The Grace Effect, Week 3: Grace Transferred

Join us this week as pastor Shane closes up our series, Grace Effect. We hope you enjoy this message. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! Title of Message:  Grace Transferred   (Hebrews 9:27) (MSG) Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences.   (Psalm 39:4-5) (NLT) “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” (Matthew 18:21-22) (NLT) Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! (Genesis 4:23-24) (NIV84)“Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”   (Matthew 18:23-24) (NLT) “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.   (Matthew 18:25-27) (NLT) He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.   (Matthew 18:28-30) (NLT) “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.  He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.  “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.   (Matthew 18:31-33) (NLT) “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.  Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’   (Matthew 18:34-35) (NLT) Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”   (Matthew 5:23-24) (MSG) “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.   How to transfer grace:   1.    Initiate the conversation.      (Luke 6:13) (NIV84) When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them…   (1 Corinthians 9:22) (NIV84) …I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.   2.    Arrange an environment of grace.   (Hebrews 12:15) (NIV) See to it that no one misses the grace of God. 3.    Nurture the fractured relationships. (Galatians 5:13-15) (NIV84) …serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.   (Malachi 4:6) (NIV84) He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Romans 12:17-18) (NIV84) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.   4.    Severe the bad relationships.    (1 Corinthians 15:33) (NIV84) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”   (Proverbs 13:20) (NIV84) He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Psalm 90:12) (NIV84) Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.   What do I want my life to be about?   (Micah 6:8) (MSG) But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.