Tag: grace
Highlights of The Holiness of God
I firmly believe it is the duty of the Christian to always be learning something about our faith. 1 Peter 3:15 makes this clear when it says, “[I]n your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” The remarkable thing about following an infinite God is that you will always learn something new about Him. → Read more...
Praising God Any Time
Have you ever been in the place where you had nowhere else to go, where you were stuck in a corner with no way out? On Sunday Pastor Ron talked about the woman who was sick for twelve years and who desperately reached out to Jesus for help because she had nowhere else to turn to. Another person that came to mind as I listened to Pastor Ron was King David since I am knee-deep in studying the second book of Samuel in the Bible. → Read more...
Born & Raised in Grace & Love
As many of you already know by now, I became a proud father for the first time to Caleb Timothy Aggen nearly a month ago on Monday, August 20. Everybody is doing well, albeit struggling with some sleepless nights with a newborn! It was on one of those nights, when I was sitting in our rocking chair in Caleb’s nursery room, feeding him a bottle in the hopes that he would be sated and fall into a nice, deep sleep, that I had a new insight. → Read more...
Enough About Me
I’m tired of me. I’m tired of how petty, vain, selfish and needy I am. I am also insecure, inconsiderate, incapable and indulgent. I am quick to judge, slow to forgive. Sometimes I do the things I should, but more often than not, I do the things that I shouldn’t. The things I should let go, I don’t; the things I shouldn’t let go, I do. My mistakes, my sin, my folly, they all dog me, nipping at my heels, reminding me of a life lived imperfectly. → Read more...
Moments
So, I don’t think I need to tell anyone that it has been a very interesting – and disturbing – week in America. Fear and hatred have been making their rounds through the tragic attack in a Colorado movie theater and through the powder keg that exploded after a comment made by the CEO of Chick-fil-A that was taken out of context and spread and distorted. It is through events like these that it is very easy for despair to set in. → Read more...
A Quality of Mercy, Part II
Part I can be found here. Last week I talked about struggling with the uncomfortable fact that my brother-in-law’s accused killer and I both were sinners and we both equally needed God’s grace and mercy. As I sat through the trial throughout the week, I kept thinking about three different people: Moses, David and Spider-Man. Moses is one of the most important figures in the history of Judaism and Christianity who is known for, among other things, helping free Israel from the oppressive force that was Egypt. → Read more...
Our Moment of Truth
Last night, my wife and I sat down to watch some television. We watched some American Idol (come on, you know you are too) and then after that was a new television game show on the FOX channel called Moment of Truth. The commercials about the show had interested us enough so we stayed tuned to see what it was like. The show’s premise and execution is very simple. You sit in a chair across from the host and get asked a variety of questions and you have to answer them truthfully. → Read more...
The Grace in Snow
Last week, I talked about attending a service at Mars Hill where my wife and I heard Rob Bell present a sermon on two of the most powerful words in the Christian world: grace and peace. (If you missed the email last week, you can find it in our eLetter archives here along with many other ones. Nifty, huh?) Well, ever since I heard the sermon, I had been trying to think of examples in which God provides hints of His grace and His peace to today’s broken world, seemingly so far removed from the amazing miracles and events of the Old Testament and the New Testament life of Jesus Christ. → Read more...
Amazing Grace No Longer
January 28, 2015
Devotionals
Comments Off on Amazing Grace No Longer
Matt
Today, I’d like to look at the implications of one of the quotations that I pulled from R.C. Sproul’s book The Holiness of God the other day: “Grace no longer amazes us. We have grown used to it; we take it for granted.” This statement is a staggering one to consider when you consider the enormous price and the power of God’s grace. The Bible, especially the New Testament and the Apostle Paul’s writings, has a lot to say about grace, but I’d like to examine what Sproul said through the prism of what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. → Read more...
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