Six Hours One Friday - Living in the Power of the Cross

Grace.

We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and premeal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.

But do we really understand it? Have we settled for wimpy grace? It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, “Do you believe in grace?” who could say no?

Max Lucado asks a deeper question: Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace?

God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. A white-water, riptide, turn-you-upside-downness about it. Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid to die to ready to fly.

Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.

Let’s make certain grace gets you. 

Endorsements for GRACE:

“God’s grace—His unconditionally loving, unmerited favor—is sometimes difficult for people to grasp, even though each one of us is in desperate need of it. But in Max Lucado’s new book, GRACE, it is completely embraceable and understandable. Through Lucado’s characteristic narrative style and profound biblical understanding, we learn that God’s grace is truly much more than we deserve and greater than we imagine. “ --Dr. Charles F. Stanley 

“Max Lucado has blended his creative writing style with honesty about how he has experienced God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness in his own times of failure and despair.  You will find comfort as Max shines the light of the Word of God revealing that Jesus Christ is truly the only hope that brings everlasting peace.” --Franklin Graham, President and CEO, Samaritan’s Purse, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

“Reading Max Lucado on grace is like hearing Warren Buffett on money or Julia Child on food—it’s a subject he spent a lifetime falling in love with.” --John Ortberg, pastor and author, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church 

“Few writers are better than Max Lucado, no subject is better than God’s grace." --Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven and If God is Good

"Max gives us encouragement, hope and a needed reminder that the grace we all possess as followers of Jesus should empower us to move mountains, vs simply settling for pushing wimpy molehills." --Brad Lomenick, President and Executive Director, Catalyst

“Max offers up a biblical vision of God’s grace that comes drenched in sweat and with a set of six-pack abs; a life-defining newness and relationship-refining kindness straight from the heart of God.” --Tim Kimmel, author of Grace Based Parenting

"Some writers aim for the mind, others for the heart and a small number for the soul. With his latest book, 'Grace,' Max Lucado hits the trifecta, touching on all three." -- Cal Thomas, Syndicated and USA Today Columnist and Fox News Contributor

“If you love the writings of Max Lucado, this will probably become your favorite.” -- Stephen Arterburn, Founder and Chairman of New Life Ministries, host of “New Life Live!” and best selling author

“I can think of no more needed message for weary people everywhere, and no better writer than Max Lucado to paint so gloriously the hope that "Christ in you" affords.” --Louie Giglio, creator of Passion Conferences and pastor, Passion City Church

In this short excerpt from The Cure for the Common Life...

It's Sunday afternoon and you're already dreading the inevitable Monday morning. You spend 50+ hours at a job you hate, only to come home too exhausted to pursue anything other than reality TV.

Well, you are not alone: 87 percent of workers don't find meaning in their work and 80 percent believe their talents are not used. And there are consequences-whether or not we realize it, our resulting attitude impacts our health, our relationships, and our fundamental sense of happiness-but best-selling author Max Lucado has a cure.

We are all unique individuals, created in God's image, with our own gifts, strengths and passions. In his winsome voice, Max will encourage you to explore your uniqueness, put it to work, and redefine your concept of career.

Table of Contents:

1. Your Sweet Spot (You Have One!)
2. Unpack Your Bag
3. Read Your Life Backward
4. Study Your S.T.O.R.Y

Conclusion
Notes

We have questions. Real, important, and challenging questions. Questions about sex, finances, and forgiveness. Unsettling questions regarding illness, suicide, and eternity. Don't we crave answers to these queries that tug on the deepest parts of our hearts?

Do angels really walk among us?

How should I discipline my kids?

Any advice for my struggling marriage?

Why do I worry so much?

How do I know what God's will for me really is?

In Max on Life, one of the most trusted pastors and authors of our time takes on life's most important questions.

Max Lucado has received thousands of questions and wrestled with plenty of his own. Here's hoping that his answers to the questions of others will help you find the answers to yours.

One day in the life of Christ.

Call it a tapestry of turmoil: A noisy pictorial in which the golden threads of triumph knot against the black, frazzled strings of tragedy.

Call it a symphony of emotions: A sunrise-to-sunset orchestration of extremes. One score is brassy with exuberance -- the next moans with sorrow.

Whatever you call it -- call it real. Author Max Lucado calls it "the second most stressful day in the life of our Savior." Before the morning becomes evening Jesus has reason to weep, then run, then shout, the curse, then praise, then doubt. Within a matter of moments his world is turned upside down.

Sound familiar? The pink slip comes. The doctor calls. The divorce papers arrive. The check bounces. The life that had been calm is now chaotic. The world that had been serene is now stormy. Assailed by doubts. Pummeled by demands.

If you've ever wondered if God in heaven can relate to you on earth, then read and re-read this pressure-packed day in the life of Christ. It is the only day, aside from the crucifixion, that all four gospels recorded. Lucado has interwoven their accounts in such a way that you will be assured that God knows how you feel.

And you will be assured that within every torrent there is a calm center -- a place you can stand when your world gets windy. The Eye of the Storm.

It's what happens when obstacles prevent you from seeing what God has done for you ...

He still moves stones.

People with questions. The Bible is absolutely full of them. A crook on a cross. A wild man in a cemetery. A five-time divorcée. A despondent cripple. A grieving sister. A father at the end of his rope.

Why are these portraits in the Bible? So we can look back in amazement at what Jesus did? No ... these aren't just Sunday school stories. They are historic moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question. "Does God care when I hurt?"

On every page of this powerfully moving book, Max Lucado reminds us, the God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush still speaks loudly to you today. The God who forgave King David still offers you forgiveness. The God who helped men and women in ages past still comes into your world, and he comes to do what you can't, to move the stone away so you can see his answer.

In today's world it can be difficult to feel safe and secure. That's why in Safe in the Shepard's Arms Max Lucado offers a reliable source of safety and security from the twenty-third Psalm. He describes this psalm as "written by a shepherd who became a king-because He wanted us to know about a King who became a shepherd." With Psalm twenty-three as our guide, we can release our burdens, throw off our fears, and rest safely in the Shepherd's arms.

You know your Goliath. You recognize his walk, the thunder of his voice.

He taunts you with bills you can't pay, people you can't please, habits you can't break, failures you can't forget, and a future you can't face. But just like David, you can face your giant, even if you aren't the strongest, the smartest, the best equipped, of the holiest.

David. You could read his story and wonder what God saw in him. His life has little to offer the unstained, straight-A saint. He fell as often as he stood, stumbled as often as he conquered. But for those who know the sound of Goliath, David gives this reminder:

Focus on giants -- you stumble; focus on God -- your giants tumble.

If you're ready to face your giants, let his story inspire you. The same God who helped him will help you.