(5/11) It is a real honor to share God’s Word with you today as we lift up the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Every Sunday, we celebrate the empty tomb and remember the incredible power of the resurrection. Because of that, we join believers around the world in worship and celebration, because the tomb is empty and our Savior is alive.

Today, we are starting a new message series called How Sweet the Sound. Over the next few weeks, we will dive into the story behind one of the most cherished hymns in church history, Amazing Grace. We will explore the meaning behind its words and discover that it is not just an old song, but a message of hope, mercy, and grace that still speaks to our hearts today.

Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, a man whose early life was full of rebellion, violence, and hatred. Born in 1725, he was a sailor known for heavy drinking and foul language. He was so offensive that even other sailors could not stand him.

His reckless behavior eventually led to a brutal public whipping. Angry and bitter, John thought about killing his captain and then taking his own life. But before he could act, a fierce storm struck their ship. Thinking death was certain, John cried out to the very God he had spent his life mocking: "Lord, have mercy on us all."

That desperate prayer became the turning point in his life. John survived the storm, but he could not forget the moment he cried out to God. He began reading the Bible, and little by little, the grace of God started to change his heart.

In 1772, transformed by God's mercy and forgiveness, John Newton wrote the hymn Amazing Grace. These words still echo through the ages:

"Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see."

"'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!"

As we talk about amazing grace today, I want to be honest with you. It is hard to fully describe how deep and powerful God's grace truly is. To help us understand it better, we will look at Ephesians chapter two. In this chapter, the apostle Paul talks so passionately about grace that it feels like his words are spilling out faster than he can speak them.

That is what grace does. It overwhelms logic. It breaks all the normal rules. It cannot be boxed in or fully explained. It is the overwhelming love shown to us through Jesus' sacrifice.

Paul's message in Ephesians chapter two can be summed up like this: You were — but God, by grace.

In other words, you were one thing, but if you are in Christ, you are no longer that same person. Not because you earned it by hard work or good behavior, but because of God's grace. You were, but God, by grace. You have been transformed, not by anything you did, but by what Jesus did for you.

Let’s begin in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, where the apostle Paul writes:

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient" (Ephesians 2:1-2, NIV).

In other words, the Holy Spirit tells us that if you are a follower of Jesus, you are not who you used to be. You have been changed. You have been forgiven. You have been made new. But do not forget where you came from, because you were dead in your sins. Paul continues:

"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts" (Ephesians 2:3, NIV).

The Holy Spirit shows us that our sinful nature separates us from God. It is fueled by pride, independence, and rebellion. Before we started following Jesus, we chased after our own selfish desires, moving further and further away from Him.

Paul writes, "Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3, NIV).

Now, I know that is not a feel-good verse. You will not find it on a coffee mug or a refrigerator magnet. But it is the truth. Without Jesus Christ, we were spiritually dead and deserving of God's wrath.

In today's culture, many people push back against that. They do not want to accept that truth. But the Bible says we were born into sin. It is not just about what we do; it is about who we are apart from God. Israel’s King David put it this way:

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5, NIV).

Sin is in our nature. It has been passed down through every generation, all the way back to Adam and Eve. We are not naturally good. We are naturally broken, and we are in desperate need of a Savior.

If you want to act like you have it all together, I want to warn you: Jesus did not come for people who think they are fine. He came for people like me who know they are broken and who know they need grace. That is why Paul does not just say, "You were." He says, "We were."

"Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3, NIV).

Think about this from Paul's perspective for a moment. Before he followed Jesus, he did not just reject Christians—he hunted them down. He had them dragged into the streets and stoned to death. The man we know today, who wrote much of the New Testament, once tried to destroy the very church he later helped build.

This is the man who wrote:

"You were dead in your transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1, NIV).

He was not pointing fingers. He included himself because Paul knew exactly what it meant to be dead in sin. But he also knew the power of being made alive by grace.

Imagine sitting with Paul as he shares his story. He might say, "I was that guy. I hated the disciples of Jesus. I was on my way to arrest more Christians when:

'As I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me' (Acts 22:6, NIV).

One moment I could see, and the next I was blind. Then I heard a mighty voice:

'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' (Acts 22:7, NIV).

I could not see or tell who was speaking, but I recognized the divine authority and power behind the voice. So I asked:

'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied" (Acts 22:8, NIV).

That moment changed everything for me. By the grace of God, I was blind, but now I could see. I was dead, the worst of the worst, but God did what I could never do for myself.

'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst' (1 Timothy 1:15, NIV).

In other words, you were, but God. That is exactly how Paul describes it:

'But because of his great love for us' (Ephesians 2:4, NIV).

Even then, when we were spiritually dead, God did not leave us there. Because of His love:

'God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved' (Ephesians 2:4-5, NIV).

When did He do it? He made us alive with Christ when He raised Jesus from the dead. Now that same resurrection power lives in us who believe.

You were — but God, by grace.

This is important for us to understand today because we often do not fully grasp the context. For generations in the Old Testament, God's people gathered every year to celebrate the Passover. Each family would take a one-year-old lamb without any defects and bring it to the temple in Jerusalem to be sacrificed. The blood of the lamb was a reminder of the blood placed on the doorframes of their homes during the first Passover in Egypt when the Lord said:

"The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt" (Exodus 12:13, NIV).

In other words, that sacrifice was a temporary covering for sin, pointing forward to something greater.

Then, in the New Testament, at the beginning of John's gospel, we read that John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said:

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NIV).

In Exodus, God had told His people to place the lamb’s blood on the top and sides of their doorways. If you can picture it, the blood on the top would have dripped downward, running down the sides and onto the ground.

Hundreds of years before Jesus was crucified, God was already giving us a picture of what was coming. The sacrifice of a perfect lamb without blemish, a sinless Savior, and a cross stained with blood. Not for a temporary covering, but for eternal salvation.

Jesus came and hung on the cross, suffering the brutality of the Romans. The Creator was mocked by His own creation with a crown of thorns. His wrists and feet were nailed in place, and in the middle of His agony, Jesus said:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34, NIV).

Then He looked up to heaven and said, "It is finished. Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." And He breathed His last, fulfilling what He had told His disciples just hours before:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13, NIV).

At that moment, the sky grew dark, the earth shook, and His followers stood in shock, wondering what would come next. Day one ended. Day two was heavy and silent. Then, on day three, on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb. But instead of finding a sealed grave, they discovered that the stone had been rolled away.

When they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. The women bowed to the ground, frightened, but the men said to them:

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5-6, NIV).

That is what God is telling us through the apostle Paul. Because of His great love and mercy, He made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:4-5).

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7, NIV).

You were lost — but God, by grace. I was lost — but God, by grace.

One morning, I was hurting, convicted, desperate, and afraid—dead in my sins. I opened the Bible and read these words:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV).

In other words, salvation is not earned through human effort, good deeds, or following the law. It is not about your own goodness. It is by grace, a gift entirely given out of God's love and mercy.

You were — but God, by grace.

That is what we see so clearly on the cross, where Jesus hung between two criminals, two thieves. One of them mocked him, saying:

"Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39, NIV).

Even in his final moments, this man rejected Jesus. He wanted to be rescued without repentance, to experience salvation without surrender.

But the other criminal, fully aware of his guilt, rebuked the first man and said:

"This man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41, NIV).

One criminal mocked Jesus, but the other recognized His innocence. He saw what the crowds missed—that Jesus was not dying for His own sins, but for ours.

Then he turned to Jesus and said:

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42, NIV).

In the final moments of his life, maybe with his final breath, this broken man reached out in faith. He did not ask for proof. He simply asked for mercy, and Jesus answered him:

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43, NIV).

No delay, no penance, no conditions—just grace. Right then and there, he received forgiveness and salvation.

This man had no time to clean himself up, get his life together, join a church, start a ministry, or make up for the wrongs he had done. In that moment, he was completely guilty and completely forgiven. That is grace. That is what verse eight says:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8, NIV).

I wish someone would praise God right now. I know there are some here today who were dead in their sins, who were hurting and broken, but the grace of God has changed you.

And I know there are others here, too. You are not here by accident. You are here because deep down, you know something is missing. You have been searching. You are hungry. You are desperate for something more. And I will tell you what that something more is: you are desperate for a but God moment.

That is where the good news—the gospel of Jesus Christ—becomes so powerful. In one moment, through one prayer, everything can change. When you call on the name of Jesus, the name above every name, He hears your prayer, forgives your sin, and makes you right with God. Not by your good works, not by your religion, not by your efforts, but by His grace.

If you are here today and you are thinking in your heart, "I need His grace because I have sinned and I need His forgiveness," I want you to know you are not here by chance. You are here by grace and for His grace, ready to receive His forgiveness.

It only takes one moment, one prayer. When you call on the name of Jesus, believing in Him, all of your sins are forgiven, and you are made completely new. The Bible says:

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV).

You do not just become a better version of yourself—you become new, washed clean and restored by His grace.

Those of you who would say today, "I need the grace of God. I turn from my sin, and I give my life to Jesus," would you lift your hands right now? Lift them to heaven. This is your moment. This is your but God moment.

How many of you would say, "You were — but God, by grace"?

As we continue in this moment of worship, we turn our hearts to the Lord. After everything we have heard, after remembering what Jesus did, after celebrating His grace and forgiveness, there is no better response than to remember, to reflect, and to give thanks.

So let this be a holy moment—a moment of reflection, a moment of surrender, a moment of worship—as you give Him all the praise and glory, remembering that you were — but God, by His grace.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott