In the previous blog article written, I mentioned the gracious gifts of God to our church in meeting our building needs. In this article, I would like to recount the first of several of the lessons that God has taught me through this whole process. Here goes with my list of life’s lessons from God’s schooling. 
1. God’s grace means I am weak. I was contemplating why God would give us such large sums of money. . . why us, a small church located in Salt Lake City. I would like to say that it is because He knows what a great pastor I am, but I know that in me dwells no good thing. I would like to say that it is because our congregation is so devoted to God, but sometimes I wonder if our church (as well as many other churches-don’t get offended church family) doesn’t more closely resemble Corinth than Philippi. I would like to say because we are good and righteous and holy, but my experience and theology fly in the face of that reason. Why us? Why not the other good churches in the Salt Lake Valley? Why not the other needy churches in Utah, the United States, the world? I have come to believe that God is gracious and good not only in spite of our weakness, but because of our weakness. Truly, God chooses the weak to confound the wise; and He has chosen Grace Baptist Church because it is His good pleasure to use a specially weak church, with a specially weak pastor in leadership. I am not saying that with some false piety. I have felt no weaker in my entire life (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) than I have in the last two years. It is my prayer that all of God’s Church, especially our local body here, feels weaker and weaker everyday as we depend on His all-sufficient grace to sustain us. For through our weakness, God will show Himself strong. We deserved this money no more than countless other churches, but God chose to give it to us; we must be faithful servants and stewards of this great responsibility to be His church. . . which leads me to the second lesson; I will write about that one tomorrow.
Hi Matt, I have enjoyed reading your testimony about God’s goodness and grace to you at Grace Baptist Church. Our ministries will only go forth as we go forth in humble dependence on God and His grace. One of my favorite verses on grace is 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
With Prayer, Pastor Mark Worden