Embracing Grace: The Aroma of Christ for All

In the same way, the aroma of Christ, beloved, it will get people's attention. Some people are going to be drawn to it, others not so much. It's going to produce different responses. But our responsibility is to spend time with Jesus, to be in the presence of God and then carry his aroma into every sphere of our life. [00:59:26] (23 seconds)  #CarryChristEverywhere

What is the sweet smelling aroma of Jesus? It is a life that is marked by love and joy and peace. It is a life of kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self -control. That aroma. That aroma.of Jesus is loving your enemies and blessing those that curse you so it's pretty much the exact opposite of everything we are seeing in the world right now. [00:59:49] (29 seconds)  #FruitOfTheSpiritAroma

To be clear the aroma of Christ is not religion it is not condemning others it is not having a holier than thou attitude where we think we're better than other people the aroma of Christ is not tied to a specific political party the aroma of Christ is loving God and loving and serving your neighbors including our neighbors that don't believe as we believe because all people are made in the image and likeness of God. [01:00:18] (28 seconds)  #GraceBeyondReligion

But after all of that reckless living, we discovered that the things in this world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life, all of that have an expiration date. They don't last. They're not enough. Because after the music stops and the party finishes and everybody goes home, and after the thrill of a new relationship wears off, and after the novelty of the new car or the new clothes or the new house, after that fades away, after the really nice vacation passes, we discover that it's still not enough. It's still not enough. It's still not enough. [01:09:43] (37 seconds)  #LifeChangingGrace

Religious people like to diagnose everybody else's problem religious people like to call attention to everybody else's dirt the older son here in this parable he was so busy calling out the sins and the dustiness and the dirt of his reckless younger brother that he was blind to his own shortcomings and sins. [01:28:01] (23 seconds)  #BlindToOwnSin

Christianity is not about behavior modification on the outside it's about a radical transformation that god does on the inside now god's word shows us that all of us each and every last one of us here we are sinful by nature god's word says that we are flesh. [01:33:15] (20 seconds)  #RadicalInnerTransformation

We are here to proclaim that jesus came for everybody jesus came for the immoral you you you you you And he came for the moral. He came for the unrighteous. And he came for the self -righteous. He came for the party animal and the pious. The godless and the goody two -shoes. The little brothers and the big brothers. And our mission this week is to go out and to do the same. To represent Jesus to all people. To live a life in which the sweet, sweet -smelling fragrance of Christ, that fruit of the spirit is released. [01:38:38] (40 seconds)  #JesusCameForAll

We are not here to point fingers. This week go out and proclaim faith. Don't point fingers. We are not called to write wash me or I'm dirty on other people's name. Or family or reputation. We are called to go out into the world and say, hey, we're all dusty. We're all dirty. None of us by nature are clean and good. We all need to get washed. But I know a guy. I know a good car wash. And that car wash isn't just going to clean the outside. It's going to clean the inside. Right? Because Jesus will get us cleaned and detailed. Jesus, he will get the vacuums, the shampoo. He will clean out all the muck and the mire of our shame. [01:39:22] (50 seconds)  #ProclaimFaithNotJudgment

The beautiful gospel of God's grace, of Jesus coming for the undeserving and giving us the best. My wife and I, we were recently reminded of an old church saying that says this, I'm just a nobody here to tell everybody about somebody that can save anybody. I don't want to offend you, but that's what we are. We're nobodies here to tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody. [01:40:27] (35 seconds)  #CleanInsideOut