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I WAS RECENTLY ASKED why our church invested so much in jail ministry last year.  Our church, in fact spent about $1,500 to allow inmates to make telephone calls, send and receive emails and purchase food items from the jail commissary.   Not only did we spend a significant portion of our mission and benevolence fund to support inmates, but I spent more time in the jail visiting the incarcerated than I did in the homes of our church members.  I believe the use of funds and time were both good investments.

SOME OF THOSE WE SUPPORTED were accused or convicted of serious felonies; others were accused or convicted of less serious misdemeanors.  Some of them had loving and supportive families and others had no support beyond what we provided. Some of them had a connection to our church and others of them had no church connection whatsoever. One thing they all had in common, however, was a desire to hear of the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. 

IT'S EASY FORSOME TO sometimes think less of the incarcerated.  It’s easy to thing, “They’re in jail for a reason.”  It’s easier to focus on their crimes than our own sin.  While we see persons being punished for a crime, God still sees them as persons in need of a Savior.  He sees them as persons for whom His Son died.  Because so many of them are eager to hear His Word, our investment in them is both wise and good.

BEFORE THIS YEAR IS OVER I hope to preach about Manasseh.  His story is found in 2 Chronicles 33.  It’s am amazing story of God’s love and forgiveness.  Manasseh was a vile human being.  He practiced child sacrificing, even burning to death his own sons.  And, he led his nation to do the same. And Scripture says that God was angry.  We’re told that God directed the Assyrian army to go after Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose, shackles on his feet and dragged him off to Babylon.  The suffering was so great for Manasseh that he could only think of one thing to do:  drop to his knees in prayer.  And in an amazing verse of Scripture we’re told that God heard his prayer, and brought him back to Jerusalem!  Manasseh found forgiveness!  (2 Chronicles 33:1-13).

AS WE CONTINUE THROUGH 2025 let’s be a church that reminds people all the time of God’s goodness, God’s love, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness! Romans 3:9-12  says, "All people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. ?) All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

IT DOESN'T SAY THAT  some of us are kind of nice or some are really naughty. It says no one is righteous, no not even one. Because nice is not the bar. Nice is not the goal. Nice is not the standard. Nice is not even on God’s radar. You know what is? Righteousness. That’s different. It’s very different.

BRENNAN MANNING SAID IT BETTER than I ever could: "Is that why Jesus went through the bleak and blood horror of Calvary? Is that why He emerged in shattering glory from the tomb? Is that why He poured out His Holy Spirit on the church? To make nicer men and women with better morals?”

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND:

  • Going to church will not save you
  • Being honest on your taxes does not impress the God of the universe
  • Listening to Christian music does not earn you brownie points with Jesus.
  • Saying your prayers and taking your vitamins does not doanything to impress the Creator of the universe.

RICHARD LEE TABLER UNDERSTAND'S GOD'S GRACE.  Mr. Tabler was put to death by the state of Texas earlier this year for the crime of murder.  While in prison he found God, he reports to having found forgiveness in Christ Jesus and being a "changed man." Just before his death, after expressing remourse for his crimes and apologizing to the families of his victims, Richard said that "today will be the beginning of a new life in heaven."

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE the grace of God. And, we need to understand and appreciate that it reaches everyone in all parts of the world, even persons we somehow think may be undeserving. Ephesians 2 says, "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even thogh we were dead becasue of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  It is only by God's grace that you have been saved..... Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so that none of us can boast about it." (Ephesians 2:4-5, 9 NLT)