Rush Hour
RushHour helps RushChurch members stay connected to each other, informs them about current RushChurch happenings, and also includes bible study/theology talk. We will speak about RushChurch specifics but also on current events, tough questions on faith, church and the Bible
Rush Hour
God Character- Part 3: F R Double E Free And So Is Grace
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Welcome And Quick Banter
SPEAKER_01Hey, welcome everybody. It's me, the host of Rush Hour. With Britney and Ashley.
SPEAKER_06Along with your co-host. I was gonna say. And me, just a lady chilling here.
SPEAKER_01That's all I could come up with that quick. Perfect. Do we need like uh never mind when I this is rush hour? We already have enough ridiculous things going on without giving nicknames and co-host names.
SPEAKER_04Didn't we do like superhero names one time?
SPEAKER_01I don't think we did. Did we?
SPEAKER_06If we did, I don't remember mine.
SPEAKER_04Oh, we did. We asked what your superhero power would be.
SPEAKER_01We're pushing like 40 episodes now. Wow. So like we've done a lot of rush out.
SPEAKER_04We haven't gotten any better.
SPEAKER_01We still, this is just who we are. We're 40 episodes. I don't even know what episode. We're getting close to 40. I don't know. When we get to 50, we'll have to have like a a party. Yeah. Or not. Never mind.
SPEAKER_04We could we could twist those poppers off in the just us three in here. Oh, we are today's best in my own.
SPEAKER_01We need to get some more guests on this show. Get some fresh voices on the microphone. But we're glad that you listened to Rush Hour. We're glad that you're invested in Rush Church and what's going
Kids Program Launch And Volunteers
SPEAKER_01on here. Speaking of Rush Church, we got some announcements that are coming up. I'll say that. What's the first one? Russial Mania on Wednesday nights, uh, starting September 16th.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That is for uh four years old.
SPEAKER_04Yep. I'll let you go. Going through sixth grade, and that will be for eight weeks straight. We feed them dinner, have worship, lesson, games, craft, and we need volunteers. So right now we have two. We will not be able to operate with only two volunteers at all.
SPEAKER_01So we could, but your kids would get lost, or you know, they'd be all over the place.
SPEAKER_02Free for all.
SPEAKER_04So kitchen is covered. That's great. We will feed them for sure. But yes, we definitely need more help. Otherwise, we probably will not be able to do it. But Rushel Mini is a great thing. It's just like I wanna's seven or sorry, 6 p.m. to 7 30. So it's only an hour and a half of your time. And then yeah, if you would like to sign your kids up, you can do that by stopping at the welcome center. The registration forms are at the welcome center, so you can get your kids signed up for that.
SPEAKER_01I wonder what a wanna's is.
SPEAKER_04It's it's really just an organized, like it's a universal curriculum. Oh, I wana. You know, it's a program that they kind of go through.
SPEAKER_01A lot of people know what it is, apparently. I'm just like, I never did that. I don't know what that is.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Cool. But Russell Mania is a fun time. Sign up. Yeah. Help out.
SPEAKER_04Please.
SPEAKER_01We need you.
SPEAKER_04Appreciate it. And it's only we're only doing the fall session, so we're not doing winter. This is the only time of the year that we're doing Russell Mania.
SPEAKER_01All right. There you go. Other announcements
Football Tailgates And Free Lemonade
SPEAKER_01coming up. We have tailgates at Ben Logan for football games. We'd be out there. We be out there. What am I? We'd be out there. We be out there. Okay, okay. Sorry. We're out there before home football games. We set up on along the path on the far side down to the stadium. And last time we were there last Friday night, we gave out lemonade shakeups. We gave out like 120, didn't we?
SPEAKER_06That was a huge hit. I loved it. That was amazing.
SPEAKER_01I didn't even get one. I'm so sad. But we gave out a lot. We smashed lemons. It was real simple. You just smash the lemons, add some sugar, shake them up, water, flavor.
SPEAKER_06Once we got an assembly line, that was very sad.
SPEAKER_04Once we had two people come help us who weren't even supposed to be there to help us.
SPEAKER_01That's always good.
SPEAKER_04I really random people jumping in.
SPEAKER_01Shout out to Angel Payne for smashing lemons with me for a while.
SPEAKER_06And then Brock took over.
SPEAKER_01And Brock, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Good stuff.
SPEAKER_06It was a really good time. I really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And they were delicious. They were. Yeah. They looked good.
SPEAKER_04And people were really like, this was the most people have ever come up to us to our to our booth. So that was awesome.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04And again, they were shocked. Or like, why was this free? Our last family, I was like, I have three left. Would you like them? And they're like, Yeah, we'll step on up, take them. I handed him to them. He's like, How much do I owe you? I'm like, they're free. And I was like, wait, you were gonna take three lemonade shakeups and not know how much they were gonna cost you. And I could have just said 30 bucks, and he'd be like, here. And he's like, Yeah. I'm like, oh no, they're free.
SPEAKER_01We could have made a killing. No. But uh, it is funny because people they'll just come up and they'll be like, okay. And then they're like, Well, how much is it? And I'm like, You were don't even you just don't even know how much they need better signage because people don't know things are free.
SPEAKER_04We do, yeah. More than just that little thing that says free.
SPEAKER_01We need like a I don't know. You need like a twirly sign, you stand out there with spin it. The F F R double E free. Yes. There you go.
SPEAKER_06That's gonna be your job.
SPEAKER_01My job.
SPEAKER_04We could record my F R double E free.
SPEAKER_01I could just play it randomly through the speaker. Yeah, I'd be like, F oh in between like every three songs, it's just Ashley and she's like, come on over. F R double E free.
SPEAKER_06I don't know the song.
SPEAKER_04No, okay.
SPEAKER_01It's not a song, it's not.
SPEAKER_04So when I used to do this stuff in Florida, uh-huh, I had two friends, they're very hip-hop-ish, and they even have this little like leg dance with it.
SPEAKER_03They'd be like, F Rouble E free. But like a lot more hip-hop to it. But like cooler. Way cooler.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know about the dancing part. I didn't know that was an option. I thought it was just uh something actually made up. Nope. All right. But the tailgates are fun. We'll be out there every home game. Come hang out. You don't, even if you don't like what we're giving out, you can come set up a chair and a tent and hang out and tailgate with us, play games. We're gonna set up more activities and stuff. Might give away some prizes too, as that we get going. We have four more home games throughout the year, three in September and one in October. So come see us. We'll be out there. Yeah. What else is
Student Trip Signups And Color War
SPEAKER_01coming up? Student stuff, TCTC signups will be out this weekend. So you can start signing up for TCTC, which is our January trip. We go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, January 8th, 9th, and 10th. Uh we get a big bus, we go stay in a hotel down there, and we have a really awesome convention. We go down, and there's lots of great worship. The speakers are always fantastic. This year's speaker is gonna be really good. He's been there several times in the past, but it's just a cool thing. Students get to go somewhere else down on a big trip to Tennessee, hang out in Gatlinburg, do fun things, but they also experience worship and the gospel in new ways. And it's always uh a good trip, I think. There's always something that happens that goes wrong, but we always make it through. So I can't think of a trip that I've been on where it's gone completely as planned to TCTC, but that's why I always go and I'm prepared for anything. So there we go. Ashley, you've been you like it down there, don't you?
SPEAKER_04I have, yeah. I've been every year since you never been, have you? No.
SPEAKER_01We should throw Brittany in the middle.
SPEAKER_04Whenever Ben was the last, whenever Ben's last year was, I started then and then never stopped.
SPEAKER_01My last church, we were three hours from Gatlinburg, so it was a lot a lot easier. I would just drive down there and be done. But now it's like a we're gonna make it a trek across two states.
SPEAKER_04So cool, yeah. Remember the remember the one time the bus driver just kept running through Logan County? Yeah, and Annspell was like, what is she doing?
SPEAKER_01We couldn't get out of the county. We were just taking all the back roads and we were just like, and there's Sainsfield, and there's East Liberty, and they're like, where are we going? But it's always something. And then last last time we got a flat tire in Cincinnati, went through a snowstorm in Tennessee.
SPEAKER_04Oh my word. Salt cars in front of us just sliding.
SPEAKER_01Three or four years ago, I got sick on the trip and couldn't do anything. Luke had to take over.
SPEAKER_04We lost power one year at the convention. But trust me, parents, it's a great trip. It's a great trip. Take me with you.
SPEAKER_01I want to see what goes wrong this time. But it's always really good. And no matter what happens, we always experience God in some way, which is really cool. So that's coming up. Be prepared for that. We also have our color war on Sunday night, the 20th in September. Color War. We just get a bunch of colored paint and throw it at each other all night. It's a lot of fun. Usually about 30 students show up and have a color war. So if you want to come to that, you can come watch or you can participate too. It'd be fun.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Any other announcements on missing? I don't think so. I don't think so. There's a lot of stuff. You can check the bulletin, check the website, rushchurch.com for all your rush church needs and information. Or you can talk to us in person. Come visit
Church Picnic Recap And Worship Stories
SPEAKER_01us.
SPEAKER_06Do we want to talk about Sunday? How Sunday went. Debrief, yeah. I really enjoyed Sunday.
SPEAKER_01What was Sunday? What was going on?
SPEAKER_04Sunday was church picnic. Which, by the way, we missed an episode last week because we were so busy getting ready for the Sunday. I forgot to mention that.
SPEAKER_01We didn't record like an episode last week. We were too busy getting ready for the awesome picnic we had. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Everyone that was at the picnic was like, oh, okay. I get it.
SPEAKER_04Right. And we had a couple even brand new families like didn't even have any idea what the picnic was even going on. And they stayed and just had a great time. I loved it.
SPEAKER_01We wouldn't stay for a pink foam slip and slide on a unicorn.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01Kids loved that thing.
SPEAKER_04Oh my word.
SPEAKER_01They wouldn't get off of it.
SPEAKER_04But it's so the whole day started off with just kind of history of the church in general. You know, but we our main focus was rush church history.
SPEAKER_01Well, it started off as you know, we wanted to celebrate paying off the church debt.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01It was started off as that, and then it turned into a bigger just celebration of Rush Church in general and the history of it.
SPEAKER_04And even just going through like the music, like we had so many compliments of the worship because it we started with the stuff way back in the 1800s.
SPEAKER_02Did you know any of those?
SPEAKER_04I blessed assurance. Once we got there, I knew that one. And then from there I knew everything else.
SPEAKER_01Man, I was that Rock of Ages?
SPEAKER_04I had no idea what that was.
SPEAKER_01Really?
SPEAKER_04No.
unknownHuh.
SPEAKER_01See, those are like the hymns. Like I grew up in a church where we had the hymn books and we would sing those songs. I was like, that's like growing up. And then so we had really good worship Sunday morning. Went from like the hymns to modern day and ended with what'd you guys end with?
SPEAKER_04We ended with uh you've already won.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Which was yeah, I loved it. And just even the scripture reading in between and just seeing the different monarch modernization of watching the worship grow.
SPEAKER_01Got some banjo in there for fly away. That was great.
SPEAKER_04That transition was so weird.
SPEAKER_01I liked it. I was ready.
SPEAKER_04I loved it.
SPEAKER_01It was just like it went from less assurance to that was a great banjo. There was like somebody spoke and like read a verse and talked, and then it went right into the banjo. I was like, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_06So I missed all the worship because I was busy in the kitchen. Comes with the job.
SPEAKER_03You weren't even signed up for the kitchen.
SPEAKER_06I know, but it is what it is. But I will say that yesterday talking to Rosalind, who is nine, she was actually she's like, Mom, I have to talk about Sunday. I was like, You do? Did you have a good time on the slip and slide and all this other stuff? She goes, um, I need to talk about the music. She goes, I I was like crying. And this feeling that I had inside of me, I I really, really liked it. And I was so we had a good cry yesterday over it. So I am very, very grateful for the worship. That's amazing. It moved a nine-year-old who doesn't really under I mean, she understands what she's singing, but right it was really wow. So I'm very grateful, even though I didn't get to enjoy it. Thank you, worship team, very, very much. That's cool.
SPEAKER_01That was good because that was awesome. A lot of people felt that way. I think the the kind of just the whole atmosphere and the whole morning was like something special. It was just, you know.
SPEAKER_04And then ending it with a blessing. Oh, I wouldn't imagine. I I'd be a blubbering mess. We all were. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That was just so we had worship, and then we ended with that. And then in between, we had students talking about things, and you know, Emerson Carpenter Carpenter did communion meditation. I thought he did good. And then he him and Nala Pain talked about what church meant to them. I thought they were fantastic. Really good job. And then Gavin Reedmiller gave us a message, a sermon, and did really well. And so proud of those guys for stepping up. We had other students. We'd had students served communion, and Jenna Reedmiller passed out bulletins and greeted people, and we had people up in the crow's nest. And so students are doing things, and the future looks good for Rush Church. So big Sunday.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01If you missed it, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_04And then we promoted all our kids too. Oh, we did promo Sunday. Starting next week.
SPEAKER_01You gave me like nine new kids for youth group that are moving to seventh grade. So thanks for that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that class is gonna be backyard's gonna be a little bit smaller, and this one's gonna be a little bit bigger.
SPEAKER_01Just move it on up.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but good good times. I I don't know. I was telling John, I was like, this this class that I moved to you, you know, this is this is my what I'm entering my fourth year of being as as a children's minister here.
SPEAKER_01Is this your first class of ones that you were like, these are my students?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, for pretty much. Like these guys were, you know, I most of them, not only that, did I have known just from being here for so long, but they're I was more connected with them, you know. The ones previous were more connected with Laura, which is great. She built a great relationship, and these ones I just kind of, you know, I felt like, oh my gosh, my heart, here, here they go. I'm giving you these kids. Please take care of them.
SPEAKER_01At my last church when I was there for five years, like the last couple ones that I was when I had graduation Sunday. I was like, oh, these are my I've had these. And I was like, ah, yeah. And then I had that a couple years ago here too, when a class moved up and moved out and graduated. I was like, this is I've been with them the whole time. So all right.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Enough sad stuff. It's your turn. It's not sad stuff, it's good stuff. Yeah.
Jokes And Listener Interaction
SPEAKER_04All right. So jokes first. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure everybody's on the edge of their seats.
SPEAKER_06I'm ready to laugh.
SPEAKER_01They're in their cars. Cheesy are they gonna be? All right. I wonder where you guys listen to this podcast. Tell us where like where you like to listen to the Rush Hour podcast in your car. Like I listen to podcasts while I'm mowing the yard or doing dishes or I don't know. Wonder what everybody listens to.
SPEAKER_04We made you laugh. That would be funny.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, let us know if that happened. All right, jokes.
SPEAKER_04All right, jokes. What's a cat's favorite instrument?
SPEAKER_00Good grief.
SPEAKER_01Brittany. What comes to your mind with a cat's favorite instrument? It has to be something with meow, right? Or purr. Whiskers.
SPEAKER_06Scratch.
SPEAKER_01Scratch. Oh. Yeah. A DJ. I don't know. A DJ call. Sorry.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so a cat's favorite instrument is a percussion.
SPEAKER_01Percussion is not an instrument. That's a type of never. All right.
SPEAKER_03This is on the internet.
SPEAKER_04Oh, there we go. All right. Last last joke. I found a line in my closet the other day. Not for real, but you know it's a joke. When I asked That's it. That's the joke.
SPEAKER_00Why did you clarify that? Yeah, I mean, I appreciate the clarity. Just in case you were wondering.
SPEAKER_05Holy, is this real?
SPEAKER_02All right. Okay. Not a line in your closet. Just a story, guys. Don't panic.
SPEAKER_03When I asked, what is it doing there? It said. Well, what did it say? It said Narnia business.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. That's uh I don't the whole thing was well done set up.
SPEAKER_05I just oh my goodness. Oh my gosh. I just picture you opening the closet and this lion's like narnia of business. And you just closely close to the cloud.
SPEAKER_00Are you gonna clarify that lions don't actually speak? Because that's what I was waiting for at the end. Now, just to be sure, the lion's not real and they don't talk. But for joke purposes, this lion talks and he was in my closet.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. Narnia business. If you don't get that joke, you should watch or read the Chronicles of Narnia. Lion, the witch in the wardrobe.
SPEAKER_06Oh my word.
SPEAKER_01It's a good series.
SPEAKER_06So we need tissues in here.
SPEAKER_04All right.
SPEAKER_01We should do a podcast series on Hey.
SPEAKER_04If you guys have better jokes, please email them to me. Okay. I want to hear some of your things. Yeah, we'll give you credit too. I will be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01We'll touch people know that you're funny.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01And get rid of Ashley's time.
SPEAKER_04No, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01Get rid of Ashley's joke time.
Back To School Favorites Debate
SPEAKER_01All right.
SPEAKER_04My one one icebreaker would be obviously we're getting ready for school. Okay. We are going to take our kids to school shopping and all that.
SPEAKER_02Obviously.
SPEAKER_04But do you remember what was your favorite school item to shop for?
SPEAKER_01Back to school shoes.
SPEAKER_04Back to school shoes.
SPEAKER_06To shop for? I don't know, but I really like putting on a new pair of socks. Yeah. I really like that.
SPEAKER_04I do. That makes sense. I do like that too. Because they're no longer crusty on the bottom. Yeah. You know, or the hard.
SPEAKER_05Okay. I don't mean. Hold on. Perfect.
SPEAKER_00I did not see this episode taking this turn.
SPEAKER_05I didn't instantly was like, mom, get rid of these crusty old muddy socks. I don't understand.
SPEAKER_01I don't understand this answer. Socks. Like, I didn't get back to school socks. You did it? Like, why would I give? No.
SPEAKER_06I've spent a fortune in socks already. Back to school socks.
SPEAKER_04I actually had to hide a pack of socks from my son because he keeps getting into them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Boy. Get out of the socks. What are you doing? Wear your old socks. It's not time for the new socks yet. Gotta wait till the first day of school.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_06But mom, there's holes in all of them.
SPEAKER_02That's actually real.
SPEAKER_06It is real. Yes. No, you're not allowed to wear your school socks. All right.
SPEAKER_01If anybody else gets back to school socks, please let me know because there will be so many who say yes. I hope there's not. I hope there's no one that says yes, and you guys are just ridiculous.
SPEAKER_06I do remember that I'd always go back to school shopping and get like winter wear because we live in Ohio, and then I'd want to wear it the first day of school, and I'd be so sweaty. Wedding.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I don't understand any of this. I liked getting new shoes for school because everybody needs new shoes when it's school time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Not socks.
SPEAKER_04So for me, I guess I really wasn't thinking about the clothes side of it. I was thinking like the supply side of it. And I loved the brand new pencils. Like the mechanicals. Yeah. Like I just or gel pens.
SPEAKER_01You get the colorful. Yeah. You get the good pens. Like that was my like good pens. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And you only like back in the day when I like I only got like the six pack because we couldn't afford like the 20 pack, you know.
SPEAKER_01Back in the day, nobody needs 20 anyway.
SPEAKER_041900s.
SPEAKER_01The 1900s. But you know what they don't do anymore? They don't make cool folders. Remember all the folders you used to be able to pick out?
SPEAKER_06They don't even let you pick out your folders.
SPEAKER_01The designs on the folders, like you'd get the cool folders. Right. The 90s lightning strike background or the colorful, like all the but they don't have cool folders anymore.
SPEAKER_06No, you have to have red, yellow, blue, green.
SPEAKER_01Like, there's no animals, there's no favorite show on your folders anymore. Bring back the cool folders. No wonder kids can't learn anything in school. They don't have cool folders. Sorry. Because that's what it's about. Going on a rant here.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_01Erasers weren't your favorite thing? I like to get new erasers too.
SPEAKER_04I was all about the stuff.
SPEAKER_01We'd get the big erasers and you just pick off chunks of them and throw them at people. Nice. We got in so much trouble when the teacher finally realized that the floor was covered in eraser pieces. So, anyway.
God’s Grace Versus A Transactional World
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Back to school time, and now back to the Bible.
SPEAKER_03The real reason we're here.
SPEAKER_01We've been in Exodus 34, 6 through 8, I believe. The last couple episodes. Last episode we talked about compassion. How God describes himself as compassionate and what that means. Today we're moving on to the next word in these two verses, how God describes himself to Moses. And so this one is God is gracious or God is full of grace. And so let's start off just I'll ask this question Have you ever received a gift that was so surprisingly generous, like so completely out of proportion to anything you deserved, that almost made you feel uncomfortable? You ever gotten a gift that was like so beyond what you were expecting or what you thought you would you should get, and you're like, I'm a little uncomfortable. Comfortable with this gift because it's so much.
SPEAKER_06Yes.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Any examples you can think of? I can like I felt this, I know this feeling, but I couldn't think of like an example. Like I was like, I don't know what it was, but I think we've all like gotten something, and we're like, I don't uh you didn't need to do that for me. It makes you kind of like, uh I'm uncomfortable with the thing that you just got me as this gift. You know, and maybe or maybe someone gave you a gift when you had nothing to give them in return, and you're like, I didn't get you anything, and now you're like, I feel uncomfortable about this. In our world, almost everything is built off this idea of transactions. You give something to get something, and you have a transaction in almost all these different ways. And it's like, you know, I think life's like that in the world we live in is very transactional. You give and get, and it's not just like, you know, getting. I don't know, but you get the idea. Transactions. Yes. You earn your wages, you earn your money that you spend, you you know, you pay back pay back what you owe, you pay back things. And so that's kind of where I'm going with today, the idea of what grace is. We'll come back to this. Last week we looked at compassion, and we're looking at grace today. So Exodus 34, 6, the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God. All right. So he's gracious, he shows lots of grace. In English, grace has become a well, when you think of grace, what do you think of? I have to ask that question. Hear the word grace or gracious, what comes to mind?
SPEAKER_06I mean, I think that people have to have a lot of grace when they're interacting with me.
SPEAKER_00Wow. I agree.
SPEAKER_01All right, Ashley. Well, what do you what do you mean by that then? Like, what does grace mean to you?
SPEAKER_06That they just like how I meet other people. I don't know how to ex explain it. Sometimes I'm rough around the edges.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_06And so I'm always learning new things, so is everybody else.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_06So just meeting them a little bit of where they are and showing that I I don't know another word other than grace.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_04So it's hard to explain, but I guess when I think of grace, googling the word grace. He's ever there on her tune. I thought she was like definition of grace. Let me see real quick. No, my son. Um, I I guess and also immediately I think grace collates with the Bible, with Christianity. To me, grace, I just picture a blanket, like just being covered with whatever in my life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Very nice. I kind of like that. In our culture, grace has become kind of a religious word. I mean, you only use it kind of in a church type setting sometimes, but also we sing about amazing grace. We say, Well, one time I my youth finish professor in college used to talk about like church words and like what people think of when they hear these words, and like we think of certain things when we hear certain words at church, but then you have people that have no connection to the church, and so sometimes people like they hear the word grace, and he remember he told me about a time like a student couldn't really define grace, and when they thought of grace, they were like, Grace is what you say before you eat dinner every night, like saying grace, like a prayer, like saying that like that. And every time they heard the word grace, they just thought of a prayer before dinner. If you read the word, if you read it that way in scripture, you'd be really confused. Yeah, be like, that's really confusing. Why are they why is God praying like giving grace? But and so you get the idea of like these words have different meanings to different people, and so we're gonna go into grace today and define it a little bit more, a little bit deeper. And we also use grace in different ways too. Like, I'll be like, somebody trips and falls over something, be like, ah, their middle name's graceful, or something like that, you know, making fun of it. So we use it that way. But let's look at the original word in Hebrew where this is written, and it's this idea of grace is a little bit more dynamic, and and we'll kind of break it down a little bit for you. What God means when he calls himself gracious. Let's look at the word used for grace here when it comes to what God's saying about
Hebrew Grace As Delight Plus Gift
SPEAKER_01himself. In Hebrew culture, grace fundamentally describes a person of high status or wealth choosing to lean down and extend a completely unmerited gift, a favor, or a delighted response to someone in a lower or vulnerable vulnerable position. So you have this idea of the word grace means a lot. It's it's packed into this whole idea of the culture that they lived in, and it's this idea of someone of high status or wealth choosing to kind of look at somebody and be like, I'm gonna help you out. I'm gonna give you a favor, I'm gonna give you something you didn't really earn. It's a it's a delightful response to someone in a lower position. Carries two meanings. It can mean delight or charm. So seeing beauty or value in something, it's like finding favor in someone. Like I find, you know, favor in the way that somebody looks, or I find value in the way that this thing seems to me. So seeing beauty or value in something, and then the other one is a generous uh action. So turning the favorable feeling into an actual practical unearned gift. So it starts with a delight or a charm. You're you're delighted by something, you see it, and you want to, you know, appreciate it, and then it turns into this action of practical unearned gift. Our modern ideas of grace, which gets kind of always we think of grace and we think of forgiveness of sins or being covered, like you were talking about, right? Which is not wrong. It's it's good. But when we dig a little bit deeper, we see grace in the Old Testament is a little bit broader than just that. And it's about delight and delight-driven driven generosity. It's a gift given not because the recipient earned it, but purely because of the delight and generosity of the giver. So it turns around of the one giving the grace instead of the one receiving it. It's focused on why it's being given and who's giving it. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Brittany, you follow along? Any questions?
SPEAKER_06No. Okay. Not yet.
SPEAKER_01Think of it as like a king stepping off of his throne to grant a royal pardon or something like that in a seat at his personal table to a complete stranger who has nothing to offer. This is grace. This is the idea of the Hebrew word for grace. When God describes himself as graceful, he is declaring that his default disposition towards humanity is not scorekeeping, but an eager readiness to show favor to those who have zero leverage to demand it. It's the idea of God looking down and saying, These people have nothing to offer me, and still I find favor with them, and I am ready to show favor because of who I am, not because of them, but because of me. So sometimes a lot of people look at God and they see, like, you know, his position towards humanity is scorekeeping, or he's keeping score if he's seeing how many times we mess up, or he's, you know, watching closely and all these things. He's not distant, he's not doing that. He's eager and ready to show favor to us who have zero leverage to demand anything from him, really. And he's still there to offer it to us. I don't have a clip ready from the Bible project like last time, but I do want to read a little bit from their video. And it says the Hebrew word for grace is often translated as favor or grace in the Old Testament, and it is often given to someone who hasn't earned it. It's an act of generous favor from a superior to an inferior or from someone who has power to someone who does not have any power. When God is described as gracious, it means God's baseline attitudes to attitude towards people is one of generous favor, giving life, giving gifts, and second chances to those who haven't earned them. So you get that idea of grace. It is given unearned. And I guess you guys understand that part of you know what it is. God is gracious, and what has God, you know, done for us that is gracious that we haven't earned or deserve, do you think?
SPEAKER_06Our entire salvation, right?
SPEAKER_01Our entire existence. You know, you know, I think it's this is some of these things are the core of who God is, like compassion and grace. We wouldn't have anything if he didn't allow it, right? And so we see these characteristics you're really describing who God really is, and we see that play out every day in different ways. This idea that God's attitude towards us is unearned favor. We shouldn't fear that God is looking for a reason to reject us. We shouldn't fear that God's looking at our lives, picking out things that he's you know ready to be angry about us with. And some people have that view of God of like he's just watching me, waiting for you to mess up. I have to do this, I have to do certain things to stay on God's good side. I think that there's more people that think that than we realize, because I haven't thought that in a long time, but I remember when I did, and you know, I learned that that's not how God is, but I know people out there think that way. And so God being gracious can let you view God in this whole new whole new light. So, a couple examples, and then we'll discuss at
Old Testament Grace In Noah Ruth Israel
SPEAKER_01the end. When you look at the word grace throughout the Old Testament, my pattern appears, it almost always appears in situations where someone is completely vulnerable or entirely at the mercy of someone else, and then this idea of grace appears. Noah in Genesis chapter 6, he's in a world of violence and corruption. And the text says, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And so, what did Noah do to find favor with God?
SPEAKER_06I mean, he was one of the only, he was the only man that followed or that accepted God's existence.
SPEAKER_01Was Noah flawless? Was he perfect? No. So there was still, you know, it wasn't that Noah was morally fall flawless, it was that God chose to extend this grace to humanity through Noah. And once again, it's God choosing that was fine. Sorry. Brittany Brittany's needed a clear drop. And Ashley tossed one across the room, and Brittany can't catch, apparently. So excuse you. Oh, sorry.
SPEAKER_04Apparently, I can't throw.
SPEAKER_01Maybe that's it. It was a combination of the thumb. So when you look at this, Noah didn't earn favor. It's all Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. It wasn't that Noah was flawless and perfect, it was that God chose to offer grace to humanity through Noah. Or Ruth, we're back to Ruth, guys. And Boaz. The Ruth was a foreigner, a poor widow. When she gleans in the field of Boaz and he shows her overwhelming protection and kindness, she falls on her face and asks, Why have I found such favor? Why have I found such grace? That's the same word that's used here. Why have I found such grace in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner? Boaz responds and mirrors God's heart. And we talked about this before. He gives freely, he gives grace simply because he chose to extend favor. That's just who he was. Not because Ruth deserved it or earned it in any way, but because the giver of the grace decided to do it. And then the other one, you know, God gives grace in the story that we're in right now. And when Israel constructs a golden calf and the people are acting a fool, the base of Mount Sinai, they they shatter their covenant with God before it even starts, basically. And it should have been the end of it. Moses intercedes, asking God to show his glory. God responds in Exodus 33 and 19, he says, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will show grace, to whom I will show grace. And God's grace isn't a reward for good performance. It's a choice to give life and favor to the undeserving. Israel didn't deserve God's grace, God's favor in this thing. They deserve to be left behind or be destroyed by God in that moment. But God is gracious and shows grace, and it's all about the one giving grace. It's all about that, I believe. And so we see grace in those different situations. Does it help when you think of sometimes when we think of grace, we think of grace on the receiving end because we receive grace.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01And we think about getting grace. When you flip it around, you think about God giving grace. How does it help you see him better, do you think? How does it help you know God better when he describes himself as gracious?
SPEAKER_04I think just knowing that that's his character, like he already wants to, you know, we don't deserve it, but he wants that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_06I would agree with that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. When you break it down, you see that the word grace in the Old Testament has a two-part meaning. At first, it's seeing something of value and then putting action behind it. God sees, he says, I value you, and now I'm gonna give you grace because I want to. Because that's just who I am. And I like the idea of you know these things that God notices and he sees and he looks, and then it moves him to action. Kind of like last week in compassion. You feel that compassion, you feel like you need to do something, then God acts. Right. God sees that he values us, sees that you know it's beautiful or has value and things, and then he turns it into action and he gives something undeserved that you know we don't even we shouldn't even get, but he gives it anyway because he wants to. Let's finish this up with a little bit of the New Testament real fast, and then we'll be done. When the gospel of John introduces Jesus in John chapter 1, uses this exact word, grace, to explain who he is in John 1, 14. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and he was full of grace and truth. Same word used all throughout the Old Testament. That word grace right there is the same. And so
Jesus Shows Grace First
SPEAKER_01Jesus is grace embodied throughout his ministry. He continuously bypasses all these different things that the Pharisees have set up, and he goes off and does scandalous things. He offers unearned favor to those who could never earn it, who are some people that Jesus hung out with.
SPEAKER_06Like his disciples?
SPEAKER_01Yep. And then usually we find Jesus with a other crowd of people too. When he goes, like he goes to different places and he hangs out with tax collectors, he hangs out with sinners, he hangs out with people that are casted out, outcasts, prostitutes, and he dines with tax collectors and sinners and granting them acceptance before they ever did what?
SPEAKER_06Asked for it.
SPEAKER_01Before they ever asked for it, before they ever realized, before they even knew that they needed to change how they were living. They just came as they were, and Jesus is hanging out with them. He heals the sick and the outcast who have no nothing to offer him in return. None of these people have anything to offer Christ, you know, and he continues to give them things that they can't pay back and they don't deserve, and for any other reason than just trusting who he is sometimes, having faith. In John 8, a woman caught in adultery is brought before him. He protects her from her accusers and says, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. Grace first, then transformation. Grace is always first. Grace is always the first thing that you have to accept when you come to Christ. You have to accept the fact that I have nothing to offer you. I don't deserve this, but you give it to me anyway, and that is gonna change how I live. It's not I'm gonna change, and then you accept me.
SPEAKER_04Right. That's what I always say about going to church. Like you don't even change yourself before coming to church. Come to church, let it change you.
SPEAKER_01Come to church and then ex be introduced to who Jesus is. Right. You can do that, and then a lot more comes with that. The more you come, you can't just keep coming and not change. And you know, you can't claim Jesus and say, I like that, and then not have it transform your life. Because then you might not, you know, actually know who he is, and you might not genuinely understand. If it doesn't transform who you are, then revisit, you know, what I actually believe about who Jesus is and what he's doing in my life. But the idea of coming as you are, it's a it's a theme in the gospels. People just show up to Jesus without changing first. Zacchaeus up in a tree. You know that one? We little Zacchaeus. He was short.
SPEAKER_04We little man, and we little man was.
SPEAKER_01I knew you would know it.
SPEAKER_06Yes, I'm aware of the song.
SPEAKER_01And so he know he sees something in Jesus, and then he comes and then experiences Christ, and then he changes after that. So the idea of grace first, transformation second, that's what grace is all about. In Paul's letters, the uh, you know, this Old Testament concept of grace reaches its full full like what it fully means at the cross. In Ephesians 2, 8 through 9, Paul says, For it is by grace that you've been saved through faith. And this is not from you from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Jesus showed that God's grace isn't just this temporary polite gesture that we sometimes think grace is in our culture, showing grace here and there. This is the definite, definitive way that God saves and restores his broken world through grace. Something that the world didn't deserve God to come down in human flesh and do these things for us and go to the cross for us, but he did it anyway, and that's grace. So, what does it mean
Stop Performing And Live In Freedom
SPEAKER_01for us today that God is graceful, full of grace? It means you can stop running on you can stop going through life thinking that you're on a performance treadmill for God. Sometimes people live like as if they're performing for God. Have you guys ever done that before? Done that or experienced that or felt like you've, or have you ever felt personally that you've been performing for God to gain his favor?
SPEAKER_04Yes, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I have sometimes not so much anymore, but sometimes you can catch yourself being like, I am I doing this because you know I'm motivated the right way, or am I doing this to try to impress God and I'm stop and be like, I'm not gonna impress I don't need to impress God. But I think or you've have you said have you experienced it? Have you seen somebody that you know tries to impress God with their actions?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I mean, when I'm living my life, I try to live the same way all the time. Despite where I am, and I've definitely it's easier to do that when you see people not doing that. And you're like, oh wait, you don't act like that on other days.
SPEAKER_01Well yeah, so knowing that God's full of grace and he is his core character is gracefulness, it helps if you had that mindset of I need to impress God, I need to perform, I need to earn this amazing thing that he's doing for me. No, you don't. It's who we God is, he wants to, he's the giver of grace, he sees you and he offers things that you could never earn, that you don't deserve, and you can live in that, and that's freedom. Sometimes it's really hard for us because of when people give us gifts and we're like, I don't deserve, that's kind of awkward feeling. So grace can be awkward grace, knowing that God has lavished us with this grace and given us things we don't deserve and just amazing. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to be like, I don't deserve this. And so learning to accept God's grace can be hard for some people, I think. Learning to accept I don't have to earn this, and I'm never going to earn this. It's a hard thing to accept for some people, but when you finally do, changes your life, changes how you go from day to day, changes how you see God, all that good stuff. So all right. Many of us live with this belief that God's love for us rises and falls based on our daily performance, how well we pray, how many mistakes we make, how often we read our Bible, but grace reminds us that God's favor was never earned in the first place, which means it cannot be lost by a sudden failure. You're not gonna unearn God's grace, you're not gonna mess up so bad that he takes it away from you. He can't if that's part of his core character, if that's part of who he is. He has no choice. I mean, that's just what he does. And so any thoughts, concerns, questions about God's grace today?
SPEAKER_06I think that was a really easy line to hear, but like to comprehend is a different story.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, especially we think if you've been in church a long time, you hear grace, you're like, I understand.
Grace Changes How We Treat People
SPEAKER_01Grace. I don't deserve it. But if you look at it and you really experience it, you're like, it's overwhelming sometimes.
SPEAKER_06Sometimes I think that like I shouldn't say this out loud. Sometimes I think I don't have enough space in my brain to hold all the different categories for just who God is, let alone.
SPEAKER_01Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I I don't know if we're ever we're never going to. Yeah. But it it doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It doesn't mean we shouldn't kind of learn who God is. But in somewhere as we talk about all these things, we can't explain him. There's no way we're gonna fully explain God and who he is and how he does things. We can do a little bit of this right here, like these episodes of who God is, and it helps us now see who he is, but we're not trying to fully explain everything there is to know about God because you can't. If we could, then he wouldn't be God. We'll never fully explain his character. We'll never fully be able to grasp what he's done and who he is. Hopefully one day we will, when we're in his presence, maybe that'll be. But now we have to we have to have in our mind also that you know he's God and he is above. That's why Isaiah 55 8 is one of my favorite something. It's in Isaiah 55 somewhere, but you know, God's ways are higher than our ways, and God's thoughts are above our thoughts and all things. And so I love that verse because when I would try to explain God or I try to figure out all these things, I can just be like, never mind. It's fine. God's so much bigger and higher above all these things, and I'll just trust Him with it. Which I say doesn't mean we can't study, we can't do these types of things. It helps, but don't try to fully do all that, like in Brittany's head that she's trying to do over there.
SPEAKER_06I'm just trying to fit it all in there. It's fine.
SPEAKER_01So when you can kind of feel that God delights to show you grace, it gives him joy to show you grace. Let him show you grace, let him give you things you don't deserve.
SPEAKER_04And that is helpful because when you, you know, when you when you mess up and it's like again, God, I I messed up with this again. What in the world? But he's like, no, I I delight in you coming to me and telling me that you are still struggling with this. Like, I delight to give you that grace. That's just, I don't know. Like, I I mean, again, his ways are higher because in my mind, I'm like, I don't deserve that.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think that changes the way we it adds a little bit to the grace conversation because sometimes we're like amazing grace, it's great. And then, but when you stop and think and be like, now God delights in this. Let's give God joy to give me grace. I'll just let him give me grace. I don't have to push back and be like, I owe you this, or I'm trying this, and I'm sorry about this. Things like, Hey, let me be happy and give you that. Let me, you know.
SPEAKER_06I have to fight my human I have to fight my mind with this all the time. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's why I started the conversation off with you know, that uncomfortable feeling of when somebody gives you something. We feel that with God, I think, sometimes when he offers us these things. And if we can kind of learn to be okay with it, it's better. One more thing. If you can kind of see that God brings delight in this, it kind of affects how we treat others sometimes, or it helps us with our relationships and how we should be treating other people. Sometimes we have relationships and we treat people transactionally. We give because we know that they're going to give us something in return, or we know if you know, do this for this person, they'll be there. You kind of it's transactional, it's how we live. You start offering second chances, you start offering kindness where it's not deserved and generous favors to the people in your life who least deserve it because that's what God has done for us. We need to be more gracious with people around us because God's been so gracious with us. And so it helps remind us, and we could do a whole podcast on just that, but I did want to mention that let it transform how you treat other people too. And it's really hard to do that, be gracious sometimes to people around us, but let that challenge you. Let that be the challenge for the week as you go. All right,
Prayer And Closing
SPEAKER_01let's pray. We've this is a lot longer episode than I ever planned it would be. This was uh good though. I thought it was good.
SPEAKER_07That was good.
SPEAKER_01Lord, thank you so much for this time. Thank you for your grace, thank you for delighting in us and giving us gifts and help us to accept them, help us to accept your grace, help us to understand that we're not performing, we're not trying to impress you, and it doesn't give us more grace or more love. That it's just who you are. And we're thankful that you give us this life. We get these experiences together. Pray for those that are listening, whatever going on in their life this week, which be struggles or praises or whatever it may be, that you're there and you're showing up, and people are experiencing you in the good and the bad. Thank you for Jesus that he is the fullness of grace and truth embodied, and that we got to see all that in him. In his name we pray. Amen. All right. Thanks, guys. We'll see you later next time on Rush Hour.