Eau de parfum Amazing Grace

While surfing the web I stumbled across a blogger who wrote about a gift she received. A bottle of Perfume called ‘Amazing Grace.’



The blogger wrote the following:
“Incidentally, I received the ‘Amazing Grace’ as a gift, and I had to return it. I thought it was too sweet smelling.”

That ‘one line’ read to me like a sermon illustration of someone who rejected the Gospel.
"Grace as a gift... returned it... too sweet smelling."

The Apostle Paul had this to say about the perfume of Grace.
Through us, God spreads the knowledge of Christ everywhere like perfume. God considers us to be the sweet smell that Christ is spreading among people who are being saved and people who are dying. To the one, we are the smell of death. To the other, we are the perfume of life.
(2Co 2:14-16)

But all this got me thinking. If God had to post a picture on Google to portray His kind of Grace, what would He post?
Probably a picture of His Son.
Maybe a picture of the wooden cross on which Jesus died.
But you know what? The more I think about it, it would probably be a picture of you, dressed in a clean white robe, with a big smile on your face because you’ve been forgiven... and you’ve been excepted... in spite of your sins and mistakes...
Now that’s amazing grace!

And because we’ve received such an ‘amazing grace,’ Paul commands us to “Lead a life of love, just as Christ did. He loved us. He gave himself up for us. He was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.”
Eph 5:2

Pictures of 'Grace.'

I'm a picture person. And this past week God used some awesome pictures (taken by my wife) to speak to me about Grace.



Notice how the word "Grace" is "nailed to a tree..."


Notice how the word "Grace" is written on the "Recycle" bin...
(the bin with the yellow lid)

Notice the "spotless, little Lamb?" So reminds me of Grace... "Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world."

This is a picture of the 3 crosses children from our Kidz Church carried into church on Good Friday. Again, a wonderful picture of Grace...
While the kids walked in, we played the song "Come See" by Michael W Smith. The chorus rings out with a kids choir singing "His Arms are open...."
That's Grace!

And this picture was taken on the beach that same evening... It's a very red sunset off the Western coast of Perth. It seemed like God painted the sky red in remembrance of the suffering his Son endured on Good Friday.

Grace is... spending time together as a family.


This was taken the day we left the campsite at Busselton, 3 hours south of Perth. It was our first ever camping trip and we fully enjoyed it! Definitely something we'll be doing again.

God's Good Friday Sunset

This photo was taken by my wife (Cecile) on Good Friday. It's a very red sunset off the Western coast of Perth. It seemed like God painted the sky red in rememberance of the suffering his Son endured on this day.

Give me a sign... and I'll believe.

The Empty Tomb.

Some say it never happened. Others claim it did. Some say it doesn't matter if it happened or not. They say: "It wouldn't change the fact that Jesus was still a prophet... a good man... a doer of good deeds."

But it does matter!

A dead Jesus would make Him just a man. It would nullify all that we believe as Christians. It would make Christ's teaching, suffering and death meaningless.

The Apostle Paul said it: "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn't mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven."1Co 15:17 (nirv)

Jesus declared that God would give a sign:"A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."Mat 12:39-40

In the Apostle Peter's first recorded sermon in Acts 2:25ff, he quotes the Psalms regarding Jesus' Resurrection: "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay." Psalm 16:9-10 /Acts 2:25-312

Tim 2:8"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. This is my Gospel."

Jesus said to an unbelieving Thomas:Joh 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me but still have believed." (nirv)

What's so good about Good Friday?

When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, he pointed to Him and said; "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

God commanded the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast every year. They were to remember how God had freed them from Egypt, and how His judgement had "passed over them" because of the 'blood of the lamb' wiped on their doorpost (Exodus 12).
Read more here http://e-devotions.blogspot.com/2009/04/whats-in-name.html

For hundreds of years after that, the Jewish people would make a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem to partake in this Passover Feast. On the Sunday before the feast, they would buy a lamb without blemish from a vendor in the temple. This choosing of a lamb happened on the day we refer to as Palm Sunday... one could say it was 'Lamb Selection day.' And it was on this day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. This is significant, as if God was saying; "here's my Lamb, will you choose him?"

This spotless, innocent Lamb, was slaughtered for our sins. And by the shedding of His blood, are we declared righteous.

This is wonderfully illustrated in the Chinese symbol for righteousness: It's made up of two symbols;
The bottom one (wo): me, self, I
The top one (yang) Lamb, (coloured red)
Lamb over me (yi) = righteousness




What's so good about Good Friday? It's the day that God reconciled us to Himself through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Isa 53:5-6 But the servant was pierced because we had sinned. He was crushed because we had done what was evil. He was punished to make us whole again. His wounds have healed us. All of us are like sheep. We have wandered away from God. All of us have turned to our own way. And the LORD has placed on his servant the sins of all of us. (NIrV)

Easter Reading Plan

Use this coming week to reflect on these Scripture passages that tell us of the events leading to Jesus' Death and Resurrection.

Palm Sunday, Matt 21:1-17

Monday, Matt 26:1-16
Tuesday, Matt 26:17-35
Wednesday, Matt 26:36-75

Thursday, Matt 27:1-31

Good Friday, Matt 27:32-55
Saturday, Matt 27:57-66
Resurrection Sunday, Matt 28:1-20

Reflections on Easter (2)

What's in a name?

Have you ever wondered why we call this time of year 'Easter?'
For some people 'Easter' brings to mind images of Chocolate Bunnies and Eggs’. As a Christian I felt confused about the true meaning of Easter. I knew we celebrated Jesus’ death and resurrection, but why do we call it ‘Easter?’ Some church folk told me that 'Easter' is a reference to a Pagan God. 1
But I discovered there's another side to Easter that completely blew me away.

In early English translations of the Bible the word ‘Eostre’ was frequently used as the translation of the Greek word ‘pascha.’ (Passover).1

‘Passover’ is a feast of remembrance for the Israelites - when they celebrate how God set them free from slavery. The story is recorded in the first chapters of Exodus. God brought ten plagues on Egypt so Pharaoh would let His people go. The tenth plague would see every first born son die. But God gave instructions for every Israelite family to take a year old lamb without blemish, slaughter it, and wipe the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their house. (Exodus 11-12)
Then God said: “the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Exo 12:13)

We know that Jesus was crucified at the time of the Jewish Passover. This is most significant. That lamb slaughtered in Egypt was pointing forward to God’s own Lamb, Jesus. And He shed His blood on a cross for us. When I place my trust in Jesus’ work of salvation, one could say (in a symbolic way) that Christ blood is now wiped on the “doorposts of my heart...” and therefore - when I stand before God one day to give an account of my life, His judgement will “pass over” me because of the Blood of the Lamb. (John 1:29)

As with Christmas, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church into the secular world. Let us not shy away from those who celebrate Easter for the wrong reasons. But rather use it as a bit of ‘common ground’ to start a conversation about the true meaning of Easter: a “festival of remembrance” - when we celebrate how Christ has paid for our sins, and therefor God’s judgement has “passed over” us.

1. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Easter.php4