Salvation By Grace.

The concept of grace isn’t new. It is explicit in the ideas of God’s loving choice or election in the Old testament in Moses’ time. God reveals himself as " The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious ...." (Exodus 34:6, NIV)

Saint Paul with Sword -Painting

Grace is a major theme in Jesus' teaching, even though the word "grace" is not recorded on his lips.

Salvation by Grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The key New Testament texts on grace are found in Ephesians. The context is man's inability to save himself. "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...." (Ephesians 2:1). We are helpless. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5

The key verses in Ephesians 2:8-9 are well worth committing to memory:

“8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

To show grace is to bestow favor. Verses 8 and 9 make it clear that grace has nothing to do with reward for "good behavior." The benefactor doesn't show favor because we have earned it, but simply because he wants to. He is under no obligation to love because we have somehow driven him to it. He just loves. The impetus for the favor is entirely the prerogative of the giver, like a great aunt who delights to send things to her nieces and nephews even though they neglect to write and thank her.

"Dear Santa, I've been a good boy this year, so I deserve a lot of presents under the tree at Christmas." No, you're not really good boy, but a spoiled brat who wants to subvert the spirit of the season to your own selfishness! God isn't some celestial Santa Claus, "making a list and checking it twice, trying to find out who's naughty or nice."  That view of Christmas was invented by manipulative parents trying to leverage the holiday to induce good behavior. It isn't about grace!

When we like someone, we want to send flowers, shower upon her expressions of our love - Cards, presents, unexpected gifts. Please open it. Now? Yes, I just want to see the expression of delight upon your face. This great abandon and excess of God's favor exists on his terms and not ours. Grace and gift-giving go hand in hand, undeserved, given out of love and favor.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith...." (Ephesians 2:8a)

"Saved" is the Greek verb sōzō, while "salvation" is the noun sōteria.

When speaking to non-Christians (and Christians, too, for that matter) it is often best to substitute the word "rescued" for "saved," since that word "rescued" is processed by the hearer in its normal sense; The word "save" has become a caricature of Christian-jargon and isn't effective in secular culture.

So we've examined the ideas of rescue (salvation) and God's inexplicable but very real favor towards us (grace, gift).  In the next post we will look at "works."

The Way Forward For Our Women's Ministry.

Choiseul New Testament Church of God observes Women's Ministry week form Monday October 14 – Sunday October20, 2019.

The opening of the week’s activities took place at the Church on Tuesday past with  Deborah St Prix leading the worship session.  Sister Monica St Prix , Deborah's mom, later gave a short sermon on the topic of prayer.

Wednesday was dedicated to a question and answer session. Topics discussed were :-

• Maturity of a Christian,
•  How and why we pray.
• General discussions on women’s ministry and other church related issues.

Friday is expected to see a general fellowship of members, whereas Sunday will have a general service and closing of the week's events.

The week's activities is being coordinated by the pastor's wife.

Here some general thoughts on Women’s Ministry in our church. Though that ministry is still in its developmental stages we feel pretty confident that as time progresses a significant impact will be achieved on our members.

Our women’s ministry has the following purposes:

• To embed a theological vision for life in ministry for women.
• For the purpose of creating and maintaining sisterhood among the women in our church.
• To empower women to do ministry in the church.

We aim to intentionally meet women who want deeper theological reflection where they are. It won’t just happen. Women’s ministry also allows us to directly address the challenges of cultivating friendships across generations—whether someone is mentoring or being poured into.

From what I gathered in our discussion it appeared clearly our women’s Ministry’s goal is - to equip women to know the Lord and lead with strength, using their gifts and talents in order to serve in the church, reach the world and make disciples.

As most churches have moved away from having individualized ministries for both men and women, they are discovering there’s still a need for men and women to gather separately. We firmly believe that pastors and leaders  need to listen to the men and women of their churches. What are they hungry for? What do they need to learn about the Lord in this season?

Young  women Leaders at Roblot in 2014

There is great value and need for women to be under the teaching of women in order to learn what it looks like to lead as a woman. If we want a woman to lead as a woman, then women need to see women leading biblically in the church and in the community where they live and work.  

Our church needs to start with what we have the capacity to do. Provide a space for women to be empowered and taught by women, to gather and fellowship together, and to be free to go deep and grow together.

We are a church that does a lot from art and mercy, so we need to be always looking for opportunities for women to lead in worship, arts, mercy, and children. If a woman has a gift of teaching, ask how you can we nurture that woman?

Another suggestion would be to take time to figure out how we can cultivate the ministry, mission and leadership of women in our church, instead of just adding a women’s ministry. We don’t want to merely create a massive silo of women’s events; we want to reach women with the gospel, build them up as the church, and release them in the world to make disciples.

In closing here are two points to ponder over:  Women need women!  Sometimes just a hug, smile or a cry on a shoulder is what a woman needs and she needs other women not your husband for that.