 (NLT)

5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.

Weakness (sickness) — Paul’s disability his humanness — His affliction — Pride

Mark 2:17 ““Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.””

For us, weakness is not perceived as a strength —

Strong men don’t cry — Mommas boy

Being open about a sin in our life is hard — Best brought into the light of God’s healing nature.

God is perfect — We are not! To know God as healer, is to first be aware of our human affliction — We are burdened by sin, God is sinless!

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

How do we experience this HEALING nature of God? In the compassionate arms of Jesus

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Grace helps us see our need in our weakness or imperfectness to be in relationship with the one who is God — Jesus the healer...

(S9) — How do we experience grace a crisis…the HEALING nature of God...

3. Grace in the ACTIVITY of God

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (NLT)

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Power (dynamis) — “Literally, it describes the ability to perform an activity;

“it is the movement of action of a person in power. “Eric Lewellen, “Miracles,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

Jesus came not just to show the love of God, but to bring the active power of God in himself — Miracles

Lexham Theological Wordbook (δύναμις)

“New Testament authors portray God’s dynamis as something he brings into the world to reveal his purposes and to carry them.”

Jesus said, I have come to do the work my father sent me to do...

Matthew 13:54 “When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?””

How do we experience grace a crisis…in the activity of God...through the MIRACLES of Christ in our own lives

(S10) — How do we experience grace a crisis…in the ACTIVITY of God...

4. Grace in the STRENGTH of God

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT)

10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Strong — Paul became able to do all things in Christ — Possible — Gave Paul the BOLDNESS to preach the gospel and take it to the world…the ends of the earth

Philippians 4:13 “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Where do we find this grace…in the POWER of Christ in us

Galatians 2:20 “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

(S11) — Grace in the NEARNESS (Prayer) of God — HEALING(Compassion) nature of God — ACTIVITY (Miracles) of God — STRENGTH (Power) of God

“A significant event LEADING to a significant CHANGE”

Paul’s was in a crisis but God had something to teach him in it…and he changed because of WHO he came to rely on in a crisis, and HOW he lived when we he was not in crisis.

(S12) — He found…Jesus at the center of it all!

Jesus is at the CENTER of his crisis!

Near (prayer)— Healer (compassion)— Active (miracles) — Strength (boldness)

6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in MY LIFE or hear in my message,

Do people see Jesus in you? In crisis or not?

Life happens — So does crisis — You either in one, know someone who is, one is coming

What can you do?

Whether your going up hill or coasting down? Is Jesus at the center of your life?

Good news whether their good or bad…they can lead to significant change in your life when you rely on grace — prayer, compassion, miracles, boldness