04/17/11 - The Chain of Grace - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "The Chain of Grace" in this Sunday service.

The Chain of Grace
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 17, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

The Chain of Grace  (Marie Sims coming across the street to invite us to church)
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.  22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.”

Genesis 11:27-32 “ 27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. 31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran.”

12 tribes, 12 disciples—the circle of 12—sociologists believe if you find 12 people functioning healthily in relationships, then those 12 people are connected to anyone in the world within 6 degrees of separation.  A ‘friend of a friend’.  That’s all it takes to reach the world—12 people without relationship wounds.  But enter relational dysfunction into the equation and the number required becomes much larger since our “circle of influence”, our chain of grace, has been shortened by the dysfunction.

The Chain of Grace:

-   Blessed to be a blessing (Abraham—which would have been Terah’s blessing) Is our chain of grace just there for us?  Are we focusing all our grace on us and our needs (grace takers) or do we become others-focused and give grace away (grace givers).  I am waiting “til I get my act together to be a grace-giver”.  See the example of Paul—yesterday I was hunting Christians down and today and I am lifting them up.  Paul called himself the chief of all sinners, yet he considered himself equal to any apostle.  It wasn’t his life credentials that qualified him, it was his grace credentials!  1 Timothy 1:15-19 Message “Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.”
-   What’s the weak link in our chain of grace?  Where is the breakdown when the whole world needs grace?  Our relational wounds, like Terah’s, shrink our chain, our circle of influence.  We define who is safe and limit our chain to those.  Studies show that most Christians become ineffective in spreading the Gospel after about 1 ½ years because they have invited everyone they know to church.  A short chain—instead of continually adding links to our chain, we have a ‘weak link’ that keeps our chain shortened.  We extend the chain, move outside our comfort zone, live dangerously and it looks like our chain is lengthened.  Then a trigger event hits our relational dysfunction, our relational wound, and our chain snaps, leaving those we were designed and assigned to reach (Ephesians 2:10) without the grace we have to give.  We can’t get them “out of the ditch” because of the weak link in our chain.  Sometimes it is a stranger, sometimes an acquaintance, sometimes a family member, sometimes our own children, sometimes our spouses.


2 Corinthians 12:9 “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
The blood of Christ will turn your weak link into your link to the world you are called to change.  Jesus will take the thing satan has used to keep you from seeing your destiny, the weakness he has exploited to shrink your chain-the weak link you would rather not talk about—and turn it into a “bragging place”—look what the Lord has done.  If He would do it for me, I know He will do it for you!  Only the blood, trusting in His power, will do that.  No psychological fix, no hocus-pocus, just a simple act of faith—believing in the power of His blood for you personally—not just to wash away sin, but to remove the side-effects of it.  Our Chain of Grace, those people who need us or will need us, depends on His power.