Gracepoint Ministries' Readings

Decision Making in the Family of God

by Joseph H. Hellerman

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He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “here are My mother and My brothers! Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:33-35

Nick and Tina (not their real names) attended a church where I served in the late 1980’s. They came to see my on a Wednesday evening in mid-October, having just finished their weekly ministry in our children’s department. The couple had met at a church softball game a couple of months earlier. Now they wanted to get married in December. I did the math. Nick and Tina would have just four months together from acquaintance to the altar. The way that Nick and Tina wrestled with this major life decision helpfully illustrates what can happen when the church family functions as God intends it to.

Giving: Reciprocating God’s Grace

by Randy Alcorn

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“Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart.” John Wesley

“Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice an echo. Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning.” Karl Barth

The most striking characteristic of the early Christians is that they shared all they owned, liquidating their possessions to give to the needy (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37). In one verse we’re told, “Much grace was upon them all,” and in the next, “There were no needy persons among them.” Compare this description with that of Christ’s bickering disciples, jockeying for position and unwilling to wash each others’ feet (Mark 9:33-34, 10:35-41; Luke 9:46, 22:24; John 13:3-16). Radical giving demonstrates the life-changing power of God.