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Notes
Living in the grace safety net - 3 December
2007
Link to life
Grace is an often used word… a graceful
movement, an act of grace, or a prayer we say before meals. What
does grace mean to you? When you answer think of times in the past
month where grace has been in your life (either to receive or give).
On this earth there are plenty of things that
will remain a mystery to us in spite of advances in knowledge. Grace
is possibly one of these things. We know a little but will always be
able to learn more.
Bible focus
(Ephesians 2:4-10)
But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with
Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you
have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with
him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the
coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we
are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Discussion
Part 1 – Reflect
Last meeting you were challenged to identify a
person or situation where it is risky to love and commit to God and
your group to asking God to work through you to love in this hard
place. How are you going? Share with others or write down the
challenges or successes you have had in working with God to love
another person who is not easy to love.
Part 2 – The mystery of grace
King David was a
man who knew God very well, and wrote Psalms recording his joys and
trials. In Psalm 139:5-6 he said about God, “You hem me in—behind
and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” King David did many
great things and also made huge errors, including adultery and
arranging for murder. He knew of God’s love and grace, yet as you
hear in Psalm 139 he knew it was “too lofty” to fully understand. In
Romans 6:23 the bottom line on grace is explained: “For the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.”
Before David was
king he was persecuted by King Saul, but always treated him with
respect and grace. King Saul had been chasing David to kill him and
in 1 Samuel 26:7-9 and 11 this is recorded, “So David and Abishai
went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside
the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and
the soldiers were lying around him. Abishai said to David, ‘Today
God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to
the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice.’
But David said to Abishai, ‘Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on
the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?... But the LORD forbid that I
should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. Now get the spear and
water jug that are near his head, and let's go.’”
Just as King David
learned about God’s grace, we can too.
Chat again about
the challenge you have to love a person who is hard to love. Do you
feel helpless? David often did! Where did his help come from so he
could keep going?
Part 3 – Being thankful
Ephesians 5:20
tells us we should be “always giving thanks to God the Father for
everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Perhaps this is a
big request when you are very busy or rundown, so why not take a
little time to reflect.
How has God been rebuilding your life? Let Him
know your appreciation in a spoken or written prayer. In the same
way our lives are being rebuilt, we can offer God’s grace to other
people to help rebuild their lives.
As Christians we know of only one human who
fully understood grace: Jesus, the man who chose to take on all the
evil of humanity and die on the cross to give justice and freedom.
While we can receive grace just by asking, we are also called to
become more like Jesus and to know more and more of grace as we live
with it in our lives.
The Big Question
What part of your life do you need to open up
more to God so that He can work in His grace to make you more like
Jesus?
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