In the first two stages we looked at conviction and confession.* We have felt the weight of our sin by seeing it as God does and confessed it to Him and others. Before we move to next stage I want to warn you of turning these stages into a checklist. Anytime there is a numbered list I am uneasy because I know our hearts tend towards trusting in religious acts. The purpose can quickly become doing this list trying to keep God pleased so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers.

The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Eph. 3:14–15). We know, then, what human fatherhood ought to look like on the basis of how our Father God behaves toward us. But the reverse is also true. We see something of the way our God is fatherly toward us through our relationships with human fathers. And so Jesus tells us that in our human father’s provision and discipline we get a glimpse of God’s active love for us (Matt. 7:9–11; cf. Heb. 12:5–17). The same truth is at work in adoption.

In August, Grace Church celebrated her 1st birthday and it was a beautiful celebration of all God has done in our church family. Many folks wrote down what they were thankful for. Take a look at how awesome our God is and let us read these thank you notes with a grateful heart to our great God:

Starting this Sunday, November 4th, 2018 we are excited to announce the launch of a new prayer ministry at Grace. Our prayer team will joyfully be ready to receive anyone who feels in need of prayer immediately following our gathering.

The Prayer Team will expectantly intercede on the behalf of the discouraged, weak, weary, suffering, and sick. They will respond to what you might bring forward to be prayed for and they will seek to be led by the Holy Spirit in the moment.

I have parents who talk to me all the time about their struggle with the question, "When should I enforce law and when should I give grace?" The problem with the question is that it treats God’s law and God’s grace as two opposing forces. 

As a young child raised in Mexico, I was submerged into the Catholic faith and its traditions. I was baptized as an infant, made confessions to the priest, but did not have a clue as to who God was. As a young teenager, my family began attending a Baptist church. I spent many confusing years trying to decipher and piece together the differences between both religions.

My life before Jesus was dark and hopeless. Looking back at my 12 year old self, I was sad and desperate; desperate for a father's love; desperate for acceptance and normalcy in my family. In my culture, if you do not have a father, you do not have a standing or place in the community. You were, to say the least, pitied and excluded.

Every culture and generation could say, "Parenting is particularly hard because…" But I think there is one thing that is particularly unique about the culture in which we live. It is the availability of things—powerful, attractive things—that distract us.

Confession is a means of God’s grace. We should not cower away but joyfully and regularly confess our sins to God and one another. As we are convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin and feel the weight of it before the face of God we ought to confess specifically that sin to Jesus and others.

Often we skip this or move to confession too quickly because of pressure from our community or the desire to promptly fix our situation. This leads us to a cycle of deception and despair because we are “repenting” of something we are not fully convinced is sin. “You have to be convinced by the Holy Spirit working through Godʼs Word that you are guilty of sin.” (Mike Wilkerson, Redemption).