Our Summer Series: When You Just Need More Grace

 

If you would like to be a part of our summer series, “The Gift of Grace: Summer Simplicity from the book of Ephesians”, click on Subscribe, or “Sign Me Up!” and enter your email.  You will then receive each post directly into your inbox.

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That summertime shift is here, I can feel it.

Different temperatures, different shoes, a change in plans and schedule.  Vacation time is on the calendar.  Many of my weekly commitments have taken a hiatus until Fall, my kids are around and I.love.it.  

New seasons are awesome, they feel fresh and full of possibilities.  A time to start over and try something new.  A time for hope.  And maybe just a little more grace.

Grace is SUCH a great word.  There’s so much wrapped up in it, its meaning interwoven with joy.  A word offered in thanksgiving before a meal.  Grace is filled with dignity and thoughtfulness, its kindness is unmerited, and full of favor.

And salvation to our very desperate souls.

Oh, how we need this… this gift of grace. 

As we shift into summer, we are launching our 4th Annual Summer Series, “The Gift of Grace: Summer Simplicity from the Book of Ephesians”, a series that began brewing in me after a “significant” conversation with my husband.  During these four weeks in June, we will ask these simple questions:  

Would we live differently if we recognized His glorious grace during the daily details of life? 

What if we actually believed God’s grace is big enough for every area of our lives?

Would we extend more grace if we better understood how very much we’ve been given?

The book of Ephesians gives us such a great understanding of grace, its specific and unique role, offered only through Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God’s plan of grace to all mankind, both Jew and Gentile.  Paul penned this book, and it’s one of my absolute favorites.  

You can split this six-chapter book straight in half, the first filled with the beauty and richness of God’s love and grace.  The last challenging us to then live as if we really believe it. 

During our four weeks, we will spend time studying these scriptures, as well as making an intentional space to allow these words of Life to transform us from the inside out. 

Here’s an overview of how it will work:

On TUESDAYS: We will look at a different aspect of GRACE:

• Grace Awakened.  How would our daily life be different if we lived in the Truth of God’s grace?  We will see words like lavished and glorious to describe this gift of grace, grace that’s been poured out because of His great love for you and me.  Grace poured out.  How can that not awaken us to live, fully alive?
• Grace Received.  We are so hard on ourselves, aren’t we?  Through guilt, or comparisons, or our striving to be more, we are forever trying to stay ahead of the curve.  As we slow down and remember His grace, we open the door to receive His blessings of forgiveness, His acceptance and joy.  Blessings beyond all we could ask or imagine.  
• Grace Extended.  What if we gave away more grace?  Instead of our opinion or anger or correction, what if we just offered more grace?  What knots would untangle if we lavished grace on that one that’s so difficult?  What would be mended, what would be healed, if grace was generously extended?  Because we have been given so much, how can we not then give it with abundance?
• Grace Guarded.  We fiercely protect what is most precious to us. The more we understand grace, the more precious it will become.  This gift of grace is worthy of all that we are, as everything in this life and the next is dependent on it.  His grace is worth fighting for, in our own lives, and in the lives of those we love.

On FRIDAYS: Each Friday will offer an opportunity for a “Weekend Walk”, based on Ephesians 4:1 which challenges us to “walk in a manner worthy of our calling”.  We will offer an intentional exercise that you can soak in to, a space for you to breathe, to pray, to meditate on His Word, and listen to what He may be speaking to your heart.  The last thing I want is for us to get a bunch of head knowledge that never absorbs into the realness of our every day life. This can only be done as we slow down and intentionally seek His face.

I so desperately need this refreshment of His amazing grace.  I want it to so absorb me that it literally changes me from the inside out, changing how I live, with myself and those around me.  I DO NOT want to miss this one.

So who’s in?

Join us, and let’s do this together.  

Find us here on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Then find us (“Like” us?) on our NEW FACEBOOK PAGE for daily encouragement and community.

Invite your friends, family, co-workers, fellow-Bible-study-besties, and let’s do this grace thing TOGETHER.

See you on Tuesday!

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If you would like to be a part of our summer series, click on Subscribe, or “Sign Me Up!” and enter your email.  You will then receive each post directly into your inbox.

Also find us on our new Facebook page at facebook.com/womenwhobelieve for additional encouragement to live and breathe His grace.