Incidentally, the church that introduced me to Jesus way back in 1997 is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer. Grace EPC in Lawrence, KS. They're almost as old as the Vineyard Movement!
See, at the heart of the Gospel--AKA the "good news" or message of Jesus is this idea of grace. God loves us in spite of our sin. When we deserve death we get abundant, eternal life. When we deserve to be abandoned, God comes close and says, "I love you." When we hurt God by hurting people we are again and again forgiven and entrusted with the power and responsibility of the ongoing ministry of Jesus.
you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.--Ephesians 2:1-10Paul then goes on to talk about racial reconciliation. So, the grace of God gives us access to resurrection from death, the love of God, and the power to do the things God wants to do through us--things like healing, peace-making, justice for the oppressed, helping people leave their various paths of death for the Way of everlasting life. It's not just something that affects us after we die but changes the way we live now as we begin to experience more and more of the end of time in our present existence. We don't only get the Father's stamp of approval for entry into heaven, but we get the Gift and the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a down-payment of our unearned reward at the end of our lives.
A lot of problems creep into the church and then out of the church, much to the consternation of God and everyone else, when we begin to think of our relationship with God as something we've earned or something we deserve. If we have any illusion of entitlement to the love of God by any means other than the cross of Christ, then we aren't saved, we're just practicing paganism while using Christian language. God's love & power can NOT be earned. They can only be given. They are gifts.
This is true no matter what the particular expression of love or power happens to be--whether that be physical or emotional healing, the transformation of a society, the experience of a single individual learning how much God loves her, deliverance from evil spirits--whatever. All the good things we experience in life--even life itself--are gifts from a good God that we don't earn. This is important to understand, because as we follow Jesus we will be expected to become like Him--giving, sacrificing, and forgiving towards people. That we get to become transformed in this way is another gift, but if we think of the things God gives us as things we own by our own hard work, we will miss this gift of transformation and all the other ones we didn't earn as we lose them to our own ungratefulness. It's hard to enjoy a gift as a gift when you think you've bought it for yourself. But if we get to enjoy something precious we didn't earn even for a short while, we can be thankful for it and enjoy it for the time it's present and not feel robbed when it's gone. In the end, even our very lives will be this way.
When we live in the truth of God's grace it's easier to be grateful, and therefore joyful about our situation in life. It's also easier to give what we have received away to people in our lives who haven't earned our love or forgiveness, and God uses that kind of stuff to transform people. Grace is the way that God blesses us and the way He calls us to be a blessing to everyone we meet.
Something to think about the next time you drive in a city.