grace participant's guide - session 1

GRACE

00-01_GracePartGuide.indd 1 6/29/12 4:06 PM

M O R E T H A N W E D E S E R V E , G R E AT E R T H A N W E I M A G I N E

Max Lucado

A PARTICIPANT’S GUIDE TO SMALL GROUP STUDY

Written by Amanda Haley


© 2012 by Max Lucado

Written by Amanda Haley

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked nasb are from The New American Standard Bible®. © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked niv are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked nlt are from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4016-7584-4

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1


. . . for all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God, being

justified freely by His grace through

the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:23–24


8

GRACE

God’s grace has

a drenching about it.

A wildness about it.

A white-water, riptide,

turn-you-upside-

downness about it.

Grace comes after you.


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INTRODUCTION

In a world of checks and balances, works and rewards, judgments

and penalties, grace is a difficult concept. We can’t reconcile it.

We can’t earn it. We don’t have to pay it back. And, like most of

humanity, we’ll never completely understand it. But we can accept

grace and give it to others.

We know grace as a noun, but Max tells us to think of grace as a

verb. It is an action. It’s not enough to read about grace; we must

experience it. It is only because God graced us with the sacrifice

of his Son that we can grace others with kindness, forgiveness,

understanding, mercy, favor, and most importantly knowledge of

God’s grace. Therefore, understanding grace begins with accept-

ing God’s grace and practicing it in our everyday lives. Why not

begin with those closest to us?


10

GRACE

Grace is the voice

that calls us to change

and then gives us the

power to pull it off.


16

GRACE

When grace

happens, we receive

not a nice compliment

from God but a new

heart. Give your heart

to Christ, and he

returns the favor.


17

SESSION 1

Study GraceRead chapter 1 from Grace before beginning your study this week.

Grace isn’t just a noun. Yes, God gives us grace, but then he

uses that very grace to change us. We become more like him,

able to gracefully bestow grace on others. No one illustrates the

life-changing power of grace better than the apostle Paul, the

Christian hater–turned–Christ lover.

Prior to Paul’s Christian ministry, which Max references in

the session 1 video, the apostle learned a great deal about grace.

Before his name was changed to “Paul,” Saul was a highly edu-

cated Jew intent on stamping out the growing community of Jews

who recognized Jesus as the Christ, their Savior. After presiding

over Stephen’s capital punishment in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), Saul

traveled to Damascus to deliver the high priest’s arrest warrants for

Jesus followers living there.

THE GRACE-SHAPED


18

GRACE

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light

shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground,

and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you per-

secuting Me?”

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You

want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and

you will be told what you must do.”

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless,

hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the

ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But

they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

(Acts 9:3–9)

This experience may not have seemed much like grace at fi rst.

But that quick encounter with the Lord, though it left him dis-

abled, made Saul long for more of Jesus in his life. By the time

Ananias arrived to deliver God’s grace to Saul and restore his eye-

sight, Saul was literally hungry for grace, thirsty for grace. In fact,

Saul was so full of grace that it bubbled up in his heart and spilled

out of his mouth: “Immediately he preached the Christ in the syn-

agogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20).


| THE GRACE-SHAPED LIFE

19

> Think back to a time when you realized you were wrong.

How did you respond? Did you try to justify your behavior, or

did you speak the truth?

> Are you always ready to proclaim God’s grace, no matter

where you are or who your audience is? Why or why not?


20

GRACE

Thankfully God doesn’t always allow such suffering before he

exercises his grace. Long before Saul met Jesus, God had blessed

Saul with the intelligence and desire to absorb God’s laws into his

very being. But as a well-educated Pharisee (Acts 23:6), Saul had

developed his own interpretations of the Scriptures, and his stub-

born, know-it-all tendencies were allowing incorrect doctrine to

separate him from God’s grace. Knowledge of God kept him from

knowing God. That’s why Jesus arrived with grace to reveal Saul’s

errors and to humble him. After Saul “thought about what he’d

done” for three days, he was ready to receive the graceful gift of

Jesus’ heart into his body.

> God knew Saul needed to hit rock bottom before he would be

willing to let go of his own interpretations of the law and rec-

ognize and absorb God’s grace. When has stubbornness kept

you from enjoying all the benefi ts of grace?



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> God gives you grace every day. Think of something that hap-

pened today that was evidence of God’s grace in your life. Did

you thank him for it? Did you realize it was him at the time?

> How can you raise your awareness of God’s daily grace in your

life?


22

GRACE

> Have you ever been aware of God using you as a vessel for

his grace as he did Ananias (Acts 9:10–17)? Did you cheer-

fully embark on his mission, or did you allow your own fear

or stubbornness to delay his plans?

> What are some ways you can be a vessel of grace to

• yourcoworkers,

• yourfamilymembers,



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• oryourneighbors?

After accepting God’s grace and letting it change him, Saul

changed his name to Paul and started preaching and writing about

God’s grace. God’s grace informed the rest of Paul’s life on earth,

and we are blessed to have access to some of his sermons and writ-

ings in the New Testament. Let’s take a look at a few of Paul’s

messages that Max references in Grace and the session 1 video.

In a letter to his young apostle, Titus, Paul mentioned the cen-

trality of grace in the organization and development of the church

and its members:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all

men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,

we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present

age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our

great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us,

that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify

for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

(Titus 2:11–14)

> What did Paul tell Titus that grace brings to us?


24

GRACE

> What does grace teach us to change in our lives?

> What does grace look forward to?

> How does grace change our actions once it gives us new hearts?



25

As Max points out, we are clearly missing the magnitude of

God’s grace in our lives if we only see it as something we receive.

Remember that grace is an action, and we must enact grace in

order to experience it properly. Imagine if Paul had just accepted

God’s grace and never put it into action. If so, the gospel of grace

might not have reached beyond the Jews to the Gentiles such as

those living in Crete and Colossae and Galatia.

Paul described to the Gentiles his understanding of the “mys-

tery” of Christ working in us:

. . . the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from

ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His

saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches

of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ

in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man

and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present

every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:25–28)

> What is the great “mystery” that has now been revealed to the

church?


26

GRACE

> How is “Christ in you” a description of grace?

> What is required for us to “present every man perfect in Christ

Jesus”?



27

When writing to the Jesus followers in Galatia, Paul told the

story of an encounter he had with Peter. Soon after the Holy Spirit

came upon him, Peter had a vision explaining that no foods were

unclean—the law was obsolete in light of Jesus’ death on the cross

(Acts 10:9–16). But a few years later, when confronted with Jews

who still ate only kosher meals, Peter returned to his own kosher

roots. Paul chastised him for this weakness of faith, as he quoted

here for the Galatians to read:

For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but

Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I

live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself

for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness

comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. (Galatians

2:19–21)

As he explained to Peter and the Galatians, Paul understood

that once we accept grace, once “Christ lives in” us, there is no

longer a need for the law. It cannot save us, and we don’t need it

to guide our actions once we only act in grace.

> How was Paul “crucified with Christ”? How can we claim

that too?


28

GRACE

> We do not follow the Mosaic law as Peter and Paul once did.

Instead, what things bind us and direct our actions? What

must we “die to” in order to “live to God”?

> How do “faith in the Son of God” and “Christ [living] in [you

and] me” work together?



29

Discuss GraceAt the beginning of the session with your small group, watch

Max’s video that accompanies this Bible study. Take some time to

discuss what you and your group members learned from chapter

1 in Grace, your personal studies of this week’s lesson, and Max’s

message. Then consider these questions as a small group:

> Has God performed a heart transplant in you?

> What motivations are in your heart that shouldn’t be there?


30

GRACE

> What will it take for you to be like Paul, to have a heart that

beats only for Jesus?

> With your small group, decide on an activity you can com-

plete together in the next month that will reveal grace to

someone in your community. Here are a few ideas to start

your conversation:

• Commit togiving timeon aSaturdayhelping tobuild a

Habitat for Humanity house in your community.

• GototheRedCrossandgivebloodorplatelets.

• AdoptapoorfamilyinyourcommunityduringtheChrist-

mas season.

• Volunteerregularlyatafoodbank.



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• Host a “Parents’NightOut” at your church, and babysit

young couples’ children for free.

• Dosomerepairworkatthehomeofanelderlycitizenor

single parent.

Conclusion / PrayerClose your group time by taking prayer requests and praying for

one another.


Notes

32

GRACE


grace participant's guide - session 1

Documents

pm8gracegods grace

pm16gracewhen grace

knowledge of gods grace

ing gods grace

n w e d e s e r v e

scripture quotations

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