Extending His Grace
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
In this week's inspiring message, Pastor Derrel Strickland dives deep into the concept of grace from the book of Ephesians. He emphasizes that grace isn't just for the church leaders or a select few; it's a responsibility for every believer. We're called to extend God's grace, not just to those who are like us, but to everyone—just like Paul was called to extend grace to the Gentiles. Pastor Strickland likens this to being an ambassador for Christ, tasked with spreading His love and peace to all. After all, grace isn't about judgment or telling others what they're doing wrong—it's about sharing God's unending gift of love. Remember, grace is a gift meant for giving. Let's extend that grace to each and every person in our lives.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
The Importance of Extending Grace
In reflecting on spiritual growth and our responsibilities as believers, a powerful concept emerges: the necessity of extending grace to others. The Apostle Paul wrote about this concept in Ephesians, where he emphasizes the stewardship of God's grace given to him and, by extension, to all believers. This call to action underscores that grace should not only be received but also shared generously with others, particularly those who may be outside the faith.
Grace for Everyone
In biblical terms, there are two primary classifications of people: Jews and Gentiles. In our contemporary context, we can think of believers and non-believers. Every believer has been tasked with the special responsibility of extending grace, which means providing acceptance and understanding to all individuals, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. This struggle that many face is often rooted in misunderstanding their role as vessels of God's grace.
Embracing and Sharing Grace
Understanding what it means to extend grace emphasizes that we are called to give, not to criticize or condemn. Many may feel compelled to highlight others' failures instead of offering them grace. Recognizing that we, too, are in constant need of grace helps us approach others with love and the intention to uplift rather than to point out their flaws.
The Abundance of Grace
The New Testament speaks of grace abounding where sin exists, demonstrating that God's grace is more substantial than any transgression. This means that our duty is to reflect this deep well of grace in our interactions. Romans 5:20 reminds us that as sin increased, grace abounded even more, which applies to everyone, not just to specific groups of people.
The Love of Christ Controls Us
In 2 Corinthians 5:14, the love of Christ is what should govern our actions. Understanding that we are meant to help others find reconciliation with God is vital. We are called to extend grace to all people, reflecting God's love and compassion, especially toward those who seem lost or without hope.
Reconciliation and Ambassadorship
The ministry of reconciliation is vital to the Christian experience. As stated in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ, representing Him by extending His grace to everyone we meet. This ambassadorial role invites believers to present the message that despite our flaws, grace is available for all who seek it.
Recognizing Our Gifts and Responsibilities
Everyone has been graced with unique gifts meant for service. The ability to administer grace and love contributes to growing the faith community. By being generous with grace, we help strengthen the church and reflect our identity as God's children, showing the world the essence of His love.
Practical Ways to Extend Grace
Living in a world that often feels divided can tempt believers to devolve into animosity based on superficial differences. However, we are called to demonstrate grace, echoing the unconditional love that Christ displayed. When we encounter those in need—whether they are struggling with sin, loneliness, or life challenges—our response must be one of extending grace instead of judgment.
Conclusion: A Call to Extend Grace
Understanding and recognizing the transformative power of grace in our lives is essential. Just as we have graciously received God's love and mercy, we are obligated to share it with others. Each of us is called to be conduits of grace, offering hope, kindness, and compassion to a world that desperately needs it. As believers, let’s embrace our role in extending this beautiful gift, sharing God’s love with everybody we meet.
-
Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflection: Pastor Strickland shared that grace is a responsibility of every believer. How do you personally understand the concept of grace in your own life?
Connection: In what ways can we extend grace to those around us? Share a time when someone extended grace to you and how it affected your life.
Application: What practical steps can we take to be ambassadors of grace within our community?
Challenge: Are there individuals or groups in your life that you find challenging to extend grace to? Why is it important to overcome these challenges?
Faith in Action: How can living out the message of grace bring about positive changes in your family, workplace, or community?
-
Historical Context of Ephesians 3: God’s Grace in the Early Church
The book of Ephesians, often attributed to the Apostle Paul, is believed to have been written around 60-62 AD from Rome during Paul's imprisonment. It was directed to the church in Ephesus, a notable city in Asia Minor, now modern-day Turkey. Ephesus was a thriving hub, bustling with trade and cultural exchange, but it was also a place steeped in pagan worship and diverse beliefs.
The early Christians, including Gentiles (non-Jews), were trying to align their new faith in Jesus with their cultural backgrounds. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, specifically chapter 3, highlights the radical notion of God’s grace as inclusive and immeasurable. At the time, the division between Jews and Gentiles was stark, with Jews traditionally not associating or sharing religious practices with Gentiles. Paul’s message affirmed that through Christ, God's grace extended beyond traditional boundaries to include everyone, conveying a unifying message vital for the early church's growth.
The historical and cultural context of Ephesus as a melting pot of various cultures made it crucial for Paul to stress unity through grace. This concept was revolutionary and central to expanding the Christian faith's acceptance, encouraging cultural reconciliation and the breaking down of spiritual barriers through Christ's love for all. Paul depicts grace not just as a personal gift but as a stewardship, pointing to a responsibility all believers share in spreading the unbounded love of God.
-
Hey kids! Today we're going to talk about a super exciting story that Pastor Derrel Strickland told us. It's all about something called "grace". It's kind of like when Mom or Dad gives you a big hug, even when you've been naughty. This special love and forgiveness is what Jesus gives to everyone!
Imagine you have a magical, never-ending bucket of candy. And you're at a park with lots of new friends. You could keep all the candy to yourself, but sharing it makes everyone so happy! That's what grace is like - sharing the love of Jesus with others.
Pastor says we all have an invisible bucket of God's love and we should share it with everyone we meet, just like sharing your candy. So next time you're at school or playing, remember to sprinkle a little bit of Jesus' love around. Who knows, you might make someone's day extra special!
And remember, Jesus loves you so much, just like the song "Jesus Loves Me This I Know." And that's why we share that love with everyone.
-
Recently, while reading my devotion, it's been about ten days ago or so, I a phrase jumped out at me. Have any of you do that when you're just reading and all of a sudden just something hits you? This phrase grab me. And I want to read that phrase in several translations because, well, let me just read it and you can see what I'm talking about.
But in King James version, I love King James. I love King James. But I can tell you that I don't speak KIng James. The King James says, you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me, you, word. I'm not even exactly sure what you word means.
I think it means to you folks or in Florida, in the south, it's a yuins or y'all.
God's given me the grace, the dissertation of grace, which is given to me so I can share it with y'all. That's King James Version. But the ESV version in chapter three of Ephesians says this, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, the living Bible, excuse me, the Niv says, for the administration of God's grace. The living Bible says, you already know that God has given me the special work of showing God's grace to you Gentiles. Neuromacher and standard version.
Our Bible says, you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you. Now, the version that I was reading that morning is one that I've been reading this year for my devotional. I'm reading the NIV chronological Bible. And this is what that said. God gave me the special responsibility of extending grace to the Gentiles.
Now, we know that Paul wrote that, but he said, God gave me the special responsibility of extending grace to the Gentiles. And again, I realized that Paul was saying, that's my assignment. That's the assignment God has given me to extend grace. Now, on this pastor appreciation day, do you think that that could be expanded not to be just for Paul, but for all ministers, for all ministers that we extend grace? Maybe.
I think we can extend it a little further. I think we can extend it to every believer. Every believer has a responsibility to extend God's grace to the Gentiles. Now in the Bible we realize that you were either jew or gentile. You were either jew or gentile.
I believe that we can help us to understand this a little bit better. You're either a believer or non believer. You're either a believer and there's no in between. You cannot be here today and say, well, I'm not sure if I believe or not. If you're not sure, you don't believe.
So there's only two groups, the believer and the unbeliever, or the Jews and the Gentiles. And Paul said, God has given me the responsibility to extend grace. Now I think we understand what extend means. That means to give, to, to give grace to the Gentile. Now I don't want to bust some of you theological bible, theological ideas, because I know there's some people that are totally convinced that God is giving you the special responsibility of straightening everybody out and telling them where they're wrong, that you have the special responsibility to let the world know what you think and to extend your wishes upon them.
Forgetting the fact that God never called you to do that, he called you to extend grace, give grace. I'm going to tell you, this message has really, really ministered to me.
You and I have the special responsibility of extending grace, not just to brothers and sisters. I'm gonna tell you what, I want you to deal with me in grace. Were it not for the grace of God, I would not have been here 40 years because some well meaning person would have already voted me out a long time ago, but because of the grace that's been extended to me, how many of you think that believers need grace? Do you need grace? Man, I'm going to tell you what.
Now, you're probably a lot more spiritual than I am, but I'm glad God says I got a brand new batch of mercy and grace every morning because I used up my limit the day before. Huh? But God extends its limits. Unlimited grace, unmerited favor. We didn't deserve it.
God gave it to me. And if the believer needs grace, how much more does a nonbeliever need grace? Now I know you may not think this, but I can tell you, I don't know what I would do without God. I don't know what I would do if I had to face the world situation without God. Because Romans tells us in chapter five, Romans chapter five, verse 20.
Now, the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Grace abounded all the more. And I tell you, I believe that's not just for Paul. That's not just for our pastoral staff.
That's just not for the sinner. But that's for every one of us. That God's grace, the greater the sin, the greater his grace. God has given each of us the responsibility of extending the grace of God. When I read that verse brother Bill again ten days ago or so, I was reminded of something way back in my mind.
I heard Bob Harrington, the chaplain of Bourbon Street, I was privileged to hear him preach a few times, and he brought out an illustration. And again, I'm going back close to 50 years, not 40 years. He brought an illustration. It may have been more than that, might even have been before I became a preacher. But he said, you know how it is when you're around sinful people, that if they light up a cigarette, what are they going to do?
You want one? Would you like a smoke? Or if they get out of beer. Hey, would you like a beer now, please? I'm not singing those out.
I'm not gonna go over the sins. Cause I'm afraid I'll leave yours out. Okay, but you get the idea. Or if you smoke it, if you're getting a drug. Hey, would you like a hit?
How many knows that the world has a tendency to do that? And Bob Harrington was bringing that out. He said, have you ever noticed the way people of the world are quick to share those things? So why can't the Christians say, how about a verse?
How about a prayer? Or in line with our message this morning, how about some grace? Would you like some grace today? Now, I know that all of us are totally different. I'm not a real.
I'm not a hugger, but there's some people just needs a hug.
Now, I know you have to be careful who you hug and how you do it. I think you understand that. But there are some people that say, how are you doing today? May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. What?
Now? And always. Because we need God's grace. And if I need God's grace now, now, please. I'm not saying that I am anything special, but I can tell you I believe that God has blessed me.
I believe that God blesses me more than he does anyone else. And if I need God's grace, how much more does someone that's bound in a bondage of sin, someone that has no family, had no thing to go about how much more? Now, I know some of you saying, well, pastor, you said there were several different words used in the translation. Which word is best? You heard me.
I read six or seven, all a little bit different. Which was best? Well, the greek word there is okadomia. I know I'm saying that wrong, but it normally means stewardship. Stewardship.
The meaning, according to Thayers, says stewardship is the management of a household or of household affairs, specifically, the management oversight, administration of others property, the office of a manager or overseer. God has given us that responsibility, that assignment. And I tell you what, that goes above the other. That's the assignment. And all the other is other.
But God says you need to love one another. Need to care for one another. Now go with me to two Corinthians, chapter five. Second Corinthians, chapter five. Give you an idea of what we're saying.
Second Corinthians, chapter five. Read verse 14. Chapter five. Verse 14. For the love of Christ controls us.
Now, some translations said, constrains us. What does it mean? The love constrains us. It controls us. That literally means the love of God is what holds us together.
When everything else is going wrong, when you've got nothing else to hope for, you can always depend upon God's love. Because it's God's love that in the darkest hour, the most difficult moment, that you know that God is there because Jesus loves me. This I know. The Bible tells me so. And if the world doesn't have that, friends, they need somebody to extend grace to them.
They need somebody to give them love. They need somebody. Let's continue reading. For we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore, all have died, and he died for all. That those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him, who for their sake, died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Whoa. Oh, no. What's that mean? That says you don't judge by anybody else.
That's what it says. We don't judge according to what we see.
And I know somebody said, pastor, isn't that my job? No, no. Your job is to administer grace, extend grace. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
Oh, when does that happen? Does that happen when you baptize? Or does that happen when you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Or does it happen when you been saved 40 years? No, you become a new creature.
When the moment. The moment that you believe. So the moment you believe, guess what God says. Okay, now you've got the grace. Now it's time to share it with somebody else.
It's time to share God's love. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciles. Now, if you say, what do you mean, reconciled?
That means he balanced the books. He paid the debt that he didn't know because you had a debt that you couldn't pay. And Jesus paid the debt and reconciled it to himself and gave us the ministry of Reconciliation. That means that we're supposed to help others balance their books. We're supposed to present them.
That is, in Christ. God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation or the ministry of extending the grace of God. Therefore, we are ambassadors. Ambassadors. Now, what in the world is an ambassador?
Well, I think we understand a governable process. But what it says, an ambassador is an agent of the highest rank.
An agent. Now, if you are an ambassador for Christ, that means you've got his authority behind you. You're his representative. You are his ambassador. And we have that.
He says, we are ambassadors for Christ. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of God to be reconciled to God. So that's what our responsibility is, that we're supposed to be extending God's grace, extending God's love, extending God's compassion.
And I know some of you say, well, wait a minute, preacher, they got all things wrong. They even vote wrong.
Now, I want to tell you, church, this bothers me. It bothers me when christians hate one another because they're voting for somebody we don't agree with.
We're supposed to be ones that extend the grace of God, not promote hatred and bitterness.
So what was Paul saying? He said, I've got the responsibility to be the steward of sharing one of the most important things God offers.
You say, why one of the most? Well, we know that he offers love, he offers mercy, all the fruit of the spirit. They all need to be shared, but we need to be reminded that we are saved by grace. Ephesians, chapter two. Ephesians, chapter two.
I'm going to zip through some things real quickly, but. Ephesians, chapter two, verse one. And you were dead in the trespasses and sin in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. Who's that? That's Satan.
Anybody that's considered those other people that are non believers, guess who they're following? Satan. And I can guarantee you Satan's gonna have them vote wrong.
Huh? Folks, we need to understand something. We're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principality is wickedness in high places. And so we have to seek God. And because the world is following this prince of the power of the air.
And I know I've got some friends that, I see their articles on Facebook and I said, man, I wish you could just understand. I wish you would understand what's going on in the world. But see, they're not walking in grace. They have not experienced God's love. Now I know some of you say, well, pastor, you're being judgmental.
I don't think so. I'm just telling you that we need to extend grace because my human element wants me to pick up the phone and call them and straighten out. Wants me to give them a piece of my mind. But then I realized that which I've missed the most, that I lost was my mind. I missed it and I can't afford to give any of it away.
Any of you know what I'm talking about. Something rises up within you. I can tell you what it is. That's not the spirit of God. That's flesh.
That flesh that says, I want you to be more like me, instead of being more like God, among whom we all once lived. Hey, we were all there in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature the children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, how many are glad that God extended grace to you? But God being rich in mercy, because the great love with which you loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.
And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. So in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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 work, so that no one can boast.
For we are his workmanship. One translation said, we are his what? Masterpiece. We are his masterpiece. Now I'm gonna tell you.
Some of you not finished yet. He's still working on the masterpiece created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before him, that we should walk in him. Wow. That's what Paul is saying, and then the next chapter, when we got to the chapter three, we said that. But see, if you look, even in chapter one, verse two, what did he say?
What did he open the book with grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I can tell you if there's anything that the world needs today, all of us need more grace and more peace. And Jesus Christ is Jehovah. Shalom. Our peace.
Here's our peace in the very present help of trouble. So we need to know that Paul started the book said by extending what grace, grace and peace. And again, I consider myself greatly blessed. But if I need grace, how much more does someone that's been caught up in sexual trafficking need grace? Somebody that's never been in a home that loved them, never known what the love of Christ is.
They need God's grace and peace. The book of Ephesians is all about some things that we can only have after we receive grace. You can't be saved without grace. We can't be filled with the spirit without grace. We can't have the peace of God without grace.
It's all about that way. And if you continue on, chapter one, verse five talks about we've been adopted as his sons. We kept singing that a while ago. I'm so glad that I'm a child of God, that God overlooks my faults and he sees my need and I've been adopted into the household. Chapter eleven says we've obtained an inheritance according to his purpose.
Aren't you glad he's given us an inheritance? He promised us an inheritance. Praise God. Verse 13 and 14 says we've been sealed with a promise of his spirit and guaranteed our inheritance.
Guaranteed our inheritance. I'm sure some of you like me. You kind of wondering if you don't have enough money now. I'm not. Please, I didn't mean to say that.
Sound like I'm destitute. I'm just telling you I don't know what's going to happen to our economic system. Okay, that's what I was referring to. Not that I'm in need of anything. That's not what I was saying.
I'm glad that God's in charge. But I can tell you that if I was looking through totally worldly eyes, I would be scared. But I'm glad that I'm not looking through those eyes. I'm looking through the eyes of faith. I'm looking through his grace.
And again, the point that I'm trying to make is if somebody that's been as blessed as I am, needs God's grace. How much more? How much more does someone that has never known God's love, never known God's forgiveness, how much they need it? And so maybe we should extend some grace. Extend some grace all because of God's amazing grace.
And those of you watching online, those of you that are here, can I encourage you to do something? Have a dose of God's grace, you say. What do you mean, the dose of God's grace? You need to remember that God loves you regardless of what's happened. He loves you regardless of what's going on in your life.
And receive a dose of God's love and his grace because it's good for you. Who used to say that? Tennessee Ernie Ford. Bless your peacock and heart. Amen.
It's good for you. Extended grace gives us wisdom and knowledge of him. Let's read verse 17 and through 19. There. Notice that.
Oh, it's awesome. Verse 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what. What is the hope to which he has called you? What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the imaginable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might?
Friends, people that have not experienced the grace of God don't even understand what we're talking about. But I thank God for his amazing grace. By his extended grace, we that were dead and our trespasses in sin. Again, in chapter two, it says, we walk in the newness of life. He is our peace and he enables us to walk in unity.
I quoted Tim Hill several times recently, but I'll quote him again today. That same quote. We don't have to see eye to eye as long as we can walk hand in hand.
Chapter four, verse seven.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
According to the measure of Christ's gift.
You ever heard that advertisement? Give something that keeps on giving. God's grace keeps on giving the measure. You're not going to exhaust God's grace. Well, pastor, what if I'm disobedient?
Yeah, well, listen, the Holy Spirit is going to bring conviction on that. But don't live in condemnation because you're not living up to somebody else's standard. Amen. Thank you, brother. I'm glad I had one person agree with me.
We don't live according to somebody else's standard. Now, I know some of you are saying, well, pastor, aren't we supposed to try to be good? Yes, we're supposed to try to be good, but so is a two year old.
Huh? Have you got kids or grandkids that you think their middle name is? No. No. Why?
Because that's our nature. We have that, but God's grace overlooks those things. We've been extended that grace. We have God's grace. Chapter five says this.
Therefore, be imitators of God. Imitators of God. How can you imitate goddess? We as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Be imitators of God. We have to have God's grace to walk in love in a sinful world. We cannot imitate God without his grace. How many knows that Jesus was God in the flesh?
He has so many beautiful stories. Woman taken in adultery. Neither did I condemn thee. Go and say no more. What about the woman at the well?
The woman at the well. That her opening statements to Jesus. Well, why are you talking to me? I'm a samaritan. I'm one of those gentiles.
I'm one of those that are not one of the jewish faith. I'm not one of you.
Jesus didn't rebuke her. He loved on her. And guess who she brought to meet with him. Guess what she did. I said, guess what she did, Bill.
She went and found all of her friends. And guess what? Her friends were probably in the same level, same circle, and she said, let me come show you a man.
He didn't condemn me. He didn't tell me how sorry I was. He didn't tell me how big a failure I was. He told me that Jesus loved me. He told me, he said, this has to be the messiah.
That's the one we're supposed to imitate.
How do we imitate him? By extending God's grace. Extending his grace. Jesus extended his grace to everyone he came in contact with. You say, well, wait a minute.
He rebuked the Pharisees. Yeah, but they thought that they were right. They thought that he was, that they were better than everybody else. And he says, no, you're not. You got to have God's grace too.
Now, when we reach a place that we got more than a head knowledge, but we have an experiential knowledge, we realize the truth of Ephesians 319, where it says this, and to know the love of Christ that surpassed his knowledge. That means it's more than we can even imagine. That you may be filled with all the fullness now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask, or even to think any of you have a good imagination. God can do more than you can imagine. And to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and amen.
Paul said, God gave me, he gave us the special responsibility of extending grace to the Gentiles or to the unbeliever. It's easy to love people that's just like us. Well, maybe it's not. I don't know.
It's easier to love people that think like we do, that look like we do, that smell like we do. But he says to extend grace to the gentiles. There's a story recorded in two kings. Many of you are very aware of it. Jerusalem had been surrounded by the enemy.
They were starving to death. They had resorted to cannibalism. Folks, most of us don't know what hard times are. Now, some of you that are a little bit older than I am, you went through maybe the depression. I've never missed a meal because I didn't have it.
Now I might have had peas and cornbread for lunch and cornbread and peas for supper, but I had all I wanted. I've never known what it's like to be hungry. Oh, I've said I'm starving to death. Would you look at me? Does it look like it?
Huh?
We've had it made. I said, we've been blessed. I said, we've been blessed. But here in that story, they were literally starving to death. Two women had made agreements.
Let's kill your child today and eat it, and we'll eat mine tomorrow. I mean, it's terrible, isn't it? But it's hard times. There were some lepers there that they were hungry too and they said, you know what we're doing? We're going to die anyway.
Why don't we go see if this army will have compassion on us? Let's see if they will extend some grace to us and give us something to eat. Hey, listen, just an old cold biscuit is better than nothing. But they got there and they had left all the food. They had left everything.
And they had an assembly. God, dinner on the ground. They picked out. They picked out. But then one of them said, you know, what we're doing is not good.
He said, what we're doing not good. He said, those people in Jerusalem, yeah, we're unclean. They don't want us around them. But they said what we're doing is not good. We need to extend grace to them.
We need to share what God has blessed us with. We need to extend grace.
I know many of you fairly well. Some of you I know too well.
But the reality is most of you are very generous, very compassionate. Most of us are.
But what we have is more precious than the food that those lepers had.
I said, what we have is more precious than that food because we have not just temporal life, we've got everlasting life. So we need to extend grace.
How many of you have been touched by God's grace? I said, how many of you have been touched by God's grace?
God says you've been given the responsibility, but not a half. To see, that's where the problem is. I remember when I was a kid back in the dark ages, there was five boys in my family, seven kids. And sometimes we would go over to our neighbors or somebody's house, and when we get home or the neighbor would see my dad, he said, short, those are some of the hardest working kids I've ever seen. They did this, they did that.
I didn't believe that. But I did notice something when we went over to our neighbors, when we helped them grind cane to make syrup, we did it because we wanted to. We didn't have to. And Paul, I believe, was saying more, I don't have to do this. I get to do this.
You and I get and have the opportunity, the responsibility to extend the grace of God. And even if they do not accept it, guess what? You have the joy of giving it to them anyway, even if they turn it down. So the next time somebody says, how about a cigarette? Say, nah.
How about a verse? How about a prayer? And I'm finding out that many more and more people are willing to have you pray with them because they need to know the grace of God. Pray with me this morning. Heavenly Father, an extensive topic today.
An extensive topic. The grace of God and God. If there's anyone watching online today, they've never really accepted your grace. Maybe they knew it was there. Maybe they didn't.
Let them know that you're extending a hand of grace. Not a hand of condemnation, not a rebuke, but a hand of grace.
And Father, help them to receive that grace today.
If we don't receive that grace, it's no better than having a gift under the Christmas tree and refusing to open it. It never does us any good. Help us to receive that grace today. Help us to receive that grace today. Minister by your power, minister by your touch, minister by your anointing.
Folks, I want to pray for those that need that grace. But I felt very impressed in my spirit today that God wants to use you to extend his grace. Now, I don't want to speak in generalities this morning. I want you to just pause for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to lay someone on your heart that needs to experience grace. They need to be encouraged.
They need to be loved on. They need to be prayed for. And I'm not asking you to do it because of me. But the Holy Spirit will lay someone on your heart or to give you the opportunity to extend grace, to extend grace.
