You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Amen.
Turn with me, if you will, to John chapter 1.
John 1 will be on the screen behind me or on page 886 of the Bible in the pew in front of you,
if you want to follow along there.
The new year is a great time to examine some of your core commitments, isn't it?
Some of the values that are foundational to who you are as a person or as a church as well.
It's an important thing for us corporately to do.
As a church that seeks to see God's kingdom advanced,
Southwood's particular mission statement is to experience and express grace.
If you've been here a little while, you've probably heard or read that somewhere.
We tend to talk about it quite a bit.
But it's only helpful to us if we actually know what we mean.
It's cute to be able to say something like that, but if you don't know what you mean,
when you say it, it doesn't help you very much, does it?
I mentioned earlier that next weekend is our Express Grace Conference.
So the second half of Experience and Express Grace, we're going to talk a lot about next weekend
to focus on what it means for us to share God's goodness with others, with those around us.
But I thought this morning we would look for a few minutes at what we mean when we say experience grace,
the first part of the mission statement.
Experience grace.
Is that something that happens in some kind of out-of-body, mountaintop experience?
I have this experience of grace and I don't even know what happened.
How often does it happen?
How would I know if I've experienced grace?
What's it all about?
And there are a lot of angles we could take on that,
but this morning I want to look at John 1, beginning at verse 14.
And we'll read a few verses here and then talk about the experience of God's grace together
from this passage and a few others as well.
God's holy word in John 1,
where John has up to this point introduced the word of God,
who has been with God since before time began.
And John says he is in fact truly God himself.
Then in verse 14 he says this about the word.
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we have seen his glory.
Glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John bore witness about him and cried out,
This was he of whom I said,
He who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me.
And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only God who is at the Father's side,
He has made him known.
Will you pray with me?
Father, our desire as we have rejoiced this morning in your love for us
is that we would know you more.
We want to know more of who you are and what you are like,
of the things that you love and the desires you have for us.
And we rejoice that Jesus is the one who has made you known to us.
Who has been the perfect image of God in the flesh.
Who has made the Father we have not seen known to us.
And so as we open your word this morning,
would we see him clearly.
Would we know more of who you are
and of what your heart is for us from your word.
Would you teach us by your spirit, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
When I say kindness,
whose face pops into your mind?
Is there someone you know who oozes the sugary sweetness
and you feel like when you've left a conversation with that person,
you've just experienced the essence of kindness.
The kindest person I've ever met.
What if I said prideful?
Or stuck up?
Or snooty?
Would you have a different face come to mind?
Does somebody else pop into your head?
He's everything that's wrong with people who think that they're wonderful and amazing
and drive me crazy.
His face pops into my mind.
The essence of pride and arrogance.
When we talk about grace,
we don't merely mean an abstract theological concept.
That something we would vaguely sense or experience in some unusual way.
Rather, we're talking about a person.
The word become flesh.
Jesus himself.
Jesus is described here in verse 14 as full of grace and truth.
And he's so full of grace that from his fullness,
the very essence of who he is and his character,
overflows to us what?
Grace upon grace.
Like they were just singing for us.
From who Jesus is, that's what oozes out of him.
Another version translates this verse.
Grace upon grace.
From the fullness of his grace,
we have all received one blessing after another.
One blessing after another.
Grace upon grace from Jesus.
In fact, the grace of God in the flesh, right?
Where God gave his people the good gift of the law through Moses.
Grace upon grace.
And then he sent in the very person of Jesus his grace again.
Grace in the flesh.
Grace is God's goodness and favor that we could never deserve or earn.
But that Jesus embodied and brought to us when he took on flesh.
His coming to us brought grace to us.
Grace.
So grace then is a person.
It's a person who in the first chapter of John's gospel alone,
if you just read through the rest of this chapter,
we find out he did many things for us that we could never deserve or earn.
He brought light into our darkness.
Made those of us who were God's enemies his children.
That's grace.
He accomplished what mankind had failed to do for centuries in living a life of obedience to God.
And he also died for the sins of the world.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
That's grace.
So when we talk about experiencing grace,
it's not just some mystical intangible concept.
We're talking about being near Jesus.
He himself is grace.
And it overflows from him to us over and over.
Grace upon grace.
And that's actually the idea that this passage has
and that is in many other places in the Scripture.
That we don't just need a quick exposure to Jesus.
A one-time dose of grace that fixes us forever.
However, this passage and many others teach that we live all our lives
in moment-by-moment dependence on the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
That's why we say our mission is to experience grace.
That's where we start.
Not that we would have a goal of one day, someday,
maybe finally experiencing God's grace for the first time.
But that every day, not just once,
not once in the future, not once in the past,
but every day present,
I need to experience His amazing grace to me.
To be overwhelmed by the kindness and favor of God
poured into my life in ways I could never earn or deserve.
I need to be filled and fueled by the grace of Jesus.
By God's unending and undeserving love for me.
That's what the Bible says it means to continue to live in Christ.
Experiencing His grace.
And that seems pretty simple to say
that experiencing grace is just be near Jesus
and grace overflows into you.
Just be near Jesus.
Why don't we find ourselves drinking from that fountain,
so to speak, more regularly?
Why is it not your experience and my experience
that I'm constantly being filled up and fueled and driven
and every thought shaped by the amazing love
that God has for me in Jesus?
Why is that not the way we live all the time?
I think one primary reason
is that we don't always feel and remember
our need to be near Jesus.
Here's a definition for experiencing grace
you can write down if you want.
Constant needs constantly met in Christ.
It's not real complicated.
I don't intend it to be profound.
But think of people who clearly experience
the grace of Jesus during His earthly ministry.
Over and over again,
these are people who have very clear needs
that Jesus meets with His grace.
Think of blind Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10
who stands by the side of the road
and hears Jesus is coming down the road
and cries out,
Son of David, have mercy on me!
And Jesus stops and comes over and asks him,
What do you want me to do for you?
And the grace of Jesus overflows to Bartimaeus
and he receives His sight, doesn't he?
Think of the sinful woman in Luke 7
who's so aware of her need for forgiveness
that she comes to be near Jesus
and sit at His feet.
She does more than that.
She pours expensive perfume on Him
and wipes His feet with her hair
as she cries over Him.
And grace overflows to her
as Jesus tells her what?
Your sins are forgiven.
Think of the paralytic in Mark chapter 2.
You may have heard the story in Sunday school.
He's so desperate to be near Jesus
that when he can't get in the house,
what do his friends do for him?
They take him outside,
they climb up,
cut a hole in the roof
and lower him down right in front of Jesus.
And the grace of Jesus overflows to him
and Jesus says,
your sins are forgiven
and He heals His body.
Constant needs,
constantly met in Christ.
All of these,
and there are many others we could cite,
all of these people
are deeply aware of their need for Jesus,
aren't they?
They know that they need Him.
They know they're desperate.
A blind man,
a sinful woman,
a paralytic,
desperate to be near Jesus.
So here's the point for us.
You won't experience grace
to meet your needs
if you don't have any.
You won't experience grace
to forgive your sin
if you don't have any.
You won't experience grace
for your failures
if you don't have any.
You won't experience grace
to give direction in your confusion
if you never have any.
You won't experience grace
to be sufficient in your weakness
if you don't have any.
Do you regularly think of yourself
as needy?
Sinful?
Confused?
Weak?
Is that how you think of yourself?
Is your relationship with God
one in which you're constantly telling Him
how much you need His direction?
How much you need His strength for that day?
How much you need His forgiveness
for your sin?
God have mercy on me, a sinner.
Like the tax collector
praying in the temple,
crying out to God
and Jesus says,
that man went home
in a right relationship with God.
That's how you relate to God.
God have mercy on me, a sinner.
I need your help.
For many of us,
that doesn't sound like our
day in and day out relationship with God, does it?
Doesn't sound like your prayer life
constantly crying out,
God have mercy on me,
a sinner.
I need you so desperately.
I'm weak.
I'm needy.
I'm confused.
I need you.
For many of us,
our day in, day out relationship with God
is based on merit,
worthiness,
performance,
strength.
God was gracious to me
once upon a time.
I talk about grace,
but now I relate to God
based on how well I'm doing.
God, I'm a pretty good person.
I mean, I'm better than the next guy,
so I expect some pretty good things to happen.
God, I thank you.
I'm moral and not like this other guy
or these people I read about.
Sounds like the Pharisee
praying opposite the tax collector
who says those things
and Jesus says of him
he had a wrong kind of relationship with God.
He didn't know how to relate to God.
He said,
I'm more spiritual than they are.
I'm more moral than she is.
More faithful than he is.
And Jesus said,
that's not how you relate to God.
Quick side note
and preview of next weekend
and expressing grace.
When that's what our relationship with God
is based on,
that's what our relationship with others
is based on too.
Is he performing well enough
to earn my favor today?
Is she worthy of my love today?
And if you're not experiencing grace
for needy, sinful, failing,
confused, weak you,
you'll have no grace
and very little time
for the needy, sinful failures
in your life.
For those who are confused
and weak in your circles of influence.
If none of that grace
is being poured into you,
none of it will be overflowing
to anyone around you.
That's a preview of next weekend.
It's a sad reality to imagine
not having any grace
for people like that in our lives.
Nothing to pour through us
and flow over into them
in their great need.
But perhaps if you can imagine
this morning even sadder
than not having grace for others
is that you will not merely
have missed grace.
You will have missed Jesus.
The grace of God
expressed in a person.
Jesus didn't come for the healthy
who have no need of a doctor.
For the successful
who have no need of His strength.
For those who figured it out
and have no need of His wisdom.
For the put together
who have no need of His help.
Jesus came
not for those.
He came for those
who are poor
in spirit.
Who don't think
they can handle life
on their own.
Who know how desperately
they need Him.
And that reality
should be unsettling
to those of us
who largely are
are part of a strong
and capable
and successful culture.
People in a church
where we can look
strong and capable
and successful.
And the reality is
that it should shake us up
a little bit.
Because those aren't just
my words
trying to make you feel bad.
Those are the words of Jesus
about who He came for
aren't they?
It's not the healthy
who need a doctor
but the sick.
I've come not to call
righteous
but sinners.
Jesus came for sinners.
He came to save them.
To rescue them.
For those who know
they need to experience
His grace.
You and I need
to be near Jesus.
For today we need Him.
For tomorrow we need Him.
For parenting we need
His patience.
For engaging with
co-workers we need
His wisdom.
For relationships
we need His forgiveness.
For all of these things
and many more
we need to experience
His grace.
We need to be crying out to Him.
Drawing near to Him
in prayer, right?
That's moment by moment
experiencing His grace.
Seeking for God
to give us His sustaining
and directing grace
for our lives.
We ought to be
regularly repenting.
Of our sin.
Where we turn back
and come near to Jesus
and seek His forgiving grace.
We need to be reading
His word
and talking about Him
with our friends.
Having Him near us
in every aspect of life.
Every relationship we have
so that His overflowing grace
is our greatest joy.
Our highest desire.
The thing that we
can't stop thinking
and talking about.
And that would be
a really good sermon
especially around New Year's
wouldn't it?
Be near Jesus more.
Read the Bible.
Pray.
Come to church.
Have Jesus impact
all of your life.
And we should
and all of those things
are good.
We need more time with Him.
We need to be near Jesus.
But it's even better
than that.
Our hope is even better
and more exciting
than just
you need to be with Jesus
more
although we do.
The good news is
that Jesus
comes to us.
That's part of His
overflowing grace.
Is that Jesus
actually comes
to be near us.
Have you forgotten
Christmas already?
Isn't that what we
just celebrated?
What about verse 14?
What does it say?
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling
among us.
Among needy,
weak,
failing people.
Jesus said
I will live there.
I will come to them.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling
among us.
He wanted to get
so near to us
that His grace
would spill onto us
so that we could
experience His grace.
That's why He came.
He wants to spill
His grace onto you
even more than you
want to run
and get it from Him.
He came
so that His grace
would overflow
to you.
In Memphis
where I grew up
there's this
wonderful place
called St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital.
You've probably
heard of it.
They treat their children
who are suffering
with cancer.
Children from all
over the globe.
In fact,
one from our
Southwood family
just this past year
that they took
great care of.
Every December
there's a college
football bowl game
in Memphis
called the Liberty Bowl.
And so two teams
come in,
different teams
each time,
to play perhaps
the biggest football game
played in Memphis
all year.
And lots of kids
are excited
to go to the game.
They want to go
see their favorite
players,
see these two teams
play football
against each other.
And every year,
ahead of the Liberty Bowl
itself,
those teams
would visit St. Jude
and they would
bring the game
to the kids
who were too sick
to come to the game
themselves.
You'd always see
in the paper
every year
a picture of the quarterback
with his arm
around a five-year-old
bald-headed
cancer
patient
from St. Jude.
The guy who perhaps
embodied the essence
of football
and all the excitement
about this game
that was coming to town
in the mind
of this kid
actually coming
to bring the experience
of the Liberty Bowl
into the hospital room
of a young kid.
And that's what Jesus
has done for us.
Jesus,
the embodiment
of grace himself,
has come to you
and brought grace
to your hospital room
that you couldn't leave
because you were too sick.
When you couldn't leave
the shackles
of what you've done,
of the terrible things
that rack your memories
and you can't get away
from them
to come to Jesus,
he came to you.
Maybe for you
it's the shackles
of your own
self-obsession.
The success
that you've experienced
and you realize
you only think
about yourself
and you can't get away
from that
to come
and cry out to Jesus
and Jesus
comes to you.
This table
reminds us
that he didn't just
do that once.
That he is still
coming to us.
That he knows
we still need him.
That he still needs
to bring his grace
to us.
His grace is for you
to experience again
this morning.
That's why he said
we should do this
so often.
Because we continue
to need him.
Because we continue
to need to be filled up
with his grace.
We declare at this table
that we are still
not strong enough.
That we're still
not smart enough.
That we're still
not successful enough
on our own
to come to Jesus.
But we declare
at the same time
that he has come
to us.
And we taste
as we come
his grace for us again.
We experience
his grace
again this morning.
Constant needs
to you and me.
Constantly met
in Christ.
Paul tells us
of the words
of institution
that Jesus gave
on the night
he was betrayed.
He took bread
and when he'd given
thanks he broke it
and said this is my body
which is for you.
Do this in remembrance
of me.
In the same way also
he took the cup
after supper
saying this cup
is the new covenant
in my blood.
Do this as often
as you drink it
in remembrance of me.
For as often
as you eat this bread
and drink the cup
you proclaim
the Lord's death.
until he comes.
This is not the table
of Southwood
or the Presbyterian church.
This is the Lord's table.
And Jesus has
set it before us
this morning
so that we would
taste and experience
his grace again.
And he invites
he's the one
extending the invitation
to you
to everyone
who has truly
trusted in him
for their salvation.
who's made a public
profession of that faith
by joining a church
a body of Christ.
he invites you
to come
and to feast
this morning.
Come and eat.
If you don't know him
if you've never
trusted Jesus
for yourself
don't come
to this table
don't come
and proclaim
outwardly
something that's
not true
inwardly.
Instead
we would love
to invite you
to come
and to know
Jesus himself.
The one who would
come toward you
this morning.
I'd ask you
to consider
are you
this morning
okay
on your own?
Are you
good enough?
Strong enough?
Wise enough?
Capable enough
to handle
life
on your own?
Or
do you
need
someone else?
Do you need
the help
of another?
Someone who would
come to you
and offer himself
for you?
Do you need
his grace?
Perhaps
this morning
what it could be
is a chance
to realize
that you can
stop exhausting
yourself
trying to make
God happy
and for the first
time
know that someone
else has done
that for you
that Jesus
has done that
in your place
and you can
come near to him
and experience
his grace
in a person
in Jesus
himself
nothing would
make us more
excited than to
get to talk
with you about
him
to tell you
about his
grace for you
let's pray
and then we'll
come to this
table together
father we
thank you
that you
know our
need
we are
needy
people
and so our
hope and our
joy is that
our needs
have been
fully met
in Jesus
would this
table be a
reminder
of that
to us
as we
sit and
meditate on
our own
need
we equally
and even
more so
see your
abundant
provision
for that
need
through your
son
we ask in
his name
amen
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information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org
you