Prepare for Worship | When Did You Last See Grace?
Last Sunday, Pastor Will Jackson pointed us to see how God is making a new people from all people.
Read: Acts 11:19-30
This Sunday, Pastor Jason Finley will encourage us to consider how God’s grace is displayed in faithful churches. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this article excerpt from Marshall Segal challenge you to look for the grace of God and rejoice when you see it.
Reflect: “When Did You Last See Grace?”
When was the last time you saw the grace of God?
Did you know that we can see grace — that the unmerited favor of God sometimes breaks into our world in ways that we can perceive? We know that we can because Barnabas saw grace in the blossoming church at Antioch. Luke welcomes us into what he experienced: “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” (Acts 11:23)
When Barnabas visited the church, he saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them to remain faithful. He saw the grace of God. What must that have been like — for grace to rise up from the gospel he preached and unfold before him untamed and irresistible, for lifeless souls to come alive to God and become fountains of good, for a church to sprout, as green as spring, from the ashes of sin? Oh, for grace to see as he saw.
And God still gives such grace — and such eyes to see what he has done — if we, like Barnabas, learn how to look.
Does Grace Still Affect You?
Barnabas, however, not only saw the grace of God; he also rejoiced in what he saw. “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad.” You might think, Well of course he was glad. But how often do we see the grace of God and yet feel nothing? How often do we grow dull to what God is doing in us and around us?
As we regain our ability to see all that God is doing around us, Satan will do what he can to make grace seem unremarkable. But Jesus says, “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Even angels peek over the galaxies between us to see the grace that God has given us in Christ (1 Peter 1:10–12).
God himself does not tire of the wonders of his grace: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save,” Zephaniah 3:17 says. “He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” How might the tone and aroma of our lives change if we responded to grace like God does — with a happiness so full and strong that it forced us to sing?
And so we pray, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12). We don’t want to see grace and merely believe and obey; we want to be glad. More than anything, we want to rejoice in grace wherever we find it because the glorious grace of God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
Let Grace Make You Hungry
Seeing all that Barnabas saw, what would he now say to the church in Antioch? What would you say to a new and flourishing church like theirs? “He exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23). As he watched and enjoyed the grace of God breaking out in Antioch, why would Barnabas charge them to remain faithful with steadfast purpose?
Because he knew just how easily we fall from grace into spiritual laziness and complacency. For some, the continual strain of adversity and temptation eventually wears us down and leaves us disillusioned. Following Christ is unavoidably hard, like carrying a Roman cross (Luke 9:23) — so hard we can often be tempted to lay ours down. For others, the experience of blessing can subtly make us spiritually sleepy and negligent. We begin to rush through Bible reading, to pray a little less, to spend more of our time and money on ourselves, to let our minds wander in worship. Experiencing the merciful intervention of God can leave us feeling strangely entitled to the merciful intervention of God.
Both groups need to be reminded, again and again, to remain faithful with steadfast purpose — to not take tomorrow’s faithfulness for granted, but to press in and be ready to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). When a healthy soul witnesses grace, it makes him all the more hungry for grace, all the more dependent on God, all the more vigilant before temptation. True grace nurtures love where the weeds of laziness, selfishness, and pride might have grown.
So, learn to look for the grace of God, fighting the obliviousness that often comes with familiarity. And rejoice in what you find, asking God to give you the pure and full-hearted pleasure he feels over his grace, ever expecting to see and experience even more tomorrow than you have today.
“When Did You Last See Grace?” June 10th, 2021, article excerpt from desiringGod.org, by Marshall Segal.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “Oh How Good It Is,” by Keith and Kristyn Getty
2. “Every Step,” by CityAlight
3. “All Sufficient Merit,” by Shane and Shane
4. “Come Unto Jesus,” by Laura Story
5. “O Church Arise,” by Keith and Kristyn Getty