Unexpected Grace. This title might sound a little redundant because by definition grace is getting something you don't deserve, but we can often find grace in the places and ordeals of life where we least suspect to find it.

Like Jonah.

Most people are familiar with the main idea of the story of Jonah. Prophet of God...runs...big fish...three days...Nineveh...he finally obeys.

In chapter 1 you find Jonah running from God. You might have heard it taught something like this: Jonah was a prophet of God who disobeyed God, so God sent a storm and a big fish to swallow up Jonah. So the moral of the story is you better obey God or He might send a big fish (metaphor for some hard circumstance) to swallow you up. We shake our heads and say, 'Oh Jonah!...You should have known!'

But what if there is more to the story. What if this isn't the point of Jonah's story at all. What if the point is this: God is unveiling and revealing His grace as He relentlessly pursues Jonah's heart.

The truth is this. God didn't need Jonah. When Jonah chose to run away, God could have let him go and raised another prophet to go to Nineveh.

But He didn't.

Rather, by His grace He set out to deliver Jonah, to rescue Jonah, and to show Jonah His heart. What if, as Tullian Tchividjian writes, the storm and the fish were really measures of God's grace as He relentlessly chased Jonah to rescue Jonah from Jonah?

That's where we are headed in the coming weeks.

Unexpected Grace.

It's a good thing.

Yesterday was an awesome ebc day. We are seeing people respond to 'The Invitation' in many unique ways. Responding begins with the knowledge and faith that Jesus is IT. He is everything...as we sang yesterday, that He is 'All to us.' If we can wrap our minds around that truth; that He really is sufficient in all things, our perspective on everything will change.



Our prayer is this: that we as a church, as a people, would be so in awe of who God is, so in love with Him, so astounded by His grace, so transformed by His mercy, that His life, love, and grace would just flow out of us! That journey begins by saying 'yes' to His invitation.



Some cool things about yesterday:

- great and challenging teaching - "saying 'yes' to God means surrendering our lives to Him, so that we can step into the LIFE He has in store for us."

- worship through music was smokin'... people responding to His greatness, goodness, and grace "Day after Day...our God is reigning!"

- an incredible group at Starting Point last night...13 different people all sharing how they believed God was leading them to join the move of God at EBC. Holy-moley God is good!

- we have a team in Daytona 'serving the world' in partnership with a church there during Bike Week...pray for God-sized things to happen!


- great things happening in small groups all the way around...God is leading our groups in big ways to know Him, love Him, and serve Him..both adults and students!


- a huge shout out to our incredible preschool and kids workers am and pm! Yesterday am in 'The Zone' we had parents attending worship with their kids for Family Worship Day. It is awesome to see parents and kids engaged in worship together...and parents who are serious about leading their kids to know Jesus. Our Sunday night kid's volunteers are uh-mazing!!!


- 'One Challenge' is rocking some people's worlds. How is it rocking yours?

- Yesterday we were all challenged to pray through and seek god as to how he might be leading us to 'be the church.' Ask God to show you how He is inviting you to join Him at work.




Have a beautiful week loving and being loved by God...journey on!