“Grace, she takes the blame. She covers the shame. Removes the stain. It could be her name. Grace, it’s the name for a girl. It’s also a thought that changed the world.” Words from the hit song “Grace” by U2 rings true today for Disciples all around the globe. If we are going to change the world, we must be motivated by grace!
GRACE BUILDS THE CHURCH
“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” 1 Corinthians 15:9-11
Paul understood what he deserved for his sins, eternal condemnation. Having a clear understanding of reality grace was able to affect his life. Paul says the grace of God is what motivated him to work hard in the ministry. Hard work is a direct result of how much grace someone has. You can tell how grateful someone is by how hard they work, not to measure how much they do, but how much heart they put in. We must ask ourselves, “are we motivated by God’s grace?”
What kind of hard work will someone do when motivated by grace? According to Paul, grace builds the church!
“For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.” 1 Corinthians 3:10
Building the local church is done by adding souls to God’s kingdom through baptism (Acts 2:41), restoration (Luke 15), or place membership (Philemon 1). In Acts 11, Barnabas sees what the grace of God does to a church, brings incredible growth (Acts 11:23). Our second prayer goal for 2018 is that every disciple will be fruitful in 2018. However, I would like to redefine this prayer goal. It is not enough to experience God’s grace once a year, but every day. This means we are asking every member to be motivated by the grace of God every day to build the kingdom and that God would allow every disciple to be influential in bearing fruit every month! When we experience God’s grace as a church, we too will see incredible growth! Not just in numbers but also financially because grace motivates us to give!
GRACE PUTS MONEY IN THE PLATE
“And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
Grace is mentioned three times in this short passage and surrounds financial giving. If we are motivated by grace, we will excel in our weekly giving. Our 8th prayer goal for 2018 is to become self-sustaining in the Orange County Region on weekly bases. We will achieve this goal when everyone is motivated by Grace in their giving. Growing the church and growing in our giving can go hand in hand with each other. We must help each other have our focus on the grace of God to have a successful pledge drive by January 21st. We are asking everyone to raise their pledge if they have not done so consistently since 2012. The heart is to sacrifice, give cheerfully, and to test God in our giving (2 Corinthians 9:6-8, Malachi 3:6-12). Sacrifice for everyone is not the same amount, but is a percentage of one’s income. When looking at what we give back to God, are we truly sacrificing? Sacrifice, and growing in our giving takes life skills. We must ask ourselves: Do we need to budget our lives to give to God first before everything else? Are we getting paid what we are worth from our jobs? When is the last time we received a raise from our employers? Let us honor God with our giving by being motivated by Grace.
We must remember that we can never out give God. The only place we are allowed to test God is in our giving knowing the promise to open the floodgate of blessing if we do (Malachi 3:6-12). But let us not forget the warning, those who are not giving a minimum of 10% (tithe) are far from God and are robbing Him!
I remember being a young married disciple needing life skills. One week Mandee and I we were very tight financially. We had to make a decision, give to God our full pledge or buy groceries for the week. I knew that if I wrote the check for our full pledge our account would go negative. Remembering God’s promise I wrote the check. The next morning I received $100 cash in the mail! Later that day a sister came by with a car full of groceries saying, God put it on her heart to bring us food! God paid us back in the mail and filled our home with groceries! I know that God’s word is true, even despite my dereliction, God bless the decision to put Him first!
Let us consider this each week as we decide in our hearts what to give: Does God know what I need? Will He provide for me if I give to him (Matthew 6:25-33)? Raising our pledges is a decision to be made with faith, budgeting, advise, life skills training, and of course covered in grace! Let us all dig down deep to be able to raise our giving, to give sacrificially, and to test God with a cheerful heart. Let us not miss a contribution in 2018, to see God open the floodgates with so much blessing we will not have enough room for it!
Love,
Coltin L Rohn