Sermon notes for week one of our “Thankful for God’s Gifts series.”
We love gifts, right? I know I do.
When someone gives you a gift, how do you respond?
What are God’s gifts and our response to them?
“The very center and core of the whole Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God. The center of the Bible, and the center of Christianity, is found in the grace of God.”
Theologian J. Gresham Machen
I. Understanding God’s Grace
Define and explain the concept of God’s grace:
- Grace as God’s unmerited favor.
- Grace as a gift we don’t deserve.
- Grace as the foundation of our salvation.
Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker both had churches in London in the 19th century. On one occasion, Parker commented on the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon’s orphanage. It was reported to Spurgeon however, that Parker had criticized the orphanage itself. Spurgeon blasted Parker the next week from the pulpit. The attack was printed in the newspapers and became the talk of the town. People flocked to Parker’s church the next Sunday to hear his rebuttal. “I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead.” The crowd was delighted. The ushers had to empty the collection plates 3 times. Later that week there was a knock at Parker’s study. It was Spurgeon. “You know Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved, you have given me what I needed.
This is the Bible and Christianity at its core.
God has chosen not to give us what we deserve but instead what we needed.
Grace.
II. Examples of God’s Grace in the Bible
Remember this:
- Romans 3:23 (ESV)
- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Creation – We are here!
- In the beginning God created…
- Made in His image – given value from the beginning.
The Fall – Yet He didn’t give up
- God chose in the beginning to show grace because He is gracious.
The Flood – Another chance given
- The story of Noah and the ark, where God saved Noah and his family (Genesis 6-9).
- Genesis 6:8 (ESV)
- But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
- Favor is grace.
The Covenant – He chose one man
- Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV) 300 years after Noah
- 12 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
- Genesis 17:7 (ESV)
- And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
- Exodus 6:7–8 (ESV) 600 years after Abram
- 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’ ”
The Chosen – He chose one nation
- Deuteronomy 7:6–8 (ESV)
- 6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Why the Old Testament Passages?
- God doesn’t change!
Remember it is His unmerited favor!
He is a Gracious and Merciful God
III. Gratitude for God’s Unmerited Favor
J. I. Packer suggests that grace is simply God’s love demonstrated toward those who deserve the opposite.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death.
Paul – The life of the apostle Paul, who experienced God’s transformative grace (Acts 9:1-22).
Life Before Christ
- Acts 8:3 (ESV)
- But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
- breathed threats and murder against the followers of Christ.
He Chose Paul!
Created
New Creation
Purpose
- A life of dedication to the Lord.
- Paul’s road was not easy though he was favored by God.
Chosen to Suffer
- Acts 9:16 (ESV)
- For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
- “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
God doesn’t owe us
How are you showing God you are thankful for His grace?
My Own Life
Saved by Grace
- Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Jesus is God’s Grace
- Titus 2:11: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”
God ordained for us, in our place, One who took upon Himself all the punishment we deserve. He fulfilled the law for us. He averted the judgment of God from us and appeased God’s wrath. Grace, therefore, costs us nothing, but is cost Another much to get it for us. Grace was purchased with an incalculable, infinite treasure, the Son of God Himself.”
Martin Luther, Daily Walk, May 5, 1992.
How are you showing God you are thankful for His grace?
Changed Lives
- Titus 2:11–14 (ESV)
- For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
- Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
- For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Live Your Purpose
When we are thankful for it then we are most likely to share it and desire it for others.
Show Grace – forgive lest ye be forgiven.
The Gospel
Romans 3:23–24 (ESV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Saved by grace through faith.
This is the major difference between Christianity and other world religions.
We are not saved by our own merit, how good we are.
It is a gift!
Gerald Faulkner 