Thoughts on Grace
Yesterday at City Church we completed a 13-week series on God's grace entitled Charis (the Greek word for grace). It is a series I have been putting together and processing for a few years now. Perhaps no set of sermons has ever been more personal to me. Here are a few of my takeaways. - Grace is more than tolerance or leniency. It is even more than the unmerited favor of God. Those definitions dilute the fierce and aggressive nature of grace ... which not only welcomes rebels but relentlessly pursues them. - If grace does not offend your human sense of justice or fairness at some point, you probably do not grasp a) the magnitude of your own sin and/or b) the scandalous nature of His grace. - Grace is more than a doctrine. Grace is found most clearly embedded in stories. The Bible from cover to cover is filled with the narrative of broken people who stand in need of radical grace and the God who pursues them. Do not try and restrict it to a theological concept that y