Extending Grace and Igniting Hope

[Zach]

Yancey I am sure said grace is the last good word that is unsullied, because many still resonate with the need for it. I would probably disagree, but only in the sense that in certain circles grace has become a contentious word, much like Jude said it would be, where it is turned into licence. Yancey’s point is well taken though in that in its pure form, it resonates with all of us, and actually should be the last word on all issues. God’s grace should be the final word on all matters and all people.

There was a time when I would have resonated with the life of quiet desperation, one that not even performance driven Christianity was able to fix. Grace and hope go quite well together because in God’s grace hope abounds for a future, a life, and an experience that is beyond what I deserve or can create for myself.

[Juma]

The ice recue just said it all; the ice represents the world of sin and it’s entanglements, the rescuer represents disciples and the robe is the power of God extending to Christ Jesus the anchor point or source. Praise the Lord Jesus for His grace.

[Jaylen]

I believe that most people do live quiet lives of desperation. Especially non-Christians. I think people make exceptions for the emptiness they feel; either the fill that (God-Shaped) empty hope with a job, family, money, friends, hobbies, food, etc. and perhaps they seem to fill that hole for a while, but at the end of the day they still are all missing something. I believe that thing is GOD! All people are God’s children and there is an undeniable urge to get to know Him whether we accept that or not. So in this way, those who don’t know Christ are living in quiet desperation.

[Kimberly]

I think that Yancey says grace is the last good word in the fact that the word grace still points to God. Many other characters have a modern definition now and can be lived out whether a person follows Jesus or not. But grace is still typically associated with God.

To me, quiet desperation describes how so many people are suffering in silence, or fighting a storm inside of themselves and don’t know how to stop it. They want to stop it but don’t know that Jesus is the only one who can heal them and bring them out of darkness.