Walk This Year in Grace, Not Condemnation

Introduction

The service on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at Église Libre opens right after a week of fasting and prayer. A sister in the church, Nathalie, shares her testimony: she spent more time in God's presence, prayed for others instead of piling up personal requests, and by the end of the week, situations that had been stuck for a long time started to move. It's against this backdrop that Pastor Cathy takes the pulpit. She wants to set a direction for 2026: a year of grace, centered on Jesus. She doesn't shy away from painful current events, a devastating fire that shook Switzerland and left the country reeling. But she refuses to stop at emotion. She calls the church to listen to what God is saying through these events, and to unmask the two weapons the enemy uses against Christians: condemnation and the race for perfection.

Message outline

1. What God says through tragedy: a call to repentance

• 2026 opens with news that shocked everyone: a deadly fire in Switzerland, with very young victims, in a wealthy, developed country. Many are left stunned, grieving, angry.
• Pastor Cathy reminds us that death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12). In the face of tragedy, the answer isn't outrage, nor burying yourself in distraction to forget, nor saying "it's far away, it doesn't concern me."
• She points to Luke 13:1-5. People tell Jesus about a political news story: Galileans killed by Pilate. Jesus refuses to draw a direct line between their deaths and their sins. But he draws a lesson: "Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way."
• Jesus' message for a shaken world is a call to repentance, summed up in Mark 1:15: "The time is fulfilled, and God's Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News."
• Repentance isn't just crying over your mistakes or feeling regret. It's a change of direction: turning away from yourself and turning your eyes toward God. And this call isn't only for unbelievers, it's for you too, every day, as a Christian.
• The Christian's role in a troubled world: to carry meaning, to proclaim hope, to say to people, "I know the solution, there's Someone who loves you." Tell the person next to you: "I have passed from death to life. I'm no longer afraid of death."

2. The enemy's first weapon: condemnation

• For those who are in Christ, Satan has strategies other than death. Two powerful weapons show up again and again. The first: condemnation.
• We are all wounded people, to varying degrees: rejection from parents, a spouse, friends, authority figures; trauma, abuse, failure. The result: many people feel condemned by God and by others.
• Staying stuck in that place, "I'm not good enough, I don't measure up, God must be angry with me," leaves you powerless, depressed, and weak. That is exactly what the enemy is after.
• Pastor Cathy uses the image of the Israelites in the wilderness. God led them there to shape them, but he never intended for them to stay. Many Christians keep circling the wilderness of condemnation, replaying the same script of spiritual misery.
• You have to leave the wilderness. Reject thoughts of condemnation. Reject the words of coworkers, loved ones, and the surrounding culture that tell you you're worthless. And embrace the identity God has given you.
• Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." None. Romans 8:33-34: "Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died!" Romans 8:35: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" No one.
• Ephesians 1:4-5: in Christ, God chose you before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before him. God sees you through Jesus. He sees you as pure.

3. Renew your mind before you try to change your behavior

• When you become a Christian, the first step isn't forcing yourself to do good things. It's renewing your mind. Romans 12:2: "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
• You may have lived thirty years inside the world's lies. They became habit. Wanting to change isn't enough: you have to speak the biblical truth out loud, repeat it, and let it sink down into your heart.
• Your mouth plays an active role in this renewal. It isn't just quiet meditation. It's speaking the truth, saying it, declaring it. Repeated often enough, it settles into your deepest convictions.
• John 8:32,36: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free... If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." Freedom doesn't come from your willpower. It comes from the power of Jesus' word driving out the lie.
• Every time you believe and declare the truth, one piece of condemnation falls away. It's patient work. Keep at it.

4. The enemy's second weapon: the race for perfection

• The second weapon is subtler, and it mainly targets those who genuinely want to do well: the race for perfection, understood as total absence of fault.
• Pastor Cathy shares a trap she fell into herself. As a young, poorly taught believer, she pushed herself relentlessly to be perfect. She chased flawlessness for ten years, and it led her into depression. The harder she fought, the weaker and more miserable she felt.
• The word "perfect" in the New Testament (teleios, in Greek) doesn't point to the absence of fault. It points to maturity, progress, a journey coming to completion.
• So are we perfect in God's eyes? Yes and no. Yes, in our standing in Christ: God sees us through his Son, justified, holy, without blemish. No, in our day-to-day experience: we keep making mistakes, growing slowly, falling and getting back up.
• Sanctification is the result of justification, not its condition. Because God already sees you as perfect in Christ, he now invites you to gradually become, in your experience, what you already are in his eyes.
• Total perfection, including in lived experience, will only come at Jesus' return, when your body is transformed into a spiritual body and you no longer sin. Until then, God asks only one thing of you: make progress, at your own pace, in your own area of weakness.
• Everyone has their own area. For one it's overeating, for another it's anger, for another still it's pride or fear. Don't compare. Don't condemn others. Don't condemn yourself either. Be patient with yourself, the way God is patient with you.

5. How to walk in grace practically in 2026

• Walking in grace isn't mystical. It's a marathon, not a sprint. What matters is staying power and endurance, more than intense moments.
• Priority. Matthew 6:33: "Seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well." Let God be your priority in your schedule (come to church ready, ten minutes early; turn off your phone; follow a discipleship path), in your money (the tithe is only a minimum), in your conversations (talk about Jesus with the people around you).
• Good sense. Being a Christian doesn't mean waiting for a miracle for everything. It also means planning ahead, taking care of practical matters, thinking things through, preparing your projects, taking action. Eat well, sleep, exercise. God is a God of order: he set natural laws in place. If you get sick because you're not taking care of your body, don't ask for a miracle first, start by making a change.
• Connection to God. Listen carefully to his word. Pray for insight. Ask God to search your heart when a situation stays stuck. Seek counsel from more mature believers, the whole book of Proverbs is full of practical wisdom from experienced people.
• Do all of this while leaning on God, never on your own strength. "God, I remain in your grace. Your grace is enough for me."

6. David's lesson: grace always outruns our falls

• Pastor Cathy closes with the last recorded episode of David's life, in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21.
• David is old, he has walked with God for a long time, he has already experienced forgiveness after the affair with Bathsheba. And yet, out of pride, he orders a census of the people against God's will. The judgment is severe: seventy thousand Israelites die.
• David refuses to choose his own punishment. He says to God: "Please let me fall into Yahweh's hand; for his mercies are great" (2 Samuel 24:14). Then, at God's instruction, he goes up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, buys it at full price, builds an altar there, and offers a sacrifice. At that moment, the plague stops.
• What follows is striking: that very place (the site of David's failure, the site of judgment) becomes the place where the temple in Jerusalem will be built. 1 Chronicles 22:1: "David said, 'This is the house of Yahweh God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.'"
• God turns the place of shame into the place of grace: a leap of grace, a visible mark that God's infinite grace outruns our sin.
• This scene foreshadows what Jesus did for us. Christ's sacrifice is the center. That's where you are lifted up, renewed, adopted. No condemnation. No race for perfection. Only grace, flowing freely.
• No one is exempt, not even David. We will all need God's grace. Repentance leads to the answer. And that answer is called Jesus.

Key takeaways

• The tragedies in the news are a call to repentance, not just compassion. The good news is even more urgent to proclaim.
• Condemnation is a lie. Romans 8:1 is your anchor verse: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
• God isn't asking you to be perfect, he's asking you to make progress at your own pace. The word "perfect" in the Bible means "mature."
• Renew your mind first. Declare the truth out loud until it settles into your heart.
• Walking in grace is a marathon: God first, practical good sense, constant connection. And always coming back to Jesus' sacrifice at the center.

Personal application

• When current events touch or trouble you, what's your first reaction: shock, outrage, distraction, or a call to repent and proclaim hope?
• What thoughts of condemnation are running through your mind right now? Take ten minutes to declare Romans 8:1, Romans 8:33-35, and Ephesians 1:4-5 out loud.
• What spiritual "wilderness" have you been circling for too long? What is God saying to you today to invite you out of it?
• Have you fallen into the perfection trap? Name one specific area where you keep accusing yourself, and hand it over to God as a path of progress, not a demand.
• In practical terms for 2026: what will God's real place be in your schedule, your money, your conversations? Choose one practical decision to put into practice this week.

Verses cited

• Luke 13:1-5 · "Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way"
• Mark 1:15 · "Repent, and believe in the Good News"
• Romans 8:1 · "No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus"
• Romans 8:33-35 · "Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones?"
• Ephesians 1:4-5 · chosen in Christ to be holy and without blemish
• Romans 12:2 · "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
• John 8:32-36 · "The truth will make you free"
• Matthew 6:33 · "Seek first God's Kingdom"
• 2 Samuel 24 · David, the census, and the threshing floor of Araunah
• 1 Chronicles 21-22 · the place of judgment becomes the site of the temple

Frequently asked questions

How do I get free from condemnation when I keep falling into the same sins?

Condemnation is a lie. Romans 8:1 says it plainly: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." The solution isn't to feel worse, it's to renew your mind (Romans 12:2). Declare the truth out loud: God has justified you, God isn't accusing you, nothing can separate you from his love. Change your thinking before you try to change your behavior. Repeated often enough, biblical truth settles into your heart and drives out lies that have been there for years.

Do you have to be perfect to please God?

God isn't asking you to be perfect. He's asking you to make progress. The word "perfect" (teleios) in the New Testament points to maturity, not the absence of fault. You're already perfect in your standing in Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5): God sees you through his Son. Sanctification is a gradual path, at your own pace, in your own area of weakness. God is patient with you the way a parent is patient with a child learning to walk: when you fall, he doesn't condemn you, he reaches out his hand so you can get up and keep going.

In practical terms, how do you walk in grace day to day?

By putting God first (Matthew 6:33): your time, your money, your Sunday, your attention. By staying connected to him through his word and prayer. By using good sense: sleep well, eat well, exercise, honor the natural laws God put in place. By seeking counsel from more mature believers, the whole book of Proverbs is full of practical wisdom. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint: endurance matters more than mountaintop moments. And it all comes back to the sacrifice of Jesus, the one true center of grace.