Series: Love Is Week 1 – “Grace” The Word: John 8:1-11, Romans 8:1. Main Thought: Drop the stones of condemnations and live with grace towards others.
Source SM Recap: Volume #48
Series: Love Is
Week 1 – “Grace”
The Word: John 8:1-11, Romans 8:1.
Main Thought: Drop the stones of condemnations and live with grace towards others
Message Explanation: Have you ever been caught doing something you knew was wrong? Maybe it was something that you did that became public! We live in a culture of condemnation and when someone fails, they are targeted. God’s love is shown through His grace unlike the world around us. Jesus helps us drop the stones of self-condemnation and condemnation on others and live by grace.
Object Lesson: We have placed a small rock and index card. Provide small rocks and an index card under each seat.
We find in this story that Jesus was challenged. A group of people decide to CONDEMN a woman caught in sin and celebrated her being caught.
John 8:1-3: “Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.”
Jesus was teaching the crowd and all of a sudden, He was INTERUPPTED.
John 8:4-6: “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.
Jesus has a choice. The religious leaders were trying to catch him in a catch 22. If he answered, “stone her” then he wouldn’t be grace and a friend of sinners. If he said, “no” then we would be rejecting the Law of Moses.
Jesus responds with grace and truth: John 8:7-8: “They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
The THUDS of the rocks could be heard…as people quietly walked away….
How do we show LOVE like Jesus?
1. Grace is more concerned with our future than our past.
John 8:9-11: “When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Jesus does not minimize the sin by saying, “Go and sin no more.” Sin is serious. Jesus took it so serious, He was on a mission to defeat sin on the cross.
This is why Jesus came: John 3:16-17: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
2. Drop the stones towards others.
LAY down the STONES of condemnation. Open up your eyes to the PAIN AND SIN of others. Write down the people you have condemned. Pray that God would restore them.
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who survived the holocaust during WWII who wrote the “Hiding Place” She is famous for saying, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
When Jesus said, “Go and sin no more” He means because of MY GRACE you can leave your life of sin.
3. Drop the stones toward yourself
- What stones of anger do you throw at yourself for past failures and sin. - Write down the people they need to forgive - Write down the areas they condemn about themselves and lay it at the altar
It is NEVER too late for God to restore you and forgive you. Jesus came not to condemn the world but through Him they might be saved. Jesus came with a mission to “seek and save the lost.”
Ephesians 2:8-9: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
Take this time respond to His Grace for salvation. Jesus says the same thing to us tonight. He says to you and me, “I don’t condemn you.” My blood shed on the cross washes your sin away and now live a NEW LIFE in Me.
The question is, “Have you heard Jesus say to you, I don’t condemn you, now leave your life of sin?”
Element of Fun: The students played the game, “Face the Cookie” It was a fun game to watch at all campuses!
Music: Alive, Holy Spirit, Break Every Chain.
Favorite Moment: It has been great seeing how God is moving! - We had 5 first time commitments to Christ during High School Source this week! - We had 1 salvation at Source @ The Villages campus! - We had 3 Middle schoolers make a first time commitment this Sunday! - We had 5 students baptized this past weekend!
What’s Next: We are continuing the series, “Love Is” as we talk about how should we understand and show love of Jesus.
To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page
Embrace Grace
Embrace grace. I'm trying to understand what it means to embrace the grace of God. I tend to focus more upon all my regrets, failures and mistakes. You might have one, two or more from your past. What follows regret usually is a painful reminder of mistakes. We all face mistakes and have to face the consequences. In my life I remember the time I reacted instead of responded to the "smack talk" of older middle school girls. They were riding their bikes as I was playing basketball on my driveway. They were ridiculing me and calling me names. I became angry. Angry enough to grab a few rocks and throw them as hard as I could! What I didn't realize is my youth pastor's SUV was in the way. I blew out the back side window in his vehicle. In my rage, I lost control. I regretted my anger each day I worked to pay for the window to be repaired. Minor regret, I get it. If you are like me you carry around painful moments from the past. In scripture, one of Jesus's disciples was the "king" of mistakes. His name was Peter.
To me, Peter is one of the most interesting people in the Bible. He was the epitome of a courageous follower of Christ who made a lot of mistakes. Peter was the man of "firsts" as a disciple. Cutting a guy’s ear off (John 18:10-11), walking on water (Matthew 14:22-23), believing in Christ and then denying him three times, first one to enter the empty tomb and first person Jesus appeared to after His resurrection (Luke 24:34). Peter was faced with regret from his past. Jesus came looking for Peter once He was resurrected. You see, Peter allowed his regrets to control his future. Peter based his worth upon his performance. What he didn't realize is that Jesus wasn't through with him yet!
Jesus came to Peter and had a heart-to-heart conversation:
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Did you notice what Jesus asked Peter? "Do you love me?" Jesus is much more interested in our love for Him than how much we can do for Him. Living for Christ is not performance based but driven by our love for who He is. Peter was refined by the fact that Jesus embraced grace, not his mistakes. Peter's regret led him to return to his life as a fisherman. He had lost the vision for his life because of his past failures. Jesus had a life changing conversation that reinstated him to be a leader in the early church. Shortly after Jesus left, Peter preached and 3,000 people were saved! Peter realized this verse, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
Peter was killed by the horrible Emperor Nero in A.D. 64. Peter insisted upon being crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to die the same way Jesus died. Peter’s view of God changed because of his relationship with Jesus!
God is never through with us. If you are like me, you keep asking, "What If" or "If only" questions. We must embrace grace and understand that God is refining us. For me, I remember the times I spoke angrily to my brothers growing up. I remember the times I fail in measuring up and question why God would continue to use me. Embracing grace is understanding that it is not cheap. Grace was available at the cost of Jesus' blood on the cross. Understanding that Jesus does not need us, but wants us is the essence of embracing grace. Instead of embracing regret, I encourage you to see through the eyes of Peter and embrace grace. Just like Peter, we need to embrace His grace and never quit on Jesus' call on our lives.
Are your regrets fueling your life or the grace of Jesus?
I love how the skit guys capture the grace of Jesus.