April 30, 2001
Singles urged to overflow with grace
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___SAN ANTONIO--The extravagant grace of God should produce in the Christian a life overflowing with grace to others, Ron Hill said during the Texas Single Adult Conference April 20-21 in San Antonio.
___More than 900 single adults, from those in their 20s to those in their senior years,gathered at Trinity Baptist Church for the event sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Hill, minister with single adults at Trinity, spoke to singles in their mid-30s and older. Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Baptist in the Montrose area of Houston, spoke to younger singles.
THE EXTRAVAGENT GRACE OF GOD should produce in the Christian a life overflowing with grace to others, Ron Hill said during the Texas Single Adult Conference April 20-21 in San Antonio. More than 900 single adults, from those in their 20s to those in their senior years, gathered at Trinity Baptist Church for the event.
___"Life is very, very good; and it can be very, very bad," Hill said. "Many of you in this room have experienced the darkest days of life," he said, referring to the loss of a spouse through death or divorce that many participants had experienced.
___"Whatever the issues of life," Hill said, it is important to remember, "Jesus Christ was a single adult who understands what you're going through."
___Hill spoke in one session about three other single adults in Scripture--the siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They were an "incredibly wonderful adult family," he said.
___Shortly before Christ's crucifixion, he attended a party, and Mary used expensive perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus and then wiped his feet with her hair. This was "anincredible act of extravagance," Hill said. It was because Mary understood that Jesus was the Messiah.
TIFFANY TERRY, singles minister at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, led a seminar titled "Find Your Passion--Find Your Career," advising, "Calling is simply that which brings us great joy." She advised participants to "do what you are" and to find "what is as easy as breathing."
___When God gets hold of a person "on the inside," as opposed to religion that is just on the outside, that person experiences "extravagant grace," the San Antonio minister said. "No matter what you've done, ... it's forgiven, forgotten."
___Mary understood this extravagant gift, Hill said. And when that is grasped, "there's nothing you can do that will outdo God. ... She knew religion didn't work. ... She found out it was the joy of God in her."
___As Mary bathed Jesus' feet in the perfume, the fragrance filled the house, Hill said. Likewise, when a person accepts God's forgiveness, the grace that has been received overflows to others.
___But "every time you try to do something out of grace," there will be doubters, those who do not understand, Hill said. For Mary, it was Judas, who complained about the waste of such an expensive commodity. "Somebody in every crowd wants to bring everybody down."
___"Single adults all over this country need a fresh touch of God's grace," Hill said. "Guilt ... will not change you," but God's grace will.
___God's grace, hope and encouragement are "not for us to keep. They're for us to give away," he said.
___A person who learns to love God with all his or her mind, body and soul will "become more and more like Jesus Christ. Let him overflow in your life today."___
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