Simone Focke Pastoral assistant.
Simone with the Mayor of North Down, Councillor Dr. Stephen Farry MLA, and Rev Harold Good recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award.

The following is the sermon Simone preached on Sunday 9th March 2008 at the MWI service:

God’s amazing Grace

What does the word grace mean?

Grace – greek: “charis”
I like this explanation: “Grace is God’s unconditional love in action”.

Gordon Mac Donald says: “The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the church. You need not to be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer GRACE.”

OK, if the people can find grace in the church, can we show it to them? Are we ready for it? Or maybe we can first find out for ourselves what it means. Have I experienced God’s grace, I mean really understood it, felt it, tasted it, received it?

Let’s learn a little bit more about it, let’s open our hearts to God.

When you think about it, maybe the first picture that comes to mind is Jesus on the cross, God’s son died for us, and when we say yes to him then we are forgiven and have eternal life. But that’s not our starting point, we have to go way back.

It starts with:
1. A seeking God - Prevenient Grace

God is at work in our lives even before we know it.
Psalm 139
“For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

From the moment we begin to be, he is there. God looks out for us, because he desires a relationship with us
Like parents who love and care for a new born baby, preparing everything for its birth and then being always there to care for it.
God does the same with us. He prepares everything for us, he loves us and cares for us, even before we realise it, even before we think about him, even before we make a decision, whether to live for him or not.
God has already extended an invitation!!!

He is the seeking God, seeking for his child, like the shepherd looking for the one lost sheep.
Luke 15
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?...”

How hard is it for me to accept God’s love for me? To let God’s love fill my heart, my life?

And then there is:
2. A forgiving God - Justifying Grace

God is calling us back to the relationship we are created for.
He is waiting for us like the Father for his lost son in the parable of the lost son.
When we say “yes” and accept his love - this moment changes everything.
God says Yes to us. We say yes to God. In saying Yes to God we are forgiven and we are restored to the eternal relationship with him

“Just – as – if – I’d never sinned ”at all.

There is always more Grace in God then there is sin in us.

And here comes the picture in of Jesus at the cross, the One who died for me, so that I have this eternal relationship with God.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

Responding to God’s grace is an act of faith, I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that he forgives my sins, I believe that I have eternal life.

This step is very important in a Christian’s life. This is a personal decision, nobody else can do it for you -to ask Jesus into your life. But with this decision God’s grace doesn’t stop there, that’s not all there is!!!
I made this decision years ago, but still I do things that are wrong or I wander from God.
Maybe you say, my relationship with him seems without life, dead, not important… What now?

God is still there:
3. A renewing God - Sanctifying Grace

His grace continues, it is not just a one time experience and decision, it’s an ongoing grace – he puts the desire in our hearts to grow in this relationship with him.
“I want more” from this relationship with God, Holy Spirit works in you.
What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 15? “By the Grace of God I am what I am.”

And we can be open to God’s Spirit that to work in our lives.
Here are some ways that God sanctifies us.

Restores us – brings back the beauty he gave me, brings me
                         back to God again and again and again.
imparts us –    new life, new light, new strength, new heart,
                         we grow into it
perfects us –   in us the image of God and of Jesus Christ
                         What things does God need to take away in your life,
                         so that you become more the person he wants you to be?
                         Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5
                         “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
                         kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
equips us –     to do the work of Christ in the world,
                         he gives us everything we need.
What do we have to do?
Trust God – that he will hold me and l will let go of the things that are not secure.
Receive – open my heart to receive his Spirit. Every day his power will pour into me like living water until it will overflow.
Serve – show God’s grace, God’s love to others

GRACE – POEM
by Shirley Wing

Jesus you have kept your precious promise,
You never left me, even for an hour.
You lived within and knew my deepest longing,
Loved me still when all my dreams turned sour.
Yet when in pride I sought to earn that loving,
Your face was sad, and dark clouds came between;
How quickly then the bright flame dwindled
And the inner light grew dim.

Then, when all my days were filled with fruitless seeking
For that which you alone in grace can give;
I ran into your arms – empty, weeping,
And with a gentle push you whispered:
Go and live.
(out of the book “Grace” by Maurice Fullard Smith)

My Response
God meets you were you are, right at this moment.
Where we are right now in our lives is where God finds us.

Where do you stand?

1. Take God’s Gift
Has God offered this gift to you, but you are not so sure if you want to take it?
Take this Gift, Just experience God’s love for you, let it go deep in your heart, let it embrace you,

2. Say “Yes” to God
Or maybe you are at the point were you have to make a decision?
Where you have to respond to God’s invitation, where you want his forgiveness,
Be honest with him, be real, no pretending, be yourself, make this decision, say “Yes.”

3. Let God renew you Maybe you made your decision, but you don’t know what comes next?
Maybe you walked with God for years, and you need a new experience with him, a refreshing of your relationship?
Trust him, receive his grace, open your heart to God’s Spirit, ask him to fill you anew.
Stop trying to change yourself in order to please God and everyone else. God will do it for you. He will change you from within and you can live from His life inside you, from His grace springing up from within you.

When we experience God’s Grace, love will well up in us for God and for our neighbour.
Then we can become the church, the body of Christ, where other people can find God’s grace as we live out of this grace.

“Through God’s grace I am what I am.”

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