“God’s Grace Sends Us Walking”
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 5:8
An ad for the U.S. Marines pictures a sword, and beneath it the words: “Earned, not given.” If you want to become a Marine, be prepared to earn the right to be called a “Marine” through sacrifice, hardship, and training. If you get it, you deserve it. But if you want to become a Christian, you must have the exact opposite attitude, for the message of the gospel is: “Given, not earned.” You cannot save your own soul, and God will not save anyone who tries to earn salvation, but only those who will humbly receive it as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. If you get it, you absolutely did not deserve it.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;’ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Romans 5:8), “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” NLT
It is God’s love and grace that gets us through the darkest nights. When life all around us seems to tumble in God’s grace and love keeps us from falling into the pit of despair. Jesus Christ does not promise that no storms will come our way. He does promise perfect security in the midst of storms. Jesus does not promise an easy passage in life, but he does promise a safe landing.
When trouble comes your way you can blame God and shake your fist and say, “God you need me. Since you let this happen to me, I’ll show you, I’ll get even with you.” Your threat is like the man on a mountain who stumbles and falls and breaks his leg. He says to the mountain, “Mountain you broke my leg. I’ll punish you for what you did to me. He takes a stick of dynamite and blows a hole in the mountain to punish the mountain.
God in His grace give you the same promise God gave Israel through His prophet Isaiah, “Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Isaiah 40:28-29 “Have you never heard or understood? Don’t you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak.”
God is for you and not against you whatever your situation. God’s grace is sufficient for you. He knows your circumstance and challenges in life. Through Isaiah God gives you this promise: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
God says, no mater what challenges you are experiencing in life, no matter how sick you may feel, or what you have lost. God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weaknesses.”
The Apostle Paul totally trusted the Lord for both his strengths and weaknesses. He said in II Corinthians 12:9-10 that the risen Lord Jesus spoke to him about all his weaknesses, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” Paul accepted the word of Jesus and testified: “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
It’s wonderful to know that God’s love is unchangeable; He knows exactly what we are and loves us anyway. Whenever you are faced with hardships and trials you can call on Jesus. Jesus is the sweetest name you can know. Even when the night is the darkest, Jesus can give you a song in your heart.
God’s grace sends you walking through the darkness until you come into the light.
“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God and not of works.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The Single Greatest Gift
The single greatest gift that we can receive is the gift of God’s salvation. Unworthy as we are Jesus stepped out of heaven and became one of us. He died in our place. Whoever puts their faith in Jesus and turns from sin will be saved. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
The single greatest gift you can give someone else is to point them the way to Jesus. People need to know why God created them, that God loves them and that God has a purpose for their life.
Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area, was attending a luncheon in a Southern state. Sitting across from him was an African-American built like a football player. When he introduced himself and the African American told him his name and it was distinctly Muslim. He told Pastor Hybels that he enjoyed reading one of his books. Bill Hybels looked a little puzzled so the Muslim explained to him how he became a Christian.
He told Pastor Hybels that in his profession he hosted a lot of cocktail parties. He said that after he gets a drink and hors d/oeuvres he often finds himself standing alone until he quietly leaves because no one talks to him.
At one such party he was standing by himself as usual and he noticed a group of white people talking and having a great time. One person in the group looked his way and noticed he was standing by himself.
This white guy excused himself from the group and walked across the room, stuck out his hand to the Muslim and shook his hand. They talked about their families, sports, and business in general. Finally in their conversation the issue of faith came up. When he mentioned to the gentlemen that he was Muslin he was sure the guy would make a quick exit from their conversation. Instead he said, “Well, I’m a Christ-follower, but, truth be told, I know almost nothing about Islam. I wonder if you would be willing over breakfast some day to give me a birds-eye version of your faith system.
The Muslim almost fainted. He was surprised a Christian was willing to associate with him.
Over several breakfasts the Muslim told how his family had attended church but the views of racism infiltrated the church so his family left the church and their faith. So in their discussion he asked his new friend to refresh his memory of the Christian faith. Not long after their friendly discussion the Muslin committed his life to Jesus and became active in a local church.
The single greatest gift you can give someone is to introduce them to God’s love and grace.
God’s grace and love motivated this Christ follower to leave his group of friends and walk across the room and show friendship to a Muslim.
Be willing to step out of our comfort zone.
All of us have our comfort zones. It’s not easy to leave our comfort zone. We have our friends. We feel comfortable with a group of people who speak our language. We enjoy being around them. (Draw circle of comfort on flip chart)
Yet this Christ-follower saw someone standing alone. Maybe he needed a little word of encouragement or someone to be his friend. (Draw an X outside the circle)
Not only did he see but he took action. He took the first step and walked across the room. He excused himself for his comfort zone. He had no idea how the other gentleman would respond. Once he left his comfort zone there was no turning back. (Draw an arrow to the X)
Do you find it hard to step out of your comfort zone? God often does His best work for you when you’re out of your comfort zone. Just a few steps across the room, a friendly non judgmental conversation, and an entire African-American family were impacted for eternity.
Do you know who keeps us from taking the first step? Satan brings up all kinds of excuses for us to not take the first step. Satan might put some of these thoughts in your mind: “The person may refuse to shake your hand. He may turn his back and walk away from you. You can’t move I put glue on the bottom of your shoes. When you take the first step you’ll fall flat on your face. It’s not worth the risk of taking ten steps across the room.”
When you consider leaving your comfort zone I encourage you to…
Listen to the Promptings of the Holy Spirit.
When you consider the grace of God and God’s love for you, “Grace will send you walking.” If you are a devoted Christ follower, then the Holy Spirit is asking you to walk.
When you take the first step it may be the first step of a great adventure.
When I was Pastor in Kansas City, KS I was asked to speak at week-end meeting in Salina, Kansas. I had planned to fly from Kansas City to Salina, but the flight was cancelled so I booked a ride on a bus. The bus stopped at every city on the way. The first stop was Lawrence, KS. A gentleman got on the bus and sat down next to me. In our conversation I learned he was a student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He was a Muslim from Iraq. In our conversation I took a small step in our conversation and asked him if he had ever read the Bible. He said no so I asked him if he would like to and he said okay so I gave him a New Testament I was carrying. We talked about his faith and I shared him my testimony. I also invited him to visit our FM Church in Kansas City and told him he could come to our house after church for dinner. We set up a date and he came to visit and had dinner with our family. We were able to share the love of Christ.
Jesus calls us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit nudges. We are to live and walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16, “So I say, live/walk by the Spirit…” Galatians 5:25, “Since we live in the Spirit let us walk in the Spirit.” We need to “walk” or “not walk” according to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
To walk means to take action. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?...Your are the light of the world…Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it sine for all.” Matthew 5:13-15
In order for salt to be effective you have to add it to something. For salt to be helpful you have to mine it out of the ground. I remember visiting a salt mine in Hutchinson, KS. I collected several large salt crystals. The large salt crystals had streams of dirt running though it. The large crystals needed to be broken up and made pure. The salt has to be mined to be used. To stay underground it’s useless.
When we allow the Holy Spirit to brake up our hardness and refine and purify our lives we are ready and willing to become salt and flavoring to others.
For salt to be used as a flavoring you have to get it out of the salt shaker. As Christ followers we need to get close to people and add flavor to their lives as we show them God’s love and grace. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit says go we need to go. Take the first step and reach out in God’s love to someone standing alone. As you reach out in God’s love you reflect the Light of Christ to that person.
All of us probably have “salt” dormant in our life and need to get it activated. We are to become “salty” Christians. Take the initiative and get close to people who need God’s grace. Show them Christ’s love and make them thirsty for Truth.
Take the First Step
Jesus took the first step in reaching out in love to each one of us. “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son…” John 3:16
Where do your feet take you on a daily basis? Those who count steps people take say that the average person takes 10,000 steps every day. That equals 115,000 miles in a life time or 4 times walking around the earth.
There are natural fears in taking the first step out of your comfort zone.. I talk to people who tell me that most Christians are fanatics and radical. They say, “If I become a Christ follower my friends will think I have become a fanatic and radical about religion.” Becoming a Christ follower is not about adopting a certain religion. It’s all about having a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Following Jesus is not a religion it’s a relationship.
In fact following Jesus may be a radical step. Jesus was radical in many of his actions. Jesus did not go along with the standards and normal conduct of his day. Jesus broke all kinds of cultural norms. (John 4)
• Jesus spoke to a woman. Jewish men did not initiate conversation with a strange woman
• Jesus had conversation with a woman living in sin
• Jesus talked to a Samaritan – Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus dared to risk leaving his cultural comfort zone to show God’s love and grace to a woman looking for a new beginning and a new life.
Jesus took the ultimate risk when He left heaven and came to earth to show us in person God’s love and grace. Philippians 2-5-8 describes how Jesus walked across the cosmos and reached in love to all humankind including you and me.
“Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.” TLT
This week I encourage you to leave your comfort zone and allow the Grace of God to send you walking. To help you get started we have put a post card in every church worship folder. Use the card to say “Thank you” to someone who has encouraged you in your Christian life. You may want to send the card to someone who took the first step toward you and showed you God’s love and grace.
God’s gift of love and grace is the greatest gift you can give another person. This week allow the grace of God to send you walking to someone in your family, or a relative, or a neighbor, or a work associate or a friend. Just take the first step.
This evening in the 6 PM service we will have a seminar on how to become better equipped to take the first step in our walk of grace and faith. The theme of the training is “Just Walk Across The Room.”
As you partake of communion this morning thank Jesus that He took the first step to offer you the greatest gift of God – eternal life. Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
