AMAZING GRACE
God’s Grace is the most fantastic gift God has given us.
In fact its unbelievable but its there for all of us and its proof is revealed in His Son Jesus Christ.
That God in His divine Grace gave His only Son to die on the cross for us – and Jesus did this willingly for each one of us.
What more could we ask for?
Introduction to Hymn (347) – Amazing Grace
Grace changes lives, gives a new perspective of what life is all about and we can learn so much from each other's experience, for example John Newton.
If ever there was a man who truly experienced God’s grace it was John Newton the author of this wonderful hymn 'Amazing Grace'.
Even though he was brought up in the church as a child, he became a calloused man full of anger, pain, and uncertainty and because of that, he experienced a very troubled life.
At one time, he was a commander of a slave ship, he would anchor his ship off the coast of Africa and pack it with slaves.
They were ruthlessly chained side by side, row after row, one after another just like a can of sardines and many slaves died on those long voyages.
During a raging storm at sea the ship nearly sank and John was almost drowned… he cried out to God for his mercy.
And he survived by God’s Grace and that experience caused John Newton to give his life to Christ.
He was ordained and served in 2 parishes but his life in slavery haunted him for many years.
He became a strong supporter of William Wilberforce who triumphantly fought against the slave trade.
John wrote many hymns during his ministry but Amazing Grace is his most famous….
And if there was ever a man who experienced God’s Amazing Grace, it was John Newton!
And it was that storm at sea that was the bolt of lightning that John realised God’s Grace saved a wretch like me.
HYMN – Amazing Grace – which starts with the storm
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDdvReNKKuk)
Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come,
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
Address:
Grace: It Really Is Amazing! It is a fantastic gift from God but as with any gift it came at a cost…. A great cost … it cost the life of the Son of God.
A Queen had a young daughter who was faced with a deadly illness.
The doctors told the Queen that she needed to stay away from her daughter’s face and under no circumstances was she to breath her breath because she would contract the disease herself and it would kill her.
A few days after hearing this warning the Queen went to visit her daughter.
The daughter began to choke and as the Queen lifted her daughter up to help her from choking she held her in her arms and as her daughter died, the final words out of her daughter’s mouth were “mommy would you please kiss me.”
Even though the Queen knew that she would die from that act of love, she leaned over her daughter and kissed her.
Two months later the Queen was dead from the same disease.
Because of God’s amazing grace Jesus kissed you and kissed me... He died because He loves us. The Father in Heaven sent Jesus because He loves us.
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should NOT perish but have eternal life.
God’s grace is truly amazing.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
Grace – St Paul encapsulates Grace through his many letters in the NT, For Paul Grace was the whole essence of his being, his existence.
But why was Grace so important to him?
When Paul thought and wrote his letters he was thinking and writing out of the depths and heights of his own religious experience.
He knew what he had been and he knew what he was – and what a change from Persecutor of the Church to one who was now persecuted.
And the only possible explanation for this dramatic change is God’s Grace.
So naturally Paul wanted to tell everyone about it – of how the Grace of God had so dramatically changed his life.
Exactly the same happened when Jesus healed the sick, the crippled and the blind – they wanted to tell everyone of the wonderful thing that had happened to them.
They could not keep their JOY to themselves.
So throughout Paul’s letters he writes about the Grace of God, indeed Paul opens and closes his letters with these words of Grace:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is God’s outlandish generosity, His divine forgiveness of mankind as a free gift which can never be earned and never deserved.
God’s generosity to forgive is almost too good to be true.
When you meet someone who is all giving, you tend to think that there’s some sort of catch to this – there’s no such thing as a free lunch as they say.
But’s that’s a human reaction to another human being – a lack of trust perhaps from unpleasant past experiences.
But Paul is talking about God – someone we can trust, someone whose love is so great for each one of us – we are immersed in his love, immersed in His Grace.
Grace is a free gift from God manifested in Love - it cannot be earned, it is bestowed, freely and generously given with no conditions.
Indeed Grace is very precious, it is inexhaustible and limitless – it is like God Himself – no beginning and no end.
Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland was packed with children and parents, then suddenly - all the children rushed to one side of the room.
It’s a good thing it was a castle and not a boat, or it would have tipped over.
The pristine princess had entered the room, Cinderella.
A gorgeous young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin and a beaming smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of children, each wanting to touch and be touched.
The other side of the room was now vacant, except for a small boy about 7 years old.
His age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his body.
Dwarfed in height, face deformed, he stood watching quietly and wistfully, holding the hand of an older brother.
Do you know what he wanted? He wanted to be with the other children - he wanted to be there in the middle reaching for Cinderella, calling her name.
You could feel his fear, fear of yet another rejection?
Fear of being taunted again, mocked again?
You really felt for him and wished Cinderella would go to him?
She did! She noticed the little boy and immediately began walking in his direction.
Politely but firmly inching her way through the crowd of children, she finally broke free and she walked quickly across the floor, knelt down at eye level facing the stunned little boy and placed a kiss on his face.
"The story illustrates for us another royal figure, the names are different, but the story is almost the same.
Rather than a princess of Disney, we have the Prince of Peace. Rather than a boy in a castle, our story is about you and me.
In both cases a gift was given. In both cases love was shared. In both cases the lovely one performed a gesture beyond words."
But Jesus did more than Cinderella. Oh, so much more. Cinderella gave only a kiss and when she stood to leave,
she took her beauty with her and the boy was still deformed.
What if Cinderella had done what Jesus did?
What if she’d assumed his state? What if she had somehow given the boy some of her beauty and taken on his disfigurement?
That’s what Jesus did. 'He took our suffering on himself and endured our pain ...
He was wounded for our transgressions, all the wrong we have done;
He was crushed for the evil we did.
The punishment, which made us well, was given to him, and we are healed because of his wounds' (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Make no mistake: Jesus gave more than a kiss - he gave his beauty, He gave His life.
He paid more than a visit - he paid for our mistakes.
He took more than a minute - he took away our sin.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
