We Serve The Same Grace Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: Oct 15, 2014

Date Preached: Oct 19, 2014

Where Preached: OPBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: We Serve the SAME God

Sermon Title: We Serve the SAME Grace!

Sermon Text: Colossians 4:2-18 [ESV]

Introduction:

What is grace? What do we mean when we use the phrase “ the grace of God”? When I say “we serve the same ‘grace’”, what does that mean for US as believers?

Grace is defined by Webster as the unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification. There is a shorter definition… Grace = the unmerited favor of God.

When we receive ‘grace’ from God we are receiving God’s favor we cannot earn on our own, but that He gives willingly & without compulsion...

God’s Mercy is God NOT doing to US what we truly deserve because of our sin!

God’s Grace is God doing FOR us by showing His unwarranted favor in spite of our sin.

Let me put it another way…

God’s Mercy is NOT getting the punishment we deserve…

God’s Grace is getting blessings we don’t deserve…

Now, you may be sitting here thinking, “I don’t ‘deserve’ hell! What did I do to ‘deserve’ hell? I am not a bad person, I have done more good than bad in my life, its not fair if God sends me to hell.”

Well first of all, Heaven and hell are determined based on the standard God has set. Our eternity is not about fairness as we conceive or understand fairness! God’s standard is set by the holiness and justice of God.

Secondly, God says that reaching heaven is NOT about being ‘good’… at least not ‘good’ as the world sees it. To inherit eternal life, Scripture tells us that we must confess Jesus Christ, accept Him as Savior. The Bible tells us that we cannot inherit eternal life with our goodness… our good works…

The blessings of heaven and salvation come about because of the grace of God given to us… they are NOT available to us based on our ‘goodness’. We SHOULD always seek to live ‘good’ and ‘godly’ lives AFTER Christ has saved us, but our own ‘goodness’ will not save us!

So understand that salvation is is not about being good! Salvation is about Jesus – who has shown His grace to us thru His death on the Cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sin and the redemption of our soul.

And the grace of God delivers us from our sinful state… Scripture tells us that we are all sinners and sinful at heart. Paul reminds us that we are sinful based on the Fall in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve…

We are cursed today because of what they did… We are born into a sinful world and cursed to a sinful situation. You may not believe you have ‘earned’, but in our lives quickly validate who we are as sinful people. ALL people fall to sin…

Isa 53:6 (ESV) tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way…”

Paul tells us in Rom 3:23 (ESV), “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

In Jesus, as Savior, we experience God’s grace (his unearned favor) and we forgiven and made clean before God. As believers, we are called to reveal that same grace to the world around us. We are called to live our lives in a such a way that the ‘grace’ of God shines forth to the world around us!

In this final part of his letter to the fellowship in Colossae, Paul gives us 3 categories where we can actively reveal the Grace of God through our lives…

Remember Paul has told the believers in Colossae they must TAKE off (make the willful choice) the old self and put ON (make the willful choice) the new self…

In other words, God changed us & called us to take Him to the world, but we must decide to take Him into the world where we live.

The question this morning is as a believer, how can you show the grace of God in your life? How can you SERVE God by revealing His grace to the world around you?

In looking at Paul’s letter we can find 3 very practical areas where the believer can make God’s grace evident in their lives so that the world can see a great picture of Jesus.

We must Reveal His Grace thru Prayer/Action (v2-6)

Extend Grace thru prayer…v2-4

2Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.