Extending Grace In The Place of Grace

This is the message that I was to preach last week, but unfortunately did not have the time to share so here it is as well as a thank you that follows to the people of Grace Community Church.

As most of you know it only has been a couple of weeks since Sharon and I returned from spending 3 weeks in Lesotho.

We came with a mission to extend grace, to give out of the riches and the abundance that we had been given.  I went to Lesotho with a full heart to give out of what God has given me.  It was the belief that I wanted to just give everything I had without any thought of what I would receive in return.  In reality I received so much more than I gave which I believe is the majority of what people experience when they go to another country to serve and help out.  I experienced so much joy, laughter and bonded so much with the people of Lesotho.

In the passages that I share on this morning, I want to show how God’s glory leads us to His grace which in turns leads us back to His glory.

1        Extending grace is learning to be “at home” in a new neighbourhood!

The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood ( The Message)

John1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

We also know from Isaiah 43:18,19 that our God is a creative God and that He is always doing something NEW!

So how do we do that?  How do we feel at home in a new neighbourhood?  Think to where you have been in a culture that was totally foreign to you.

Ø  We have to embrace it, engage it. 

Ø  You can’t fear change

Ø  You have to be willing to listen more than speak

Ø  You have to be willing to let go of your preconceived ideas of how to get things done.

Jesus left heaven for us, He left the throne of glory, He left the presence of the Father to live with us.

Often we expect people come to our church, to be drawn to us.  We are called to be a light and a presence in our sphere of influence and it has to be intentional.  We pray Holy Spirit show us and then we look, we listen and we act.

God gives you immeasurable grace when you make the step of faith.

My sister in law Julie was watching over the fort here while we were gone in Africa and she took Rylan to his hockey practice and prayed God, is there anyone here that you would like me to speak to?  It turned out that the Holy Spirit gave her an incredible opportunity to share with one of the moms on Rylan’s team.  She opened up about her life and Julie had the opportunity to speak into her life by the grace of God. 

When John in this passage adds the phrase "grace in place of grace already given" at the end of verse 16 he is explaining the experience of those who have by faith received of Christ’s fullness.

Grace = God’s undeserved favor in our lives.  I can’t begin to be reminded of how many chances God has given me!

And one thing is very clear that we are not simply sprinkled with grace, or dipped in grace, we are immersed in His grace. The wording “in place of” means exchange. It literally means, "grace instead of grace." As the days come and go a new supply takes the place of the grace we have already received.

Some days we feel like maybe God’s grace has run out, but that is not the case.

The grace available in Christ is like a river flowing constantly, overflowing its banks.

The call to relationship is also a call to be on mission with God. That call to mission disrupts your entire life. As you listen for God’s invitation, know its destiny is always: Point Unknown. Are you willing to go?

The point is that as we experience God’s grace and seek to do His will, it requires us to make adjustments in our lives and with our lives.

It changes our priorities.

It changes the way we handle our finances.  It loosens the grip.

It changes our time and people commitments. It loosens the grip on me holding on to what I foolishly thought was mine.

Grace means that you want the best for another person.  The Greek word for grace, charis, means to ‘show favor or goodwill’.  All of a sudden I’m not so wrapped up in what I’m getting out of this situation.

Grace is the key to coming to Jesus and believing in him so that you can experience life in this new neighbourhood. You have to believe that God wants the best for you. You have to believe in grace, in God’s favor toward you. There’s no way you’ll come to Jesus if you don’t believe in grace.  Grace is the key to living life as a Christian. Let’s face it: life is hard. There are so many difficulties we face:

Sickness, failure, broken relationships, accidents, our own disappointment, and restlessness.  Now multiply that by x10 for the people living in Lesotho.  

In fact that is how we knew the value of our money there.  1 CDN = 10 Maloti.

 How do we get by in this world.  How do they? We can only do so by the grace of God. This is why grace permeates every page of the New Testament. It’s why Peter tells his readers in 1 Peter 5:12 to “stand firm in it.” Our lives have to be grounded by the favor of God.  We need to experience His grace everyday!

Speaking of new neighbourhoods, I have to admit that I felt really at home in Lesotho. 

·         LXP Youth camp.  I could have been satisfied with just making an appearance, playing soccer for an hour and then going back to “Grace Place” AM’s bungalow to sleep for the night.  However, something stirred in me to stay overnight with the kids and there I was on a mattress on the concrete floor of a HS classroom sleeping with 45 other guys.  It was a great experience and it drew me even closer to the youth that were there.

What is your ‘new’ neighbourhood?  It doesn’t necessarily mean you sell your home and move to a new location like Lesotho, but it could be!!

You have a destiny and a purpose and you need to step in to your workplace, your sphere of influence…as I spoke about the 7 mountains of influence in our culture. (business, arts, media, family, govt, education, religion).  The HS is with you as you go to your family function, the bar after the game, the playgroup you take your kids to, the people you cheer with at your kid’s game, the woman behind the cash register till,  this is your neighbourhood.

2

   Extending grace is listening to life stories and being gracious in conversation.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

·         Grace is embracing the good in the culture.

 One of the services went for 3.5hrs.  We sang one song for at least 10min. Pastor James birthday party was supposed to start at 6pm. It started at 8:30pm and then there was the red carpet that they rolled out for him followed by speeches, dancing, more speeches, more dancing, the reveal of the present – a beautiful dining room table.  They didn’t have a proper table to eat on in their house.  It felt like a wedding in that place except the only difference was that you don’t get to eat the food until after the speeches are done!!  We didn’t eat till after midnight!!!  However, it was the best birthday party I have ever been at and one that I will never forget.

·         Grace is attempting to learn and speak the language of the culture.  I felt utterly ridiculous doing it, but to them, I was trying and they laughed, but they appreciated it.

Ø  Sounds like Dumela ndate - dumela me  -greeting

Ø  Sounds like O pella juang – k pella anclay – how are you, I am fine….this is basically what I got around on!

Ø  The language of soccer!  At first the children were shy and not sure what to think of us; however, when I pulled out the soccer ball, we were speaking their language and there was an instant connection.

·         Grace is appreciating the personal struggle, the personal pain and joy.

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Ø  Lackey 18  He shared with me how he made a commitment to wait till marriage before having sex.  He told me how this decision had been the result of “Beat The Drum,” the group that came to the schools and did presentations on abstinence.  The message on purity really spoke to him; however, as soon as his friends found out, they really mocked him.  He said it had been very hard as he was called a coward among other names, but he was staying strong.  He basically told me that the norm for guys is to try to sleep around with as many girls as possible and that shows that you are a real man.  However, he had new confidence and has been able to see through the lies.

Ø  Thato, 18.  She opened up with me and shared how she had just started coming to LXP Youth as a result of “Beat The Drum”.  She shared how she was behind in school a couple of years as she broke her arm and then also got pregnant when she was 16.  Initially her parents were very upset but the family rallied around her and she had a baby boy, Christopher Samuel.  However, Christopher got very sick this past April and the doctors were not able to diagnose him and he passed away.  As the tears rolled down her face, she shared how the whole family grieved his loss and also saw her brother cry for the first time as well.  While she doesn’t understand why this happened, she is coming here and discovering real love and also learning so much about God’s amazing plans for her life.  She takes time to underline promises in the Gideon’s Bible that she has and takes His promises to heart.

Ø  Innocentia, 17  She came to LXP from a Catholic home and has also learned so much here.  She has been attending the youth group for 4 years and tells me she needs to not care so much what other people think of her and be confident in being herself. Students just randomly came to me to talk about their desire to follow God and exclaiming “I’m out of the box!”  The message is taking root.

Embracing the good in the culture, learning the language of the culture and listening to the stories of the people in your surroundings takes time!

It takes time and intentionality to do these things.  Don’t wait.  Everyday you wake up in the morning and that is your sphere of influence.  Don’t think future.  Look right now everywhere you go that you carry the presence of the HS.

The message of the camp was pushing back against a negative predisposition whether it is depression, addiction, abuse, negativity that might run in their family background.

Iniquity will pass from generation to generation until someone rises up and says ‘no more’.  I will be different and by God’s grace, I will break the chain.  We have the power to break negative cycles because we have the DNA of an Almighty God.  Shake off the self-pity, don’t blame your circumstances.  It may be the reason why you are where you are, but it doesn’t have to be the place where you stay or make your bed so to speak!  Every right choice is an opportunity to override a bad one.  We are victors, not victims.  There is nothing by God’s grace that we can’t overcome….

3.       Extending grace is reflecting the glory of the Lord

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone.  V16 The Message

Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  In order for this to happen, it takes the grace of God.  Without God moving the veil none of us would experience the grace of God.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. V17,18 NIV

There are very few times that I have been in a place where I have seen and felt true freedom.  In our NA culture we are all held back in varying degrees by what other people might think of us.  I saw grace filled people in the AFM Butha Buthe church worship God with such incredible freedom. 

It wasn’t just a song that they sung, the joy of the Lord was so evident in the way that they served others and lavished love on each other.

Purlacio is the girl in the center of the group.

·         stories of worshippers -  It was a great house of God full of passionate worshippers singing and dancing and pouring their hearts out to God.  They even mixed in a few English songs for us.  After the music, there was a group of young adults enter the church dancing to celebrate their graduation from university.  Purlacio Rakoti led the celebration and spoke of the strength God has given her to overcome as she is the first AFM foster child to graduate.  She was an orphaned child who was taken in by AFM.  She spoke as being “one who was born to fight the darkness!” She wrote a song that she later sang with all the youth behind her singing backup and dancing.  It was a very moving and powerful moment. In attendance that day were all the children currently from every AFM foster home to inspire them as well.

·         big tent revival - We arrived there and Pastor Apollo Creed (his English name of course) was there to greet us out outside a large 30x60ft tent. PJ had led this man to the LORD at a student outreach.  We got in there and it was all set up with mics, speakers, keyboards and lights.  A group of young girls and ladies were singing and leading worship.  I looked behind me and saw a handful of people; however as the singing continued more and more people kept flooding in till the place was packed out.  I continued to look behind and noticed a group of guys dancing to the worship songs so I thought well I might as well join them. It turned out to be quite the workout as we were jumping up and down, moving side to side, right down to the ground in a twist like fashion. It then turned into a conga line that went up and down the main aisle.  For the record, I did not start this conga line!  After the music, the pastor had some people came forward to share testimonies and stories of healing.  There had been meetings taking place there all week. During the sharing time,  PJ  leans over to me and says, ‘do you have a message brother?’  At this point I am full of sweat wiping my face with my t-shirt and my answer…’sure’!   So, I shared on Matthew 6:19-21 and where real treasure is found as well as on the theme of living water.  I shared the gospel and about 50 people came forward for prayer.  PJ, Apollo Creed and I prayed over them  and then PJ had people who needed healing come forward, more prayer and then prayer for those who had lost a family member and again a time of prayer ensued.

These are just a few of the stories that revealed the glory of God through the message of grace and freedom. 

The Takeaway

Grace teaches us to shift the focus away from the mentality of what am I getting out of this and what’s in it for me.

As we focus on others and extending grace and love, it is life changing.  As we share the message of God’s unmerited favor, it really brings so much lasting joy and fulfillment to them and to us.

Finally, a message to the Leadership Board and the people of Grace.

I want to thank you for your leadership and grace in dealing with me.  I respect all of you and recognize that you lead also with a heart for the Lord.  I have learned a lot here about who I am and about a pioneering spirit that God has placed within me.  There is still a lot for me to process and the Leadership Board has been more than generous in giving me the time to discover where my best fit will be as well as time to listen for His leading.  Let us all continue to stay the course and pursue peace.  Please do not feel awkward around me, I still consider all of you as friends and I'm not angry or resentful.  God has given me amazing peace over the past couple of days.

Blessings on all of you!

Jack Ninaber