{"id":2163,"date":"2014-06-17T10:25:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T14:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=2163"},"modified":"2014-08-14T12:51:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T16:51:26","slug":"grace-rains-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=2163","title":{"rendered":"Grace Rains Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Don’t Put Up Umbrellas <\/span><\/p>\n

When Grace Rains Down”<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

What is Grace?\u00a0 How’s it Rain Down???<\/span><\/h3>\n

Grace is when we get something that we don’t deserve.\u00a0 Mercy is when we DON’T get something that we DO deserve.\u00a0 Genesis chapter 3<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> tells us that there’s something messed up within humankind that makes us want to love ourselves more than God.\u00a0 Somehow wired within us is this pride that makes us want to try to get along without God, or even to think that we could do a better job of being in charge of the universe than God.<\/p>\n

God is holy- super special-\u00a0 and He can’t put up with creatures who rebel against Him like that.\u00a0 Sin (missing God’s mark) deserves death.<\/p>\n

But, God is also loving and sent His Son Jesus to die for us (see John 3:16).\u00a0 So we get a second chance.\u00a0 Not only that, if we keep messing up (which we all do) we get a third chance.\u00a0 Not only that, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth,a…. Hey!\u00a0 You can’t outgive God! That’s Grace.<\/p>\n

And it never ends; just like some of those strings of rainy days.\u00a0 The rain goes everywhere; God’s grace is available to anyone.\u00a0 He constantly give us forgiveness and the things that we need to love Him and to have a fulfilling life that’s in sync with our Creator.<\/p>\n

What’s an Umbrella?<\/span><\/h3>\n

People are\u00a0 good at doing things that help us ignore God.\u00a0 “Umbrellas” in life are things that we do to reject God’s grace. We make excuses for our own shortcomings.\u00a0 We blame God when things don’t go our way.\u00a0 We set the wrong priorities.\u00a0 All of us have a closet full of umbrellas that we can pull out in any situation.<\/p>\n

Get Wet!<\/span><\/h3>\n

But God calls us to put away the umbrellas and allow Him to work in our lives and to “get soaked” by His love and grace.\u00a0 Give up.\u00a0 Surrender.\u00a0 Let Him have His own way in your life.\u00a0 When we do that we’ll find that being soaked with God lets us lead joy-filled and enriching lives.<\/p>\n

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To learn more about Grace, check out the following
\n“Chuck Knows Church” video…<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Grace Video<\/a><\/p>\n