His Grace This Christmas
December 15, 2025
John chapter 1. Brother Ted wrote that song. That’s awesome. He has written thousands of songs, and he sings some of them for us.
John chapter number one. Don’t look at that light right there. We’ll have three epileptic seizures, or we got one right there already happening. There it is right there. You know, or we’ll have someone up here dancing. We don’t want either one of them now. I mean, we don’t want that. If it’s going to mess up, it’ll be Saturday morning. Amen, that’s just what it is. But we’ll be all right with that light being like that.
John chapter 1. Our theme this year has been “By Grace.” For the most part, the first Sunday of the month, we have focused on grace. We did not last Sunday, though it was the first Sunday of the month, but God just led it elsewhere. But I want to go back to that and really be our last time focusing on that for the year of belief and try to hit our theme one more time. I hope these themes get more into your heart and your mind as we focus on them a lot throughout the year. And I’m excited about the theme for next year. We’ll give that at the Vision Banquet. But by grace.
Now, help me out. Help me out. You’ve learned, or you already knew. Grace stands for G-R-A-C-E. Here we go. God’s riches. Good, good. All the riches of God at Christ’s expense. You know, the Bible says every good and every… perfect gift is from above, and every good and every perfect gift is from above, and it travels down from God into our lives. All right, every good thing you have, it travels down that road from heaven into your life.
How many of you say, “I feel like I spent years and years on a certain interstate”—you know, 95 over the East Coast, or 75, or 24? You said, “I spent too many years on a certain…” What’s the highway for you that you spent years of your life on? Help me out on the count of three. Say that highway. One, two, three.
“24.” That sounds like that’s the one that’s coming up the most around here. I get it around here. It seemed like I spent years on 75, has kind of changed. 65 is another one I spent years on, you know. But anyway, the interstate from heaven that all these blessings travel down into your life—this interstate is grace. They all come down. And by the way, that highway from heaven into your life is paved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
And another way to look at this—this is true, too—is, you know, all these blessings coming down. How many of you are ordering over half of your presents? You’re not going out and buying them; you’re shopping online, you’re ordering those presents. How many? Come on out. Yeah. And FedEx and Amazon, and… David McCord, he’s delivering all those for the United States Post Office, you know. And there are all the different size packages, a lot of different things inside of them, but if you look close spiritually, they have one title on those packages: “Grace.” By the way, you didn’t earn those things. The best you can do is filthy rags. The grace, the grace of God, by grace.
We live and breathe by grace. We have help by grace. How many had some coffee this morning? Amen? Come on now. By grace. How many had green tea? Come on, anybody? Oh, my goodness. Oh, we had another green tea back there. Come on now. There you go. Good, good, good. I had both coffee and green tea, man. You know, by grace. Everything by grace. How many of you stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts this morning? Yeah, I thought I saw a good number of those. Any of those Starbucks people? Oh, we got some Starbucksers around here, you know. Good deal, good deal. Any… Oh, we’ve got now, we’ve got… What’s the one? Yeah, I’ve seen some of those. How many Dutch Bros? I’ve seen some of those this morning. Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen some of those. I did. But whatever, all the blessings you have, by grace, by grace, by grace.
Our theme verse is this: Second Corinthians 8:9. Now, part of it is missing there. I’ve gotten mixed up by that before, but if you know it by heart, say it out loud with me. If not, try to read that. Let’s see if we can get it right. Here we go: “For ye know the…” Come on, a couple of you just… We need more people saying this thing. Come on, look it up. Look it up. Look over Second Corinthians 8, verse number 9. 2 Corinthians 8 and verse number 9. Keep your finger over there. And John, we’ll go back over there. We’ll be there by 2 o’clock this afternoon. Second Corinthians 8 and verse number 9. It’s really the biblical definition of grace that’s found in this verse here. It’s a great, great verse. Everybody got it? Amen? Good deal. Let’s read that verse out loud. Here we go: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be…”
Isn’t that amazing? He left heaven. That’s what Christmas was, and he came down and he lived in poverty so that me and you through his poverty can be rich. Not just financially, though in America we are very blessed. It’s full rotten, you know. But not just that. There are so many things that are much, much more important and better than money. And we have all those things because Jesus, he lived in poverty so we can be rich. Pretty amazing.
Now, another just a little kind of a conclusion of this year’s theme, in the book of John. We’ll start in John 1 and verse number 1. Would you please stand if you’re able to, just to show the Word of God respect? John 1 and verse number 1. Just get us started there in John 1 and verse number 1 of God’s Word. Notice what the Bible says, by the way. I hope you have a King James Bible. The New World Translation, it changes just adds one little letter and it changes the whole meaning of it. Look at this thing, how God words it. He says, “In the beginning was the Word,” notice a capital W, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was what?”
I mentioned already the New World Translation of Ed’s was “a God.” Changed the whole meaning of it. No, no, He was God. Just talking about God. He came down, Emmanuel, God with us, and He was incarnated. That’s what Christianity is all about.
And now look down verse number 14, if you would, please, verse number 14. So the Word was God. Look what he says, verse number 14: “And the Word (capital W) was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Boy, I like that. Grace.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, “This is he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.” By the way, Jesus, He didn’t start at Christmas time. He always was. What’s speaking of? Verse number 16: “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace?” Boy, you accept that grace. What happens? You get more grace. Abundance of grace. Verse number 17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
Maybe this year as you think about Jesus coming in the manger scene—by the way, I appreciate that too, Johan, as they gave us a manger scene out front here by the sidewalk—but as you see the manger and you think about Jesus, think about He came to bring grace. He was full of it. He embodies it in many ways. And you and I have grace because of Jesus coming. Just for a little bit, let’s focus on that this morning.
Would you pray with me that God would make grace real to you? Lord, many of these things these people have heard before, but I believe You’d have us focus on it again. And Lord, would You let the repeating of some of these things pierce deep in our hearts. Lord, let it be reminded and let it be stuck with us for life. And Lord, we’ll thank You for what You do, Father. Lord, we’re asking for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
I Googled just three words: “meal order diet.” And I mean, you said, “We don’t want to talk about diet this time of year,” amen. We’ll talk about that at the beginning of the year. Right now, we’re enjoying our food. But it was amazing when I just used those three words, how many different systems came up of how you can just order, and they’ll bring the food to you. They know what you need. They know the nutrients you need. They know what calories you don’t need. They got it all planned out, and every day you don’t have to cook anything, no more washing dishes. Somebody say amen right there. That’s good preaching right there. And they just bring it, and they have it all planned out, everything you need for every day. It’s amazing.
That’s exactly how Jesus is with grace. He has brought all the grace you’ll need for every single day, the rest of your life. This young man here, he looks healthy. He’s going to live to be about 140. Is that right? I don’t know. Your right answer, you’re exactly right. If he lives to be 100 years old, who knows, if the Lord tarries, but God has the grace that you need every single day. How old are you now? He’s 12 years old now. But he lives to be 100, he’s got 88 years. Some of you mathematicians, 88 times 365, whatever that is. The Lord Jesus came, and He’s brought the grace He needs for every single day.
You can even break it down because inside of a day, there are ups and there are downs, and there’s good and there’s bad. How many of you just enjoyed a day? You’re just having a great day, maybe riding down the road somewhere, just enjoying yourself, and you see that bubble gum machine turn on behind you. And come on, I’ll be honest now. Yeah, yeah. Come on, more of you got a ticket than that. Come on, how do you ever get a ticket? Come on, yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re in church here now, you know. And boy, day’s great. And then all of a sudden, boy, thank you just changed, boom, like that. And the phone calls can change things. But I’m saying every single just flipping your downside down, God knows about that, and He has the grace you need for every step along the way.
Now, not only that, but when He came down, He was bringing grace, but not only that, but He was also experiencing what life is all about, so He’ll know what you need in the grace. Look if you go over Luke. This is really an amazing passage. Luke, if you would, Luke chapter number two. And we preached on this in chapel for the young people this week, but it’s just an amazing verse. Luke 2:52. Now, while you’re turning over there, let me just say this: Jesus is God in flesh, and yet He is also flesh. He was 100% God and 100% man. Can you explain all that? No. I can tell you what the Bible says. I can use the finger and three joints inside there and tell you it’s one and three and one, or a water or egg and all the other circles and do all that, but can you fully explain it all? No, because He’s God. By the way, if you could explain God, He wouldn’t be a real God. Amen. But this verse here really shows the humanity side of Jesus. And I want you to just look at it. Pretty amazing what the Bible says about Jesus, God in flesh. Are you there, Luke 2:52? Amen?
Look what He says here: “And Jesus increased in what?” So that means, so that means He didn’t have all the wisdom at the beginning. What about the human side of Jesus? Because you can’t increase if you had it all. So for the children, we said, “You know what? Jesus had to study for the test.” I mean, He increased—kind of amazing that Jesus, He didn’t, humanly, He didn’t have all the answers. He didn’t know it all. He increased. Anybody out there hate to study? We’ve got a couple of honest people here this morning, you know. Jesus, Jesus, He struggled. He increased in wisdom. Uh, He grew in that. Pretty amazing. He struggled at learning things. And Jesus increased in wisdom and what’s the next word? And in stature. I always wanted to be taller when I was growing up, you know. Anybody had someone that was older or taller or bigger than you as you were growing up? Maybe they’re… you know, and you know, “Man, I want to be like so-and-so.” You know, anybody like that? Come on now. Jesus went through that. He wasn’t born just being 33 years old, you know, just boom, He appears as man. He went through this growing up. He understands the struggles of it. Nazareth wasn’t known for being the best place in the world. I’m sure Nazareth probably had some bullies around town, you know, that were bigger and stronger and all the rest of that. Jesus experienced that. He increased in wisdom and what? And in stature. He grew minimally, if you will. He grew. He grew in stature. Watch this. This is even… this is probably the most amazing part here in this verse: it’s what the Bible says, “And in favor with what?” With God. We’re talking about the humanity side of Jesus.
Now, Jesus never sinned. I’m not trying to act like that at all. But you say, anybody out there, you get tired of the struggle of getting up every morning, reading your Bible, and walking with God? You get tired of the struggle sometimes? Anybody? Can y’all raise your hands? Good. I’m glad. Can you permanently put them up like that? So I think you’re listening, you know. Hey, Jesus, He had to work at that also. He grew in favor with God. Now, He was God. I’m not trying to take away from the Deity of Christ, but He was also 100% man, and He grew in favor with God. He had to get up. He had to read Isaiah or whatever Old Testament books He had. He had to go to the church, the synagogue. He had to work in His prayer time. Look, folks, He grew in wisdom, increased in wisdom, and stature, and in favor with God. He had to work at that dream. Is that what the Bible says or not? I’m saying He understands your struggles. He’s not a God that doesn’t know anything about your struggles. He’s been there, friend. Grew in favor with God. And then what’s the last part? Grew in favor with what? With whom? Man. He knows what relationship problems are.
By the way, all these things, we’re just briefly mentioning them. I think we know just a small percentage, you know, our lifetime, the problems we’ve had in these areas. I think Jesus had that magnified. I mean, the devil was on Him. We talk about the wilderness where the devil tempted Him. The Bible says after He won that victory there in the wilderness, the devil departed from Him for a season. We have demons. I think demonic and spiritual warfare is very, very real. By the way, be careful of all these demonic movies that are out there nowadays. Come on now. This isn’t just some Hollywood thing. This is a Bible spiritual warfare. You don’t want to invite them into your life. Come on now. Amen. Yeah. Now, why was… Oh, I was like, why are we getting on that? You get me off the subject every once. Hey, but friend, let me say something here. We got demons that are trying to get us, but they’re probably like a private or maybe a sergeant, you know, but the devil himself was continuing. The man is just going after Jesus and was rallying all his forces. I’m saying Jesus knows all about the struggles. I mean, He understands the struggles. He had to grow and increase in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. You talk about family problems. Jesus had four half-brothers. After Jesus was born, Mary had more children. We’d take from Joseph and four half-brothers. The sisters were not exactly sure. The Bible never gives us a number. I’d say at least three, maybe four, but half. And at one point, His half-brothers really just made fun of Jesus. They say, “Well, if you really want to be known, nobody does things in secret. Why don’t you do it out in the open?” And then very plainly He tells us, in John 7, very plainly He tells us those brothers didn’t believe Jesus was God in flesh. So they believed He was a hypocrite. They believed He was just a phony. They believed He was two-faced. I mean, how would you like to have brothers that didn’t believe anything that you acted like you’re supposed to do? They didn’t believe that. And they gave Him a hard time about it. And then where was Mom, Mary, at? You know, was she on the brothers’ side or His side? And probably back and forth, and who knows what? And I’m talking about Jesus knows family problems. He’s experienced those things. He’s been through it. And on and on we can go. Mary said, “Hey, man, your father’s been looking for you.” Jesus said, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s not my dad. He’s my stepfather. I must be about my Father’s business.” Well, that adds another, you know, who’s gone through that problem? You know, “God’s my Father.” Nobody’s going to believe you as far as your birth, Mary’s conceived the Holy Ghost. I’m just saying Jesus understands. He’s been through all those problems, tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. So He knows. He knows what meal you need for that day, and He stored the grace of it for every single problem. You say, “Nobody knows the family problems I’m going through.” What? Jesus knows, and He has stored up the grace you need to go through everything. Everything.
Look over in Psalm 139, very briefly here. Psalm 139. That’s a great, great chapter. We won’t have time to cover it all. Man, it’s just a good chapter. It’s a good thing for you to look up sometime and just do a Bible study on it. It’s great. Look over here in Psalm 139. Look in just one verse, and it kind of illustrates a little bit this thing here. Psalm 139. Look in verse number five, if you would please. Psalm 139 and verse number five. He says, “Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.” Now, he says this. He says, “Hey, you’ve beset me behind and before.” Let’s see here. Let’s see here. Macy, oh, can I get… Can I borrow you? Get you stand right there if you would, Macy, please. He’s right here. And we’re… If you just be facing that way there, so God says, “I’m going to beset you behind.” God’s watching your back. And then God can go in front of you. He can go into your tomorrow and your next year, 2020. And He says, “I got you covered behind and in front.” You say, by the way, He can do them both at one time because He said He inhabits eternity. So God is living in your past, and He’s living in your present, and He’s living in your future all the same time. Thank you, Macy. I appreciate that.
Now, here’s the thing. And so in your future as you’re going, God has little packages of grace just as you’re going forward. He’s got them all laid out. Every single problem you go through, every single burden, every single tear, every single financial problem. I love this illustration. Many of you have heard me tell it many times. It’s illustration number 78. You know what I’m talking about? Joseph, remember his brother sold him over there in Egypt, and then eventually he interpreted the dream: seven good years, and then seven… What was Joseph doing during his seven good years? What was he doing? He was what? Storing up all that grain. Now, Jesus left heaven, came down to Egypt, and He was storing up all the grace you need for your life. And when you face a problem, those lean years—seven lean years—you go back, and Jesus, He has those silos of grace just stored up. He has what you need for those lean years, every single moment, every single problem. He’s got it all stored up just for you.
Now, let me say this: so don’t live in despair. You know, this is… this is Christmastime, and it is a good time, and I do love Christmastime, but you know, sometimes we get it so society makes it look like picture perfect. I wouldn’t sing it, but I don’t know all the words, so I can’t sing. What’s the song? “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” What’s the next line? “There’ll be all those, all those, all those,” you know. It just creates this ambience of, “Woo-hoo, it’s going to be wonderful.” And there’ll be parties. What’s all the rest of it? Parties and marshmallows and what else? What all they said, you know, it’s just, you know, the movies and everything’s just going to be great at Christmastime, right? You understand? You know, and the snow’s falling outside, you don’t feel how cold it really is. Oh, you know, I mean, and the world does that. But can I be honest? I don’t mean to be a downer here for a second, but can I just be honest with you? This fantasy world, I love it if it’s about Jesus, but you know, life really happens. And fantasy doesn’t include real life. And, you know, that’s why they say there’s more loneliness that happens, one of the reasons around Christmastime than any more suicides. More… The psych wards get full. I’ve already… I’ve already somewhat dealt with two people that are… two marriages that have split up this time of the year. A lot of men, you just… I’ve talked to counselors, family counselors, they say, “Yeah, Christmastime’s coming. I’m getting a lot more calls, especially right after Christmas.” And family’s going to be together. It’s going to be wonderful. You know, please get called in for these domestic violence around Christmastime a lot. I’m not trying to be… You say, “You’re Scrooge this morning.” But you know, life does happen. And, you know, there’s financial problems, and you can’t get the gift you want to get for so-and-so. And all these problems.
And I say that to say, don’t live in despair. Jesus stored up the grace you need for the holiday season. Every single hurt, every single pain. “Well, I wish my family could be together like so-and-so’s family and have a wonderful time and all that.” Friend, you might, if you lived over there, you might say, “Well, it’s not so wonderful.” And I’m just saying, friend, all the problems you’re going through, Jesus, He’s got the grace stored up you need. He understands. He’s been through the feelings of loneliness. He knows what it is when you’re just so sad, deep inside of it. He knows the feelings of hurt. Jesus has been through all that. He’s been there. And He has the grace stored up. Don’t live in despair.
Look, if you will, over in Hebrews chapter number four. Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter number four, and one verse. A great, great chapter. These last couple of verses of the chapter, I love them. Look at this one here, Hebrews 4 and look at verse number 16. I’m sorry, let’s start in verse number 15. We’ll start verse number 15, all right? Look at verse number 15. Hebrews 4 and verse number 15. He says there, He says, speaking of Jesus, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the…” What’s the next word? “…feeling of our infirmities.” Just your feelings. You feel alone. Well, you know, Jesus, when He was here on earth, at one point, all men forsook Him and fled. Jesus, you know, when He was 12, He got left in the temple all by Himself. And when you get these feelings of loneliness, Jesus understands that because He’s been there. So not just your infirmities, but the feelings of your infirmities, your loneliness, your sadness, your tears. Jesus understands all that. He’s been there for it. “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Now notice the next verse. Look at it: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of what?” I’m glad it’s not a throne of judgment or justice. Praise the Lord. It’s a throne of grace. He said, “Hey, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and…” What’s the next two words? “Find grace.” Isn’t that interesting? He just said “obtain mercy,” but now it says “find grace to help in time of need.” Friend, when you go through—and typically you’re going to experience some of it, however you hope it’s wonderful—but you’re going to experience some of that, either the holiday season or some in your life, and when that time comes, don’t live in despair. Satan will try to get you over in some corner somewhere sucking your thumb, or sucking your mouth, a pity party. He’ll try to make you think nobody… nobody has been through what you’re going through, which is not true. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.” But he’ll make you think you’re the only one, and he wants to make you live in despair. And here’s the key: when Satan’s trying to get you—my spouse and my kids and my grandkids or my mom and my dad, oh, whatever it may be—when he’s trying to get you living in despair, say, “No, no, no. I’m not going to… I’m not going to take the rope. I’m not going to suck my thumb. I’m going to start looking for the grace now.” He said they have to find it. In order to find, you must be looking for it. But you’ll be tempted during that time to look at all the bad and look how bad you have it, and spend all your time dwelling on your loneliness and how bad, and nobody else knows how bad you have it. No, He says look for grace. It’ll be there because Jesus has stored up all the grace you need for every step, every step of your life.
Now, here’s the thing. He says you obtain mercy, but you find grace. And the temptation is you won’t be looking for grace. You’ll be looking to see who cares and all the rest. And I’m not saying all that’s bad, but you’re going to be looking at all the rest of that. We’re looking how good they got it, how bad you have it, or how they did all these things wrong and they still got better than you. Come on now. And don’t you look for grace? He said, “You obtain mercy, you find grace to help in time of need.” So don’t live in despair. He’s got the grace you need.
Then let me say this: just going through tough times—don’t live in pride. Don’t live in pride. Look, if you will, over in James chapter number four. James chapter four. James 4. And look in verse number six, if you would please. James 4. This is a wonderful chapter. He’s talking about all these bad things in verse number one through verse number five. You say, “Wonderful chapter, bad things.” It is. Verse one, two, verse five. Just kind of discouraging. And you’re fussed and fighting, but you’re not praying, and then when you pray, you’re just all about yourself, and then you go to worldly measures, and then you just get covetous in your spirit. You own everything. Then verse number six, everything kind of changes. I love it. Verse number six: James 4, verse number six, “But he giveth more what?” It’ll be there, even when you’re not what you ought to be. “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the…” Who? The proud.
Now, you know, the sin of homosexuality. It’s vile. Romans 1 says that’s vile, very sinful, very wicked. But you know, the Bible doesn’t say God resisteth the homosexual. Alcoholism, you know how many people will get beat up because someone’s drunk this Christmas time? I really do. I have to work at this. I’ll be honest. Can I confess for just a second here? I have to work at… and you see someone driving that alcohol, that beer truck into the convenience stores, and they’re just delivering tons of alcohol. And I think they’re delivering black eyes. They’re delivering kids doing without food and clothes. They’re delivering divorce. You talk to the police officers and ask them about it, friend. That’s what they’re delivering. And I have to work at not wanting to go out there and slash their tires or punch them in the nose or something, you know. I have to work at that, you know. But, you know, the Bible does not say God resisteth the alcoholic or the man. There’s a curse. Tobit says to those that give their brother to drink. But it doesn’t say there God resisteth those that are giving alcohol and harm and shame to others. It doesn’t say that. But it does say, it does say right there, it says, “God resisteth the proud.” Oh, friend, you know when things aren’t going your way, don’t turn away from God. Well, I don’t get bitter. Sometimes it’s not turning away from God because the bitter is sometimes it’s turning away from God to self-reliance. Turn to God. Look for the grace. He said, “Hey, you obtain mercy, you find grace.” Jesus came, and He came to bring us grace. Grace for grace. He’s got all the grace you need. But when tough times come, we’re tempted to live a little bit in pride. Pride is just, “I’m good on my own. I’m self-sufficient on my own. I can handle it myself.” And God says, “I resist the proud.” Wow, what a statement. I can’t help but think about playing football and how many have seen Derrick Henry stiff-arm somebody? Anybody’s ever seen that? How many have seen him? And I wish he did it more when he played for us. Come on now, you know. But man, he’s got that stiff arm, you know. I tell you, somebody’s got a better stiff arm than Derrick Henry. God does. And He said, “God resisteth the proud.” Oh, when tough times—and they come to all of us—don’t live in pride. Don’t turn away from God for whatever. Turn to God. Look for the grace. He said, “Hey, you obtain mercy, you find grace.” Pride will cause you to argue and fuss and fight. The Bible says in Proverbs 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention.” Don’t handle the problems in despair. Don’t handle the problems in pride. Don’t do that. Handle them humbly, but “He giveth grace unto the humble.” It’ll be available. It’ll be available.
Now, just a thought, and I’m going to be done. Look over in Romans, if you would. Romans chapter number five. Romans chapter number five. And I want you to look in verse number two. Just talking about this grace that Jesus came. Every second of your life, He’s got the grace available. You need it. I need it. And He’ll have it stored up. It’ll be ready for you. Silos of grace Jesus stored up, waiting for these lean years. It’s stored up for you. Now, here’s something: don’t live in despair, don’t live in pride. And then let me say this: look at verse number two, Romans 5 and verse number two. Romans 5, verse number two. You’re there this morning? Amen? Good. Look at verse number two. He says, “By whom”—so by Jesus—“by whom also we have access by what? By faith into this grace wherein we stand, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God.” Friend, friend, handle those tough times in faith that God has the grace available. He’ll have… You say, “Well, I don’t have it right now.” He doesn’t give it to you ahead of time, but when you come to that point in life and you’re there and you need it, it’ll be there. If you could see it all laid out there, that would not require faith, and “the just shall live by faith.” But you live your life believing God will have the grace you need. You have access to this grace by faith. And you live your life believing God has what I need every second. You know, someone, they’ll die and go to hell, and God has grace available for them. That’s what the Bible says. It says over in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Notice, to all men. But they must put their faith in that grace. Jesus is… Yeah. Same thing with you and I. If we’re going to have that grace God’s made available, we’ve got to put our faith in it. It’s saving grace. It’s sustaining grace. Remember Paul over there? He said, “Lord, remove this thorn in the flesh,” three times. And God said, “No, no, My grace is what is sufficient for thee.” It’s saving grace. It says to live in faith. God will have what I need to make it through this time. “I don’t know if I can make it. I don’t know if I can make it through this tough time.” All you can do is put your faith in the grace. God will have the grace. It’ll be there. Put your faith in that. You get that grace by faith.
There’s going to be some growing pains. Any pathway to growth, there’s going to be some growing pains. And then look, if you will, look over in Hebrews 12. I said the last place was Romans 5. I lied. Hebrews 12. I was going to read it for you, but sometimes it’s better we just read it ourselves. Hebrews 12. Look at verse number 28. Hebrews 12, verse number 28. Notice what it says here. Hebrews 12:28. Look what He says. He says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” And I forget hearing a good man, an older preacher, a good man, not too far from here, in a little preachers meeting. And as an older preacher, he doesn’t come to these preachers’ meetings very often, but he was there. He spoke at this one. And he said this: He said, “I have pretty much ruined my health because I serve God in my own strength instead of serving God in His grace.” Don’t serve Him by your own power; serve Him by His grace. You put your faith… “The Lord’s called me to do this. I can do it by His grace.” Let us come to the throne of grace. You obtain mercy and you find… I believe it’s going to be there. I’m going to be looking for it. I believe that by faith. And you not only get saved by grace, He sustains you by grace, but you serve Him by grace. You see, not much we can do on our own. In fact, John 15: “Without me, ye can do nothing.” But if you’re serving Him by His grace, what a difference. Can I say this? If you’re serving Him by His grace, “God’s told me to do this, I’m doing this by His grace.” Don’t get too worried about the results. That’s up to God. Leave that to Him. “Well, I want my grandchild’s life to be changed.” I want that too. That’s a wonderful thing. But friend, you do what God’s called you to do by His grace. And by grace, rest in Him. Rest in Him.
Spurgeon one day, he was traveling back, I believe, to his office in his area, and he was traveling. And he passed by a large river about this time, and he was burdened, and he was coming back… Actually, I remember the ministry is growing a little bit, and he said, “I just don’t have what it takes to handle the ministry.” And he was just kind of weary, you know, and he was, “Lord, I don’t know about all this.” He would get depressed sometimes. He battled that. And he said it just seemed like the Lord very, very clearly spoke to him that little phrase, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And he said it seemed like the Lord spoke to him and said, “Hey, Spurgeon, you’re like a little bitty fish in that big old river you just passed by, afraid to drink any water. I’ve got all the grace you need. Drink freely.” Hey, Jesus came to bring every bit of the grace you need for every problem you ever face. He knows what tomorrow is. He goes in front of you, and He has the grace stored up that you need for every single minute of your life.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed. Our eyes are closed. This Christmas season, would you say, “You know, I’m not going to be perfect at it, but I’m going to do the best I can to look for grace. I’m going to be looking for the grace. I don’t want to live in despair. I don’t want to be living in pride. I want to live just looking for the grace.” You find grace. God spoke to my heart about that. I want to be looking for the grace. If that’s you this morning, when you slip your hand out, I’m going to be looking for the grace. God bless. That’s so good. That’s so good. That’s the way to live. He’ll have it there. See, I can’t see it. No, you can’t always see it. It wouldn’t take faith. It takes faith. I’m going to be looking for it. God bless you. God bless you. Many, many hands, many hands. God bless you. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down. Thank you so very much.
Maybe here this morning, you’ve never accepted the grace of God at salvation. You’ve never, never been saved before. Oh, friend, it’s available. I’m going to ask you humbly, “Lord, I can’t save myself. I believe You died on the cross. I want to put my faith in the grace You made available, Jesus, and put my faith in You that You brought that grace.” Preacher, I need to get saved. I need to make sure I’m on my way to heaven. God spoke to my heart about that right there. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up in about that like that. Just slip it. “I need to get saved. I need to trust Jesus as my Savior.” Heaven or hell weighs in the balance. Most important thing in all the way, and the grace is available. We must accept it by faith.
Hey, Christians, let’s just start off this morning. Let’s just say, “Hey, I’m going to… I’m going to look for the grace right now.” Whatever the problem, whatever the situation in your life, I’m going to go looking for that grace right now in my life. Would you do that? Let’s all stand, please. Let’s all stand. We’re going to have a word of prayer. You spend some time with the Lord, whether He’s leading you to stand there, whether it’s leading you to the old-fashioned altar. Let’s look for the grace for every situation in your life. Let’s look for the grace. It’ll be there. It’ll be there. Father, thank You that You sent Your Son. Thank You that You brought the grace we need every second. And look out, Lord, all the problems. Look at one that just lost her loved one. Other ones battling problems here and there and all the differences. But You’ve got the grace. Help us to look for the grace by faith that You have available. Help us to do that in a special way in the next few minutes, Father. And we’ll thank You for what You do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Would you just be obedient in our piano playing? Would you do that? What’s your problem? What’s your problem? He’s got the grace for it. Financial, He’s got the grace for it. Health, He’s got the grace for it. Satan will get you looking at that despair, get you discouraged, defeated. No, no, I’m going to look for the grace. It’ll be there. Jesus came and brought it. Grace for grace. Boy, you accept that grace, and there’s more. There’s more. But to give us more grace, James 4:6, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” That is, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace.
Amen, amen. How many of you glad Jesus came and brought grace? Amen? Praise the Lord for that. I’m so thankful. That’s what Christmas is all about. So you have all the grace you need, even if your football team loses. We need to preach that a lot with the Tennessee Titans. Amen, you know. He’s got all the grace you need. So good to see every single person here this morning. Praise the Lord for you being in God’s house. Good time of the year. You say, “Man, you’re a Grinch this morning.” It’s a good time, but I want to just kind of remind you, He’ll have the grace, no matter if it’s a good time or not. He’ll have the grace available. And glad to see you here this morning, every single person.
Original File: 2025-12-15 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂What does His grace mean to you this Christmas season＂ Sunday AM 12⧸14⧸2025