Bay Area Community Church

God has lavished His grace on us. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas. And it is this grace that motivates us. Yet, the word “grace” is often difficult to grasp and live out. Frequently we rely on our own efforts and intentions, well-meaning as they are, instead of living out His grace through us. Why is that? Why is it that too often our neighbor-loving efforts lack a joy-filled heart that exalts Jesus?

Luke just happened to have extra birthday balloons in his car. He noticed a house with a “Happy Birthday” sign in the window while driving by. What happened next he caught on camera and, while watching it, I became uncomfortable for him! He went on to be invited in while giving the birthday girl the balloon surprise he had in his car. He explained Grace Bomb and even invited these strangers to church. While not all Grace Bombs will begin with awkwardly knocking on a stranger's door, most will require pushing through the cultural norms and the comfort zones in which we live.

In the fullness of time, God sent His Son to be born of a virgin. Heaven came crashing into earth that first Christmas day and the world has been swept up in the explosion ever since. That loving blast has gained momentum and changes lives in the very best of ways. Jesus is the only weapon of mass construction in the world today, having unique power to heal, restore and put broken things back together again. When impacted by such love, we actire enabled to carry on the mission of bringing light to dark places, bringing more heaven to earth, and getting people looking up.

The thing we should be most thankful for is found in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.” What a gift! With this gift comes a challenge. The verse continues, “…and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Every believer has a ministry that is an urgent matter of life and death. It’s the ministry of being used by God to appeal and implore others to be reconciled with God.

The company holiday party is around the corner and you’re already uptight about seeing a particular co-worker. On Instagram all looks ideal, but privately you and your spouse aren’t talking. Relationships are challenging! God desires us to be reconciled but that is not always possible. What does it look like in the midst of broken relationships to be people of reconciliation?

The Lord made you for a personal, intimate friendship with Him. His plan and purpose for you is the best. Yet something has invaded: sin. Each of us has turned our back on God, and this posture toward Him has brought about something horrible: alienation. The question is, “How can you overcome alienation from the One who is to be your best friend?”

There are many paths we can take in this life; some are better than others. In the Exodus, God was leading His people on a path to the Promised Land. Despite all the lessons they learned, they were not ready for that step of faith. This resulted in being stuck in the worst way, circling the wilderness, and missing out on God’s best. An entire generation survived but never thrived with God. We can learn from them, get unstuck, and thrive in our walks with God.

Can a sinful man worship God? Can an impure person have fellowship with a holy God? The Bible says no to both. Our sin separates us from God and our trespasses limit our access to Him. So how do we reconnect with God? The Old Testament presents a pattern for how sinful man makes his way back to a holy God. It reveals a shadow of things to come in the New Testament.

Ever since our first parents fell into sin, there has been a void - a missing piece of our lives that we need to complete us. We do our best to fill that void with good things, but it’s never quite filled. When we take good things and make them “god” things, it’s a bad thing. This is what the first commandments to Israel were talking about. As expected, when Israel felt the void they filled it with the most famous idol ever: the Golden Calf.

What comes to mind when you think of the 10 Commandments? Rules, right? Do this, not that. But what if when you thought about the “law” from Moses, you thought of something else first – something like love. When the Old Testament commands of God get boiled down we find that they are from love, and for love. Unfortunately, the Israelites would eventually turn the law into a job description to become a righteous person, but that was never the point.