Embracing Grace: The Transformative Power of Love
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water." [00:25:49] (39 seconds)
"Our salvation, the price that Jesus paid, is a gift of grace to every single one of us. We don't earn it. It doesn't come by being a good person. It doesn't come by showing up to the Serve Our City events. It doesn't come by showing up to church. It doesn't come by giving a few extra dollars here and there. It doesn't come by any of those things. It is a gift that is given to us. It is a gift that is given. We don't earn it. We do not deserve it. But it's a gift of grace that God has given to every single one of us to choose if we want to receive the gift or not." [00:53:06] (44 seconds)
"See, when we let bitterness, and resentment consume us, it too can grow into hatred and actually blind us to God and others. Just last week before Thanksgiving, after teaching a message on gratitude, I was reminded how quickly it is for me, my own self personally, to let bitterness and resentment consume me. And maybe you can, you can relate as well. I'd allowed some past hurt, some past rejection to blind me to the ways of God. See, bitterness blinds us. It blinds us to God and others, and it keeps us from moving forward toward God." [00:59:32] (52 seconds)
"See, Paul knows and he wants us to know that we must get rid of the bitterness. We must get rid of the anger, the rejection, because it limits us. We fight. shrinks our capacity to love God and others. Bitterness and resentment can consume us to the point where our heart shrinks and it blinds us to what God has for us, just like the Grinch. So we've got to get rid of it. And we get rid of it by being kind and compassionate and using the Christian cuss word of forgiving each other." [01:00:07] (42 seconds)
"And if we don't forgive, bitterness consumes us and it shrinks our heart and blinds us to God and others. See, we don't forgive because we think we're letting someone else off the hook. My friend, forgiveness is not that. Forgiveness is not for them, it's for you. Forgiveness is for me. It's for you. It's not for them. It's for me so that my heart doesn't get consumed with bitterness and resentment and block me from God and others and shrink my capacity to love God and others. See, we can forgive because we've been forgiven much." [01:01:09] (43 seconds)
"And unfortunately, just like the Grinch, we try and fill the void in our hearts with our own solutions, our own plans of revenge. And control, and sin, and success even. But our plans don't and won't work. It might seem like they work, but they will always fall short because it's not the plan from God for our lives. The Grinch's plan to steal joy actually only deepened his emptiness. Just like the plans that we try to fix ourselves, apart from God, do as well." [01:05:22] (44 seconds)
"This verse reminds us that relying on our own understanding and following our own desires can lead us astray, while God's way leads us to life and truth. And our hearts will keep shrinking and actually weakening when we do things. our way and when we justify ourselves. See, we need his gift of grace. I need his gift of grace at work in my life so that I can stick to God's plan. I need his gift of grace. You need his gift of grace in your life so you can stick to his plan, not yours. His plan won't fail you. Yours will." [01:06:40] (44 seconds)
"The gift of grace enables us to live with love and generosity. The gift of grace allows us to release the bitterness. So that our heart doesn't keep shrinking. The gift of grace allows us to be able to choose God's plan, not ours. The gift of grace allows our heart to keep growing. And keep us connected to God and others. Which is what he has called us to. The gift of grace is ours for the taking." [01:15:21] (36 seconds)
"Grace is the ultimate gift that transforms even the hardest of hearts and grows us and grows them into something new. You know, this is what happened in the story of the Grinch. And as we watched the last clip together, we're coming up on, if you remember in the movie where the Grinch is just seen, he's up on the mountain and he's just witnessed the who's and their joy and they're holding hands and they're singing and they're celebrating. They have everything taken from them. Everything Christmas has been removed, yet they are still full of joy. They're celebrating Christmas. And at the sight of this, the Grinch's heart begins to change." [01:09:27] (52 seconds)
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"Our salvation, the price that Jesus paid, is a gift of grace to every single one of us. We don't earn it. It doesn't come by being a good person. It doesn't come by showing up to the Serve Our City events. It doesn't come by showing up to church. It doesn't come by giving a few extra dollars here and there. It doesn't come by any of those things. It is a gift that is given to us. It is a gift that is given. We don't earn it. We do not deserve it. But it's a gift of grace that God has given to every single one of us to choose if we want to receive the gift or not." [00:53:06] (44 seconds)
"See, when we let bitterness, and resentment consume us, it too can grow into hatred and actually blind us to God and others. Just last week before Thanksgiving, after teaching a message on gratitude, I was reminded how quickly it is for me, my own self personally, to let bitterness and resentment consume me. And maybe you can, you can relate as well. I'd allowed some past hurt, some past rejection to blind me to the ways of God. See, bitterness blinds us. It blinds us to God and others, and it keeps us from moving forward toward God." [00:59:32] (52 seconds)
"See, Paul knows and he wants us to know that we must get rid of the bitterness. We must get rid of the anger, the rejection, because it limits us. We fight. shrinks our capacity to love God and others. Bitterness and resentment can consume us to the point where our heart shrinks and it blinds us to what God has for us, just like the Grinch. So we've got to get rid of it. And we get rid of it by being kind and compassionate and using the Christian cuss word of forgiving each other." [01:00:07] (42 seconds)
"And if we don't forgive, bitterness consumes us and it shrinks our heart and blinds us to God and others. See, we don't forgive because we think we're letting someone else off the hook. My friend, forgiveness is not that. Forgiveness is not for them, it's for you. Forgiveness is for me. It's for you. It's not for them. It's for me so that my heart doesn't get consumed with bitterness and resentment and block me from God and others and shrink my capacity to love God and others. See, we can forgive because we've been forgiven much." [01:01:09] (43 seconds)
"And unfortunately, just like the Grinch, we try and fill the void in our hearts with our own solutions, our own plans of revenge. And control, and sin, and success even. But our plans don't and won't work. It might seem like they work, but they will always fall short because it's not the plan from God for our lives. The Grinch's plan to steal joy actually only deepened his emptiness. Just like the plans that we try to fix ourselves, apart from God, do as well." [01:05:22] (44 seconds)
"This verse reminds us that relying on our own understanding and following our own desires can lead us astray, while God's way leads us to life and truth. And our hearts will keep shrinking and actually weakening when we do things. our way and when we justify ourselves. See, we need his gift of grace. I need his gift of grace at work in my life so that I can stick to God's plan. I need his gift of grace. You need his gift of grace in your life so you can stick to his plan, not yours. His plan won't fail you. Yours will." [01:06:40] (44 seconds)
"The gift of grace enables us to live with love and generosity. The gift of grace allows us to release the bitterness. So that our heart doesn't keep shrinking. The gift of grace allows us to be able to choose God's plan, not ours. The gift of grace allows our heart to keep growing. And keep us connected to God and others. Which is what he has called us to. The gift of grace is ours for the taking." [01:15:21] (36 seconds)
"Grace is the ultimate gift that transforms even the hardest of hearts and grows us and grows them into something new. You know, this is what happened in the story of the Grinch. And as we watched the last clip together, we're coming up on, if you remember in the movie where the Grinch is just seen, he's up on the mountain and he's just witnessed the who's and their joy and they're holding hands and they're singing and they're celebrating. They have everything taken from them. Everything Christmas has been removed, yet they are still full of joy. They're celebrating Christmas. And at the sight of this, the Grinch's heart begins to change." [01:09:27] (52 seconds)
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