Recap:
In my teenage years, I fully surrendered to Christ. I had walked the aisle when I was six, invited Jesus into my heart, but something shifts when you’re a teenager. You start making grown-up decisions. And when I did, I went all in. Two voices shaped my faith then—and still do today. One was a musician: Rich Mullins. The other, an author: Brennan Manning.
Rich Mullins wrote about what he called the furious love of God—a love that’s not tame, not safe, but wild and relentless. Brennan Manning? His book The Ragamuffin Gospel messed me up—in the best way. The first time I read it, I wasn’t even sure he was a Christian. The second time? I wasn’t sure I was.
You see, I grew up in church. I knew how to behave, how to lead in youth group, how to be “good.” But slowly, I started trading grace for performance. If I could just check the right boxes—don’t cuss, don’t sleep around, don’t lie, don’t drink—I’d be better than most. But I had forgotten: that’s not grace. That’s religion. And religion without grace is just noise.
Grace is simple to define: undeserved favor. But it’s more than that. Grace is getting something wildly good in the face of something terribly bad. Grace is God stooping down in our darkest, dirtiest moments—not to scold us, but to embrace us.
And I don’t want to just teach you about grace today—I want you to feel it. I want you to see it, to be wrecked by it, to be overwhelmed by the furious love of God.
Let me show you what grace looks like.
Just a few weeks ago, Yolanda stood in a courtroom and looked into the eyes of the man who murdered her brother in cold blood at the El Paso Walmart shooting—23 people dead. The room was full of grief, rage, pain. And Yolanda? She asked to hug the shooter. And she did. The judge wept. The courtroom was stunned.
That’s not normal. That’s not expected. That’s not karma.
That’s grace.
Grace doesn’t make sense in a world that runs on justice and revenge. But grace doesn’t excuse sin. It just refuses to let hate win.
Grace is a love that hugs.
A few days ago, my friends Drew and Morgan Davis adopted a newborn baby girl—Lucy. She’s sick, in the hospital. She hasn’t achieved anything. She hasn’t earned anything. And yet, they said, “We choose you. We love you.”
That’s grace.
And you—whether you feel dirty, broken, sick, ashamed—you are Lucy. You are chosen. Loved. Hugged. That’s grace.
Romans 5 says:
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”
That word helpless? It means weak, powerless, even sick. While we were sick in our sin—Christ came. Not when we cleaned ourselves up. Not when we got it together. Right then. That’s grace in action.
And I know what some of you are thinking: “You don’t know what I’ve done.”
I’ve heard it all.
“I slept with them.”
“I got drunk again.”
“I lied.”
“I cheated.”
“I’m addicted.”
“I’ve looked at things I shouldn’t.”
“I’ve yelled, hit, stolen, betrayed.”
And here’s what I want you to hear today:
You are worse than you think.
But…
God loves you more than you can imagine.
Brennan Manning says it this way:
“God loves you as you are, not as you should be. Because no one is as they should be.”
Bono—yes, that Bono—once said in an interview:
“At the center of all religion is karma. But grace interrupts. It defies logic. And it’s good news for someone like me, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff. I’m holding out for grace.”
Grace doesn’t wait for you to chase it. Grace chases you.
Like a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find the one.
Like Jesus who tells the sinner: “Come eat with me.”
Like a Savior who hangs on a cross and says, “Father, forgive them.”
That’s the furious, relentless, raging love of God.
Rich Mullins wrote these words that still undo me:
“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy I can’t find in my own… I’ve been caught in the reckless, raging fury they call the love of God.”
That’s grace. And some of us here today—we need to be caught.
Maybe you feel far from God. Maybe you think you’ve gone too far. Maybe you’re carrying shame and regret.
Let me be clear:
You don’t have to prove anything.
You don’t have to clean yourself up.
You don’t have to earn God’s love.
You just have to receive it.
So I ask you today:
Have you embraced the furious love of God?
Are you ready to be caught?
Because grace is here. And it’s not cautious. It’s not polite. It’s fierce. And it will not stop chasing you.
Group Questions:
Icebreakers (Pick 1–2 to start your group)
- What’s a song or artist that really shaped your faith journey?
- Have you ever read a book that wrecked you (in a good way)? What was it and why?
- If grace were a person, what kind of personality would it have?
Main Discussion Questions
1. Grace vs. Religion
- Pastor David said: “I started trading grace for performance.”
➤ What does that look like in real life? Have you ever found yourself doing the same? - What’s the danger of living out your faith in performance mode?
- Read Romans 5:6–8. Why do you think it’s hard to receive grace when we feel unworthy?
2. Grace that Shocks
- The story of Yolanda hugging her brother’s killer is a radical picture of grace.
➤ How did that make you feel?
➤ Have you ever witnessed or experienced a moment like that—something you could only explain as grace? - Why does grace feel unfair sometimes? What does that tell us about how we view justice?
3. Grace that Chooses You
- The adoption story of baby Lucy paints grace as a love that chooses you even before you “do” anything.
➤ How is that a picture of how God loves us? - What lies have you believed about needing to “earn” God’s love or approval?
4. Receiving, Not Achieving
- “You are worse than you think. But God loves you more than you can imagine.”
➤ Which part of that sentence hits you more deeply—and why? - How can embracing grace change how we treat ourselves? How might it change how we treat others?
Reflection & Prayer
- Take a quiet moment and ask:
➤ Have I truly received the grace of God—or have I been trying to earn it?
➤ Is there an area in my life where I need to stop performing and start receiving?
Close in prayer by reading this quote aloud from Brennan Manning:
“God loves you as you are, not as you should be. Because no one is as they should be.”
➤ Then, invite each person to thank God for one specific way they’ve experienced His grace—even in weakness.