What one word describes your life? Would the word be “exciting?” You have lots of things going on, lots of friends, plenty of choices. Maybe the word is “adventurous” – you like new challenges and variety. What is your word?

Perhaps the word that describes your life is “love” – you have a partner, a family, friends – and together you are surrounded by and filled with love.

“Faith” is another word you may use to describe your life. You have found that faith gives your life a focus and direction as well as comfort and hope. Your faith is what you base your life on.

Each of these words: exciting, adventurous, love, faith, could be finalists in a word search for our church. Our church is exciting. People tell me they come to worship to just to see what is going to happen next! They have witnessed powerful, life-changing worship services and have seen miraculous connections between God and his people. Never afraid to try new ideas, our church has become an adventure, waiting to see what God will have us do next.

Many people have started coming to our church because of the faith they see lived out in peoples’ lives. “I want the kind of faith the people have at this church,” a guy recently commented. Truthfully, though, most people have made our church their home because they feel the love of God in our church and in our people.

But all these words fail to grasp the full identity, the complete description of our church. Our name says it all- “Grace Church.” We are about grace, God’s fantastic desire to wipe out our failures and give us a fresh start.

So many people have it all wrong. They feel God is far away. They believe God keeps a record of their wrongs. They believe God is ready to get them. When, all along, God is the Father waiting at the end of the driveway, longingly looking for his son or daughter to come home. In fact, when we finally head home – back to God – we discover that God has a party planned just for us!

This is the essence of Grace Church. All of us who gather to worship, from senior pastor to the newborn child, come to experience God’s wonderful, amazing grace. That is why our worship is filled with joy and celebration. That is why more and more people come.

Maybe you want “grace” to describe your life. If you are like the rest of us at Grace Church, you will keep coming back for more.