Sermon Notes from August 6

Sermon Text:  Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

We started a new series walking through our cultural values as a church.  This week, we looked at how we want to have a culture of grace.

Who we are and what we do, these things are shaped by whatever stories are informing our lives.  This is especially true for us as Christians because the gospel story has the ability, not only to shape our lives but also to transform them.  

This is why at Christ Central Church we talk so much about our cultural values, because we believe that faith in Jesus does something in every Christian that should result in the creation of a unique culture.

We defined culture as story-formed beliefs and values that drive outward behavior.

On Sunday we looked at the parable of the prodigal son and saw how the gospel story should produce a culture of grace.  In the parable, both of the brothers were in need of grace.  The younger brother who was unrighteous and a rebel and the older brother who was self-rigtheous and moral both shamed their father, distanced themselves from their father, owed all that they had to their father, and thus, needed grace from their Father. 

This is true for all of us as well.  Whether you are very rebellious or very religious, you can only come to the Father by grace.  To the degree that you see this, it will change your motivation and your whole approach toward God. It will take you above the ordinary religious path of simply being about moral conformity, and it will cause you to live as a Christian.

The cross of Jesus divides people into two groups: not the good and the bad, but those who reject Jesus and those who receive Jesus.  This reminds us that we all need grace. We have a story.  It’s the story of a God who has shown us great grace, and this story should result in us being a gracious people. As a church—as a people whose lives are formed by the gospel of Jesus Christ—we ought to have a culture of grace.