Sermon Central
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Grace Measures What We Never Could
Contributed by Duane Wente on Mar 30, 2026 (message contributor)
Summary: We could never measure up to God’s standard, so Jesus met the standard for us and removed our sin by His grace. --- Was used for one service during Holy Week services in our county.
Props Required: A yard stick, 3-4 twelve inch rulers, tape
# **INTRODUCTION: The Standard **
In 2026, we have just about every kind of technology imaginable. We are smarter, more efficient, and more productive than ever before. We have tools today that were considered science fiction when many of us were growing up. In the next few years, there will be another mission to the moon.
And yet, at the same time, we are living in a time of crisis.
There are health crises. There are family crises. There are mental and emotional crises.
And everywhere we turn, there are promises of help.
Advertisements for self-help solutions. Medications that claim to fix nearly anything. Programs that promise to get you out of debt quickly. Systems that claim they can change your life.
Help is everywhere.
And yet, we still cannot seem to fix ourselves.
We try. We try again. And we continue to fail.
It is almost as if there is a standard out there… a measurement… something up to which we are supposed to live up.
And no matter how hard we try, we just cannot measure up.
Maybe that is because we were never meant to fix ourselves.
That is where grace enters the story. Grace exists because we cannot save ourselves.
No matter how advanced our technology becomes, no matter how far science progresses, no matter how many solutions the world offers, there is one problem we cannot solve on our own.
In the book of Genesis, humanity tried to do exactly that.
We chose our way instead of God's way. We broke the relationship with Him. And what we broke, we could not repair.
And that is still true today.
For all of our independence… for all of our effort… for all of our attempts… this is not something we can fix on our own.
That is where the Easter story comes to life.
Because it is only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that what is broken in our lives can be restored.
The fix that we are all searching for… the answer we cannot create… the solution we cannot manufacture… has a name.
And that name is grace.
And the Bible tells us exactly why we need that grace.
Romans 3:23 says:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Now I want you to picture that for just a moment.
In fact… I do not just want you to picture it— I want you to see it.
(Pick up the yardstick and hold it up clearly.)
This yardstick represents God's standard.
Perfect righteousness. Complete holiness. Nothing missing. Nothing lacking.
(Now pick up the ruler.)
And this… this represents us. This is what we bring to the table.
Now here is the problem.
(Hold the ruler next to the yardstick so the difference is obvious.)
No matter how hard we try… no matter how much effort we put in… no matter how many times we start over… we do not measure up.
We fall short.
# **1. The Reality of Our Sin **
And that brings us to the first truth we must understand about grace… the reality of our own sin.
(Hold the ruler next to the yardstick so people can clearly see the difference.)
### 1. We try to extend ourselves
You know, we sure do try to measure up on our own. We pull out all of the stops. We do everything we can to make ourselves match the standard.
We believe that if we can just try harder, we will meet the standard that God has established.
It’s like taking another ruler and taping it on top of our first.
We get so busy for Jesus. We attend every service at church. We visit the sick. We try to pray more. We commit ourselves to doing better.
We want our religion to be there.
We make promises to God:
“I will do better.”
“I will work harder.”
“I will stop sinning.”
And we keep taping another ruler on top.
Have you noticed, now what has started happening, when we start taping rulers together?
They get wobbly. They bend. They shift. They do not stay straight. They may look longer, but they are not stable.
And that is exactly what happens in our lives. When we try to build our own righteousness, it may look impressive on the outside for a while, but it becomes unstable.
It depends on our effort. It depends on our consistency. It depends on our strength. And sooner or later, it starts to wobble.
(Hold the taped rulers next to the yardstick.)
And with all the effort, even with all the added pieces, we still does not measure up.
No matter how much we add, we still fall short.
