203 results for tag: grace
Invite Them—Bring Them—Compel Them: The Escalating Compulsion of Grace – Brad Jersak
The Parable of the Great Supper
15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask ...
Grace Poured Out
The elements of bread and wine/juice instituted by Jesus are symbols of the limitless favor and lavish grace of God, poured out on us without measure.
Grace = No Condemnation
There is no place in the gospel for continually finding fault, threats and intimidation, even when Christ-less religion says that the end justifies the means.
How Grace “Works”
God "works out" and produces his good purpose, workmanship and handiwork in our lives, because he has already "worked in" the life of our risen Lord.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR436.mp3
From Garbage and Manure to New Life
The riches and treasures of God's grace arrive in amazing and miraculous ways in our lives, often coming from something that seems to have little or no value. God is in the recycling business!
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR433.mp3
Retribution… Or Restoration…?
God is concerned with relationship, expressed as restoration, redemption and reconciliation; rather than religion, which is so often defined as retribution, rules, revenge, and retaliation.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR431.mp3
Surprised By Grace
The parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches us that God's grace is shocking because it insists that Jesus is absolutely the center of our lives - far more important than paying our dues and keeping our religious accounts in order.
Confessions of a Write-Off by Brad Jersak
I was a write-off -
I know, I know. We don't like to descend into the dehumanizing "worm theology" of those degrading faith traditions that spout our "total depravity." I firmly believe we're all precious children of our heavenly Father and no matter how disordered, we still bear the image of God.
By using the term "write-off," I'm not talking about our identity in Christ. I'm describing my subjective experience... how I have often felt in times when the human condition gets the best of me. In those periods of cloudy introspection, it's easy enough to conclude, like David (in Psalm 22), "I'm a worm and not a man." It's not a statement of reality but ...
April 2023
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Brad Jersak: Logos, Light & Lamb – pg. 2
Greg Albrecht: Everything Happens for a Reason? – pg. 4
Greg Albrecht: Nailmarks, Scars & Doubts – pg. 7
No Carry-on Baggage Allowed – by Greg Albrecht
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are born by beasts of burden.
The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.
"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." —Isaiah 46:1-4
If you have flown commercially lately, for business or pleasure, you know ...
God’s Grace Has You Covered – Pt 2
God's grace is sufficient - there is enough of his grace to cover you and me during our suffering. In Christ we see God's grace personified and exemplified - he entered into our pain so that we might grow and mature in him.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR364.mp3
God’s Grace and Our Pain – Pt 1
In this first of a two-part series on pain and suffering we ponder the paradox Paul explained - when he was physically weak he was strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). Join us as we discover that in Christ our suffering does not need to be meaningless and how God can transform us in the midst of our pain.
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR363.mp3
Q&R with Brad – “Why pray for forgiveness if we’re already forgiven?”
Question:
The sin issue is cropping up again. I lose my temper. I get stressed out. I am short with my family... but I have gotten to the point where I feel as though Christ once and forever dealt with sin (alienation, darkness) at the Cross and my constantly asking Christ directly for forgiveness (again and again) for the same sins seems hopelessly pointless.
Response:
The reason why I regularly pray, "forgive us our trespasses," is first of all, because Jesus taught us to do so. He quite literally says, "When you pray, pray this: Our Father,..." And while some folks dismiss this prayer as "pre-cross" and "old covenant" ...
Grace at Church – by Greg Albrecht
KEYNOTE SCRIPTURE:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home ...
Grace = No More Score Keeping!
Keeping tabs on human performance in the family, at school and at work as well as in the world of athletic endeavors fascinates humans - but did you know that God's grace means no more score-keeping?
https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR325.mp3
November 2022
CLICK HERE to read now
(PDF Format)
Articles:
Generosity Without Expectations – pg. 1
The Peace of Thanksgiving – pg. 2
Count Your Blessings – pg. 5
Infernal Interruptions! – pg. 6
In Plane Site – pg. 7
Quotes & Connections – pg. 8
It’s All About Grace – by Greg Albrecht
Keynote Passages:
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. —Romans 3:31
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. —Romans 4:4-5
This is the third message in our three-part series discovering what the introductory chapters of this great book of Romans tell us about God’s amazing grace.
The first sermon, In Need of Grace, discussed the fact that we are spiritually sunk without God’s grace. We reflected on Romans 1:16-17, as well as the ...
In Need of Grace – by Greg Albrecht
Keynote Passage:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”—Romans 1:16-17
This week we are beginning a three-part series on God’s amazing grace—based on the first few chapters of the book of Romans.
This week our sermon is titled In Need of Grace, based on Romans 1:16-17, and on the larger passage that follows, Romans 2:1-3:20.
Next week we will discuss Grace ...
A Transformation-Not a Transaction – Greg Albrecht
Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches us that we are saved BY grace FOR works—contrasted with the completely erroneous idea of the virus of legalism, alive and well within so much of Christendom. The performance-based legalisms of Christ-less religion propose and insist that we are saved BY works FOR grace. Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:8-10 that we are saved BY grace FOR the works that God determines for us, so that we may become his workmanship. To underline this critical truth of the gospel—we are saved BY God’s grace, FOR HIS works—not by OUR works.
Our salvation is a transformation of grace, not a transaction of works. God’s grace and the ...
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