Sermon Resources · Access

Access: Growing in Love - Coming Boldly to the Throne of Grace

In this concluding message of a series on 1 John, Christian Washington explores direct access to God through Jesus Christ. The torn temple veil announces that God has removed the barriers people build between themselves and divine presence. Through Jesus, believers can come boldly to the throne of grace-and that access is as close as the next breath.

Key Points

• Religious lists of rules and traditions can become barriers that make people feel they must qualify before approaching God.
• At Jesus' death, the temple veil tore from top to bottom. God initiated the opening; human effort did not earn it.
• The Greek word parousia evokes bold, confident speech. Through Christ, believers may approach God directly and freely.
• Jesus fulfills the role of high priest, offering the final sacrifice and continually advocating for believers.
• An ancient contemplative tradition connects the Hebrew name YHWH with the sound of breath. Breath prayer uses each inhale and exhale as a moment to receive from God and release what harms us.
• Forgiveness can free the person who forgives without requiring contact, restored trust, or reconciliation.
• Agape love is a choice that moves us into action, responding to the needs around us.

Scripture Reference

• 1 John 5: assurance of eternal life, what believers know, and confidence that God hears prayer.
• Matthew 27:50-51; Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:44-46: the temple curtain is torn at the moment of Jesus' death.
• Hebrews 4:14-16: Jesus the great high priest and the invitation to approach the throne of grace boldly for mercy and help.
• Acts 17:28: in God we live, move, and have our being.
• 1 John 3:1: God calls us children, grounding our identity in love.

Stories and Images

The Day of Atonement: The high priest entered the Holy of Holies alone, once a year, after ceremonial preparation and sacrifice. The account emphasizes how restricted access to the divine presence once was.

The torn veil: The temple curtain marked a boundary around the Holy of Holies. Its tearing from top to bottom at Jesus' death is presented as God's action, opening access to all.

Forgiveness without reconciliation: Washington recounts a long estrangement from his adopted sister after she took money intended for their mother's nursing care. With support from a small group and breath prayer, he came to forgive her, while acknowledging that reconciliation remained out of reach.

Prayer in the breath: Ancient desert monastics in North Africa practiced contemplative prayer and associated YHWH with breath. The image invites awareness of God's nearness in ordinary moments.

Words to Remember

Access to God is given through Christ; it is not a prize for getting every item on a list right.

Forgiveness can be a step toward your own freedom, even when reconciliation is not possible or safe.

Discussion Questions

What lists of rules or requirements have you encountered in your faith journey? How have they shaped your relationship with God?

How does it change your understanding of salvation to see access to God as a gift rather than something earned?

Where do you find it difficult to approach God with boldness? What might be holding you back?

How does imagining Jesus as your high priest and advocate affect the way you approach confession and prayer?

If every breath can remind you of communion with God, how might that reshape your ordinary daily moments?

How do you hold forgiveness and healthy boundaries together in a relationship where trust has been broken?

How can you resist measuring your standing with God by comparing your beliefs or practices with other people's?

What do you most need to inhale from God right now, and what do you most need to release?

How does your faith community reassure people when doubt, conflict, or division threatens their sense of belonging?

Where are you being invited to move from noticing a need to taking a practical step to meet it?

Small Group Guide

Access: Coming Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Overview

This session considers what it means to have direct access to God through Jesus Christ. The torn veil marks the end of barriers that restrict people from God's presence. In Christ, we can approach God with confidence, and breath prayer offers a simple way to remember that nearness throughout the day.

Key Takeaways

Opening Questions

When you hear the word "access," what comes to mind? Recall a time you were granted or denied access to something important.

The group affirmation is "I am significant because God says so." How easy or difficult is it for you to believe that? What gets in the way?

Going Deeper

What lists of rules or traditions have you encountered, either imposed on you or applied by you to others?

The temple had areas with increasingly restricted access. Where might churches still create similar layers, even unintentionally?

What does it mean to you that God removed the barrier rather than waiting for us to earn our way through?

How does the image of being able to speak freely in God's presence change the way you think about prayer?

What does it mean that Jesus is both the one who opens the way and the means of our access?

How do you understand the distinction between forgiving someone and restoring a relationship with them?

What would it look like to practice intentional prayer throughout the day, beyond a formal prayer time?

Reflection Questions

Is there anything you have treated as a curtain between yourself and God-something you feel you must fix before you can come fully?

If access to God is as close as your breath, what difference could that make as you face anxiety, conflict, grief, or uncertainty this week?

Practical Applications

Practice breath prayer: Each morning, take seven intentional breaths. With each inhale, name something you need from God; with each exhale, name something you are releasing. Keep a simple journal and notice what shifts.

Examine your list: Write down beliefs, traditions, or rules that may have kept you or others at a distance from God. Pray for clarity about how they align with the heart of the gospel.

Take a step toward forgiveness: Identify one person you are holding unforgiveness toward. You do not need to contact them or reconcile. Begin the internal work of release: inhale grace, exhale judgment.

Come boldly: Bring God one concern you have been afraid to name. Remember that you approach a throne of grace, with an advocate who knows and loves you.

Share the good news of access: Think of someone who feels far from God. When an opportunity comes, remind them that the curtain has been torn and the door is open.

Closing Prayer

Pray these lines together, pausing between each pair:

Inhale God's peace. Exhale anxiety.
Inhale God's forgiveness. Exhale unforgiveness.
Inhale God's grace. Exhale fear.
Inhale God's love. Exhale unworthiness.

Allow each group member to add one breath of their own choosing in silence. Close together: "We are significant because God says so. We were created to do significant things. And we have access."

5-Day Bible Reading Plan and Devotional Guide

Access: Growing in Love

Day 1: You Are Named and Known

Reading: 1 John 3:1

Before your failures, successes, family opinions, or the world's labels, God named you a beloved child. That identity is not earned through a checklist of correct beliefs or perfect behavior. The people who first heard John's letter had been shaken by division, but John points them back to who they are. Your identity does not disappear when someone leaves, when a community struggles, or when your confidence wavers. Let the name God gives you settle into the places where shame has tried to rename you.

Reflection: What names has the world given you that contradict what God calls you? How might your day change if you lived from God's name for you?

Practice: Write "Child of God" somewhere visible. Each time you see it, take one slow breath and receive it as truth.

Day 2: The Curtain Has Been Torn

Reading: Matthew 27:50-51

For generations, access to the Holy of Holies was restricted and mediated. Then Jesus died, and the temple curtain tore from top to bottom. Heaven reached down and removed the barrier. Shame, another person's judgment, or a sense of unworthiness may still feel like a curtain, but none of these can undo what God has opened. You are not on the outside.

Reflection: What barriers have you built or allowed others to build between yourself and God? Are any of them things Jesus has already removed?

Practice: Sit in prayer for a few quiet minutes with no agenda and no list. Practice arriving as someone who already has access.

Day 3: Bold Confidence Before a Throne of Grace

Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16

Hebrews invites believers to approach God with confidence-not timidly, but honestly and freely. The throne is a throne of grace, and Jesus is the high priest who understands human weakness and advocates for us. Bring God what you have told no one else. You are fully known and still loved.

Reflection: Do you approach God with boldness or hesitation? What would it look like to speak with the confidence of someone fully loved and heard?

Practice: Write an honest, unfiltered prayer today. Say what you have been holding back.

Day 4: Every Breath Is a Prayer

Reading: Acts 17:28

Ancient contemplative traditions connected God's name, YHWH, with the sound of breath. The inhale and exhale can remind us that we live within God's sustaining presence. Prayer is not reaching for a distant God; it can be an intentional acknowledgment of the One who is near. Add intention to your breathing by receiving what you need and releasing what weighs on you.

Reflection: How does the thought of God being as close as your breath change how you think about prayer throughout the day?

Practice: Choose something you need to receive-such as peace, forgiveness, or courage-and something you need to release. Inhale the first; exhale the second. Return to the prayer during the day.

Day 5: Exhale What Is Killing You

Reading: 1 John 5:13-15

John repeats what believers can know: they have eternal life, and God hears them. This is the settled confidence of people who trust what Christ has done. Fear, shame, bitterness, or unforgiveness can keep us from living freely, but they were not placed there by God. Begin to release what keeps you small and receive what God offers in its place, one breath and one choice at a time.

Reflection: What are you carrying that feels like a curtain between you and the full life God offers? What might it take to begin releasing it?

Practice: Return to the breath prayer. Name specifically what you are releasing, then breathe in what God offers in its place. Repeat seven times slowly.