A Movement of Grace: Preparation

Written by Nick Nye, Lead Pastor at Veritas Community Church.

Is it too bold to wonder if there is a movement of grace happening in Columbus? At Veritas Community Church? I often stand in awe of what God has done in me over the years and what God has done in Veritas. What’s wild is that it hasn’t come in the normal “success” church planters and pastors grade on. Our growth has slowed down, our leadership has gone through a season of changes, and our giving has slacked.

So, what does all movement of grace stuff mean? How is God working in us and through us as individuals and as a church? Over the next seven Sunday’s Veritas is looking at particular passages in the Bible to behold a vision for our lives and our city. It’s what I’m calling the Veritas Movement of Grace. The chart below gives the broad overview with a schedule of our bible passages below the chart.

[Scripture]
Col. 1:3-8 – Stories of Grace

1 Thess. 1:4-5 – Conviction OF

John 12:20-29 – Vision FOR

Heb. 10:19-39 – Rhythms AS

Eph. 5:8-14 – Application IN

Eph. 4:1-32 – Communities of Grace

TBD – City of God

From this sermon series we are moving into another series called “A Movement of Prayer.” EM Bounds stated, “God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.” We want to pray that God would continue his work in us and through us.

How can we prepare for our gatherings in light of these series’? I want to call you all to prepare each Sunday in two ways. First, by posturing yourself to receive. This means that we humble ourselves before the Lord to listen to his word. Distractions are inevitable, but can we breath deeply and pursue God’s presence? This might mean waking up before the kids or even sleeping later to get needed rest so that you can focus. It might mean showing up to the gathering early to pray with the kids volunteers and connect teams or sitting in your seat early to eagerly wait upon the Lord.

First, by posturing yourself to receive. This means that we humble ourselves before the Lord to listen to his word.

The second way we can prepare is to read. There are two books I would for all of us to read together over the next 12 weeks. The first book is The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges and the second book is A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Both of these books, though not perfect will really help aid our vision for being disciples of Jesus.

As we posture ourselves before the Lord and diligently read and study who God is and what he desires for us, I hope that these two sermon series would be a catalyst of God working in us. I hope that we could look back and see this was a season where we heeded the famous call from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” All for the glory of God!