The Amazingness of Grace

Tony Reinke has written a book on John Newton and his view of the Christian life. So far, I am...well amazed. He has pulled together Newton’s 40 years as a pastor and letter writer and provides great insight into life in Christ. 

Starting in the first chapter there is so much to soak in concerning grace. To quote Reinke; “When Newton speaks of grace, he is speaking of Christ in union with the believer. Newton’s grace is ever ‘my grace,’ a sovereign, all- sufficient, alone-sufficient grace that flows freely and fully from the person of Jesus Christ.” 

Reinke then uses a part of Newton’s sermon on Matthew 11:27 to describe this union:

“The great God is pleased to manifest himself in Christ, as the God of grace. This grace is manifold, pardoning, converting, restoring, persevering grace, bestowed upon the miserable and worthless. Grace finds the sinner in a hopeless, helpless state, sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Grace pardons the guilt, cleanses the pollution, and subdues the power of sin. Grace sustains the bruised reed, binds up the broken heart, and cherishes the smoking flax into a flame. Grace restores the soul when wandering, revives it when fainting, heals it when wounded, upholds it when ready to fall, teaches it to fight, goes before it in the battle, and at last makes it more than conqueror over all opposition, and then bestows a crown of everlasting life. But all this grace is established and displayed by the covenant in the man Christ Jesus, and without respect to him as living, dying, rising, reigning, and interceding in the behalf of sinners, would never have been known.” 

So thankful for this book, the research and writing of Reinke, the ministry and letters of Newton, but I am beyond thankful for Christ Jesus... 

Grace and Peace!

Success

Recently during a sermon our Pastor said something like ‘success is not always good for you’. You really have to stop and think about that for a while. This gave me pause and I have been dwelling on that for a bit. I was always one striving for my next best whatever...car, job, victory and I think I can really relate to what he was saying. 

I was reading Tim Keller’s commentary on Judges and in it he says, “Success can easily cause us to forget God’s grace, because our hearts are desperate to believe we can save ourselves.” I find that to be so true and part of our culture.  

The American way is to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, to compete, to win at all costs. So to me, it is very easy to think we have done it all ourselves, but when we really stop, when we are really thinking clearly we know that we have in many cases done it despite ourselves. 

Now there is certainly nothing wrong with striving for more and better things, to be good, even great at things, but it needs to be accompanied by perspective. It needs to be grounded in a faith that everything under the sun is Gods; created, supplied, granted, given by God. And as long as that is our perspective and we achieve with thankful and humble hearts, then achieve away. 

Keller concluded by saying, “We need to remember that we are saved by grace when we fail. But we need to remember it much more when we succeed. 

2 Chronicles 26:5

He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 

Father, thank you for saving us by your amazing grace; may we seek you all of our days and may we see that as true success! 

Grace and Peace!

Prayer of Comfort

Father God, 

As we read in 2 Corinthians we come with praise this morning, praise for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

So we come this morning with thankful hearts, thankful that we can come together and worship, thankful for the blessing of you in our lives and yet we come with troubled hearts. Troubled by the tragedy in Charleston, but encouraged by the response we have seen, a response of prayer, a response of forgiveness, and a response of support and love. 

Father, this morning we pray for the people of Charleston, we pray specifically for our brothers and sisters in Christ at Emmanuel Church...praying that they would be surrounded by your love, we pray for your healing, your comfort and for your peace that surpasses all understanding. 

Father, this morning we also pray for our local AME churches – St. Stephan, Ward Temple and Turner Chapel that they would feel and know the love and support of this community, that the love and peace of Christ will be with them.

Lord, we come this morning to joyfully worship, help us joyfully worship this morning, help us worship knowing that while there will be trouble in this world we can take heart as you have overcome the world, Father, help us praise you as you are our security, you are our safety, you are our strength and comfort. Lord, you are our hope. 

Father, to close this morning I borrow from the Book of Common Prayer a prayer attributed to St. Francis... 

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where this is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

On The Mend In So Many Ways

Had a great visit with my Doctor today and I am now sling free and moving forward with Physical Therapy.  So happy and thankful.  Had a good break, read a bunch, prayed a bunch and started working/walking down two different paths...one is a study on the Book of Mark which our community group is using to dig deep.  Great group with great discussion and we pray to know and love Jesus better and better, see transformation, see sharing and as a result to love our neighbors more and more.

The second path is that I have started jotting down some thoughts about something I am going to call "Finding Joy in the Midst of Stuff."  I can't honestly tell you that I have been through this season with a happy, happy, happy attitude, but I have learned a great deal and I have been able to find joy.  Not sure where this will go, but excited to see. 

I found something recently and it just resonated with me.  It is from Tony Reinke's book on Newton:

"So God brings into our Christian lives repeated disappointments, trials and losses, not because he wants to grieve and weary us, but because these are necessary lessons teaching us to treasure Christ above ourselves...This is  God's way, you are not called to buy; but to beg; not to be strong in yourself, but in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

Some of the things I learned (am learning) - to treasure Christ, to beg out of my weakness and to trust in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Glad to be back...

Grace and Peace!