Scripture Reference

Ephesians 2: 8-9

Sermon Audio

Sermon Notes

We have just finished our week of Vacation Bible School learning about the amazing grace of our loving God. Today, we continue our exploration of God’s grace with the ringing truth of Ephesians 2: 8-9. “By grace you have been saved through faith!”

Receiving God’s Gift Compels Us to Share It

1. The Grace of God Saves Us (verse 8)
   1. “By Grace”
      1. Grace is a gift of God given while we’re still in rebellion against Him
      2. We deserve wrath, but received God’s grace
   2. “You Have Been Saved”
      1. We are saved (forgiven, cleansed, raised) on the basis of grace
      2. By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Romans 5: 8-9) – what we gather at the Lord’s Table to celebrate today
   3. “Through Faith”
      1. Faith in Christ alone saves us (Romans 5: 1-2)
      2. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life
2. The Good Works of Mankind Can’t Save Anyone (verse 9)
   1. We Love to Rely on Our Good Words – the basis of every other world religion
   2. Our Good Works Aren’t Enough and Never Will Be
      1. God’s standard is perfection
      2. Roman’s 3: 23-25
   3. We aren’t redeemed because of who we are or what we do. We’re redeemed because of who God is and what Jesus did.
3. We Must Share the Gift of God
   1. Christ Came to Seek and Save the Lost
      1. When we see others, we must have compassion – we too were lost, dead in our sin
      2. We need to be about reaching out with the gospel
      3. We’re received the greatest gift in the world, we should want to share that gift
   2. We Should Demonstrate God’s Grace Toward Others
      1. Everybody needs grace at times – do we show it to them?
      2. Are you graceful to those in your life?

(VBS image credit to Group Publishing)