Grace

Yesterday I talked with the children about grace during our kids' time in worship. I'll share what I said at the end of this blog post. As I was thinking about how to speak with them about grace and what it means, I found the lyrics to this U2 song called Grace. It ends like this...
Because Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.
Grace finds beauty in everything.
Grace finds goodness in everything.
Think on that for a bit.


Ephesians 1:3-14
August 22, 2010

This present was left in my office. It looks like it for you. What do you think is inside? (Give each child an opportunity to shake, hold, etc. the box).
Should we open it and see what is inside? (Allow the children to open it and look inside...Inside the box is a piece of paper with the word grace written on it.).
GRACE? What is grace? Why was it wrapped up as a present?
Grace is God’s freely given love for each of us.
What can we do to earn God’s love? Nothing. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love.
Maybe that is why it was wrapped up in box for us. Grace is God’s gift to us. God loves us each and everyday. We can’t earn God’s love...what we can do is love others like God loves us.
I’d like to give you each a reminder of God’s grace. It is a picture of present with the word grace at the bottom of the page. When you hear the word grace, you can remember it is God’s gift of love to you!

Realize

So today is one of those days that leaves me all tied up in knots...worrying about something that won't even happen for awhile, wondering what others think, pondering things I have no control over...you know one of those days.
On days like this I try (so hard) to realize I can't control everything. I can't control what others think. And I have enough to worry/think about with what is happening soon in my life. Why worry about so far into the future?
I want to realize that I need to stay right here in the present. Do what I can do right now. And not worry, worry, worry!