Recently, I got a chance to rent a movie at Blockbuster called Saving Private Ryan (we Pakes rent, we donít buy).  If youíve ever seen it, youíll know that itís a wonderful film on World War IIís D-day, directed by Steven Spielberg.  After the initial Normandy battle, Capt. Miller, played by Tom Hanks, is given an assignment to take a squad of soldiers to save a single soldier named Private Ryan.

Out of entire war, their only assignment is to search for Private James Francis Ryan and bring him home to freedom.  They finally find him at a battle for a bridge being held against the German army.  However, in the battle to defend it, the entire squad, including Capt. Miller, suffer wounds and die.  If you havenít seen the movie, thatís it, thereís no sense renting it.  But, thereís something in that final scene that I want to discuss.

Itís here that you have Private Ryan trying to make sense out of all of the chaos, the battle, and the bloodiness.  Heís trying to make sense out of the fact that a group of men, that he doesnít even know, will risk their lives to save him.  At the end, he comes to grips with an understanding that will profoundly change the way he lives his life.

As a civilian, Ryan stands before Capt. Millerís grave and we can hear through the questions that he asks, an uneasiness within his soul, "Iíve tried to live the best I could, and I hope that was enough.  I hope that at least in your eyes, Iíve earned what you all have done for me."  Heís still not sure, and trying to understand why they had to die, and how he was able to live.

What Private Ryan struggled through in this scene, was the concept of grace.  If he understood the gift of grace, he would understand why he was now free.  He would have realized that he could now live his life freely in a manner worthy of the grace he was given.

Thereís nothing more crucial to living our lives to the fullest, than for us to have a firm understanding of the free grace of our Heavenly Father.  If we misinterpret this grace, we live a life of heartache and frustration.  On the other hand, if we grasp onto the significance of Godís grace, and we accept the gift he has given to us, thereís absolutely nothing that can take away from living a life of fullness in his joy and peace.  Nothing will stop us.  Not the size of the challenge, the strength of the opposition, or the lack of our own feeling of self-worth, because it is by His grace that we live.

To understand this concept of grace, letís look at a prayer of Paul to the Ephesians:

What Paul is saying, is when God raised Jesus from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand, He actually empowered Christ to have an authority and power greater than anything that has ever been known.

Now check this out.  Just a few verses later, in Chapter 2, Paul gives a very sharp contrast by exploring the lifeless condition of fallen man:

Now consider this:

• Christ was made alive because of his righteousness, but we are dead because of sin.
• Christ is exalted and seated in the heavens, but we live below on Earth.
• Christ was given power and authority over everything, but we are subject to the powers of sin in our lives.

Apart from God, we are desperately and hopelessly lost.  Weíre not just sick.  What is the word that Paul uses?  Weíre dead!  Weíre without life, without hope, without potential, and without worth.  If the Bible stopped there, I would never read it again, but what God does is that He sets us up as to where we are, and then He gives us the promise of what we can become.  So letís take a look at the good news:

By grace you have been saved!  Even though we were dead, God made us alive in Christ. Did He have to do it?  No, but He did, to show how much He loved us.  It wasnít in response to anything that we did.  It was done because of a cause.  And the cause was to show us how great, mighty, and deep is His love for us.  It has nothing to do with our potential, or with the qualities we possess.  It has everything to do with the hopelessness of our condition, and the goodness of who He is.  The goodness is in the giver, and not the recipient.

We didnít deserve this and itís completely free.  Thereís nothing we can do to buy it, or negotiate for it.  God didnít have to extend it to us, but He did.  If we can comprehend and understand this gift by receiving it, weíll finally realize how worthy we are to Him.

Paul was one of the worst apostles because he once murdered and persecuted Christians that weíre trying to follow the Lord.  He persecuted, tried, and murdered them.  He even stood above Stephen when they stoned him.  Yet, despite the fact that he didnít deserve anything from the Lord, God still extended His grace to Paul.  Itís in God grace that Paul finally found some worth within himself.

The Bible is full of examples of people who had fallen, but because of Godís grace, they had life.  Look at Moses, he argued with God about being a failure.  Look at Jeremiah, he argued about being too young.  Or Peter, who denied Christ, but was still offered grace.  Donít ever allow your feelings of unworthiness to stop you from doing what God has asked you to do.  Many times we feel that weíre being asked to do something for the Lord in ministry, to be a good father, mother, co-worker, or to lead a small group, but we feel that because of our unworthiness, we canít do it.

As I was preparing backstage to give this message on grace, I just wanted to weep during worship because thatís my life.  God had saved me from so many different things.  It was grace that he extended to me.  I should be dead today!  But, God called me to the ministry, and I couldnít let the feeling of unworthiness stop me from doing what God has asked me to do.  Whatever He has asked of you, donít let yourself be stopped, because He has already shown His deep love for you.  Acknowledge His grace, receive it, and go with what God has called you to do.

2. By His grace we have the power to overcome our greatest challenges.

What is being said here is that because weíve been crucified in Christ, weíve also been raised with Him, and we sit in the heavenly places.  We sit with the power of the resurrection dwelling within us.  Since Christ died, and brought the power of the resurrection, Heís now seated at the right-hand of God.  So Paul is explaining to the Galatians, when we die to ourselves, crucified in Christ, we also are being raised up to where Christ is.

Weíve got the power of the resurrection to live and overcome any challenges weíre going to face.  Itís unlike any power weíve ever seen.  Itís not a power of having a strong personality, an educated mind, or money in your pocket.  Itís not that kind of power.  Itís the power that raised Christ from the dead, a power to bring life in a fashion that was seemingly impossible.

Itís a power that doesnít look at any obstacles, and goes through armed guards, heavy stones, and anything standing in its way.  However even with this kind of power, Christians, so many times just seem to give up and struggle.  They struggle because they lose focus on who they should rely upon, and who is giving them the power.  It is only through Godís grace that we are given the power of resurrection.

It doesnít matter where you are in life, or where youíve come from.  Youíre going to get hit with challenges so difficult that youíll believe that you canít go on.  But Godís grace is sufficient for you.  His grace is going to carry you through every single challenge youíre going to face.

He loves us so much, that He will constantly remind us who we are to Him.  Thereís no where that you can go, that you wonít hear His still small voice saying, "I love you, with all of My heart."  There is no challenge we will face that we wonít hear Him say, "My grace is sufficient for you."  He will always call us back to Himself, and always provide us with a way home.

It doesnít matter where youíve gone or what youíve become, God still extends His grace out to you.  His love is so deep for you that Heíll put aside everything that has gone on in your life.  We donít deserve it, but He gives it to us freely.  We donít have to earn it, or pay for it, we just have to accept it.  Knowing that kind of love from our Father, once we accept it, could we ever go back to the life that we had before?

Private Ryan discovered that grace in 1944, I discovered that grace in October 1995.  For you, well, Iíll let you fill in that blank.  If some of you have not accepted His wonderful grace, or maybe youíve walked a ways away from it, itís okay.  Come back to the cross and come home to the Love and relationship that God has for you.  Donít let another day go by.