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Aspects of Grace
An introduction to the next series of talks beginning 8th September
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incamation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of retum from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What’s the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of hu- manity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law -- each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love Lmconditional.
Aware of our inbuilt resistance to grace, Jesus talked about it often. He described a world suffused with God's grace: where the sun shines on people good and bad; where birds gather seeds gratis, neither ploughing nor harvesting to earn them; where untended Wildflowers burst into bloom on the rocky hillsides. Like a visitor from a for- eign country who notices what the natives overlook, Jesus saw grace everywhere. Yet he never analysed or defined grace, and almost never used the Word. Instead, he communicated grace through stories we know as parables.
Through these parables, he communicated the amazing grace of God, that love that just goes on and on, and for our teaching programme in September, We will look at different aspects of grace, and how it applies in our lives today.
More Or Less, by Steve Morgan-Gurr
There's nothing, nothing I can do or say
To make God love me more
He Fathers me in such a way
It lasts for ever more
The Bible says that it‘s called grace
I see it there in Jesus' face
There's nothing, nothing I can do or say
To make God love me more
To make God love me more
There's nothing, nothing I can do or say
To make God love me less
I need forgiveness every day
And Jesus' righteousness
But when I tum to Him and pray
He gives His mercy right away
There's nothing, nothing I can do or say
To make God love me less
To make God love me less
