the MOST wonderful gift

Yesterday at Classic City Church, we celebrated our fifth year as a church, so as you can probably guess, the sermon was about the church. Church, to me, is not only the big, beautiful building, but also the group of friends, role models, and Christians in general whom I have surrounded myself with. Through these people, I see God shining through them, and I believe that wherever you can see or feel God's presence, that’s where the church really is. The church is a body of believers. WE ARE THE CHURCH. Anyone that believes in God. Now THAT is a lot of people, 2.2 billion to be exact.

Okay, so here is something to think about: we are the church, and the church is as good OR bad as we make it. If you really think about that, it is one big responsibility. So if we are all the church with God shining though us, then there has to be something that holds us all together, right? Right, and the thing that holds us all together and holds us close to God is GRACE.

Now let me explain this a little better. I want you to close your eyes for a moment.  Reflect back on these past few months, think of actions you have done that you probably shouldn't have, or stuff you wish you did do, but didn't. You are not the only one who has done something wrong, everyone sins, but whether it is big or small doesn't matter. Now, think: Do I deserve grace? Do I, a daily sinner, deserve this wonderful, freely given gift from God? Your answer to that last question is probably no. I know mine is. Okay, now open your eyes.

Romans 5:6-8 in the Message Bible says, "Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."

We don't deserve grace, none of us do. However, we got it the day that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and we continue to get it to this very day. The best gift anyone could receive and it was given to us, daily sinners. We don’t earn grace, we don’t deserve grace yet it is freely given to us. Why you may ask? Because God loves us more than you can EVER imagine.

            Okay, let me put this mind-blowing idea of grace into perspective. For me, grace has not always been an easy concept to grasp. Since I can remember I have had an extremely blessed life. I have a wonderful, supportive family, I have attended three top-notch schools, and I have always possessed a strong faith. My parents raised me well and because of that I have never really gotten into trouble. I try my best to keep my life in line with God’s word. Because I have “never really gotten into trouble,” I didn’t really think that God’s grace was present in my life. I kinda had the mindset that I deserved His grace, but BOY was I wrong.

Every little sin is completely undeserving of God’s grace and it took me a while to realize this. At first, I didn’t think it was fair that I worked so hard to stay in line with God’s word, while other people, including some of the people that I surrounded myself with on a daily basis, were getting into so much trouble. I mean, why were they getting God’s grace when they were sinning all the time?

After attending a church retreat called Happening about 3 years ago, I realized that I sin just as much as my friends do, but in a different way. Eventually I understood that my selfish mindset had me thinking that Jesus died on the cross JUST for me. And although He did die for me, He also died for billions of other people as well. That’s when it really hit me. WE ALL FALL SHORT, but God isn’t looking for perfection. He is looking for people to LOVE him unconditionally. And if God's grace was some sort of reward for good behavior, NONE OF US could earn enough brownie points to win the big prize. Thank goodness it doesn't work that way. Grace is an undeserving and freely given gift from God and all we have to do in return for this wonderful gift is love God with all our hearts and with all our minds. God loves us unconditionally no matter how far we fall from the path and that’s the most wonderful gift anyone could ever receive.