The Grace Of Salvation Series

Sermon for August 23, 2009

Sermon Series: Sermons about Grace:

Sermon #1: Saving Grace:

Scripture Ref: Psalm 145: 8

‘The Lord is gracious & full of compassion, slow to anger & of great mercy.’

Introduction:

Complete these common American phrases for me.

• If it sounds too good to be true…it is.

• There’s no such thing as a free ...lunch.

• There is no gain without …pain.

• God helps those who …help themselves.

Everything about the American way of life TEACHES US that you get what you EARN in life & that NOTHING is ABSOLUTELY FREE.

The PROBLEM with that WAY of THINKING is that GOD DOESN’T OPERATE that way.

It makes it DIFFICULT for us to RELATE to GOD because HE DOESN’T FOLLOW THOSE RULES.

GOD’S WAYS are so MUCH DIFFERENT from ANY OTHER WAYS we’ve known.

The PROBLEM is found in our text this morning.

Psalm 145:8 ‘The Lord is gracious & full of compassion, slow to anger & of great mercy.’

Circle that word GRACIOUS:

The writer proclaimed, ‘God is a gracious God.’

That means that GOD LOVES to BE GRACIOUS to us.

GOD LOVES to BLESS PEOPLE who DO NOT DESERVE to BE BLESSED.

That’s GOD’S NATURE.

Aren’t we THANKFUL that HE is that way?

I’m SO GLAD that the LORD BLESSES PEOPLE who DON’T DESRVE to be BLESSED.

If BLESSINGS were given out BY MERIT, then I wonder WHAT OUR LIVES WOULD BE LIKE this morning.

I’m so THANKFUL for JESUS CHRIST this morning, how about you?

But to UNDERSTAND the CHRISTIAN LIFE, then we have to UNDERSTAND GRACE.

GRACE is the HEART of our FAITH.

GRACE is the HEART of our RELATIONSHIP with GOD.

GRACE is the FOUNDATION of our EXPERIENCE with GOD & if you REMOVE GRACE we have NOTHING left to STAND UPON.

What is GRACE?

There’s no SINGLE DEFINATION:

• GRACE is GOD’S LOVE in ACTION:

• GRACE is GOD GIVING us WHAT we NEED & NOT WHAT we DESERVE.

• GRACE is the FACE GOD WEARS when HE LOOKS at our FAILURES.

I believe I can say without EXCEPTION; there is not ANYONE of us who GOD HAS NOT BEEN GRACIOUS unto.

The writer of our TEXT SCRIPTURE stated that GOD is BOTH GRACIOUS & MERICFUL.

<>MERCY is when GOD DOESN’T GIVE US WHAT WE DESERVE. PUNISHMENT

<>GRACE is when GOD GIVES US WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE. BLESSINGS

There are many RELATIONSHIPS of GRACE.

This morning I want us to LOOK AT the SAVING GRACE of GOD.

The SAVING GRACE of GOD:

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EVERY PERSON that is SAVED is SAVED by the GRACE of GOD. There are NO EXCEPTIONS.

Now we probably KNOW THAT but the QUESTION is, Do we ACT like it?

Many CHRISTIANS spend a LOT of TIME & EFFORT ACTING as if it was THEIR WORKS that SAVED them.

I need to make it CLEAR this morning that I am NOT REFERRING to HOW we LIVE our LIVES AFTER we become SAVED. WORKS are very much a PART of the SAVED LIFE.

WHAT I AM REFERRING to is WHAT it REQUIRES for GOD to SAVE us.

There are NOT ENOUGH WORKS we could EVER DO that would be SUFFICENT.

We could LABOR until our HANDS were RAW & BLEEDING & yet it would still NOT BE ENOUGH.

The CHRISTIAN’S LIFE is to be FILLED with GOOD WORKS but those GOOD WORKS are NOT WHAT SAVES us.

We CANNOT by WORKS become PERFECT ENOUGH to PLEASE GOD.

We CANNOT EARN the APPROVAL of GOD.

This morning I want us to look at 5 POINTS about the SAVING GRACE of GOD & I want to use each of the 5 LETTERS that spell GRACE for a point.

It’s an AROSTIC.

Before I begin, I read a story a few days ago of a professor at YALE UNIVERSITY, who on the 1st day of class talked to the class about the DESCRIPTION of a YALE STUDENT. He made 4 POINTS using the letters of YALE for each point.

For example:

Y stood for YOUTH.

A stood for ADVENTUROUS

L stood for LOYALTY & lastly

E stood for ENTHUSIACTIC.

Even though there were only 4POINTS, the professor talked for over 2 hours.As the bell rang dismissing the class, the professor asked the young man sitting in the 1st row. ‘Son, how did you like my lecture today?’

The student replied: It made me thankful I did not attend the Massachusetts’s School of Technology.

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1: The Letter G Stands for:

GOD’S GIFT TO US:

Romans 3:24 ‘Being justified freely by HIS GRACE through the redemption that is in CHRIST JESUS.’

GRACE is a FREE GIFT from GOD.

Many people think they can EARN or WORK their way into HEAVEN. They seem to think all they have to do is BE GOOD ENOUGH & then the LORD will say, “Well done, thy good & faithful servant.’