REWIND OF AN
OPENING NIGHT SPEECH…SPRING 2001
THE GRACE
ODYSSEY
All my
Christian life, I’ve heard that we are living in the Age of Grace. The world out there would say that “grace”
means “free of charge” or “no strings attached” or “It’s on the house”. C.S. Lewis was asked what he thought was
Christianity’s unique contribution among the world’s religions. “Oh that’s easy,”
he said, “It’s grace.”
We “say
grace” before our meals, we have “grace notes” in our music, when addressing
royalty we say “Your Grace”, England declares that a pardon is an “act of
grace”, we receive “grace issues” when our subscriptions run out, and even a
“grace period” when we are late on our bills.
On the
negative side we say that someone great has “fallen from grace”, or someone may
act “disgraceful” or is an “ingrate”, or perhaps has “no saving grace”. But grace is a Christian’s last and best
word. Grace truly is “Amazing”.
How Continentals
look at grace is critical to our real ministry.
Think about this: the Bible says, “Grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ”. And, it is His grace we are
taking out there to the world through our music this year. Your tour could actually be called “The
Grace Race” as you tour from city to city and sing from church to church. And, hopefully, your bus will be called “The
Grace Place”. It’s in there we plan to
practice 1st Peter 3:18 which says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ”. You will
spend time in prayer there, and before your concerts, as you go to “the throne
of grace”, expecting God to do great and fabulous things in your life and on
your tour.
It’s kind of
like “Grace Expectations”. And if any of
you good looking gentlemen think that means meeting and spending special
private time with some lovely Continental lady, well, I have to let you know we
will have to crush that expectation! Tour will end eventually…
Oh, and by
the way, your Director is a Dictator.
Tour is not a democracy! It
doesn’t mean you have to call him or her “Your Grace”, but we do expect you to
respect and obey their words and actions, on your behalf. Our directors understand that the decisions
they make are never for themselves. They
are all for you. We all want of this to
be a life changing experience for you.
We are
sending you out in a bus. You will have
a comfortable seat, and a little space up above to cram in some things you need
for the day, but you will need to show a little grace for your tour
partners. No one will have quite enough
space. It is good to remember the verse
that declares, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble”. The best way to survive on tour is to be just
that. Be humble in the sight of the Lord
and He will lift you up. If you do
that, your tour members and all of us will lift you up along with God! Just be graceful to each other.
In one of
your songs is the phrase, “Let me introduce you to a friend called Grace…”
That’s what you will be doing. Gracing
people by introducing them to Jesus Christ through your music and then, again, after
your concerts and even in the hosts homes.
Take advantage of those opportunities.
Please know
that we love and value you. And all the Continental staff here tonight and all
the other directors will join me in praying for you that the Lord will give you
an absolutely fabulous Amazing Grace filled tour.
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