Sermon for 2-17-08 AM "Means Of
Grace
R. Sams (John 1:14-18)
BIG IDEA: We get grace
through the classic means of grace.
SCRIPTURES TO VIDEOPROJECT (coded
with P ):
OTHER SCRIPTURES:
OTHER ITEMS TO
VIDEOPROJECT:
CALL TO WORSHIP:
THEMES/SONGS:
GOSPEL/MISSION:
VISION/PRIORITIES:
ASSIGNMENTS:
PASTOR�S MINI-LESSON:
BULLETIN BOTTOM, p. 1 "SPIRITUAL
GROWTH CONTINUUM !-- Exploring Christianity -- Growing in Christ -- Close
to Christ -- Christ-centered --!
I. When we were kids we
played a game called "Pile On The Rabbit. It happened when a gang of kids
was hanging out and someone yelled "pile on the rabbit. Everyone started
piling on top of some lucky person while everybody chanted "Pile on the
rabbit. Pity the one at the bottom, or even ones close to the
bottom. That�s when you were happy to have few friends.
A.
Sadly we often play this game as adults. It�s being played with Willow
Creek Community church near Chicago, arguably one of the largest churches in the
world. Pastor Bill Hybels leads this church of around 25K going
strong.
B. People are piling on to Willow Creek because they had
the courage to do a study of themselves. For good measure they also
include 6 other churches so they could study churches of various sizes,
locations, racial mixes, only confirming their data.
C. They were
trying to find out were they helping people love God and love people, the Great
Command Jesus gave all His followers. The challenge was measuring
that. But they came up with ways to do that by self reports on behaviors
and attitudes; i.e. how often they shared their faith with joy, gave away
their money to charitable causes with joy, how often they used their spiritual
talents to serve, especially serve the poor, involvement in a small group,
practice of several spiritual disciples, etc.
D. Now by spiritual
disciplines, I mean those practices (exercises) the church has used since it�s
start 2000 years ago to help people grow in their love for God and
people.
E. There are the ones we could name easily like worship,
Bible study, prayer, etc. Then there are the lesser known and practiced
ones like:
serving, tithing, solitude, journaling, fasting, accountability,
mentoring.
F. Willow Creek has made some startling announcements,
that just packing people in the pews does not produce disciples. Many of
you will say DUH! Why�d they spend the money? Yet typically all of
us can fall into that trap of looking at a church and measuring its success by
how many people attend. Or worse, assuming that people are growing in love
for Christ and people just because they warm a pew regularly.
G.
NOT! They found many people who attended all the time that were low on
both loves. Where the "pile on game happened is in writers who ran
with WC�s findings and said that the style of "seeker friendly worship and
church that made Willow Creek and made them famous had failed, and that Willow
Creek themselves had admitted they were a colossal failure. NOT
true.
H. They made mistakes, they admitted those. But they
have done the church a tremendous favor in showing us their research and helping
all of us learn what helps people love God and people. I�m grateful.
One lady involved in the research for them worked for Allstate Insurance for 20+
years. She said the business community would NEVER share their research
like WC has.
I. One of the most helpful findings of their research
has come on what they�ve found out about the "means of grace, the
spiritual disciplines Christians have used for 2000 years to help them develop
in their love for God and people.
J. One of the biggest findings is
how little attendance had to do with where someone was on this spiritual growth
continuum. SHOW HERE K. Another huge discovery was how Bible reading
loomed above all the others for helping people at every level of spiritual
growth move ahead.
So the question becomes: "How do we help people to get
into the Word more? L. Another finding was that on the left end of
this scale people were most helped by the programs and ministries of the
church. But the farther they went up the scale to the left, the more they
had to design their own package of spiritual disciplines to keep on growing,
i.e. the less the church helped them.
M. This is huge for
those of you who are dissatisfied with the ministries of the church.
You�re in good company. That�s because your expectations are in the wrong
place: on us. We can�t totally cop out and say "If you�re not growing,
it�s YOUR fault. But this study confirms we have work on your spiritual
growth together.
1. The best analogy is the changing role that a
parent has in the life of a child at 0, 2, 10 18 and 30. We need to take
on the role of a parent to young adult for those on the right end of this scale
of counselor, encourager, guide. We can�t spoon feed like we did at
2. Neither do you want that. When you expect that, you�re going to
be dissatisfied.
2. We can�t keep spoon-feeding those who have been
in the pews for 10-50 years either. That�s about as healthy as feeding you
squash 3x/day at 18, with the bib. But that�s what some expect; and the
church too often does it. No wonder they don�t grow.
3. Don�t
hear me saying that you don�t need church the farther you are to the
right. Let�s switch metaphors. When you are at the left end of the
scale we�re like coaches of the kids I used to coach in ACSC, tenderfoot up to
4th grade. Lot�s of help. You at the right end are more like the
BEST professional athletes in terms of what you need from your coaches.
Work with us to design a training routine, which will use a lot of the
equipment, ministries and personnel of the church. So you need the
church. But a lot of it will be completely on your own, using your gifts
at your work and in the community. It�s not independence, but
interdependence and mutual much more than the left end.
II. These
spiritual disciplines that help us grow in our love for God and people have been
called "means of grace throughout church history.
They are the
pathways by which God pours out His grace into our hearts, so that we "get
grace and give it away (Rom 5:5).
A. That�s what we�ve been
talking about. We have to "get grace, understand it in our
anti-grace world, which is hard to do; and we need to "get grace, meaning
receive it from the Lord who always wants to pour it on.
B. Grace
is empowering. The more we know God�s grace, the more we�ll give it
away. GRACE means His unearned, undeserved love that changes our lives
when we get it. It empowers us to live the life because it frees us to
love and live for Him. We MUST "get grace. The means of grace
are how it happens.
III. Jesus, through His Spirit, is the Giver of
grace (Jn 1:14-17).
A. These verses challenge me because we all
lean one way or the other (me leaning in pics). We are always supposed to
be the balance Jesus was. How ya doing?
B. (V.
16). We are in the Easter season. We had a Mormon running for
President. How did I connect those? They�re connected in this world
"fullness. "Pleroma means exactly that: Jesus is the sum total of
all that is God: His nature and character. But He�s a person separate from
God the Father. One of the earliest heresies was Jesus was God the Father
on earth; Heaven was vacant when Jesus was here. No!
C. He is
the character and power as God; He is equal with God. This passage
screams: "If you want to see God; look at Jesus. (Col 1:19 and 2:9)
say the same. The Mormons disagree, and that is a HUGE
difference. They�ll mislead saying He�s the Savior of the world, a type of
god, but not equal with God [same as JW�s].
D. You might ask "so
what? The implications are huge. If He isn�t God He couldn�t die for
the sins of the whole world. He could die for his own, but not mine and
yours. Aren�t you glad He died for OURS? (Jn 1:29).
E.
And He had to be fully man or He could not have shed His precious blood.
The Bible tells us: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of
sin (Heb 9:22). The earliest heresy said Jesus was God, but not man;
flesh and blood (see I Jn 4:2).
F. He is the unique Son, the only
begotten Son, "THE Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; "THE ONLY
ONE WHO COULD, is what John was saying.
G. The other problem
when we are told Jesus is not equal with God, but we see words like this, is we
begin to doubt the Bible. I�ve talked with a number of Mormons who quote
their own books more than the Bible; actually bind their 3 books with the
Bible. I�ll ask them about that and they will TELL me they don�t, but
actions speak louder than words. So the lesson for us is: what do I quote
the most and read the most?
H. "The only begotten God is what
the NAS translates v. 18) describing Jesus. The NIV has many
marginal notes saying that is a good translation. The word "begotten
is "monogenes. That word originally meant both "unique and
"specially loved. Jesus is both.
I. The phrase "who is at the
Father�s side (NIV) is more accurately "who is in the bosom of the
Father. Now we don�t use that word "bosom much. "Bosom
buddies comes close. It was a word used to convey an intimacy that
was on the highest level man could understand or experience. The same word
is used to convey the intimacy between a wet nurse tenderly feeding a baby or
husband cradling his wife in his arms (Num 11:12; Dt 13:6). Complete,
uninterrupted intimacy.
K. And this Jesus who has that kind of
relationship with the Father God has come to show us God, reveal His great love
and grace for us, and bring us to God so we can enjoy that kind of love
ourselves. This is HUGE!
IV. And the pathways that love and
grace often comes is the classic "means of grace I�ve already
mentioned. Jesus just wants to pour it on us (V. 16 NIV & "grace
upon grace NAS).
A. The word "upon is more accurately
translated instead of, which makes it strange. Until you think about it
and realize Jesus is always trying to give us new grace instead of old
grace. READ BARCLAY p. 72.
B. I ask you what new grace
do you need from Jesus today to deal with today�s need. The means of grace
is how you "get grace. C. I also challenge you to receive Jesus in
fullness; the ONLY Giver of forgiveness and life. CLOSING
SONG(S).