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Grands

Extravagant grace

mood: happy happy
music: Grace Seattle Experimental Orchestra, "Canticle of Faith"
Back live, now from my new MacBook Pro. It's ridiculous how much it lifts my spirits to be online and mobile at once again.

The weekend rocked. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day at Nikki's, where I spent time with my good friend Jameson. Sunday was our church's soirée at Canlis, which far exceeded our high hopes. Around 250 people attended, well-dressed, relaxed, and a little awed to be celebrating so extravagantly. It was such a compelling, tangible picture of grace. Practically, so many of us believe that, even at the height of our relationship with God, we're just ok—perhaps the equivalent of a moderate night out. But God loves us richly, in a way that should humble us and perhaps even make us blush. It felt good to celebrate with others in that spirit, not as an escape from our lives or a boasting of some individual or corporate achievement, but as nothing less than an embodiment of God's extravagant grace revealed to us in the gospel. That's beautiful.

(An added bonus: you can see video of our pastor sabering the champagne open here. It was so fun!)
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Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 at 08:12 am | | Communicate | 15 communications |

Comments


creactivity

I was at a wine tasting where the lady serving us described sabering (and vaguely how to do it) for the first time. The photographer and crew I was with and myself had never heard of it. On the last night of our shoot, after many bottles of wine amongst us, the photographer decided to take a shot at it. It was quite a feat to talk the kitchen staff into letting him hold a knife. And it went perfectly and we've never cheered so hard in our lives. It's quite a site to see!
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 03:42 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

John even hesitated to do it when we were first planning because it's so "over the top," but when he reflected on it, he decided that's exactly why he should do it—that very quality makes it a great embodiment of celebrating God's extravagant love.
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 05:26 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

chippa

I couldn't find the video.

:P
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 05:37 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

It's there, so your browser may be having difficulty playing an embedded Flash video. It also may take a bit to load based on your connection. Sorry you didn't see it!
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 05:51 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

chippa

Is it just under the general link or under a specific link?
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 05:51 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

chippa

I found it! I was clicking on the first link in your post, I didn't realize there was a second one.
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 05:52 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

Sweet!
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 06:01 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

prester_scott

I have to admit that it's hard to believe in extravagance that is so frequently invisible and future.
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 06:36 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

Indeed. Even when we're aware of (some of) our blessings, there's definitely a walking by faith over sight that's necessary to believe in that extravagance. So it makes sense that we're called to walk in precisely that fashion.
Posted on Mar. 21st, 2007 12:40 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

blistermoth

Good friend Jameson! Haha!
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 06:50 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

joneric

I hope you enjoy your new MacBook Pro as much as I enjoy mine.
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 08:16 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

It's been fun so far! So far the main thing I haven't conquered is the best setting for font smoothing—everything is a bit chunkier than it was on my old iBook.
Posted on Mar. 21st, 2007 12:41 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

chestnutcurls

Practically, so many of us believe that, even at the height of our relationship with God, we're just ok—perhaps the equivalent of a moderate night out. But God loves us richly, in a way that should humble us and perhaps even make us blush.

I really like that. Thanks. Have you ever seen Babette's Feast? We watched it at RUF once in college, for a discussion sort of along the same lines.
Posted on Mar. 20th, 2007 09:45 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

banzai

I haven't seen it. Do you recommend?

The soirée was such a refreshing embodiment of God's grace. I'm thankful that faith and embodiment aren't mutually exclusive.
Posted on Mar. 21st, 2007 12:44 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

chestnutcurls

I do recommend. It was good. But it's in Danish (I think) with subtitles, so be prepared for that. :)
Posted on Mar. 21st, 2007 02:59 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply