Grace - More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine Order Printed Copy
- Author: Max Lucado
- Size: 2.55MB | 187 pages
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About the Book
"Grace - More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine" by Max Lucado explores the concept of grace and how it plays a transformative role in our lives. Lucado uses poignant stories and biblical teachings to illustrate how grace is an undeserved gift from God that has the power to change us and give us hope. Through his inspiring and heartfelt reflections, Lucado invites readers to embrace the boundless grace that is available to all.
Susannah Spurgeon
Susannah Spurgeon was the wife of the famous Baptist preacher of the second half of the nineteenth-century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
She was born Susannah Thompson in January, 1832. Her early years were spent in London, where she often accompanied her parents or elderly friends to the New Park Street Chapel. She was converted upon hearing a sermon at the old Poultry Chapel by Rev S. B. Bergne from Romans 10:8 ā āFrom that service I date the dawning of the true light in my soulā. But her initial joy was replaced by āseasons of darkness, despondency, and doubtā, and it was not until she was helped by the new, youthful, pastor of New Park Street ā Spurgeon ā that she found āthe peace and pardon [her] weary soul was longing forā.
Her friendship with Spurgeon grew, and they were married in January 1856. Their twin sons, Charles Jr. and Thomas, were born in September, 1857.
Susannah became a true partner in her husbandās ministry. Spurgeon would call his āwifeyā to come and help him on Saturday afternoons. Together they would read commentaries and discuss the Scripture for the next dayās sermon. If he was discouraged, she would read to him. She counselled women and girls in the church and assisted female candidates at baptismal services. Her activities were restricted at times when she became chronically ill in the late 1860s, and was often confined to her room, or visited Brighton for relief.
In 1875, when she had proof-read the first volume of her husbandās book Lectures to My Students, she expressed a desire to āplace it in the hands of every minister in Englandā ā and so began the ministry of her Book Fund. Within a year, over 3000 volumes of theological books had been distributed by the Fund; by the time of her death, over 200,000 volumes had been sent out. Today, the supplying of theological books free to ministers and missionaries continues through the Book Fund of the Banner of Truth Trust, modelled upon that started by Susannah Spurgeon.
Susannahās work expanded to include other ministries, such as the Pastorsā Aid Fund and the Westwood Clothing Society.
In her remaining years, following Charlesā death in 1892, she assisted Joseph Harrald in compiling C.H. Spurgeonās Autobiography and also wrote a number of devotional books, including Free Grace and Dying Love, published by the Trust (which volume contains a Life of Susannah Spurgeon by Charles Ray). She died in October, 1903, after a severe attack of pneumonia from which she never recovered.
The Ordinary People God Chose - Learning to Love the Local Church
Iām not athletic. Iām not competitive. I donāt like to sweat. I have trouble remembering the rules of games. The only organized sport on my lifeās rĆ©sumĆ© is two years of collegiate synchronized swimming ā a singular exception that only proves the rule. But for someone who doesnāt like sporting events, I end up watching a lot of them. Iāve shivered on wooden bleachers during snowy college football games. Iāve sunburned in the outfield at minor (and major) league baseball games. Iāve covered my ears during deafening basketball games. Iāve flinched and winced at ice hockey games. Iāve arrived early for batting practice, and Iāve stayed late for the fireworks. And I donāt just watch. I wear the team colors. I sing the team song. I bite my fingernails in the bottom of the ninth. When we win, I rejoice. When we lose, Iām genuinely disappointed. My surprising conduct has an explanation: I love people who love sports. The people in my family delight in goals and strikes and penalty shots, and so, over time, Iāve learned to take pleasure in those things too. What they love, I want to love. At times, the local church can seem to us like a sporting event to a non-athlete, or a baking show to a microwave cook, or a book club to someone who doesnāt like to read. It can seem like a big fuss over something insignificant and lots of work with unimpressive results. Week after week, the unremarkable people of our local congregations gather to do the same things in the same way, followed by stale coffee served at plastic tables in a damp basement. We may wonder, Why bother? The answer requires us to look beyond our own experiences and inclinations ā it requires us to look to God himself. Having been redeemed by the blood of Christ and changed by the work of the Spirit, we love God. What God loves, we therefore want to love. And God loves the church. Our First Love We didnāt always love God, of course. To begin with, we hated him. The Bible describes us as enemies (Romans 5:10), strangers (Ephesians 2:12), rebels (Ezekiel 20:38), and haters (Romans 1:30); impure (Ephesians 5:5), disobedient (Ephesians 2:2), hopeless (Ephesians 2:12), and ignorant (Romans 10:3). Our sins justly placed us under his wrath and displeasure (Ephesians 2:3). We rejected God, despised his authority, and ignored his good law. We were neither lovely nor loving. But he loved us. In the counsels of eternity, he set his love on us, and in time, he sent his beloved Son to die for us so that we might enter into a loving relationship with him. He brought us out of slavery into the joyful circle of his family and made us his privileged children. Because he loved us, we now love him. Our love for God is comprehensive: involving heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). It controls us (2 Corinthians 5:14), and it compels us (John 14:15). Our days and hours and minutes are taken up with this love. Like the psalmist, we look around us and proclaim that there is nothing in all the earth we desire apart from God (Psalm 73:25). He is our first love, and he is our great love. Godās Great Love Itās appropriate, then, that we would ask ourselves, What does God love? For anyone who has ever sat in the creaking pews ā or folding chairs ā of a local congregation on Sunday morning, the answer might be surprising: God loves the church. Listen to what Paul tells the Ephesians: Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25ā27) The glorious purpose of Godās eternal plan of redemption is the gathering and perfecting of his people. Jesus came for the sake of the church. More than thirty times in the New Testament, the church is called ābeloved.ā This is not because the ordinary and sometimes awkward people who gather on Sundays are themselves lovely, but because they are bound to someone who is. Christ is the one whom the Father āloved . . . before the foundation of the worldā (John 17:24). He is the beloved Son. And as people who were created in him, redeemed by him, united to him, and given to him, we find our identity in him. Christ is the beloved, and in him, the church is beloved too. Loving the People God Loves Of all the games I watch, the sporting events where I have the greatest investment are the ones where my own kids are playing. When Iām in the bleachers at their basketball games or beside the dugout at their baseball games, I canāt take my eyes off the action. It might be Saturday morning T-ball, but itās always the big game to me. When someone I love is on the team, Iām all in. Likewise, if the one our soul loves has committed himself to the church, it changes everything about our own commitment. āBeloved,ā writes John, āif God so loved us, we also ought to love one anotherā (1 John 4:11). This means that we will seek to make Godās great love for the church our own. We begin on Sunday by regularly showing up to worship together (Hebrews 10:24). Itās our highest privilege to gather with the people of God before the face of God. In the church, we also work to promote one anotherās holiness, to show affection for one another, to bear one anotherās needs, to encourage one anotherās gifts, and to join in the cause of the gospel together. The people of our church are often outwardly unremarkable, but in the mutual love of the local church, we affirm the love that God has for us. Thankfully, we donāt have to muster up love for the church on our own strength. Before he went to the cross to redeem his people, Christ prayed for the church. He petitioned the Father āthat the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in themā (John 17:26). Surrounded by the ordinary and yet extraordinary, sinful and yet holy, weak and yet ultimately triumphant people of God, we look for the Fatherās gracious answer to the Sonās request. And when the God who is love (1 John 4:8) dwells in us by his Spirit, we have everything we need to love the church. Article by Megan Hill