Lessons in Grace - The Holy Spirit

There was a boy named George who grew up on the south side of Detroit. His family wasn’t well off, but they got by. His dad worked in the Ford Motor plant on an assembly line. His mom spent her days in a “sweat shop” sewing clothes for the Jacqueline Smith K-mart clothesline.
There was another boy named Lance who grew up on the northwest side of Detroit. His family had more than enough to get by. Lance got just about everything that he ever wanted growing up. His dad was a lawyer in a corporate law firm. He was making about $300,000 a year. His mother lived in Orlando, Fla. They split when Lance was 5 years old. Because of his father’s status, Lance lived with him.
Lance and George were friends. They both went to the same school. 10 years ago in Detroit, students didn’t have a choice of high schools. They had to go to whatever school was in their district. George was close enough to the Northwest side that he landed in the Culver High School district. George took public transportation and Lance drove his 5.0 Mustang.
Lance and George were very close. They would share stories about their families and different struggles that they would face. One night on the phone, Lance told George that his dad would beat him sometimes when he came home drunk. Lance would hide his bruises from everybody. He would try to hide his emotional hurt as well. It hurt him bad inside. Lance was hurt and confused. He didn’t understand why his dad would treat him like that. It was a part of his life that he had learned to accept.
Every once in a while, George would spend the day at Lance’s house after school. Even though, Lance’s father was a partner in a law firm and got everything he wanted, he was a prejudice angry man. He didn’t like Lance hanging out with George. He thought that George was taking advantage of Lance’s wealth.
One day, Lance’s father came home from work early and began to beat Lance. George had heard about this but had never seen it happen before. Needless to say, George was frightened. He was angry and wanted to help his friend, but he froze because of his fear.
Lance’s father yelled at George, “Get your white trash off of my property. I never want to see you here again. If I even hear that you were hear; I will bring a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. that will result in your dad’s losing his job.” George ran. He felt like a coward, but he couldn’t risk his dad’s job.
Lance and George still saw each other at school. They would sit together in the lunchroom. Sometimes they would sneak out of school and go to the mall or the bowling alley. They were still close friends. They loved each other.
One day, Lance’s father beat him too hard. Lance died. The truth of the incident never came out, but George knew what had happened. He stood at a distance at the graveside funeral. He cried some tears, and wiped them away. He had lost his friend. George was never the same. He ate by himself during lunch. He would go home and lock himself in the room everyday. One day, he didn’t come out of the room. He had killed himself, because he was alone.
Do you know what it’s like to be lonely? Do you know what it’s like to be in a crowd of people, and feel alone? Do you know what it means to be a friend to someone who is lonely? Do you know what it takes to be close to someone? Do you know what it means to love?
Bibles open to … David and Jonathon \ Jesus and John \ Jesus and you
Vulnerability – What is this?
Sincerity – What is this?
Connection…

As Christians, we have a relationship with God, with Jesus. People expect that just because we have a relationship with God, everything should be close. Some people, (most people) forget about their relationship with God.
We have the Holy Spirit (God) in our lives. What does that mean? We have power. (Power for what?)
We live in grace. What does that mean? We have an unconditional relationship with God. Nothing that we can ever do or experience can ever separate us from the love of God (neither…). God loves us regardless. (What is our response?) How should we then live?
Live Forgiven (For by grace you have been saved.)
Live Overwhelmed (God’s love compels me.)
Live Empowered (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.)Live Connected (What can separate us from the love of Christ?)