Ephesians . 2:4. ...“but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love for us, even when we were dead in our sin, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.”When you really get God’s lavish mercy on you, it changes everything. It slays you. It just lays you out. That God would do that for me. All I can do in response is worship. No doubt that is running through Paul’s spirit as he is finishing this section on the mercy of God for all. He is caught up in the exhilaration of God and concludes in worship.What does God’s mercy mean to you today – right now? Do you realize what He’s done for you?

There is great beauty in our God being the strength of the weak, and the riches of the poor. It is truly good news to those of us who will acknowledge how needy we really are, how weak our hearts can be and how poor we really are in spirit. What good news that we have a God like this: who takes the foolish, the weak, and the lowly- like-us- and makes us trophies of his grace, for his glory and for our joy.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the Jews had received the gospel right from the start and left their legalistic, rule following ways? Most likely, this whole Christian movement would have been seen as a Jewish reformation of some kind, but still distinctly Jewish. Who knows the impact among the Gentiles long term if the Jews had owned it from the start?Have you ever had a salesman try to sell you something that you turned down? And he would say, no big deal, I’ll just take this good offer to countless others who will jump at the chance. What then, if you hear your friend tell you that he bought whatever it was and it really works. He’s so glad he bought it. Another friend tells you the same. Soon the product is sweeping the country and you don’t have one. So what do you do – you try to find that salesman’s card that you had tossed away. You want in. The Gospel is Practically Irresistible

God is Better Understood Through a Jewish LensHow He has dealt with them is an example of how He deals with us. His mercy upon them, in spite of their rebellion, speaks to us about his mercy on us in spite of our times of rebellion. He has not turned his back on them and continues to bless them. All the way back to his promise with Abraham, God has used the Jewish people to reveal His great plan for mankind.In order to see how God has worked throughout history including the future, you have to look through a Jewish lens. That is how He has chosen to reveal his plan.

The Apostle Paul was chosen by God to take his message of mercy to all people and in this passage he is making his case for Christ to the unbelieving Jews. Paul then backtracks the sequence required to bring people to the deliverance Jesus offers.Here is the sequence – Call – Believe – Hear – Preach – Sent Those who call on the name of the Lord must believe, but in order to believe, they must hear the truth and in order to hear, there must be someone who tells them, and the one who tells them must be sent or on a mission.This isn’t just for Jews in the first century. It’s almost always this way even today. God has chosen to spread His gospel of grace through people he sends out

In Romans 10. the apostle Paul is making a very personal appeal to his Jewish friends to believe in Jesus. No doubt, many of us have people in our lives that we pray will come to the fullness of Jesus in their lives. We know how good he is. We know how His grace can transform us at the deepest level. Paul has tasted of the goodness of the Lord and wants so much for everyone to know Him. Deep in his heart and the subject of his prayers to God is that they be saved. The word for salvation may be better translated as deliverance. It’s an escape, a rescue. But from what are we rescued?

Student Pastor Brian Mullaney took us to the healing pool in John 5:1-9, where Jesus asked a man who was invalid for 38 years the question, "Do you want to be healed"?. Instead of just saying YES, the man responded with,“I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”In his message, Pastor Brian introduced us to the If I Could Just Syndrome. It is when we put our burden on people, in the place where Jesus should be.

Imagine the worst person you can think of. It’s probably a criminal of some kind. Think of the worst criminal. Now, think of them spending eternity in heaven with you?The worst are welcome in heaven if they have faith in Jesus for their Salvation.Do you believe that? Can you accept that? It’s not fair is it? Here you are living a decent life doing what a good person is supposed to do. You hear about all these terrible people who get convicted of terrible crimes and then in prison turn to God. Are you OK with spending eternity with them? What if you’re a Christian but also one of their victims? Are you Ok with God having mercy upon them and giving them His grace? Are you OK spending eternity with them?Why is it so important to agree with this statement? It’s because if they are not welcome, neither are you. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. No one is worthy, not even one. But we want our respectable lives to count for something. We did what we were supposed to do. We got our education, decent jobs. We take our kids to church each week. We give generously and do all we can to be a good person. That counts for something doesn’t it? The only thing that you will ever do that has heavenly value is what you let Jesus do in and through you. Nothing else. Chapter nine closes with the verse that refers to Jesus as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. What does that mean?

Mercy is always undeserved. Mercy is always God’s choice and He’s chosen it for all – just believe it; receive it.

There is a difference between God working with the nation of Israel and guiding it through it’s Old Testament journey with the way God deals spiritually with each individual Jew. He makes the statement that it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise; the promise meaning the Messiah Jesus. So how can we apply this to a group of Gentile Americans living in the 21st Century? You are not a true Christian because you believe the story of Jesus or have a Christian upbringing or a Christian routine of following certain religious rules. Being a Christian is having personally experienced the grace of Jesus Christ upon your life and receiving His new life. It is believing in the promised one Jesus and His very personal sacrifice for you. It is where a person comes to Jesus and says that not only do I believe the story of Jesus, I place my life in His hands. I no longer live for me, but know I belong to Him. We are saved by His grace through faith, complete belief. Nothing else will qualify you as a Christian.