This Sunday, at 9:00, at Glasgow Church, we will launch "S4" (Super Summer Sunday School!). The children will enjoy a VBS (Vacation Bible School) themed program. The kids will stay with the children's leaders through the end of the worship service and will have a fun time learning about the Gospel. S4 is a great opportunity for your children to invite their friends. Teach them to take a small step of faith by inviting some neighborhood kids, some cousins, or some friends from school. The adults will gather in the Family Life Center (the gym), around 9:00, and enjoy a full breakfast and a short devotional. Since we are doing a series on relationships, and since there are so many new people at our church (just last week, we had 100 more attendees than the same Sunday last year!), we thought it would be good to focus on fellowship and relationships during these four Sundays of S4.
At our worship service, we will have the second sermon on relationships from our "Being a Perfect Friend" series. This Sunday, we will talk about boundaries in relationships. When is "enough enough"? When is it ok, or is it ever ok, to burn bridges with friends so we are never tempted to walk back over that bridge? Is it ever biblical to end a friendship? Does forgiving=reconciling?
At our worship service, we will have the second sermon on relationships from our "Being a Perfect Friend" series. This Sunday, we will talk about boundaries in relationships. When is "enough enough"? When is it ok, or is it ever ok, to burn bridges with friends so we are never tempted to walk back over that bridge? Is it ever biblical to end a friendship? Does forgiving=reconciling?
As I have been studying for this sermon by spending time in the Scriptures, praying, and talking to many of you as well as some people who don't go to church, the phrase that keeps coming to mind is this: "seeing friends through the eyes of grace." I am drawn to Ephesians 4: 29-32:
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
And by 2 Peter 2: 1-2
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."
Someone recently asked me to "define grace." I can't. Grace is limitless and knows no boundaries. Any theological term that you can "define" will carry conditions and have boundaries. Grace is not a theological term, but an individual...Jesus. Grace and peace "multiply" in our relationships, as Peter wrote, as we gain more and more wisdom of the depths of God through Jesus our Lord. As we gain more wisdom of God, grace and peace increase in every area of our lives...including our relationships. But remember what we have learned in the past...it is not Law and Grace...but Law and Gospel. The Law contains a tremendous element of grace. The Gospel IS grace.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
And by 2 Peter 2: 1-2
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."
Someone recently asked me to "define grace." I can't. Grace is limitless and knows no boundaries. Any theological term that you can "define" will carry conditions and have boundaries. Grace is not a theological term, but an individual...Jesus. Grace and peace "multiply" in our relationships, as Peter wrote, as we gain more and more wisdom of the depths of God through Jesus our Lord. As we gain more wisdom of God, grace and peace increase in every area of our lives...including our relationships. But remember what we have learned in the past...it is not Law and Grace...but Law and Gospel. The Law contains a tremendous element of grace. The Gospel IS grace.
I hope to see you on Sunday! It is clear that many of you are catching the vision of inviting friends into our community at Glasgow Church. Let's continue to gain ground for the Kingdom by inviting others so they can experience the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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