For this service, I made up a small box with a lid that said "A gift from God." on the outside and had several little business-size cards inside along with a small beaded cross that my wife had made.  These were passed out at the beginning of the service with the understanding that they were not to be opened until we began talking about them.  Each card was in order and we covered each one separately.  We had an open discussion about any question or comments on each card.

GOD'S GRACE:

“the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man” (Titus 3:4).

This was the first card we discussed:

This is a hard concept to understand.  It took me years to get what this really meant.  It's hard to accept something for nothing.  We feel we have to do or pay something for it to hold any meaning.  But God's grace is ours from birth.  Exactly what is it?

GRACE: Strength, wisdom, courage, motivation, love, concern, care, power - all the favor and blessings - of Christ, given freely, without condition from your birth.  Often unclaimed.  Redeemable by Faith.

We have it.  We don’t understand it.  We don’t use it.  We let it lay on the shelf until we are desperate.   How do we know we have it?

FAITH: Knowing that something is true even though you cannot see it or touch it.  A feeling that you can trust in the outcome.  Through Faith we receive the Grace and Forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, His Son.

It’s like when you were a child and dad said jump.  We just knew he would catch us.  When your spouse or friend says they can do something and you just know they can.  Faith is not knowing that God can. . . It is knowing that God will.

TRUST: Faith brings us to trust that the Lord will always be there for us in times of need and want.  We must trust in the Lord to lead the way and make the road clear for us.  There will be obstacles, but He will help us through.

That means we give up control.  We stop trying to work things out on our own. – It's not easy to give up control.

Hope:

When things are not going well, Hope is the feeling I get that the feeling I have won't last.  In God, nothing is hopeless.

Can you imagine a world without hope?  How many times have we said :

I hope . . . ?  We have hope because we have faith and trust in the Lord.

LOVE: John 3:16 (NIV)  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who-ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

No one loves us like God loves us no matter what we've done or will do.

God gave us so much more than we really deserve, but if He gave it, why can’t we just accept it? 

OBEY: Once we accept the freely given gift of Grace and show our devotion to God through Faith, we will easily recognize His influence in our lives. Just LISTEN and Trust and Obey.

There is no other way.

Obey is such a negative word.  It conjures up images of a boss telling us what to do or a parent saying we can’t do something and so many other do’s and don’ts.

But with God, it is a privilege and honor to obey.  To obey God means nothing more than to submit to the better things God has planned for us.