Stay On Mission – 10th September 2018

1. Amazing Grace.
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes:

“I do not set aside the grace of God”.

Do you remember when you became a Christian? You may be able to recall the ‘moment’ or perhaps it was a more gradual process that reached a point where you understood the remarkable truth that God loved you and, because of His extravagant grace, had sent His one and only son to die in your place? Do you remember a time when you saw grace as truly ‘Amazing’? As the words of the hymn say:

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.

Grasping the amazingness and generosity of grace is a powerful incentive to Join Jesus in His Mission because when we discover something wonderful we want others to hear about it.
I remember the time that I became a Christian and the immediate passion that flooded through me to tell everybody I could about this ‘Amazing Grace’. I also remember, not too long after I was baptized, I told the people in the church that I was part of that ‘I just want to tell everybody about Jesus’. The response that I received from many in the church was something like:

‘Oh that’s good, but it will wear off’.

I am pleased to say that it hasn’t worn off but I wonder if that is your story?

The next verse in the hymn says:

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

I ask you, this week, to reflect upon this amazing grace and ask the Lord to help you if the preciousness that it had in the hour that you first believed has been lost. Without the motivation of grace it is unlikely that you will effectively stay on mission with Jesus.