Responding to Grace: Offering Our Whole Lives

God’s grace is not a single gift handed over once. It is a river that carries a person from before birth until that life is made whole in heaven. Prevenient grace goes ahead, nudging and preparing the ground. Justifying grace declares people forgiven, accepted, and beloved because of what God has done. Sanctifying grace patiently shapes hearts, habits, and hands until lives begin to look like Christ. Stewardship is what that grace looks like when it is lived out, not a polite word for fundraising.

Joshua’s gathering at Shechem begins with God’s gifts before it reaches Israel’s decision. The land, houses, vineyards, and olive groves all testify to an inheritance the people did not manufacture. Believers likewise stand on foundations laid by others. Nothing they hold is originally theirs; they are caretakers of a gracious inheritance.

Joshua’s call to choose exposes the fact that everyone serves something. Schedules, savings, comfort, and self-reliance are not evil, but they become gods when they sit on the throne and decide how time, money, and attention are spent. Joshua places his own life on the table first. His commitment is not a boast but a thank-you.

Paul carries that response into ordinary Tuesday afternoons. The Colossians are already chosen, holy, and beloved before they are told to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Holiness is a garment worn morning by morning, even when it feels scratchy. Love holds the outfit together; financial generosity cannot substitute for mercy or forgiveness.

The peace of Christ makes the final call between fear’s tight grip and faith’s open hand. Gratitude becomes a daily discipline, and Christ’s word moves in rather than dropping by on Sundays. Everything belongs within life in Jesus’ name. A covenant of time, talent, and treasure becomes a paper witness to that response, offered without guilt or comparison as believers place their whole lives into God’s hands.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace Comes Before Any Human Promise. God gave Israel land, homes, and vineyards before Joshua called for a decision. The same order matters for Christian stewardship: gratitude answers a gift already received rather than trying to earn acceptance. Recognizing an inheritance built through others’ faithfulness turns ownership into careful, thankful care. [42:16]
• 2. Good Gifts Can Become Rival Gods. Savings and schedules can serve wise and necessary purposes. They become rival gods when they take the throne and determine every use of time, money, and attention. Joshua’s call to choose brings those ordinary loyalties into the open, where comfort and security can no longer pass unnoticed as ultimate authorities. [47:09]
• 3. Holiness Takes Shape Through Daily Relationships. Compassion, kindness, humility, and patience are clothes believers keep putting on, even when the fit feels awkward. The Spirit patiently makes those habits fit through life with suffering people, strangers, and difficult neighbors. Love holds the garment together, exposing the contradiction of generous giving alongside withheld forgiveness. [51:28]
• 4. Gratitude Changes How Gifts Are Held. Gratitude is not merely a passing mood but a daily spiritual discipline. A life recognized as gift becomes harder to clutch as a private possession. The peace of Christ, rather than the fear of not having enough, can make the final call when generosity feels costly. [54:08]
• 5. A Covenant Witnesses To Wholehearted Response. A commitment card is a paper witness, like the stone Joshua placed beside the sanctuary. Its significance reaches beyond a financial figure to prayer, service, relationships, and the use of God-given abilities. Faithful commitment grows from gratitude and love, not comparison with another person’s circumstances or gifts. [1:08:11]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [35:01] - Grace as a River
• [38:47] - Stewardship as Grace Lived Out
• [40:03] - Shechem and God’s Gifts Before Choice
• [43:51] - Caretakers of a Gracious Inheritance
• [45:24] - The Subtle Gods of Everyday Life
• [47:42] - Joshua Places His Life First
• [49:40] - Chosen, Holy, and Beloved
• [50:38] - Putting On Holiness and Love
• [53:29] - Christ’s Peace and Daily Gratitude
• [55:18] - Everything in the Name of Jesus
• [56:29] - Giving as Spiritual Health
• [58:37] - A Covenant and a Paper Witness
• [1:02:36] - Prayer, Gifts, and Generosity
• [1:06:54] - Placing the Whole Life in God’s Hands

Bible Reading

Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” [44:01]

Colossians 3:12-17
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” [49:55]

Joshua 24:13
“I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.” [41:24]

Observation questions

1. In Joshua 24:13–15, what gifts does God remind Israel of before Joshua calls the people to choose whom they will serve? What order do these events follow? [41:24]
2. What everyday things can become rival gods, and what marks the point when a useful gift begins to take God’s place? [47:09]
3. In Colossians 3:12–14, how does Paul describe the believers before giving them instructions, and what qualities does he then tell them to put on? [49:49]
4. What examples connect compassion, kindness, humility, and patience with particular people and situations? [51:34]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does it matter that God’s gifts come before Israel’s commitment in Joshua 24:13–15? How would reversing that order change a person’s understanding of giving and serving? [42:16]
2. Joshua 24:15 presents a choice about whom to serve. How might someone’s calendar or spending reveal a loyalty that their words do not acknowledge? [45:31]
3. In Colossians 3:12–14, why can financial generosity never substitute for mercy or forgiveness? What does love bring to acts of giving and service that might otherwise be missing? [53:01]
4. What might it look like for Christ’s peace, rather than fear of not having enough, to guide a believer’s decision about generosity while still taking real responsibilities seriously? [53:29]

Application questions

1. Who helped lay the foundation for your faith through prayer, welcome, teaching, or steady care? How might you care for that inheritance and pass it on to someone else? [42:42]
2. Think about a recent decision involving your time, money, or attention. What had the strongest influence—comfort, security, other people’s expectations, or trust in God? Is there a similar decision ahead that you would like to approach differently? [47:42]
3. Which quality in Colossians 3:12 feels most like a scratchy coat for you right now? In one relationship this week, what small action could help you practice it while trusting the Spirit’s patient work? [50:46]
4. Without sharing details you would rather keep private, is there a relationship where giving time or money feels easier than offering patience or forgiveness? What might a wise next step toward mercy look like? [53:01]
5. Gratitude can become a daily practice rather than an occasional feeling. What simple habit could help you notice God’s gifts this week, and how might that affect the way you share what you have? [54:08]
6. A written commitment can be a reminder of a grateful response to God, not a comparison with anyone else. What realistic commitment of time, talent, or treasure might you prayerfully make in your present circumstances, and what reminder would help you return to it? [59:21]