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About Us In many of our printed materials we identify
ourselves as "people practicing that aggressive forgiveness we call
grace". What is that all about? Just this: Jesus Christ was very aggressive about
offering forgiveness to the men and women, boys and girls around him right up
to the point of his death when he said, "Father, forgive them for they
do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) When Jesus said to the paralytic, "Your
sins are forgiven.", he was getting very aggressive about forgiveness as
he confronted the Pharisees who questioned his authority to offer such
forgiveness. (Matthew 9:6) In talking about the difference between
Christianity and religion, someone has said it's all in the spelling. Religion is spelled "D-O" and
consists of trying to do enough good things to somehow please God, earn his
forgiveness, and gain entrance into heaven. Some people even try to put this
plan to work through participation in organized religion - Christian or
otherwise. The problem such people run into is never knowing when they have
done enough. To make matters worse, the Bible makes it clear that we can
never do enough. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God." (Romans 3:23) The bottom line is simple: The do plan cannot
bring us peace with God or ourselves. Christianity, the art of being a disciple of
Jesus, is spelled "D-O-N-E". What we couldn't do for ourselves
Jesus has already done for us. The perfect life he lived allowed him to pay,
through his sacrificial death on the cross, for each of our wrongdoings. Now,
he freely and aggressively offers us this gift of forgiveness and
leadership in our lives. Because what Jesus is offering us is a gift it
must be received for it to become ours. As aggressive as Jesus is about
wanting us to receive this gift - he will not force it on you. If you are
ready to be bowled over by a God-sized measure of love - simply and humbly
ask for God's forgiveness and leadership in your life. We know that people seek to draw near to God
for a variety of reasons. Wherever you've been, whatever you've done - it
need not stand between you and God. And that's because of what Jesus has
done. And because of what Jesus has done for us we are people practicing
his aggressive forgiveness - this we call grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 says this: "For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." Here at Grace Baptist Church we would like to
help. For now we offer you these words of Jesus: "Ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who
knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7: 7-8) If you would like to know more about our
Church History, feel free to download the following document which contains a
4 page summary of our church's history since its founding. |
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