I.
How does our focus passage begin?

“For by grace …”

As we begin our time with these several sentences, let the lens through which we read these words be, “For by grace …”

Where does “grace” show up in this passage?

II.
Romans 12:3-8 (NRSVue)

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

III.
What did you notice about grace?

The first thing I noticed is “For by the grace given …”

Is it really a gift?

Then I noticed, “… the grace given to me …”

So, the writer presents grace as something “given” to him.

What about you and me? Is grace given to us? Is it a gift you received?

What is your response to gifts generally? What is your response to this gift?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}