The God Of Another Chance

The God of Another Chance

(Sermon by Pastor David, Sept. 9, 2007)

1. God has been in the “another chance” business ever since

Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden.

2. The Grace of God means that even when we blow it and do

something stupid He gives us another chance!

3. All the way through the Bible we see God giving second and

third and forth chances when we acknowledge our sin and ask

for His forgiveness!

4. The problem is that although we expect God to keep giving us

chances we sometimes are not willing to do that for others

5. The worst thing that we can do in church is to make a mistake

or not follow through with your commitments and we are

relegated to that list of “don’t let them ever do anything again!”

ILL A church of God minister used to say, “A friend is someone who, if we botch something up royally, he doesn’t think we’ve done a permanent job.”

As we travel though the Bible we can see how God did what we must also do.

I. Abraham, Gen 12:1-3

A. 12:1 Then the LORD told Abram, "Leave your country, your

relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will

show you. 2 I will cause you to become the father of a great

nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make

you a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you

and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will

be blessed through you."

1. God promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation

and that all the families of the Earth would be blessed

through his seed.

2. Abraham did as God said but along the way he blew it,

several times.

B. When confronted by the Egyptians he lied and told them that

Sarah was his sister. (Gen 12: 12 When the Egyptians see

you, they will say, ’This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can

have her!’ 13 But if you say you are my sister, then the

Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you,

and they will spare my life."

C. Even though God had told Abraham that through his union

with his wife Sarah the world would be blessed, Abraham blew

it again.

1. He got old and impatient as did Sarah, so they took matters

into their own hands with Haggar the hand maiden. (expd)

D. God still gave him another chance with his son Isaac!

II. David, a man after God’s own heart!

A. 1 Sam 16: 13 So as David stood there among his brothers,

Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it on

David’s head. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon

him from that day on.

1. When David was a young boy God chose him to be the

anointed one, to someday be king.

2. God favored him and even helped him to kill the giant

B. Still David blew it big time.

1. He went where he should not have gone and looked where

he should not have looked and then did what he should not

have done!

2. After all that God had done for him and through him he

sinned a grievous sin and then another!

3. First David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then

after she became pregnant he murdered her husband Uriah.

C. David realized his sin and repented and asked for forgiveness.

1. Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your

unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out

the stain of my sins.

2. God, in his mercy, forgave David and gave him another

chance after he had blown it over and over and over.

3. David was restored to greatness by God, so much so, that in

the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Son of David.

III. The Chief Apostle, Peter.

Matt. 16: 15 Then he asked them, "Who do you say I am?" 16

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the

living God." 17 Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son

of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to

you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I

say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build

my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

A. Peter and his brother Andrew

B. Peter, walking on water.

C. Peter in the garden at the arrest of Jesus cuts off a man’s ear

D. Peter at the trial of Jesus

1. Although he boasted he would never do it, Peter denied