“Grace” is more than a pleasant word. Rightly understood and applied, grace is power. This power begins with God and flows freely into our thoughts, words, and actions, if we allow it to change us. Because of its transforming power, we have every reason to hope, even when our world seems hopelessly broken.
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Week 1: Grace and Peace, Galatians 1:1-5, February 12, 2023
Because of whom Jesus is and what He has done, grace has the power to produce peace. Through His death, evil received the judgment it deserves, and through His resurrection, we can rise again from that judgment. He therefore restores our peace with God, freeing us to be at peace with others.
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Week 2: Grace and Mission, Galatians 1:11-17, February 19, 2023
Paul’s experience of grace alters his life mission. He receives Christ’s grace, and now he is compelled to share it with others. It is a treasure too great to keep for himself.
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Week 3: Grace and Justice, Galatians 2:15-20, February 26, 2023 (First Sunday of Lent)
Grace transcends both our frailty and our failure. When are ready to admit that we need God’s forgiving and healing power, He promises to deliver us through His Son who dwells within us.
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Week 4: Grace and Faith, Galatians 3:1-9, March 5, 2023 (Second Sunday of Lent)
We cannot earn grace. We can only accept it, but we cannot accept it unless we trust the One who offers it. Grace and faith therefore work together, one power growing the other within us.
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Week 5: Grace and Family, Galatians 3:23-29, March 12, 2023 (Third Sunday of Lent)
Grace makes it possible for human walls of division to fall. Cultures separated by belief and practice can find common ground in a Christ who dies for all people, finding power even to love those we have been taught to hate.
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Week 6: Grace and Freedom, Galatians 5:13-15, March 19, 2023 (Fourth Sunday of Lent)
Grace allows room for freedom, where cultural biases are not mistaken for divine commands. Rather, all beliefs and practices must conform to God’s one non-negotiable law of love.
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Week 7: Grace and Spirit, Galatians 5:16-25, March 26, 2023 (Fifth Sunday of Lent)
Through God’s powerful Spirit within us, we learn to experience grace as our second nature, drinking deeply from its healing power, until it fully informs our thoughts, words, and actions. Restored in God’s image, we are now free to love others as God commands us to love them.
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