Worship Planning Theme: Grace

Worship Planning

Mar 5

I grew up in a United Methodist church, and the more I learned about what it means to be Methodist, the more I learned about grace.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, considered grace the cornerstone of the Christian faith. He described God's grace as having three different forms:

Prevenient Grace
Justifying Grace
Sanctifying Grace.

Here’s how it’s explained in The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church (2012):

“By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit. While the grace of God is undivided, it precedes salvation as ‘prevenient grace,’ continues in ‘justifying grace,’ and is brought to fruition in ‘sanctifying grace.’”

Here's a closer look at those three forms of grace:

Prevenient Grace

Meaning: You love because God first loved you.

This form of grace is about God reaching out in love. Prevenient means to “come before.” Thus, prevenient grace is "grace that comes before our response to God, before our acceptance of grace, before we’re even aware of God at all. Prevenient grace is available to all people, whether they ever accept that love or not.” (source)

Justifying Grace

Meaning: There is nothing you can do to earn God’s love and grace.

In this form of grace, you acknowledge that God offers grace and forgiveness and acceptance to all who are willing to receive it; it’s not contingent on your actions, beliefs, values, social standing, or good deeds. There is nothing you have done or can do to deserve this kind of grace—you must simply accept it as the gift that it is and, in turn, extend this kind of grace to others.

Sanctifying Grace

Meaning: You are transformed and sanctified by the gift of God’s grace.

The word sanctify means to “set apart or declare holy.” In Sanctifying Grace, God sets you apart and calls you holy, freeing you from sin and transforming you into God’s likeness. "Sanctifying grace invites us to open ourselves to be shaped by God so the sacredness of a life of love can infiltrate our way of being.” (source)

This is the form of grace that you receive again and again after salvation, because “salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives. It is the ongoing experience of God’s gracious presence transforming us into whom God intends us to be.” (source)

Worship Planning Resources Based on the Theme, Grace

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Hymns

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Crown Him With Many Crowns
Amazing Grace
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
And Can It Be, That I Should Gain?
I Sought the Lord
Grace Greater Than Our Sin
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
O Worship the King
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
My Hope Is Built
God of Grace and God of Glory
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Wonderful Grace of Jesus
God of Compassion, in Mercy Befriend Us
Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine

Songs

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) (Chris Tomlin)
Your Grace Is Enough (Matt Maher)
This Is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham)
Come to the Table of Grace (Barbara Hamm)
God of Grace (Keith & Kristyn Getty)
Forever Reign (Hillsong)
What Grace is Mine (Kristyn Getty)
Grace Like Rain (Chris Collins, Todd Agnew, et al.)
Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace) (Hillsong)
Fullness of Grace [Christmas] (Keith & Kristyn Getty)
Amazing (Matt Redman)
The Wonderful Cross (Chris Tomlin, Isaac Watts, et al.)
Grace to Grace (Hillsong)

Vocal Solos

Grace Flows Down (David E. Bell, Louie Giglio, et al.)
Who Am I? (Casting Crowns)
Were It Not for Grace (Larnelle Harris)
Grace Amazing (Mark Schultz)