Finding a Place of Grace (part 5) Sermon Preview

Ever been to Leadville, Colorado? I’ve been there a couple of times. This small town sits at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. That’s probably why I spent MOST of my time in this mountain village at an emergency room with my son who was suffering from altitude sickness. But apart from the elevation of Leadville, I have another connection with this place: the Arkansas River begins on the outskirts of town.

Growing up just north of Tulsa, Oklahoma and with a sister who lives in the Little Rock area, I am well familiar with the Arkansas. So when I was in Leadville and saw the sign for the headwaters of the this river I was intrigued. While the alpine setting is beautiful, the waters of the Arkansas themselves look scattered and thin at their origin. Like a 4 year old t-ball team at their first practice, the waters of the Arkansas are still trying to get their act together at 10,000 feet.

So, let’s imagine that we are standing next to the narrow water’s edge just outside Leadville, and looking at the “river” together. And, let’s imagine that you had never been to the ocean before. If I told you there that the Arkansas ultimately becomes the Gulf of Mexico, you might assume that the Gulf of Mexico was nothing more than a half acre farm pond. But of course, you would be wrong. What begins as a stream in Leadville, ultimately grows into an ocean just past New Orleans! But, if you had never seen downstream, you might question how big the ocean really is.

I tell you this today, because as I was preparing for Sunday’s message (part 5 in the “Finding a Place of Grace” sermon series at Wildwood Community Church), I was reminded that the grace of God is like a river flowing toward us. From the moment of our belief in Jesus, a river of God’s love and mercy are poured upon us … but this grace does not stop there. It is flowing downstream. What do I mean by that?

Well, in theological terms, the moment of our belief is the moment of our justification – where we are declared forgiven by God, being brought into alignment positionally with Jesus’ righteousness by God’s grace. We saw this two weeks ago as we looked at Zaccheus’s conversion from Luke 19. From justification, the grace of God flows toward sanctification – our growth in obedience and faithfulness as we follow Jesus. Last week we saw from Titus 2, that God’s grace not only saves us, but also trains us to walk away from ungodliness and toward godliness through the power of the Spirit. But the grace of God keeps going past sanctification, ultimately ending in glorification – when we are transformed completely from a corruptible body to an incorruptible one, outfitted for eternal blessing.

To say it another way, the headwaters of grace are justification, that gain intensity through tributary of sanctification, and culminate in the ocean of glorification.

Why is this important?

Well, we have not been to the ocean. We live in either Leadville or Tulsa or maybe Little Rock, looking at a small to medium sized body of water, unable to imagine (or possibly too impatient to see) the ocean that is coming. When we come to faith in Christ, we are like that t-ball team at their first practice … and even years into our walk with God, we may still feel like little leaguers. Since we have not yet gotten our act together, we wonder if we ever will.

So we have a farm pond sized faith … that begins to question God for the still broken condition of our world, the lingering temptations of our sin, or the suspicion that things will never improve (or if they do, we may never get to see it.)

Dear friends … this universe is headed someplace, being directed by Someone, and if we know Him, the grace that brought us justification and sanctification, will ultimately lead to our glorification. BY. HIS. GRACE.

This Sunday, we will look at select verses in Romans 8 together (ultimately centering on Romans 8:32) to see the certain hope we have for the ocean of glory and grace that is to come. I can’t wait to look at these verses together. Are you looking for a place of grace? Join us Sunday at 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 as we swim in this ocean together. See you then – and bring friends.