EPC Resources
Grace in the Mess: Celebrating Love, Mercy, and the Beauty of 'Better, Not Best'
Grace: A Gift Freely Given
Grace is not something we earn or deserve; it’s a gift freely given.
It shows up in the messiness of our lives, not in our perfection.
Grace is the love and acceptance of God that meets us exactly where we are—imperfect and human.
Grace reminds us that we don’t have to strive endlessly to be good enough.
Grace says, “You are already loved.”
Grace in the Letting Go
Grace is in the moments when we let go:
Let go of our shame.
Let go of our need for control.
Let go of our fear of failure.
It’s trusting that God’s mercy is bigger than our shortcomings and greater than the world’s problems.
Grace invites us to be open to better things:
A better us.
A better world.
A better way of communicating.
Even the smallest baby-step of “better-not-best” is held in grace.
Rest in Grace Today
Take a moment to rest in grace.
Breathe a little.
Let go of the pressures of expectations or ideals.
Simply allow God’s love to fill your heart.
Trust that you are enough, just as you are, in God’s unending grace.
Can you believe that grace is celebrating you at this very moment?
Grace in Every Moment
You made it through another day.
Maybe you said something stupid, or maybe you said something kind.
Maybe you met all your marks, or maybe you fell short.
Grace is here—
with you, for you, starting right where you are.
It nudges you to take one micro, mini step in a new direction:
A step with mercy.
A step with love.
Grace for EPC
Grace is here for Emmanuel too.
Something sweet is happening among us.
We may not have an ironclad plan to build the greater, grander, worry-free, award-winning, people-helping, people-saving church-of-all-time we might wish for.
But grace reminds us:
God loves EPC. Grace is here with EPC.
By grace, we have traveled this far.
And by grace, we will continue.
Thank God for grace.
Reflection Questions
Are you judging anything about yourself or your life?
Can you let grace in?Are you happy or grateful about something?
Take a moment to realize:Grace is throwing a little party with you about all the good things.
Grace is hatching plans for even more.
An Election Week Message from Pastor Jane
Tuesday is election day here in our beautiful country. We will certainly use our hearts and minds to be led in our voting. It is such an honor to be part of this Democratic Republic, this amazing experiment that is America, but all the cosmos is God’s.
It is truly the Lord alone who is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
The form of democratic republic government is young, other governing forms are much older and have much longer consecutive histories, monarchies, for example, who claimed God appointed them to rule. The idea of the separation of church and state was introduced by Henry the 8th who did not want to be told by the church he could not get a divorce. The interplay between powers of state (some claiming divine power and some claiming secular power) and God’s work in humanity has been quiet a tangle over the centuries.
Our faith in God cuts through all of these and is stronger than any form of governing, greater in hope and life than any ruler, more glorious and binding than any bomb or law. If you ever doubt this, pray the prayer of the desperate father in Mark 9, “I believe, help me in my unbelief.” Jesus shows us that the father's faith, or lack of it, is no obstacle to him. Cry out: your sincerity is precious to Jesus. God placed within you a spirit that even destroyers of the flesh cannot touch.
No matter who wins the privilege of serving America as our President and Commander in Chief, no matter the tone set, no matter the consequences, no matter the good or ill that come, we pray with grateful and hoping hearts for America and her work in the world.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF EASTER; OUR LIVES ARE THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS.
We wake up each day saying again that God is growing us and walking with us individually and as a church, local and universal, in all joy and all sorrow.
We look for and participate in Christ’s resurrection in all life.
We lift our hearts and lives to take part of God’s true work of Shalom for all creation.
We celebrate and invite others into the body of Christ and together we care for what needs attention in our lives, community, and the world - to nourish, to comfort, to build, to find, to bless - and we follow Christ out of old ways of living that lead to death and chaos, step by step into new life with Christ each day.
Your joy in Christ, your love, peace, and your faith in God’s will for goodness bless this world more than you can know.
You are the body of Christ, each one of you is part of it. (1 Cor. 12:27)