The beautiful BUT

Nigel Little, the vicar of my church (St Luke's Willerby), delivered a cracking sermon this morning on Ephesians 2:1-10.  The key was how he painted the pictures of deadness in sin and life in Christ.

We were enslaved to our corrupt nature.  We were objects that were offensive to God.  This is life without Jesus.  Doubly sinful, with our inherited fallenness, and the wilful enjoyment of living in a world without him.  

BUT... the Christian, the truster in Jesus, becomes wrapped in Jesus, is in Christ, with Christ.  And the same power that wrenched Jesus from death and made him not only alive but seated him in glory has raised us, and is now for us.  All by grace, so that a Christian should be full of praise, not boasting.  And that same grace puts us to work for God.  Not in the sense of paying him back, not out of gratitude - but we have been made new, with a new purpose: to do the works God prepared in advance for us to do.

Why is it that words that were once and should always be releasing and joy-giving can become stale and unimpressive?   

The reapings of a sinful heart that doesn't naturally rejoice in what is glorious I guess.  God free me to be astounded by his grace and to praise him as I ought.  

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Have been inspired by a post on the desiringgod.org blog to take up blogging once more (this will be my third attempt to produce something meaningful and lasting in cyberspace).  Check out their post on "6 reasons why pastors should blog": 

www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1156_6_reasons_pastors_should_blog

I'm not a pastor, but reason 5 ("to develop an eye for what is meaningful") makes good sense to me and appears to make blogging a fruitful activity for any Christian:

"For good or ill, most committed bloggers live with the constant question in their mind: Is this bloggable?  This could become a neurosis, but I'll put a positive spin on it: It nurtures a habit of looking for insight and wisdom and value in every situation, no matter how mundane.

"If you live life looking for what is worthwhile in every little thing, you will see more of what God has to teach you.  And the more he teaches you, the more you can teach others.  As you begin to be inspired and collect ideas, you will find that the new things you've seen and learned enrich far more of your life than just your blog."

So, here's hoping for third time lucky...