'Stumbling into God's Grace' Continues Triennial Theme

Understanding the gift of God's grace was the focus of the second evening worship service as Triennial X continued in the Ridgecrest Conference Center.

The event, which attracted nearly 1,000 women from the United States and Canada, as well as several other countries, is sponsored by Covenant Women Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Speaker Cindy Secrest McDowell again complemented the Triennial theme Keeping in Step With the Spirit with her insight into the importance of understanding the role of God's grace in an individual's life.

A skit preceding her presentation set the stage for what was to follow. The story line centers on the owner of a shoe store who wants to give away free shoes. A person comes into the store and, when confronted with the notion of free shoes, insists instead on paying for them - or at least doing some good deed in exchange for the shoes. Unable to change the storeowner's mind, the shopper leaves without the shoes, because the individual is uncomfortable with the idea of not paying for what she is receiving.

McDowell echoed the skit's message that many who are offered God's free gift of love and grace cannot handle it because they feel they have to somehow repay God, even though He gives these gifts freely. Others become frustrated because they stumble in their Christian walk and feel unworthy. Her first of three points was that it is okay to admit, "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Using the passage in Isaiah 40:30 as support, McDowell noted that "even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall." It is often through stumbling that we find grace, McDowell contends.

"No one wants to fall or fail, but everyone does," she said. "Life includes suffering and brokenness." She used the life of the apostle Paul as an example, observing that Paul was aware of the power of sin that kept sabotaging his best intentions. Ephesians 3:8 tells how Paul found comfort in God's free gift of grace.

McDowell spoke of her own life, recalling one experience she calls a "grace awakening" that came after she had been a Christian for several years. She told of marrying a widower who had three children and recounted her struggle to be the perfect wife and mother. "The only thing that remained the same was God," said McDowell. It was then that she says she realized she was a P.O.W. - a prisoner of works. And it was at that point she "opened the gift of grace."

When one has fallen, it is important to reach out and grasp God's grace, McDowell suggested in offering her second key point of the message. "Those who are drowning will grasp at anything," McDowell said. "Grace is like a caterpillar in a ring of fire - help can only come from above."

One of the challenges in grasping for grace is a preoccupation with self, McDowell observed. "This may be a preoccupation with self-importance as well as self-worthlessness," she said. "We need to remember the good news of God's salvation and that grace is undeserved." That, of course, goes against our culture, McDowell pointed out, as the culture teaches reward and punishment for our deeds. "However, God shows grace to everyone."

Once God's grace has been grasped, an individual will have the strength to stand, McDowell assured her audience that comfortably filled Spilman Auditorium. "We want to be a Ming vase for God, but God wants the ordinary clay pot to do the best work," McDowell said in offering her third and final point of the message.

She went on to talk about her admiration for those who make quilts. These creative people look at scraps of material and see the potential for a beautiful pattern. "God is like that with His grace," she said. Once an individual grasps the grace and is able to stand, then God's peace comes, McDowell explained. "Peace is only peace when it is surrounded by the lack of it," McDowell said.

McDowell concluded with a word of encouragement to her listeners. "It is never too late to write the story of the rest of your life. When we have exhausted our store of resources, our Father's full-giving has only begun."

A special offering will be shared with CWM ministries as well as Project 2001: the North Park University Brandel Library and Learning Center. Following the service, traditional Appalachian music was provided by the group Trillium, along with a presentation of gospel music from Palmetto Covenant Church in Miami, Florida. (Accompanying photos show Kathy Brawley leading worship and several members of the Palmetto choir.)

Editor's note: Patty Retamal, who is representing the Department of World Mission at Triennial X, also is reporting on behalf of the Department of Communication, working with Editor Don Meyer (writer) and graphics specialist Heidi Griepp (photo pages) in Chicago.

Printable version of this page.