Today we meet grace…live & in person. Literally the person who is grace. Not just a person named grace; a gracious person; a person with much grace…but grace Himself.
John 1:14-17 the Word, Jesus Christ
Why is grace important? What will grace do for you?
1. Help you appreciate God’s gifts to you
2. Motivate you to spend less time criticizing others
3. Make you less judgmental (more tolerant)
4. Take you a giant step closer towards maturity “growing in grace”
…to understand grace @ work, we don’t have to look far… only to the Gospels…
1. God’s Grace towards Children (Mt 19:14)
* He knew what it was to be a child (Phil. 2:6-7)
* Jesus was approachable…he had a “yes – face”
(Pres. Jefferson- crossing the cold river gave the peasant a ride)
* Proverbs 15:1- as a parent – very convicting…rearing an angry generation
2. God’s grace toward His Followers (Mark 14:66, 16:7)
* The story of the Prodigal – He knew what it meant to be a Son
* The real-life story of so many ‘kids’ today… prodigals (Matthew 3:17)
3. God’s grace toward sinners ( John 8:11) > we don’t like the word “sinners” but God doesn’t really mind
* Its amazing that a Holy God ( Mt. 5:48) could even allow a close encounter of the sinful kind
* Edward Jones- (19th century) painter – painted kittens, lambs, goldfish in the corner for his granddaughter when she was in trouble
* The Purpose of the Cross – not you’re healing, riches…dealing with sin… Forgiveness (pardon of bank robbers)
* Wedding Party in Boston, room already reserved = inviting bums, homeless, elderly – turned into a banquet of grace
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