All Souls PCA

The Story of Grace

If we are honest with ourselves, we are more deeply broken, flawed, and sinful than we ever dared think. But, in the story of God’s grace we see we are more loved by our heavenly Father than we ever dared hope.

The Story of God’s grace is about a Father who loved broken, sinful people. It is about a Father who out of that love sent His Son, to bear sin, guilt, shame, and suffering for us, that we might know acceptance, honor, and joy in Him. It is about a Son, who died for sin, but didn’t stay dead! Instead Jesus rose from the dead, so that all bad things have begun to become untrue. The Father wants to write us into this story of grace through faith in His Son Jesus. It is this story that we rehearse each week as we worship together and study the Bible, so that our acceptance in the Son will sink deeply into our hearts.

The Dynamic of Grace

Grace is powerful. To know that you are accepted in Jesus will change you. It will change you from the inside out. God’s grace reorients our hearts. Very often people focus on behaviors (habits they want to change), and rules (“Do this. Don’t do that”). At All Souls we want to see God change people. But we know that change happens when grace takes hold of our hearts, by the power and presence of God’s Spirit. This leads us back to the story of God’s grace as the power to change the heart, which then leads us out into the world as changed people.

The Call of Grace

God’s grace repurposes our callings in light of His story. God’s grace taking root in our hearts, won’t necessarily mean that we do different things, but it will mean that we do things differently. The way we live, work, and play will, over time, be shaped by the Father’s acceptance and love and repurposed to the Father’s glory.

So, God’s grace leads us into intimacy with Him, as we draw near through God’s Word, the sacraments, and prayer. God’s grace leads us into community with one another, as we walk with one another through the struggles of our exile from Eden. God’s grace leads us out into God’s world, as we love our neighbor and seek the common good in a broken world.

For God’s Glory and
Man’s Joy

In everything we say and do we want to show how great our God is. In dependence on Him, we offer ourselves—our hands and feet, our heads and hearts, our work and play, our studies—to Him as a thank you gift, which brings joy to our Father’s heart. For us, there is no greater joy than to show and tell the greatness of our Father’s love for us in His Son. There is no greater joy than for His glory to be made known to and through us as individuals in ways unique to who God has made us to be. And so we strive to be about grace, for God’s glory and man’s joy.

Reformed University Fellowship
at the University of Illinois

The mission of RUF is to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve.

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RUF is the campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America.