Jan 22, 2013 God Has Lavished Grace…
I was eighteen years old when I attended my first service at GCC in 1993. A few things still stand out to me from those early days. There was just one guy with a guitar leading worship up front. People had coffee in their hands while we sang. The pastor said “we” and “us” instead of wagging a finger at us saying “you.” And I heard God’s Word spoken as I never had before.
Several things still stand out to me from Scott’s early sermons. I recall him telling us one morning that we didn’t have to “tap dance” for God. I can still see him doing a little tapping, though he has no recollection of that! More importantly, I recall an illustration he used when we read about God’s lavished grace, a phrase I’m not sure I’d ever read before. The image was of God with this bucket tucked up under His arm, and with His hand He would take heaping handfuls of grace and spread it out over me. He refilled His hand over and over, and the bucket was never emptied. That was the very first time in my lifetime of church attendance that I began to see how little my salvation was about me and how much it was about Him. Twenty years later, I hear this message again every week. In each sermon, Bible study, Sunday School class, and community group, the gospel has been presented, not only as an invitation to salvation, but as a way of life. At Grace Community, I’m brought back to it over and over. It will never get old, and I will never hear it enough.
So when someone asks where I go to church, and I answer “I go to Grace,” I can’t help but smile. Thank the Lord for this double meaning of GRACE. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us.” Ephesians 1:7-8
– Katie Thompson