August 9 2009 Kick Off 40 Days Of Grace

THE UNITED CELEBRATION AMONG DIFFERENT CHURCHES

THE UNITED CELEBRATION AMONG DIFFERENT CHURCHES

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Participants GUIDE sold!

Books sold!

I want to PARTICIPATE!

–READ for 40 DAYS –JOIN a Small Group –MEMORIZE 5 VERSES –CELEBRATE every SUNDAY

IMAGINE … what can happen if YOU will be • CONSISTENT in your Quiet Times? • PART of a LOVING Small Group? • EXCITED to CELEBRATE Jesus every Sunday? • INTENTIONAL in Bible Memorization?

40 DAYS of GRACE • BRING a FRIEND or a LOVED ONE every Sunday in any of our church celebrations. • YOUTH meets at Cinema 5 every Sunday. • CHILDREN’s Church meets at the Lobby of Cinema 6.

Priority SUNDAYS August 9 Kick Off What is GRACE? August 16 Week 1 GIVING August 23 Week 2 REVELATION August 30 Week 3 ADORATION September 6 Week 4 COMMUNITY September 13 Week 5 EVANGELISM (END)

SESSIONS in Your Small Groups

Current and NEW Groups / Sites Small Group Session Dave King Small Group Session Ascalon Small Group Session Joshua Jimena Small Group Session

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EXTEND GRACE to MANY!

• BE in a Small Group. • CREATE a Small Group – 2 or 3 gather in my NAME … Jesus said.

The Uniqueness of Christianity  In Philip Yancey’s “What's So Amazing About Grace?” (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 45.]

• During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form.

The Uniqueness of Christianity  Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's

The Uniqueness of Christianity 

"Oh, that's easy. It's grace.”

The Uniqueness of Christianity  • After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. • The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law -- each of these offers a way to earn approval. • Only Christianity dares to make

ENGLISH VERSION – NCV Acts 20:24 (New Century Version) "I don't care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me — to tell people the Good News about God's grace.“

Romans 5:6-8 “But God has shown us how much he loves us – it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!”  

The foundation in understanding God’s grace is in knowing the extent of His love. The Bible says that God’s love is so great that nothing in this world can separate us from His love.  

GOD is Holy, Man is Sinful. Realizing how far we are from the perfection and holiness of God, we should be able come to a conclusion that no amount of good works can earn our way to heaven. This poses a dilemma because God’s holiness demands that justice be served and sin be punished. But the other side of God’s character is love and He desires to forgive us.

GRACIOUS God. This problem was solved through the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Jesus took our punishment upon Himself and satisfied God’s justice. At the same time, His death brought forgiveness and redemption to us.  

 

GOD’S GRACE. The Bible says, this is how God demonstrates His love for us. He did so by giving His only Son to us to die and take our place of punishment.

Grace!

That’s

GRACE:

UNMERITTED FAVOR FROM GOD OBTAINED FREELY THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRST

Romans 3:24 “Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of

• By grace (v. 24). • “God is love” (1 John 4:8). When God relates that love to you and me, it becomes grace and mercy. God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve, and God in grace gives us what we do not deserve. The Greek word translated “freely” is translated in John 15:25 as “without a cause.” We are justified without a cause! There is no cause in us that would merit the salvation of God! It is all of grace!

One person explains GRACE as:

“God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”

GRATITUDE FROM US: How then should we respond to God’s love? God is not obligated to us. He could have destroyed us the moment we sinned. Instead, he chose to love us. We can but do one thing in gratitude – that is to live our lives for His glory!  

Our Babel-building pride insists that we must work our way to God. Only the Christian faith presents God’s grace as unconditional. That so goes against our instinct, so violates our pride, that man never would have made it up.

Comparative RELIGION study: HINDUISM’s gods are many and impersonal. Christianity’s God is one and pesonal. BUDDHISM offers no forgiveness or divine intervention. Christianity offers forgiveness and divine intervention.

Comparative RELIGION study: JUDAISM and ISLAM … men earn righteous status before God through doing good works. Christianity … men gain righteousness only by confessing their unrighteousness and being covered by Christ’s merit. Every other religion is MAN WORKING HIS WAY TO GOD.

Romans 11:6

“But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”

Every other religion is MAN WORKING HIS WAY TO GOD. Christianity is GOD

If you want a religion that makes you look good, CHRISTIANITY is a poor choice! It does, however, have something wonderful going for it – it’s true!

GRACE ABUSED ??? … some people take advantage of GRACE … reducing it to an excuse for SIN. Jude writes: “For certain men whose condemnation was written long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 1:4)

Jude writes: “For certain men whose condemnation was written long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 1:4)

GRACE ABUSED ??? IMPORTANT NOTE: “any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable about sinning is not biblical grace. God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to the truth.”

BABY JESSICA In 1987, eighteen-month-old “Baby Jessica” fell twenty-two feet into a Texas well. Rescuers labored nonstop to save her. After fifty-five grueling hours, here life hanging in balance, they finally reached her and extracted her from the well. The nation breathed a sigh of relief and cheered the heroes.

BABY JESSICA Baby Jessica was utterly helpless. She could do nothing to deliver herself. Her fate was in the hands of her rescuers. Left to herself, Jessica had no chance. Likewise, when it comes to our salvation, we’re utterly powerless. That’s grace “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” Romans 5:6

God alone deserves the ovation for our salvation! In the story of REDEMPTION, He’s the only hero. And it didn’t just cost Him fifty-five hours of hard work – it cost Him everything!

Do you want to SAY,