These guys were masters of destruction, which is exactly what sin does in our lives. The damage they did to each other and those they encountered is humorous. But when that damage is real instead of pretend, its scarey. I’ve watched people do some of the stupidest and damaging things and think they were right. So, why do it keep it around? That’s what I once was. It reminds me of His grace.

Tell me about your favorite coffee cup and why.

Several years later there was a heavy snow on a Saturday night. The parking lot had deep snow drifts and was not plowed out by Sunday morning. One of the church members contacted the factory manager and scolded him soundly for not plowing out the lot for the church people. By the following Sunday there was a locked fence around the parking lot. There was no intervention the pastor could do that could undo the damage done by that one inconsiderate church member.

Sometimes we forget that what we are enjoying today does not really belong to us. Could it be that if we abuse the gift of grace given by God that we could find ourselves locked out of that grace?

However, we are cutting her some slack due to her circumstances. She did attend here periodically in the past, has been baptized, accepted the Lord as her Savior, and now desires to become a member. Why should we deprive her of her desire in her last days?

So, we are bending our rules for her. This weekend our elders will consider her application, and, I expect, approve her as a member. Do you agree or disagree that we should bend our rules for this lady? Why or why not?

Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.”

This hymn was written in a time when the protestant Church of England had broken away, or split off, from the Roman Catholic Church. Roman-ism taught that deeds of repentance were necessary for sin to be forgiven. Toplady correctly noted that none of the works of my hands can satisfy the law’s demands. No matter how much zeal I can muster or how many tears of remorse I may shed, they have no effect on my sin that holds me in bondage. God and His grace are the only hope we have. “You must save, and You alone!”

I was a student minister at a little church up on the Hudson River – I’d go up every weekend from Princeton, where I was in seminary. I met my wife in that church, in fact. “Fellowship” consisted of a monthly meeting of the women’s association and an occasional men’s breakfast, where you had a baseball or football player come in and give his testimony.

Then one weekend, I found out some shocking news: a teenage girl in the congregation had left town to go to her older brother’s. She was pregnant. I said to the dear woman who told me, “Could I go and see her?”

“Oh, no,” she replied, “You’re the last person she wants to know what’s happened.”

Suddenly it hit me: That’s what’s wrong with the church in our time. It’s the place you go when you put on your best clothes; you sit in Sunday school, you worship, you have a potluck dinner together – but you can’t bring your life! You leave behind all your pain, your brokenness, your hopes, even your joys.”

How do you think New Hope is doing in that area?

Often we look at someone who is worn or diseased, tattered and torn by life, and our first reaction is to turn away. The way we react to them says in effect, “You are worthless.” Yet, if we allow the love of God to control us, we cannot reject any person, regardless of their condition.

Everyone, no matter what their inner or outer condition, is loved by God. Jesus taught us this when He said, “Anyone who comes to me, I will never drive away.”

Think about the lesson of the loved stuffed animal today when you come upon someone unlovely.

The parent who invited her friends positioned herself next to the cash register and as each one passed in front of her she would tell the girl at the cash register that those she had invited did not have to pay because they were with her. The cost of each meal was still entered into the computer, but that they did not have to pay. Others who did not know her, however, had to pay.

What they experienced that morning is what each person will experience at judgment. Each one will stand before the owner of the universe and those who know Him will be given eternal life, but those who do not know Him will pay the full price of their sins.

Can you think of a better example of grace?

“The law is the law,” La Guardia declared. “I must therefore fine you $10.” When the man sadly confessed that he had no money, the judge took $10 out of his wallet and paid the fine. He also asked each person in the courtroom to contribute 50 cents to help the man.

Have you ever seen such generosity in your world?

In this ancient song the Five Golden Rings represent the first five books of the Bible, known as the Books of Moses or the “Pentateuch”. The Books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy record the beginnings of God’s dealings with man. They provide the history of man’s fall and paint a compelling visual story of what happens when man walks away from God.

Those Golden Rings also provide a descriptive example of God’s efforts to lead man back into a redeemed relationship with Him in the midst of a fallen world. God revealed His perfect will for man through the giving of the Mosaic Law. But He also provided the plan for redemption for sin through the model of the Passover Lamb. He also demonstrated His deliverance power when He delivered His people from the encroaching Egyptians by parting the Red Sea, then closed it on the enemy. Grace is also manifested in the account of the flood and His choosing Noah, the life story of Joseph and God’s provision, and His answer of the Israelite’s prayer by sending Moses.

The five Golden Rings, the Books of Moses, don’t conclude until we arrive at the Book of Revelation. Thanks to God for sending His word.

Isn’t that a great illustration of God’s reaching down into our sinful lives to save our souls? He plunged Himself into the world of sin around us, took us out of the horrible pit of sin, positioned us in Christ, and set us among the princes in glory. As Jim Otis says, He saved us from the guttermost to the uttermost.