A lot of churches go by this name . . . Grace Church. It's a good name for a church because it's central to the heart of God and the message of Jesus.
What does a church of grace actually look like?
Without question, the church has amazing opportunities to accurately reflect the heart of God . . . to be His hands, feet, and voice to people around us everyday who don't know . . . or who misunderstand His heart for them.
His is a heart of understanding, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. You see it in Jesus . . . with the people He hung out with. You hear it in the stories he told . . . stories of lost things . . . lost sheep, lost coins, and lost people. So much was Jesus' heart for the broken, marginalized, and excluded that He earned for Himself the title . . . a friend of sinners.
Since God's heart was a heart of grace . . . the church needs to be a place of grace.
What's that look like?
5 signs of a church of grace
- It is a church where God is changing people.
It's not our job to change people but to introduce them to the One who can. Our job is to cooperate with God . . . to be cultural farmers . . . creating an environment of love and acceptance where people can get a glimpse of His heart. That means we can stop playing God . . . I make a lousy Holy Spirit . . . besides I have a hard enough time trying to get my own act together much less someone else's.
- It is a church where there is no "us" vs. "them."
No "us" the good people who have their act together and "them," the bad people who haven't figured it out yet. Sin is the great equalizer . . . the ground at the foot of the cross is level. It's just us . . . people desperately in need of God's grace.
Next three next week!
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