Ephesians 2:8-9

"It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. "

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. "

Inspirational illustration of Ephesians 2:8-9 -- It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

"Dear Father, perfecter of humanity, My God, even my believing was not something I was clever enough to do. It was your gift to me, not from my..."

We don't want to be swimming with Jonah on the shoreline! Phil Ware continues with his series on Saved at Sea from the great Bible stories of sea rescues and this time examines Jonah and that he was saved from death for God's great purposes.

Where is your certainty found? Phillip Morrison reminds us that our assurance is based on what God does and has done in Jesus, not what we can accomplish for God!

I had heard of grace before, but on that day I was in the middle of it. Ron Rose is back with his coffee and this time he is thinking and remembering and celebrating the grace a friend received that changed his life and now inspires Ron and his wife Lyn!

Life without grace leaves us with a distorted understanding of God. James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of God's grace: both his common grace and his sacrificial grace meant to save us from our sinful failures and save us to share his gracious purposes with the world.

What's so amazing about grace? Grace is amazing because of all the great things it does for us and changes in us.

What difference does this gift make in your life? God's gift of grace in Jesus' Christ carries with it the responsibility to live changed lives.

Grace is the mercy and love of God freely shared with us. Grace is also the style, the way in which God shares this mercy and love James Nored and Phil Ware remind us that not only is God's grace available in his love and mercy, it is also beautiful in the artistic style he brings us this beauty!

Will we open up and really trust him to change our story into a grace story? All around us are people who are grace stories -- people who have opened up to God and received his grace and had their hard lives changed for the better.

We not only live in the overflow of grace, we are now the flow of that grace into the lives of those around us. Phil Ware reminds of the importance and power of grace and that we can live out of the overflow of this grace and bless others.

Now this is a reason to rejoice in hope! Phil Ware writes about the funeral of his father-in-law Mel Nelson and reminds us what it means to be edited by grace.

How many hours do you have to pray to earn a trip to heaven? Some people see Christianity like a rewards program, where you earn the right to go to heaven by doing enough good things. That's not what the Bible says.

Is there any hope for the monotonous mess of life? Max Lucado recognizes the monotonous routine of life and its challenges and reminds us that God's grace meets us in our messes and gives us the power to live our way out of them.

"Dear Child of God, In the aftermath of your big Christmas celebrations, don't forget the words of My servant Zechariah, "Do not despise these small....."

Why would you ever want to be like a dumpster? A dumpster with the word grace written on it reminds Tammy Marcelain of the great work that God can do in our lives to bring hope and joy and meaning when we receive His grace.

Is there something more than being saved from sin? Tom Norvell reminds us that we were saved from what we were to be what we are: God's people created with purpose to do good works.

"Dear Child of Grace, Paul powerfully tells the truth about where each of you was before grace:You were the offspring of the prince of the power of..."

Does your policy cover this? What's our best way to insure what is really important to us, our going to heaven?

He had to realize he could not make his life work on his own. No matter how badly we have messed up our lives, God still loves us and will forgive us.

We are saved by God's action, not our action. God sent his Son to die for our sins. We cannot be good enough to save ourselves. We cannot be bad enough that God's grace cannot save us.

How can we receive grace and still be so ungracious? Danny Sims uses a cartoon and touch of humor to remind us that we did not discover grace!

Are we doing what we were made to do? We were created for a purpose.

Love it or hate it... it is sure easy to live in the past. Do not stay rooted in your past successes or failures. Instead, embrace the future God has planned for you.

Is there really a Christmas gift worth regifting? Tom Norvell reminds us that this is really a gift worth regifting -- Jesus -- because he is our hope, joy, love, and peace and others need to hear us speak of him when they need him most.

Why would he choose this bunch to be his plan? Phil Ware continues his series on Catch and Release reminding us that we are chosen to be Jesus' witnesses specifically because of who we are and what he has done for us in our lives.

Better check those tax forms one more time If we try to earn our own salvation, we will never have peace with God. Peace comes from accepting his free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Why is it so hard to learn this simple lesson on which so much of life hangs? Phil Ware continues his series on the prodigal son called the Journey home and he looks at the hardest lesson learned, that it is better to be a servant in our Father's house than to be on our own and alone.

Registered forgiveness! No humiliation! No shame! Max Lucado shares a short anecdote on forgiveness and grace.

Let's live out God's gift of grace by celebrating God's goodness, loving Jesus, and obeying what the Lord taught as we love, serve, and treat others as our Savior did! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in an online, virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us and help us celebrate and live in appreciation to the grace of God.

What's your excuse? Ron Rose talks about Napoleon Dynamite and his skills and reminds us that we don't have enough skills, but God does!

Is grace a gift or does it come with conditions? Phil Ware reminds us that people make up their own definitions of what grace means all the time, but Jesus defines grace, exemplifies it, and pours it out upon us and he should be our example and definition of grace.

Because we could not be James Nored and Phil Ware remind us that we all needed Jesus' redemptive death on the cross so we could find new life in the grace of God.

How are we to respond to such an extravagant gift? Phil Ware thinks through the implications of Jesus' death for us.

The Father is looking to use you, no matter how unlikely it seems possible! Rubel Shelley reminds us that God does his best work through the most unlikely of people.

Can you be captured by freedom and grace? Phil Ware uses the climactic moment in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" where he is told to "earn it" to emphasize the difference between grace and obligation.

What is the Phil Ware continues with his series on The Story focusing on the What Is and Who Is and the Why Is of Jesus' coming.

If an event is epoch-changing, part of the dynamic that makes the event so transformational is the timing. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware combine to bless us with a powerful message on the timing of Jesus' coming and death as well as a virtual worship service focused on our right on time Savior.

Have you lost your identity? Phil Ware challenges us to look at our identity built around the question of "Who are you?" and the answer framed by the work of Jesus.

God perched His grace on a tree of torture in the middle of humanity's worst abuses so that grace would be available to everyone... even you! James Nored and Phil Ware explore the wonderfully unsettling nature of God's grace and His desire to make it accessible to everyone.