Sermons - 2022 May 22 » Savior Connect

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Michael Meccia

Elizabeth Holthouse

James haynes

Lisa Haynes

Sermons - 2022 May 22

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Publish Date: May 27, 2022

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Mike Meccia

October 2, 2023 1:46 pm

God’s Sovereign Grace The grace of God is freely given to everyone who seeks to know God, due to the special love that God has for his creation. (John 17:3) This is best described by the Apostle Pau... View MoreGod’s Sovereign Grace The grace of God is freely given to everyone who seeks to know God, due to the special love that God has for his creation. (John 17:3) This is best described by the Apostle Paul: “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This special love, best described by the Greek word ‘agape’, is unique to God. This can also be described as an active, unconditional love; undeserved by us, but freely given no matter how sinful a person has been. There is more than one type of God’s grace that he bestows on His children. The first type I will mention today is called ‘common grace’. This type of grace is freely given by God and common to all members of the human race. This grace represents God’s delay of His well-deserved wrath on this sin-cursed world. Common grace also curbs the destructive power of sin in this world, making an orderly life possible for all by providing a moral law in the hearts of sinful men so that they are not a law unto themselves, but that they have consciousness of right and wrong. At the sermon on the mount, Jesus told the crowd: “He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt:5:45) There are many types of God’s graces, called Special Graces that are freely given to individual believers. Not attempting to place a limit on all of God’s graces, but to cover today the ‘top five’ Special Graces divided into sub-categories: starting with perhaps the greatest gift of grace of all: 1) Saving Grace - This is the grace God freely gives to sinners who accept His son Jesus Christ in their hearts as their Lord and Savior through faith and receive the gift of everlasting life. “For it is by Grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8:9). Saving grace is God’s power to justify us, redeem us, forgive us of our sins and regenerate us into a new creation in Jesus Christ, who sends the Holy Spirit to us to awaken our spirit that was dead from the original sin of the first man, Adam, to comfort and guide us, give us spiritual gifts, and convict us if we lapse back into sinful behavior. (1 Corinthians 12) 2) Sanctifying grace – God provides sanctifying grace to those who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ that helps us as we journey through this life to live a holy life in a corrupt and sinful world, resisting temptations and growing in our faith as we become more like Christ. (Romans 12:2 NIV) 3) Strengthening grace – This grace God provides us to keep our faith strong and empowers us to do the will and work of God by inspiring us to live courageously and overcome the challenges of this life and to resist the temptations of the Adversary. The Holy Spirit also helps us understand God’s Word as we read scripture and helps us to pray. (Romans 15:13 NIV) 4) Sharing grace – This gives us trust that God will meet our needs and in turn we give to others in need of our time, talents and treasure with a cheerful heart. (Colossians 3:13, NIV) 5) Serving Grace – This is the grace we receive from God to serve Him, using the gifts, talents, passions and callings that are unique to each of us. Serving grace is displayed in teaching, evangelism, mercy, and other areas that God has equipped us as his saints to serve others as we serve Him. (1 Timothy 1.13-16 NIV) We thank God for his unconditional love for us, and for his freely given gift of grace that will one day glorify us in heaven where we will continue to glorify God. I conclude today’s teaching with the words of the Apostle Paul again: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) Amen

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