How Sweet The Sound Week 1: Amazing Grace with Craig Groeschel

You Were — But God — By Grace

Scripture References

• Ephesians 2:1
• Ephesians 2:3
• Ephesians 2:4
• Ephesians 2:8-9

Overview

Easter celebrates an empty tomb, but Craig broke the “Easter rules” by starting negative, piling up verses, and drilling into our need for grace. Using Ephesians 2 he traced the movement of every Christian story: “You were… but God… by grace.” Illustrations ranged from a disastrous funeral solo and the phrase “bless your heart,” to John Newton’s conversion and the writing of “Amazing Grace.” The message pressed listeners to admit their sin, see God’s intervention, and receive a salvation that is 100 % grace, 0 % personal merit.

Context

• Life.Church launched its 28th and 29th campuses the past two weekends, a sign that “we’re not praying for a move of God—we’re living in the middle of one.”
• On Easter, preaching professors advise “one verse, keep it positive.” Craig announced he would do the opposite.

Main Points

1. You Were (Ephesians 2:1, 3)

• Apart from Christ we were “dead in transgressions and sins,” gratifying our flesh, and “deserving of wrath.”
• Pushback—“I’m a good person”—reveals blindness to our condition.

• Illustration: Audience survey on lying, stealing, and lust exposed everyone as a “lying, thieving adulterer.”

• Guilt is often the starting line for grace; if we won’t admit sin we won’t seek a Savior.

2. But God (Ephesians 2:4)

• Paul’s own story: once a persecutor and killer of Christians, encountered Jesus, was struck blind, healed through Ananias, and called to preach the very gospel he opposed.
• The decisive words in every testimony: “but God, who is so rich in mercy and loved us so much…”

• Story: John Newton, “the great blasphemer,” survived a storm, met Christ, and later penned the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

3. By Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9)

• Salvation is “the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
• Old-Testament Passover lamb foreshadowed Jesus, the Lamb of God whose blood forms the true cross over us.

• Illustration: Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection detailed; the empty tomb is proof grace won.

• Grace snapshots from the Gospels:
  • Adulterous woman — condemned by law, released by Jesus: “Go… and sin no more.”
  • Prodigal son — father runs, robes, and throws a feast.
  • Thief on the cross — nothing to offer yet hears, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
• “One moment, one prayer, one Savior” can rewrite any story.

Key Truths

• Without Christ every person is spiritually dead and accountable for sin.
• God takes the first step: His mercy interrupts our trajectory.
• Salvation is entirely by grace through faith; human effort plays no part.
• Grace covers both notorious sinners (Paul, Newton) and “church kids” alike.
• The cross and empty tomb prove God’s love is stronger than death.

Response

• Admit your sin instead of defending your goodness.
• Call on Jesus for the “but God” intervention only He can give.
• Receive the free gift—stop trying to earn what Christ already finished.
• Worship with gratitude, telling your own grace story to others.
• Live changed: “Go… and sin no more,” empowered by the Spirit.

Closing

Craig reminded the congregation that this very moment is a move of God. Anyone can step into it because “you were, but God, by grace.” The invitation was immediate: one prayer receives total forgiveness and new life.

“You don’t become a better version of you—you become NEW. The old is gone, the new has come.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I trust You to forgive me, to change me, to make me new.
Jesus, be first in my life—my Lord, my Savior.
Save me by Your grace; fill me with Your Spirit so I can follow You the rest of my life.
My life is not my own; I give it to You.
In Jesus’ name, amen.