Opening prayer
by the founder of Christ Life Ministries (Joyce) Father,
we are here to glorify You, honor You, and praise You. You have blessed us exceedingly,
abundantly with Your love, your mercies, and your grace. You have forgiven us,
cleansed us, and prepared us for eternity with You as well as placed Your Spirit within us for life’s journey. We pray our time together here will lift up Jesus, magnify Your Name, and strengthen
our desire to be more like Jesus. And in His Name we pray, Amen.
Director of Christ Life Ministries (Bob) It was a month ago today that our lives changed permanently. Feelings of uncertainty abound. Now is the time to do what
we will hear tonight…entrust our whole lives to Christ.
Training
Director of Christ Life Ministries (Cindy) Christ in me, not my performance, is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). It is the very things Satan would use to drive us away from a desperate dependence
on the Lord that actually qualifies us to come to Him. It is here where our resumes
of failure become messages of hope. Our helplessness, our failure in self-effort,
can drive us to turn to Him alone, and to seek His sufficient grace.
Training Director of Grace Ministries Carolina and Pastor (Dale) God cares about His relationship with you, not your
performance. I was really performing in the ministry…as a pastor of one
of the fastest growing churches in North Carolina. God started letting the church
decline…and I have learned that people don’t need head knowledge to head knowledge, they need Life to Life. By His grace, God is showing me His life through me as I preach…and that salvation
is about a Man named Jesus who did more than just forgive me, but who came to live inside and through me.
President of Grace Ministries Hickory, NC (Joye) I used to seek to fix the problems of other people
- they had problems, not me. Pride and criticism were “rose petals”
God had to pull off me. He told me if I leave those to the side, He would use
me in a powerful way. I found my acceptance in Him and I now disciple “roses.”
The beauty of this message of grace, and Christ’s life in and through us, is that He takes stepped-on (broken) roses
and brings them back to the beautiful roses He sees.
Friend
of Grace Ministries Hickory (Leannah) LAW is about trying to achieve for ourselves.
GRACE is simply receiving what has already been accomplished in Christ. What
I was having a difficult time receiving was God’s boundless love for me. God
removed everything that tried to claim His rightful place in my heart (all of our material possessions). When I (ultimately) blurted out, “I love you, Daddy! How
is it that I love You?” He smiled in reply, “Because I first loved
you.”
Pastor
in Rutherford College, North Carolina (David) I tried to perform to be accepted as a pastor. As a pastor, I sat in a crusade and doubted my salvation. I
didn’t “feel” saved. I attended a Grace Life Conference, and
God revealed to me that this life was not all about me…and I’ve accepted the life of Christ that He wants to live
through me.
A
servant from Asheville (Lynne) I was terrified of my father. The incest continued
until high school. It was a deep, dark secret…a prison of fear and abandonment. I drove myself to be the best at everything to be accepted. The voices in my head screamed, “You’ll never be loved!”
I used my body to get acceptance. Through a Grace Life Conference, God
revealed that Jesus had taken all my sin, all my hurt, all my guilt and shame - and died just for me! Though the world and my dad had never really wanted me, God did.
No more did I have to earn His love…I already had it! And by His
grace, He will live His life through me. I am now a trophy of God’s grace
and the fragrance of Christ!
Chaplain
of Blue Ridge Prison Ministries (Keith) At age of 29, I fell at the foot of the cross, but I went right back to performance-based
living. I really loved the Lord, but I was really a good and very disciplined
performer. After I had been pastoring and in prison chaplaincy for 1-1/2 years,
a very dark hour came…and I couldn’t perform any more. I went to
a Grace Life Conference ordained by God’s timing, and I found freedom in Christ’s life behind the prison bars.
23-year
old former prisoner (Jason) Last August, I was spending my energy in an earthly relationship, and ended up going to jail. As I rolled a cigarette in jail using a page from the Gideon Bible, I heard, “You need to know what
that says.” I then tried to live by the Proverbs. Through my chaplain and the Grace Life seminar, I learned that my most righteous acts are but filthy rags
in the eyes of the Lord. What can I do then?
I can just surrender myself and let the Lord Jesus work through me and let His Father find glory with His actions through
my body. And that gives me the strength to do anything because nothing is impossible
for Jesus! The love and joy I now have is a greater miracle than the parting
of the Red Sea!
Single
mother of 8-year old daughter (Joni) I was in an abusive marriage for 22 years. I was raised a Jehovah Witness who knew the “truth,”
and I could not receive this message of Jesus.
Through Christ Life Ministries, the Bible came alive to me and I gave my life to the Lord. I have been homeless, and have lived in homes of loving Christians.
It has strengthened me and proven to me that God is a faithful God. This
message (of Christ’s sufficient life) is THE REAL TRUTH that sets people free.
We closed
the Grace Life Celebration by Holly leading us in the song, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” It was indeed a
celebration of His life.
