A Legacy of Grace | The Pattern 4

Grace, Faith, Works

This week’s message was especially meaningful. Not only did we celebrate Pastor Larry and Mandy’s 17th wedding anniversary (congrats, Pastors! 🥳), but we were also honoured to hear from Ps Anthony Cassell, Mandy’s dad, as he carried on the Pattern series.

His teaching on Grace, Faith and Works reminded us that while salvation is a gift, we’re still called to live lives that bear fruit. But not through striving—through faith-fuelled obedience.

From Innocence to Grace | The Dispensations of God

Ps Anthony opened with a teaching on the dispensations—seven distinct ways God has related to mankind over time:

1. Innocence – Adam and Eve in the Garden, walking with God.
2. Conscience – After the fall, man became aware of right and wrong.
3. Human Government – Man tried to rule without God (think Tower of Babel).
4. Promise – God called Abraham and made covenant with His people.
5. Law – Given through Moses; the Ten Commandments exposed sin.
6. Grace – The church age—this is where we live now!
7. Judgement – The grand finale, when Christ returns in glory.

We now live in the dispensation of grace—a time of opportunity, mercy and relationship. But it doesn’t mean we drift. It means we walk boldly in God’s purpose.

Saved by Grace, Through Faith

Ephesians 2:8–9 (AMP)
“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favour] that you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God; not of works…”

Grace is the starting point. It’s God’s riches at Christ’s expense—unearned, undeserved, unmerited. You can’t work for it. You can only receive it.

But faith is the channel through which grace flows into your life.

“Faith receives and believes.” – Ps Anthony

When you believe God’s Word, you access everything He’s freely given—life, righteousness, purpose, and peace.

Legalism vs Grace | Two Very Different Roads

Ps Anthony drew a clear line between legalism and grace:

The Faith Train

One of the most powerful pictures in the message was the Faith Train.

Here’s the order:
Faith → Works
Not the other way around.

You don’t work your way into right standing.
You believe your way in—and then work flows naturally from your faith.

Your works don’t drive the train. Your faith does.

“Faith always produces obedience.” – Ps Anthony

Avoid the Approval Addiction

One of the traps of legalism is what Ps Anthony called approval addiction—trying to constantly please people or earn God’s love.

When we live this way, it drains the joy from our faith. But God isn’t interested in performance. He wants relationship.

Ephesians 1:6 (KJV)
“…he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

You are already accepted. Full stop.

Real Faith Produces Real Fruit

James 2:17 (AMP)
“Faith, if it does not have works to back it up, is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].”

Ps Anthony read the entire section from James 2—and it’s clear:

• Faith without action is just talk.

• Obedience is the fruit of a real relationship with God.

• You don’t work to be saved.

• You work because you’re saved.

Obedience Is Still the Key

At the heart of this message was one big question:

“What is God saying to you today?”

Because grace and faith lead to something powerful: obedience.

You can be in church for 20 years and not grow. But someone who steps in and obeys God’s Word wholeheartedly can outpace them in just months. Why? Because God blesses obedience.

Isaiah 1:19 (NKJV)
“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”

🔥 Earn What God Gave You

Don’t drift through this season under pressure or performance. Don’t live bound by law, striving to earn what God already gave.

✅ Receive His grace.
✅ Believe His Word.
✅ Obey His voice.

Ask yourself today:
“Am I living under legalism or grace?”
“Is my faith producing works of obedience?”
“What is God asking of me now?”

You don’t need to be perfect. You need to be present.
And God will take care of the rest.

🎥 Watch, Reflect, and Share

• ▶️ Watch the full sermon on YouTube
  Experience the full teaching from Ps Anthony—raw, real, and full of truth.

• 📖 Explore the full Pattern series
  Discover how to live God’s blueprint for your life.

• 🏗️ Partner with us in our New Building Launch
  Your giving helps us create a space where more people can encounter God’s grace.

🙏 Closing Prayer

Father God,
Thank You for the gift of grace through Your Son, Jesus. Today, we choose to believe Your Word and respond with obedience. Help us to recognise where we’ve fallen into legalism—and set us free from performance and people-pleasing. Teach us to walk by faith and to live lives filled with fruit that glorifies You.
We don’t have to work for Your love. We get to walk in it.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.