Dear Elim Grace,
We stand at the precipice of a new beginning. No, we are not writing a new story. We are not finishing one book and picking up another. Rather, this new beginning is a new chapter in the continuing story of Elim Grace on earth. Neither are we the author of our own story. That title – Author – belongs to One only: Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the Head of the Church.
One week from today we will hold our first service in our brand new sanctuary. This has been six years in the making. In the planning. In the working. In the praying. While on the one hand we can say “this is the day the Lord has made,” on the other hand it is a day He established in eternity. So for both these reasons, “let us rejoice and be glad in it!” This coming Friday is sealed and set apart for the glory of Jesus. His name alone deserves the highest praise for all that He has done throughout the generations of our church. From the founding in 1968 to this new beginning in 2026, “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”
As I consider this opening day, I feel the weight of Paul’s words: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:10) God’s grace was not in vain in that it was achieving its (God’s) purpose and result in Paul’s life. Paul would continue by saying, “On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Grace energizes. Grace trains. Grace equips. To what end? To “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) Grace comes on purpose and with a purpose!
So Paul can say he is what he is by the grace of God, because he did not receive the grace of God in vain. That is why, with all the love in his heart, he later exhorts and admonishes the Corinthians “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Corinthians 6:1)
What would it mean for the Corinthians to receive the grace of God in vain?
“In vain” doesn’t mean being unsaved, forfeiting salvation, or neglecting salvation. It means grace is accepted, BUT it never attains its goal; it comes to nothing. It means God’s free grace is not put to good use. It means not allowing the grace of God in Christ to have its full transformative end or purpose in your life.
Paul is exhorting them towards the progressive transformation of their daily experience. To grow in Christ! To become mature in Christ! Or as we say here at Elim Grace, to grow a big people in Christ! Give grace an effective welcome, Paul would say! Capitalize on opportunities for spiritual growth! TODAY! “ ‘In a favorable time I (God) listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) TODAY there is grace and favor! For our opening weekend there is grace and favor!
Paul is concerned that the Corinthians avail themselves of God’s gracious enabling at every turn, so that the purpose or aim of their salvation might be fully attained. And so I am burdened, Elim Grace, that we avail ourselves of God’s gracious enabling at this and every turn, so that the purpose or aim of our salvation might be fully attained. So that it might be said of us, “They fulfilled God’s purpose for them in their generation.”
We are what we are, and we are where we are, by the grace of God. Therefore, let us not receive the grace of God in this new expansion and sanctuary in vain! Let us not receive this new beginning in life and ministry in vain! Let us not receive the sacrifice and faith of those gone before us in vain!
Rather, let us let grace have its way and achieve its purpose and fulfillment in us. Let us, in other words, lift our eyes and our hearts and our hands this weekend in thanksgiving and surrender to God. Let our words be few and let His grace be much. For we are growing not a big church, but a big people – a people big IN CHRIST.
Pastor Jonathan