A Pause in Lent 3

I have been doing a Mission Shaped Ministry Course run by Fresh Expressions over the past few months and this weekend was an overnight stay. At the end of it, in small groups, we had to come up with a short worship service. Our group chose God's Grace we played this song by Neil Diamond - Pretty Amazing Grace. I am not sure if Neil Diamond intended it to be about Jesus, but I do think the words just show so much about God's grace in our lives.

Pretty amazing grace is what You showed me
Pretty amazing grace is who You are
I was an empty vessel
You filled me up inside
And with amazing grace restored my pride

Pretty amazing grace is how You saved me
And with amazing grace reclaimed my heart
Love in the midst of chaos
Calm in the heat of war
Showed with amazing grace what love was for

You forgave my insensitivity
And my attempt to then mislead You
You stood beside a wretch like me
Your pretty amazing grace was all I needed.

Stumbled inside the doorway of Your chapel
Humbled in God by everything I found
Beauty and love surround me
Freed me from what I fear
Ask for amazing grace and You appear

You overcame my loss of hope and faith
Gave me a truth I could believe in
You led me to a higher place
Showed Your amazing grace
When grace was what I needed

Look in a mirror I see Your reflection
Open a book You live on every page
I fall and You're there to lift me
Share every road I climb
And with amazing grace You ease my mind

Came to You with empty pockets first
When I returned I was rich man
Didn't believe love could quench my thirst
But with amazing grace You showed me that it can

In Your amazing grace I had a vision
From that amazing place I came to be
Into the night I wandered
Wandering aimlessly
Found Your amazing grace to comfort me.

Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing
Pretty amazing

You overcame my loss of hope and faith,
Gave me a truth I could believe in.
You led me to that higher place
Showed me that love and truth and hope and grace were all I needed.

A reminder to us that God's grace is sufficient for all our needs and is freely available to all who look for it.

This has been a busy and amazing weekend as this morning I was ordained as an elder in the Church.

God's grace is pretty amazing!

This post is part of A Pause in Lent hosted by Angie.