Overwhelming Grace: The Face of Grace

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now we can stand together. We can praise God together that he saves lives, that Jesus is in the business of salvation. And my name is James Mark Gulley. I'm a worship pastor here. It's our privilege to be able to sing these songs and lead you in worship. We're gonna start off with the word of God. So we're gonna read together from Romans 12, one. Let's all read this out loud together. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Amen. I wanna encourage us all. We have this cross above us here and I want us to look up at the cross, not because it's a magic cross or anything like that, but it is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus. And just let that wash over our hearts this morning. Jesus gave his life for us. Scripture says, in view of God's mercy, look upon, behold the mercy of God. And if we do that, our hearts will worship. So let's just look upon him.

Let's read, Jesus gave his life for us in view of God's mercy. We're all working upon his mercy. Look what the Lord is doing for us in view of God's mercy. He's so anal. His hands, his feet, my Savior on that person's feet. His body bound and drenched in tears, they laid him down in Joseph's tomb. The entrance sealed by heavy stone, Messiah still and all alone. Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise his name. Oh, praise his name forevermore for endless days. We will sing your praise, oh Lord, oh Lord our God. Then on the third at break of dawn, the Son of Heaven rose again. Oh, tremble down, where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the King. Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise his name forevermore for endless days. We will sing your praise, oh Lord, oh Lord our God. Oh, praise his name, oh Lord, oh Lord our God. He shall return in rows of white. The blazing sun shall pierce the night. And I will rise among the saints. Among the saints, my gaze transfixed on Jesus. He shall return in rows of white. The blazing sun shall pierce the night. Shall pierce the night. And I will rise among the saints. My gaze transfixed on Jesus. ♪ Jesus saves the day ♪

♪ Oh praise the name of the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh praise His name forevermore ♪ ♪ For endless days we will sing Your praise ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, oh Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh praise the name of the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh praise His name forevermore ♪ ♪ For endless days we will sing Your praise ♪ ♪ Oh praise, oh Lord, oh Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ In the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh we praise you Lord ♪ ♪ Oh praise the name of the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh praise his name forevermore ♪ ♪ For in this case we will sing your praise ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, oh Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, oh Lord our God ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, oh Lord our God ♪ Hallelujah Jesus.

Hallelujah. Worship with me. Oh my words fall short, I've got nothing new. How could I express all my gratitude? I could sing these songs as I often do. But every song must end, and you never do. So I'll throw my hands and praise you again and again. All that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it's not much, but I've nothing else but for a king. Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. I've got one song, I've got just one. And when my arms stretch wide, I will worship you. So I'll throw my hands and praise you again and again. It's all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ All I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it's not much, I'm nothing else before the king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Praise the lord, oh, my soul magnifies You, Jesus ♪ ♪ And come on my soul, oh, don't you get trite on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause You've got all I need ♪ ♪ Inside of those lungs, get up and praise the lord ♪ ♪ Oh, come on my soul, oh, don't you get trite on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause You've got all I need ♪ ♪ Inside of those lungs, get up and praise the lord ♪ ♪ Oh, come on my soul, oh, don't you get trite on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause You've got all I need ♪ ♪ Inside of those lungs, get up and praise the lord ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪

♪ Praise You lord ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul sing hallelujah, we praise the lord ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪ ♪ We praise You lord ♪ ♪ So I fold my hands, praise You again And I'm two feet away ♪ ♪ And again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, but I've nothing else to bid for my king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh we sing hallelujah Jesus, oh our hearts are lifted up to You ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Singing oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get tired of it ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a light inside of no one ♪ ♪ Get up and raise the love, oh ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get tired of it ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a light inside of no one ♪ ♪ Get up and raise the love, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, sing it, come on my soul, oh don't you get tired of it ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a light inside of no one ♪ ♪ Get up and raise the love, oh ♪ We're singin', we praise You Lord Oh-ho, we praise You Lord We're singin', we praise You Lord Oh-ho, we praise You Lord Oh-ho, we praise You Lord And I just want You and nothin' else

And nothin' else, nothin' else will do I just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do Jesus, I just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do I just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do We just, we just want You We just want You Jesus, we worship You Just in your own heart, let's just begin to adore Him Let Him know how much you love Him If you wanna sing that out, if you wanna pray it out Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author, the perfecter of our faiths The Good Shepherd Only You Jesus, only You are worthy Oh-ho, I just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do I just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do I just want You and nothin' else Jesus And nothin' else, nothin' else will do We just want You and nothin' else And nothin' else, nothin' else will do We just want You and nothin' else We just want You and nothin' else In the darkness we were weak Without hope and without love So from heaven You came running There was mercy in Your eyes To fulfill the law and promise To a virgin came the Word From a throne of endless glory To a cradle in the dirt We praise You

Praise the Father Praise the Son Praise the Spirit Three in one God of glory and majesty Praised forever to the King of kings To reveal the kingdom coming And to reconcile the lost To redeem the whole creation You did not despise the cross For He is God ♪ Even in Your suffering, You've come to the other side ♪ ♪ Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake You died ♪ ♪ We praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Three in one, God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ In the morning that You rose, You came to save us all ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ In the morning that You rose, all of heaven held its breath ♪ ♪ Till that stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death ♪ ♪ And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe ♪ ♪ For the souls of all who come to the Father are restored ♪ ♪ And the Church of Christ was born, and the Spirit lit the flame ♪ ♪ Now the gospel truth of old shall not kneel, shall not faint ♪ ♪ And by His blood and in His name, in His freedom I am free ♪ ♪ For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me ♪ ♪ We praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ We praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory and majesty, we praise forever to Your King, our King ♪ ♪ We praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one ♪

♪ God of glory and majesty, we praise forever to Your King, our King ♪ ♪ We praise forever to the King of kings, we praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Oh we praise You Lord, we praise You King of kings and Lord of lords ♪ ♪ So be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ We praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Three in one, God of glory and majesty ♪ ♪ We praise forever to the King of kings ♪ Come on, y'all better give it up for Jesus. Man, I want you to take just a moment. I want you to take just a moment and praise God. This microphone is, yeah, praise God for the Spirit of God in this place. Man, I want you to just take a moment and I want you to look at this cross. Don't look at me, don't look at the band. I want you to look at this cross. This cross is only about a foot difference from the actual cross that Jesus was crucified on.

And I want to let you know that some of you in this room, you may have never put your trust in Jesus, but putting your trust in Jesus would be the best decision that you could possibly make this morning. But most of us, the only reason why we stand here with breath in our lungs, destined for heaven and not hell is because of this cross. And so this morning, I just want you to take a minute, close your eyes, and I want you to begin to thank God. Just thank Him for that cross. Thank Him for that Calvary. Thank Him for that rugged cross that He chose to put Himself on, to shed His own blood. Obedience to the Father. And thank Him specifically. Thank Him and say, Lord, I wouldn't have the family I had if you hadn't saved me from death. I wouldn't have the hope I have if you hadn't saved me from death. And just remind yourself. Take a moment and remind yourself that you stand here today with eternity in mind because of that cross. Jesus, we just say thank You again and again. Thank You that this whole morning is not even about us. It's about You. It's about You getting the honor and the glory that You deserve. And we thank You again and again for obeying, going to the cross, being buried for three days, and resurrecting, proving that You had power. And today Your power is in this room through the Holy Spirit. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, you can be seated this morning. Yeah, my name is Austin Murray. I'm the college pastor here. Okay, I got some fans in the room. Praise God. We are so pumped that you came to worship with us this morning.

I'm going to call our ushers forward. This is not a diversion from worship, but this is actually a step deeper into worship as we give our offering. So our guys are going to come forward, and they're going to begin to pass the bucket. I'll show you a few pictures. We had a worship night last night at Common Grounds, and there was over 500 students there. And it was incredible. There's ways to give here on the screen as well. But, man, if you're a college student, I just want to say it's not just about finding a good church that teaches the Bible and loves Jesus. That's amazing. There's lots of those churches in town. It's about finding your purpose in God and living that out for the rest of your life. Because God has a plan for your life and a purpose for your life, and we want to help you find that. So on Wednesday nights, every Wednesday night, right here in this room at 7 o'clock, we have a college service. Three to 400 college students show up every week, and we want to invite you to that. While the offering is being passed, I'm going to invite one of our elders to come up and share with you some news in our family. Hey, church. My name is Carl Gulley. I serve on our staff here, and there's a scripture out of Psalm 34 that says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Save those who are crushed in spirit. This morning, we just want to take time as a church family to gather around one of the families in our church who is definitely brokenhearted this morning. Some of you might know the Martin family. They've been with us for about 20 years, and Donnie and Brianna served as youth pastors, and then they also served as family zone pastors for a while in our life group area. You may have been here last week when we took a minute to pray over Briley Martin. She was joining our church in Hawaii, our church plant there. And a day of great joy for them. But five days later, this past Friday, they got the tragic news that their oldest son, Hudson, had passed away. He's on the far left there. Hudson was 22 years old.

And, you know, all the details of the events are still coming in. Don't know everything. Just know that shock and grief is definitely surrounding this family and a lot of those of us who are close to them and walking with them. And, you know, they, you know, Briley was really getting off the plane in Hawaii when she got this word and turned right back around and flew back and their son Canyon, just about a weekend of his freshman year playing baseball at college and Brecklin's in our youth group here and just been a brutal time, yet beautiful as we've been watching this family declare that God will be their refuge in the midst of their pain. And yesterday morning, James Mark, our worship leader just came over and just a bunch of us were there as we just worshiped and prayed and lamented and tried to find God in the midst of the loss that everybody's been going through. And just wanna thank those of you that have already started to come around them in various ways, just grieving with them and offering the ministry of presence to this family. And more details are gonna be coming out about how we can serve them financially and practically through meals. And of course, when the funeral service is going to be, it's too soon to know all those details, but we just wanted to pause in the midst of this service because we wanna be a people that rejoice

with those who are rejoicing and finding joy and then grieve with those who are grieving. And we can't all get our arms around this family, but we can get our prayers around this family. And we just wanna be a people that know how to pause and recognize real life, real pain and surround the Martins in prayer right now. And of course, if you do know them, reaching out to them would be more than appropriate, be desired and to love them and to surround them and just to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a family who's deeply in loss right now. And I know that they're not the only ones in a room this size. There's probably others that feel suffocating pain or maybe you're following along online or one of our friends behind bars who's watching today and you know that sense of loss and just need the presence of God to sustain you. And so I'm gonna take a moment and just pray for the Martins and anybody in this room who's feeling that same sense of pain and loss. And we're gonna believe God to come and meet us right now. Can we do that together church? Even so come Lord Jesus. Because our words don't know how to spell out what we even need God in a moment like this. The English language feels very insufficient for what we're trying to say. But from the depths of our being,

we're trying to say, Jesus, we need you to come and surround the Martin family right now with sustaining grace as they are bone tired from grief and longing for your nearness. We just agree with those prayers and we say, Holy Spirit, breathe on this family right now. And I'm asking God that you would protect them. We know the enemy tries to always come and whisper thoughts of deception and guilt and all kinds of other things. We just pray you'd protect the Martins right now, God. And we ask if there's any way that we as a church family can be the body of Christ that you would lay that on our heart for us to act and to move. And we're asking that even right now where they are in their home, in their living room, Jesus, show up. And for those that are in this room that are in need of that same touch from heaven, Lord, would you come and just even right now, just be going person to person, infusing them with that sustaining grace that gets us to this next moment, to this next hour, to this next day, because that's who you are. You are Emmanuel, you are God with us. And we put our stake and all of our tips in again, and we just say, you are good. Let's actually just sing this song. Let's make this a chorus of prayer to the Lord as we wrap up this time. ♪ You're all I want ♪

♪ You're all I've ever needed ♪ ♪ You're all I want ♪ ♪ Help me know you are near ♪ ♪ You're all I want, you're all I want ♪ ♪ You're all I've ever needed ♪ ♪ You're all I want ♪ ♪ Help me know you are near ♪ Sing that one more time, church. Sing it out. You're all I want. You're all I've ever needed. You're all I want. Help me know You are near. Lord, we agree again. You're not only all we want, but you are the one that is able to meet every need of every heart. We believe that we've experienced that, and we would pray that again. As Carl said, whether we're rejoicing in this day, Lord, let it increase. And whether we're mourning in this day, Lord, come and comfort. And we do pray as we open our hearts again today to your word and to one another that the rivers of living water would flow in this place, pulling everybody in to grace. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Wow. So good to see everyone. And, you know, I know that we had so many shifts already, but it's like a family room. We have the rejoicing and then we have the challenges and the pain of life. But we do it together. And though this is a big gathering this morning, our prayer is that you would feel the family of God. You would feel the grace of God through the family. And as we work through, you know, all of our different things along the way, we would find the grace of God. All right. For those that are new, I'm Jimmy Sybert. My wife, Laura, and I, they're on the front row. Wave, say, hey, hey. All right. There she is. Wife of 40 years in December. And we, amen, way to go. You're right. Way to go. Way to go, God. We'd both say that as well. And it has been our joy and privilege to, with so many friends, to get a chance to start and lead Antioch over the last 27 years. We have four married kids, 10 grandchildren. We are family. And again, it is our privilege. And, you know, Carl was just talking about the incredible tragedy that we all experienced. The Martins experienced, obviously, first and foremost, but they are family to us. And I experienced just such grace over the weekend in the midst of the terrible pain of this experience.

And I showed up Friday night as they got the news and friends are already gathering. There's weeping beyond what you could even imagine. I don't know how to explain it. But there is the tears. There's the crying. And but you have these random thoughts. So I walked up and I thought somebody needs to mow this lawn. Somebody needs to help them practically with the garage. I'm just seeing things and just hoping that somewhere somebody could do the little things that are going to be a burden. And somebody needs to make a meal and somebody needs to do something. And that's exactly what happened. I remember coming up yesterday and the whole Barley family was out there. The lawn was already mowed. Nobody said anything. They were shoveling some sand to clean up the garage area. Somebody had gone on Facebook and got a refrigerator for all the food. Our friends at Rivergate, it was already setting up a Jubilee fund to care for them. People were bringing meals the on the Friday night of the news and the crisis at midnight. Scott Daly is there putting in window units to make sure the A.C. could handle all the flow of the people. And it just is I could go on and on about the amount of grace that I saw through the people of God. Not saw, am seeing and experiencing. And then yesterday morning, as Carl mentioned there, just a spontaneous worship time began to happen. But as I was standing there worshiping with everybody and the family just in the middle, in the midst of the journey, all of us weeping on and off, I looked around the room and I was just realizing that the majority of the people in this room, almost to a person, were a part of our college group in the 90s or in the early 2000s. Over the last 20 and 30 years, they had experienced grace in this room, in a room like this, our different buildings. that we've met in, and I began to reflect, I looked at one person, I remember when they were weeping on their face, when they were going through their suffering, when they were going through their challenges, and how they met the grace of God, and how they wanted just to be there, they just wanted to show up and be grace, because somewhere they had experienced grace. And the beauty of that was 20 to 30 years later, they're still showing up for one another.

And that's how you know that somebody has experienced the grace of God. When they've been so touched by God, that when somebody else is in pain, they have no other option but to show up again and pour out grace. I saw grace abounding yesterday in the faces of so many people. And the thing that had brought us all together was ultimately God's grace. And over the next six weeks, we are gonna be talking about the overwhelming grace of God. And I've been experiencing it all weekend in the terrible pain of loss, in the midst of friends going extravagantly loving and caring for others. But I know for you here in this room, you want and need grace today. You may be a new student and man, if they only knew how insecure I am, if they only knew how fearful I am of starting this new journey, how lonely I already am being apart from my family, if they only knew that I was going through a divorce right now, would there be grace for me? Would somebody actually pour grace over me? If they only knew my addiction, if they only knew my secret sin, wherever you are today, grace is greater than that.

Whatever it is, grace is greater. It is, and it's available. And I wanna start this series just on my knees before God, asking for grace to be poured out over you, whatever you need. And the scripture in Hebrews 4, 16 says that we confidently enter the throne of grace, because there is one who sits on the throne that is made a way for grace. Jesus, thank you for opening the door forever that we might receive mercy and help in our time of need. And I pray, God, let mercy and help hit every heart. Let mercy and help hit every heart, undeserved, but lavishly poured out because of your choosing to sacrifice for us. Oh, Spirit of God, come pour out the grace of God on every weary soul, on every need in this room. And as we unpack your word, God, open our eyes to grace, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, when we began with the scripture, we're confident to enter the throne of grace. And hopefully by the end of our journey over the next few weeks, you'll be more confident than you were before in the grace of God. But just to unpack the grace of God scripturally, it's used over 128 times in the New Testament alone in over 120 verses. And in different ways, the Greek word charis is described in a multiplicity of ways.

It's often talked about like a diamond that has, every time you look at it, there's a different expression of it. The scripture says there is unending grace for you. There is abounding grace for you. There is overflowing grace for you. There is grace to drive out sin. There is grace for the heart to be healed. There is grace in our weakness to find God's strength beyond what you could ever imagine. And there is grace in the face of a person of God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our working definition from the scriptures is this, grace is the overwhelming, everybody say overwhelming. The overwhelming love, pleasure, and favor of God towards undeserving people. That's the key right there, you guys. You don't experience grace until you have need beyond what you can handle. You don't experience grace until you realize you have nothing to offer and he comes. The overwhelming love, pleasure, and favor of God towards undeserving people. And it is the power of God to do the will of God. It's not just love and pleasure and favor. It is also power to live out the commands of God, to live out the will of God. It is both the grace of God and the truth of God wrapped up in the mercy of God. This is, again, so difficult to put into a little definition.

definition, but the grace of God. And it is activated through compassion. Isn't that amazing? The grace of God, this love, pleasure and favor of God is operated through compassion. In the way that I said, he's coming at you with compassion. It says in Matthew 9, he looked on the multitudes. He's looking at this place right now. He's looking at those online. He's looking into our friends in prison, behind bars in the Pando app. He's looking into our eyes today and he's looking at you with compassion. You may be the most rebellious person in the world right now today in your mind, but he still has compassion for you. You may be the most hurting person and he still is looking at you with compassion. He cannot be anything but himself and everything in him just wants to help you. I just, I just, I just love these guys. You know, Steve, come on. Just want to love everybody. Ted, come on Alana, yes. I just feel the compassion of God. I wanna walk around and hug you and love you and God all the more. And because I can't get to you, God has sent the Holy Spirit to be with you.

The compassion of God. When our kids were at home, we woke up usually with compassion towards them, sometimes not, but we definitely woke up wanting to do them good. We were hoping that they would do good so that we would do good. Like we were just, we're all in it together, but our reason we had kids was to love them and to equip them and train them to love God, love each other, be productive citizens in society. I mean, there were some goals there, but we didn't wake up with malicious intent. We woke up with a desire to help them. And one of our kids, Caleb, our first son, third born, he was a little more challenging some days. And this particular day, he was wearing us out. I mean, I don't know how many times we could correct him and then bring him back into the situation and correct him again. And we were exhausted. And it was finally, you know, 7.30, eight o'clock at night, praise God, it is bedtime. And we try to end well, read a Bible story, pray. But really what we're doing is trying to get it over with so we can get a breath. So we got, and specifically, like we said, wow, we looked at each other like, whoa, I think he's gonna make it, you know? And, but anyway, as we're leaving the room

that particular night, I'm walking out, I'm thinking, oh man, I need a break. You know, Dallas Cowboys are playing. That's when they were pretty good, so it was a break. So I was, it was a Monday night game. And I thought, I'm just gonna watch the game. And I, and the Holy Spirit speaks to me so clearly. Caleb likes to watch football. He was 10 years old. We would keep it limited to, really, they got, he got to watch a total of a half per weekend or whatever. And Caleb likes football. I said, yeah, he does. And, and, and it seemed to me that the Holy Spirit said, he needs grace right now. Yeah, he's wearing you out, and you're wearing him out. You're doing the right thing, but he needs to see grace. I said, okay, Lord, what do I do? He said, wake him up, take him to Chili's, and watch the game. And I was like, oh, okay. Yes, Lord. But as I began to get God's heart on this, I got excited about it. And he was not asleep yet, and I got him. I said, hey, put on your clothes, and put on a little Dallas Cowboys shirt that he had. And he said, what's going on, Dad?

Like, whoa, you know, am I in trouble again? No, hey, come on, man, just go with it. We get in the car, and I said, we're going to Chili's, and we're gonna watch the game till the end. He said, Dad, but it's past my bedtime, but we're, we're gonna watch the game. And I said, okay, I'm gonna watch the game. It's not bedtime, but we're, but tomorrow's school, what do we, and I said, hey, it doesn't matter. Today is a day of grace, buddy, because I love you so much, and there's nobody I want to watch the game with, I think, other than you. This is, and actually, because there was grace there, he was definitely the only guy I wanted to watch the game. We had such a blast, and it indelibly inks something in his mind, right, that Dad is not only for me, but he enjoys me, and he has good plans for me, and yes, I've got to work through some things, but he's not trying to get me. He wants to love me. The grace of God. Have you experienced? the grace in the midst of the race, in the midst of the challenges. My prayer is that that happens again this morning. Grace has a face.

I've talked about a lot of human interactions, but ultimately grace is found in the face of Jesus. John 1 verse 14, and the Word became flesh, speaking of Jesus, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory. Again, speaking of Jesus, glory is of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. You're looking for grace, you're looking for truth. It's in the face of Jesus. Verse 16, for of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. In the person of Jesus, we find the grace that we've longed for. When you wanna know the Father, you look at Jesus. When you wanna experience grace, you look at the Scriptures, and you look at the stories of Jesus, and the life of Jesus, and He will come. And reveal Himself. So what I wanna do for the balance of our time is share three stories from Scripture in hopes that you will see the face of grace in the person of Jesus. We're gonna begin with the story of a woman caught in adultery, John chapter eight verses one through 11. And I'm reading a lot of Scripture on purpose because here's the thing,

this book is the most unique book in the world because there's power in it. These are not just stories, there's great stories written even by great Christian people that are wonderful, but this one has power on it. And when you look at these words, let them wash over you. These are stories that God wants you to know so that you can find Him. So here we go. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning. He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him. It's good encouragement. He sat down, began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. And having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act. Now in the law of Moses, they commanded us to stone such a woman. What then do you say? They were saying this, testing Him so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him,

He straightened up and He said to them, He who is without sin among you, let Him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again, He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones. I always just wanna pause and say, the older ones understood a little bit. They'd lived life a little bit longer. And He was left alone. And the woman where she was, in the center of the court straightening up, Jesus said to her, Woman, where are they? Where are your accusers? Where are those who would condemn you? Did no one condemn you? She said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go and sin no more. I wanna start off with just unpacking this story again so that you might see the grace of God. And here's what it said. Jesus was teaching in the temple and everyone was gathering to them to listen to Him. Now, why would they want to listen to Jesus? Because they felt the grace of God in His teaching, in His person, in everything that He did. And they had heard rumors that He was good.

And they'd heard rumors that they might get healed. And they'd heard rumors that they might get help. And they wanted to experience it themselves. And so everybody was coming to Jesus because somehow they believed there was hope there. And I just wanna encourage everyone, whenever you are hopeless, keep coming to Jesus. Just keep coming. This is where grace is found. And then we have the moment. They then throw this woman at the feet of Jesus, a woman caught in adultery. And I wanna pause for a moment and revisit this reality. In Jewish culture, for a woman to become a prostitute was a very broken thing. It was a terrible thing, if you will, culturally to be a prostitute as it, of course, it's sin. But most commentators would say that most women didn't choose to be a prostitute. Maybe it went something like this. An uncle abused her. Something happened sexually before marriage. And therefore the father with integrity couldn't present her in marriage as a pure bride, as one unstained. And so she was left to find her own way and many times those who had been abused, those who did nothing wrong but something was done to them, they became unclean, not by their own sins but by somebody else's sin.

And then they were left with no option but to be a prostitute or to not have the opportunity to marry, have children, et cetera. There's a lot behind the scenes here. There were many sins probably done against this woman. And then obviously once she was a prostitute, think about the terrible, gross, dark things that were done to her as well. And so often when we find ourself in a tough place, yes, and we'll talk a moment about the sins that we choose but sometimes there were sins done against us. And in this place, she's thrown at the feet of Jesus and she needs to find grace for the sins done against her or she's hopeless, she's already a prostitute, she's already blown her life. There is no hope for her in her culture to be a clean person, to be someone worthy of marrying, to being somebody worthy of value. She's done because of the sins done against her and now the sins that everybody knows she's participated in. So she in one way feels trapped and maybe she may not articulate this way by her own sin. And can I just say wherever you feel trapped today, it is because of sin. The problem is sin and the answer is Jesus. So this woman is thrown at the feet of Jesus and just in the wisdom of Jesus, he takes care of both of these in a very short period of time and the woman's at his feet and the Pharisees are saying,

you need to stone her, she's unclean, et cetera. And he says, all right, all you guys who've never sinned, why don't you guys throw the first stone and I'll wait? And he's looking at him and he's about to write on the ground all that, but can't you see Jesus look at him? It's like, you thought you were in trouble when your dad glared at you. Try the fiery eyes of God himself looking at you and you can't lie, you are a sinner. So he's looking them all over one by one and they begin to put their heads down and they realize, okay, man, I've sinned also. And in one way, her sins walk away from her. Her accusers of the past leave her. So in one way, I think that Jesus is kind of, she may not put it all together, but hey, I just took care of your past sins. And then he's leaning down and he's writing on the ground so many different ideas of what's he writing. I just think he was scribbling around just waiting for the right moment. And he begins to look at her and he says, hey, sweetie, look around. Look around, where are they? The accusations in your mind, the literal accusations of people, the dirty, broken people, they're gone. Where are they, who condemns you? And he's looking and I think he's just holding her face after she looks around, he said, now look at me.

Now look at me, sweetie. I love you. I love you, always have. I got rid of those mean guys, I got rid of that junk so that you could look at me and let me love you in this moment. And he says, hey, not only is there love for your past sins, there's power for you to go and sin no more. You can leave this moment clean because we've been together. I don't know where you are today, but we all live with the sins done against us and we all live with the sins that we have done. I've said it often, there's only one problem, it's called sin and there's only one person that can eradicate sin and it's Jesus. And as we come to him and behold him, as we look in his face by faith, we can know, God, you can wash my past and make me white as snow, pure again, regardless of what the world say, regardless of the accusers, regardless of stuff in my mind, you can cover them. That does not mean that we don't live with the consequences of people's darkness and sin and all of that, but what it means is when we find Jesus is the cover for past sins or the sins done against us, we no longer have to live tied to those. You do not have to live tied to the sins of the past that were done to you and there is now power to get up.

and sin no more. In one way, if you can kind of handle this phraseology, Jesus took away the excuse by loving her face to face. I am here. No more excuses. We're done with the past. I've given you power for the present. Let's go forward, honey. It's time to go. If I could wish anything for you today, it'd be, it's time to go forward, honey. Son, you can leave it at the altar, the throne of grace. Second story is what's often called the story of the prodigal son. Very familiar story. And you guys know the drill here. This kid grown up in privilege, has everything that he needs, everything he could want, actually. And but he, he's rebellious, right? He's like, you know, my dad's a good guy. It's good being here, but I'm gonna do my own thing. Because these guys aren't as much fun as I could have if I could just get out of here. And actually, I'll be as bold and brash. I mean, talk about a rebellious guy. He went to his father who had given him everything and said, I want my inheritance. Now, you owe it to me. I know you're a covenant keeper, and you promised it to me. So I'll just take mine now. And the incredible part of the story is God will let you do whatever you want to do. Even if it destroys you. And not because he's not merciful, but because he allows you to decide who will be God, who will be Lord. And so this, this kid takes his inheritance, and he runs off, and you know the deal, and he spends it on all kinds of wild living and so on and so forth. Everything that he could come up in his mind that would be fun, would be powerful. And here's the deal. That fun, sexual sin, you know, alcoholism, drugs, whatever that thrill is, is never satisfied. I can tell you from my own partying years, I can tell you from literally helping thousands of people, that is not an

exaggeration, thousands of people out of addiction, brokenness, sexually, a drug, whatever, codependency, all the addictions that we all have, it never satisfies. So if you're looking at porn, and you're in and you would you say, well, I'm not as bad as somebody else is going to get worse. If you are got a drinking problem, and you say, well, I'm not as bad as somebody else is going to get worse. If you have a drug, if you are a codependent person, and you can't get enough people to love you, if you're a jealous rage, a comparison person, it's eating you up day and night, it's not going to get better. You're going to keep going for one more thrill, hoping to end it and you're going to resolve I'm going to end it and then you're going to wake up for more. This is the nature of sin. This is the nature of the human soul, apart from the grace of God. And but here's what happened to this rebellious kid. Somewhere he caught the clue early, early enough before he was destroyed. And it says in verse 17 of Luke 15, he came to his senses. All right, dude, what are you doing? My father was better than I thought he was. The house was better than I thought it was the environment was better. I thought it was I've given myself to this and even these people that I ran with that I thought were my friends literally have left me because I ran out of money. I quit feeding their addictions and I'm out here on my own. I'm going to go back and beg my father for mercy because I can't make it on my own. And so I love this in verse 20 as he's kind of resolving. And it says while he was still far along away, his father saw him felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Okay, so here we go. His father saw him and had compassion on him. I love this new Old Testament verse on grace, Isaiah

3018. Therefore, the Lord longs to be gracious to you to show you grace. And therefore he waits on high to have compassion for you. So here's the deal. If you are minor rebellious, major rebellious, if you are in minor addiction or major addiction today, wherever you are, remember, we started God's looking on you with compassion today. He is. You can say, well, I got minor stuff, Lord, look on compassion with somebody else. No, you need compassion today. You need mercy, you need help for your little stuff and your big stuff, or your little stuff will become big stuff. The connection of grace Has to happen, and it happens in a person. So Jesus tells the story, the woman caught adultery, to say, I can deal with the past sins, I can deal with your upcoming sins, if you'll look at my face. And then he tells the story of the father, actually pointing to the father himself, and saying, your father in heaven that created you from the beginning of time is compassionately coming towards you, not sitting here waiting for you to get it together. How many times have you tried to get it together and just didn't get there? Resolve, I'm not gonna do this. I remember years ago, I don't know why I'm sharing this story, but maybe I'll help somebody. I grew up in southeast Texas, and we all dipped skull, chewed tobacco, so sixth grade, I dipped skull, all the way until I was a freshman at Baylor,

and chewed tobacco or whatever. And I think it was rotting something in my mouth, so I did try to several times think, I don't think this is a good day. I don't think this is wise over the long haul. And I would resolve, I'm gonna quit. And I still remember, I'm just gonna dip all day long until midnight, and then tomorrow, I'm gonna quit. This was apart from Jesus. And I would have these different moments, and I would last for about a week or a few days. I would resolve over and over again to quit dipping and chewing tobacco. You know how I finally got rid of it? Was between my sophomore and junior year, I had a pouch of chewing tobacco as I was driving home, and I had come to this place of brokenness through a broken relationship, and I was just crying out to God, Jesus, I need you, I'm going to give you everything. I'm going to decide to look at you every day. I'm going to read about you, and I'm gonna learn how to love you this summer. And I looked over at that pouch of tobacco, and I said, that's probably not helpful. So I threw it out the window, and I never chewed tobacco again. Isn't that great? I don't know why, I never tell that story. But here's the point.

You could say it's minor, you could say it's major. Oh, well, God loves you, whether you chew tobacco or not. That's absolutely true. But it's not helping me love God, and it's putting me in bondage to something that's ultimately gonna hurt me, so why just get rid of it, right? But I can't get rid of it on my own. I have to get rid of it by grace in the face of the person of Jesus. All right, get back online, Jimmy, here we go. The Father's coming at you with compassion in the midst of your little stuff and your big stuff. And so you say, well, you know, I wanna quit being angry at my spouse. And again, I'm not hitting her, I'm not yelling. I'm just critical all the time. I'm just frustrated, and I know people that are abusive, so I'm not that bad. Listen, you need buckets of grace to quit being critical. So if you don't come to the throne of grace and take seriously the need for it to work its way in you, then you'll keep making excuses for it and blaming it on your past or on somebody else's sin or what she does or doesn't do for you instead of coming to grace and finding power to live a godly life, right? Okay, let's land the plane. First story was woman calling adultery. Second story is the prodigal son,

and there's so much more there. The third story is the most famous story of all time, and that's Jesus going to the cross to sacrifice for your sin and my sin. Because here's the reality. If you haven't heard anything today, the question is, is grace there for me? And the answer is absolutely, because it wasn't paid for by you. You didn't provide for grace to be there for you. You didn't make a way for grace to be permanently there for you, but Jesus did. When Jesus went to the cross, he not only bore your sin and my sin, but there's a couple of key phrases that happened from the cross. First one is he looked out over them and he said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. I actually find great solace in that. I often will start my devotional life, God, I don't know what I'm doing, but I know I need grace, and I need to connect with you, and I won't see apart from you. So Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. So whatever your stuff is, small or large, there is grace for it because Jesus says, forgive them, they don't even know what they're doing.

And then the scripture describes him hanging on the cross for your sin and my sin for all time, we often think about the anguish, we talk about the nails, we talk about the blood, we talk about the pain physically, but the deepest pain that Jesus would experience. was the sin of the whole world. Name the ugliest, darkest sin that literally turned your stomach, you would never want to be a part of, you could never even imagine that. The ugliest, darkest thing of the whole world, he took on himself. He literally took everything that we struggle with that causes pain in our lives and others and literally bore it so when he cried out, it is finished! It was the unburdening of the pain that was exploding his physical body and exploding his soul that he could no longer take it anymore. If another way of saying it, Father, finish this! So that I can die. Knowing that he would die, he would be buried. And it says when he was buried after that sacrifice of taking the sin of the whole world upon himself, that literally he destroyed the devil and his demons to no longer have authority and power as he was there in hell itself saying,

you will not rule over the people, the people of God. You will not have ravage over their hearts because I am literally proclaiming victory over you. He took, it says, the keys of death and hell and he rose from the dead, blowing the top out of heaven itself, renting the veil between God and man. That very thing, the reason you can't see grace is there's a veil over your eyes. But the veil has been taken away through the resurrection of Jesus. There's no devil, no demon in hell that can have you unless you let it. Because everything has been paid for. It says Jesus died for sin once and for all, that just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Not just for a salvation moment, but for the rest of your life until you see him face to face. Eternity began at my salvation. I literally am living in an open heaven. You say, golly, I wish I could too. You can. I mean, because it's already, it's not my testimony, it's Jesus' testimony. The veil has been rent, there is grace for you. And you don't deserve it and you're right, you did mess up and you're probably gonna mess up again, but grace doesn't have an end point because it's based on God's heart for our broken lives.

The throne is open and grace is coming at you. Don't miss grace. I don't know what your story is, I don't know what your need is, but God knows right now, he sees everything. He knows every intricacy of your life. He knows the story of your heart, the story of your life, and he wants to come into your story and shape it for his glory. He wants to come into your story, college student. He wants to come to your story, high school student. He wants to come into your story, single mom. He wants to come into your story, mad dad. He wants to come into your story and create something for his glory and for your good if you let grace have its perfect work through the person of Jesus himself. Over the last 18 months, I've been on this grace journey, just absorbing my heart and mind in the grace of God by meditating on Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Because you see, after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared over 40 days, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And before he ascended to the Father, he said, I'm gonna send my spirit and it will be grace to you, it will be power to you, it'll be what you need. And for me, that is the sealing work of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is here. But they're putting this up here

because for me, over the last 18 months, when I think about the grace of God and close my eyes, this is what I see. I just, I see like, it's thicker than rain. It's like a star that exploded and is coming down at me. And when I was in this room this week on several occasions, I just see the same thing. I just see grace coming at you. It's coming at you. Mercy and help, it's just coming at you. The compassion of the Father is coming at you. Again, whether you are the most rebellious or you're just soft and broken, it's coming at you. Yeah, let the grace of God, let the grace of God, let the grace of God, let the grace of God come. The guys are gonna sing a chorus here in just a moment. And as they do, just let the grace of God wash over you. And if you wanna stand up, you can stand up. If you wanna stay seated, you can stay seated. But God's grace is here, and we want Him to come. Lord, we started on our knees asking for mercy and help. So we're asking God, would you come and bring mercy and help in every need in this room? Let this moment not just be a religious ritual. Let your body and your blood not be seen as casual. Let me recognize the weight of the price that you have paid. This is holy, this is holy, this is holy. Jesus, the sacrifice you made leaves us in wonder. The weight of all our sin upon your shoulders. The only right response is to say thank you, thank you.

It was for our sake you died. Through your blood our sin atoned. So as you freely gave your life, I will fully give my all. You deserve enough of my heart, all my mind, and all my soul. For you are holy, you are holy. Jesus, the sacrifice you made leaves us in wonder. The weight of all our sin upon your shoulders. The only right response is to say thank you, thank you. We say thank you, oh thank you. We say thank you, oh thank you. Thank you Lord, that's all we have is thank you. You were bruised and you were beaten You were our holes and our healing You were shamed, you were forsaken So we'd never be abandoned You were buried in the tomb So we could rise again with you And now you're seated in the heavens And your spirit is within us And now my victory is won It's finished, it starts So we say thank you, oh thank you We say thank you, oh thank you Oh Jesus, the sacrifice you made leaves us in wonder The weight of all our sin upon your shoulders The only right response is to say thank you, oh thank you Oh Jesus, you gave it all to give us life above it Purchasing our freedom is your kindness The only right response is to say thank you ♪ Oh, thank you, oh, we say thank you ♪

♪ Oh, thank you, we say thank you ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you ♪ Everybody stand together. We're gonna go back into this chorus here in just a moment. If our prayer teams can come to the front quickly. Some of you guys are here this morning and you don't know Jesus. You're not sure about the grace of God. Has it covered my sin? Am I really saved? Do I understand what it means to know God? You're here because you're hungry, but God wants to seal the deal today. Seal the covenant, put the seal on your heart that you can be a child of God. Also, obviously many of you are here and you know the Lord, but it's time to come home. It's time to come to your senses. It's time to let God love you and you respond wholeheartedly to Him. We know others in the room have physical need, physical healing. You need, you got challenges and struggles, pain in your life. You're just hoping, could somebody pray for me? Is the power of God available for me? And the answer is yes. Every Sunday morning, every time we gather, people are saved. People come back to Jesus.

People are physically healed. That's not just a platitude, it's reality. People are touched. And even if you don't get the miracle you want this morning through prayer, you will get compassion and love and care. You will get the grace to endure, if not the grace for breakthrough. So don't miss the grace of God. They're gonna go through this song again. They're gonna sing it. We're just gonna go in it with all of our hearts, seeing the throne of grace open. And then I encourage you just run down here, get what you need or turn to a friend and say, please pray for me for the grace of God to show up in my brokenness, in my place of need. So you're either singing, praying for one another, or you're responding to our friends here to come for prayer. Let's sing it again. ♪ Jesus, the sacrifice you made leads us in wonder ♪ ♪ The weight of all our sin upon your shoulders ♪ ♪ The only right response is to say thank you ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you ♪ ♪ You were bruised and you were beaten ♪ ♪ For our wholeness and our healing ♪ ♪ You were shed and you were healed ♪ ♪ For our wholeness and our healing ♪ ♪ You were shamed, you were forsaken ♪ ♪ So we'd never be abandoned ♪ ♪ You were buried in the tomb ♪

♪ So we could rise again with you ♪ ♪ And now you're seated in the heavens ♪ ♪ And your spirit is lifted up ♪ ♪ Now my victory is won, it is finished, it is done ♪ ♪ So we say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ We say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, the sacrifice you made ♪ ♪ We got to wonder the weight of all our sin ♪ ♪ Upon your shoulders, the only right response is to say ♪ ♪ We say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, you gave it all to give us life abundant ♪ ♪ Purchasing our freedom, it's your kindness ♪ ♪ The only right response is to say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ We say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ We say thank you, oh, thank you ♪ ♪♪ It's a powerful word of grace, and so, hey, again, today, if you're here this morning and you need Jesus, you're broken, you're desperate, you're feeling lost, you're feeling hopeless, just don't want to miss this moment right here. If that's you, simple prayer. Out of your own mouth say, Jesus, I come to you today and I ask for your help. Tell him, say, Jesus, come inside my heart and be my king. Forgive me for all the wrong that I've done, all the wrong I've done to others, all the wrong I've done to you and all the wrong I've done to myself. Come and be my Lord and help me to follow you

with my whole life. In Jesus' name. If you just pray that prayer out of genuine faith and desire to know him and be with him, come up here with one of our people up here to pray, continue to pray with you and get connected. He is our hope. He is the anchor of our soul. He is the lover of our souls. And so I just wanna thank everyone for coming today. College students, hey, on your way out, make sure you stop and connect with our college team and our college pastor over there. Just join me as I pray to close our time together. Lord, we just thank you, God, for your faithfulness. Lord, we ask that this word, God, that you would remove the veil from our eyes so that we may see your grace, Lord. God, we ask God for your help in our times of need, but our desire is to know you and to follow you. And Lord, today we do ask again, God, for the Martin family to experience the comfort of you, Lord during this time, Lord. And so we bless you and we thank you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Hey, thanks for coming this morning and being with us together and those watching online and we'll see y'all next week.