TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. Luke 19:5b-6
Listen: Luke 19
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus lived The Grace Effect. He was lavishly generous through his death in our place. But his death was merely the crescendo to a generous life rooted in grace. One day, Jesus knew an ostracized man was waiting in a tree hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Jesus stops, looks the man in the eye and invites himself over for dinner. This may not seem generous, but this man was a social pariah. When Jesus went to his house, he went where no self-respecting person would go. Jesus went out of his way to meet a need for a man he’d just met. This act of hospitality changed the course of this man’s life.
Jesus is our model and motivation for The Grace Effect. We believe that God so loved us he sent his Son to rescue us and wants to adopt us into his family. It gives us a place to belong. Using a story from first-century Ephesus, Senior Pastor Jeff Manion told us this weekend that it should also motivate us to live a life characterized by generosity in hospitality, giving, serving, speech and forgiveness. It’s a generosity that impacts every part of our lives.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Today we bring The Grace Effect to a close. But this should only be the beginning of living in a new way, a way that demonstrates God’s abundant generosity in our lives. Consider two important questions as this series closes. First, how have your thinking and actions changed as a result? Second, what one area needs to keep changing? Use the answers to these questions to continue your pursuit of whole-life generosity.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
