Grace in our churches, workplaces and in messy relationships

I recently finished reading Everyday Grace by Jessica Thompson. The adult class I teach will be going through the book in the Spring of 2016.  Below are some thoughts on church, work, and those difficult people in our lives from Thompson:
The truth of our belovedness is what sanctifies. The truth of the wonderful story of redemption is what sanctifies...In your struggle against sin, in your struggle to be a more "sanctified Christian," remember the truth of God's love for you in Christ...Our sanctification is completely about him and his work in our lives, his completed work, his ongoing work.
Instead of fixing each other's broken parts, what if we started bearing with each other's broken parts?
 So we are humble with one another, not thinking we are better than others. We are gentle with each other, instead of beating each other over the head with a long list of "you-should."
A. W. Tozier writes, "one of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas, the sacred and the secular...so that we live a divided instead of a unified life.
The problem is that the very thing we are looking for in our own work performance, we already have in Jesus' performance and in his work.
You aren't really even working for them (your boss/company). You are working for Christ. Once we get a hold of that, it changes everything. It changes how we work... 
The Holy Spirit's job doesn't stop once you make a profession of faith; it continues as he carries on reminding you every day that the gospel is for you.
When I relinquish the desire to be the Savior and just grieve with my friends, the Holy Spirit does some pretty amazing work.
What if we took the time to really pray before we answered someone? What if we actually trusted the Holy Spirit to speak through us?
 
 
 
 
 

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