Dear Christian friends:

Out on Monroe St. near my home we see GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH. Often we see church's have the name GRACE. In Fremont, Ohio we have another GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH. Why did they chose that name? Because GRACE is very important to Christians. In our text St. Paul tells what God's GRACE did for him, how wonderful God's GRACE is, and what it can do for you.


God's GRACE made St. Paul become a new person. Before Paul was named Saul. He at that time was an enemy of Jesus Christ and His disciples. He says in our text, "I am least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." And to young Timothy he wrote, "I am chief of sinners." Who can tell us about Saul and how he persecuted the church, and then was changed from an enemy to a friend one day on the road to Damascus? (Last June at our Circle meeting we talked about this in Acts 9.)

Paul says, "By the grace of God I am what I am." Now his name is not Saul but Paul. Now he is not an enemy but a very dear friend of Jesus. He says God's grace changed him and made him become a new man. What is God's grace? When God loves His enemies, goes after them and accepts them and forgives their sins, that is grace. Grace is love and kindness which we do not deserve.

What God did for Paul He does for you, too. We are all sinners, enemies of God, just like Paul was. In one hymn we confess that. We sing:

Chief of sinners, though I be,
Jesus shed His blood for me;
What God's Grace Can Do!
Died that I might live on high;
Lived that I might never die;
As the branch is to the vine,
I am His and He is mine.
(Chief of Sinners Though I Be, Hymn)

God came searching for you and me and called us to believe in Him. Through our parents and church God has accepted us as His dear children and forgives all our sins. God says we are okay because of His grace which He has showed to us in Jesus, our Savior.

God's grace also made Paul become a great church worker. Paul says in our text, "His grace to me was not in vain." God's grace was not wasted on Paul. He adds, "I worked harder than all the other apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is in me." Paul also told the Christians at Rome, "Now I live for Christ. It is no more I who live, but Christ who lives in me." God's grace gave Paul the Holy Spirit to help him love God and gladly do His work in the world.

Paul became the great missionary to the Gentiles (non-Jewish nations). He made three great missionary journeys to preach the Good News of salvation to many nations. He wrote 13 of the Epistles in our New Testament Bibles. Finally, he was put in prison at Rome and later beheaded for the sake of God's work.

God's grace should not be wasted on you and me either. We, like Paul, should let Jesus live in our hearts and lead us to work hard to tell the Good News of Salvation to many deaf people. If we don't work hard, God's grace will be wasted on us or in vain. May God's grace be with us to help us believe in Jesus and love Him and work for Him.

Amen.