The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God

By Craig M Sparrow

Divine purpose is fulfilled as grace exchanges empower your dream. 

In this book, Craig Sparrow shows how the potential to carry and demonstrate the fullness of God is both available and accessible.  He explains how grace exchanges enable every believer to encounter a greater reality of God’s full

• Language: English
• Publisher: GraceXchange Ministries
• Release date: Jul 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780648325314

Craig M Sparrow

Craig Sparrow is a husband and father and has been a pastor and marketplace minister. Having completed an Honours degree in Applied Science and Post-Graduate degree in Divinity, he lives in Newcastle, Australia with his beautiful wife, Michelle, and three daughters. Passionate to access heaven's power on Earth, he has seen exponential increase in healings and miracles under the ministry of Bethel Church in Redding, California where he studied for three years. He now ministers a gospel of grace offering encounters and practical insight across all spheres of society. Visit gracexchange.com.au to learn more.

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ENDORSEMENTS

I have known Craig for nearly twenty years now and have found him to be a person who genuinely hungers after the things of God. That has always been evident in and through his life. However, over the past few years that passion has happened in a new way. Craig has discovered an approach to the Father that has both released him and taken him to new levels in his faith and ministry. He is in a season of life and ministry that is enriched in so many ways. This book is his testimony of the revelation he has received and the journey that has ensued. I would highly recommend it to you as it not only shows us the authenticity of the man who has written it – it will challenge us also to approach the Father in ways that free and empower us.

KEITH EDWARDS Senior Minister, C3 Church Victory, Newcastle, Australia.

The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God is truly what the title says it is - an exchange of grace! As I was reading through this book, the truths about the Person of Grace began to hit me on new levels. As I read, I began to feel Jesus come and fill my body and the room I was sitting in with a greater level of peace, hope and joy! Wow! I thought, this book is powerful! I believe The Grace Exchange has the power to connect you to a clearer vision of why you are alive, and also give you new access to His manifest presence! Craig is a living testimony of encountering God and I believe this book will prophesy encounters into your life. If you want more of the King and His Kingdom in a real and personal experience, I highly recommend this book!"

DAVE HARVEY, Director of Global Legacy, Bethel Church, Redding, California, USA.

The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God is more than a book. It is the personal journey and lifestyle of Craig Sparrow. It is the journey from working for God to working from grace and rest with God. I had the privilege of seeing that message lived out by Craig and his family. It has stirred, inspired, and launched me into the same journey because it is real and authentic. Rest and experience increase while reading this wonderful book by an amazing man. I am blessed to know him.

RUEDI ALTORFER, Pastor, Switzerland.

I have a history in Christianity that extends almost the entirety of my 53 years. I’ve seen a lot in those years as a certain truth or theme takes precedence throughout the Body of Christ during specific periods. It’s interesting to see the subject of grace taking special pre-eminence in the last 10 years. God is setting His people free from lifeless legalism while revealing the empowered and abundant life He always meant for us to experience. Grace can be a controversial subject mostly due to a misconception of what grace is. In the last several years, Craig has endeavoured to know God more intimately and practically and has paid a great price of effort and sacrifice in his pursuit. We are beneficiaries of the deep insight he has gained in this journey. You will be encouraged and challenged as you read through the pages of this well written book. It is a beautiful combination of practical theology, woven into actual life experiences and easy steps to personal application. Your spiritual life will flourish if you take the time to invest in absorbing the deep truths found in this book.

RUSSELL BLACK, Founder and Director, Latin Impact Ministries, Florida, USA.

What makes Craig Sparrow’s book, The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God, so powerful is that it is his own personal story and process. It is a story of hunger opening the door to encounter, encounter leading to awakening, and awakening empowering transformation.

Craig tells his story in such a way that we are all invited into this very same process. Ultimately all of us as Christ followers need to embrace the process of becoming Christ like. As Craig points out, this is not just about become Christ like in our behaviour but rather surrendering to His, unforced rhythm of grace, discovering our true identity, and living from our inheritance of abundant life.

The stories, principles, wisdom, and insight in this book have the potential to change your life. They will reveal to you Kingdom living. They will encourage you, strengthen you, and invite you into your own personal journey of freedom and the experience of grace exchanges. I loved reading The Grace Exchange and I know you will too.

AARON WILLIAMSON, Senior Minister, Dayspring Church, Sydney, Australia.

I have known Craig for the past three years and he is a man of authenticity. This book is filled with revelations that he has personally walked through in life. Jesus promised an abundant life and this book will take you on a journey to discover how to step into the fullness of what Christ has paid for on the cross. It will stir and challenge you for more of Him and not settle for anything lesser than what’s available for every believer. As you read through each chapter, you will realize that receiving the more of His kingdom is easy because it’s all about His grace. This book is full of testimonies, stories, and practical ways to guide you to step into the more. As you open your heart to read, be aware of what God is speaking to you, and receive an impartation of grace through the various testimonies.

CLEMENT SIM, Associate Pastor, Soakability Church, Singapore.

Craig Sparrow is a loving father in the Kingdom who has chronicled the wonder-filled journey we all take as we leave behind the mindset of lack and limitation to embrace the glorious freedom and extravagance of the Kingdom of Abundance Jesus has so generously invited us to share with Him. Craig is observant, paying attention to details as he shares multiple aspects of the renewing of the mind and describes the many layers of our belief system that have been so conformed to this world’s thought patterns that we need to step into an entirely new way of thinking, according to the Mind of Christ. And it is ours! Let this mighty man of stature and courage take you on a journey into the mindset of the Kingdom, which is gloriously abundant. You will be blessed!

CHUCK PARRY, Associate Director, Bethel Healing Ministries, Redding, California, USA and author of Free Falling: True Stories of One Man’s Leap into the Miraculous.

In this book Craig shares deep insights about our true identity and positioning in Christ as followers of Jesus. It is not merely theory, but powerful and transformative in nature. As I read this book I found myself becoming more excited about my reality as a new creation as well as inspired and resourced to live from this place.

Craig humbly identifies himself with his readers through the use of personal testimonies and provides hope that this normal Christian lifestyle is available for me to live right now. I love that I could connect with his stories rather than just be taught by him. Craig has walked out his faith in churches from the conservative through to Pentecostal and writes in a manner that relates to people across all demographics of faith. As I finish this book, I find myself encouraged and excited. Mindsets have been challenged and my spirit renewed. I delight in recommending Craig and The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God.

SHANE MANDI, Pastor, Bethel Church, Redding, California, USA.

Craig and Shell Sparrow are the ‘real deal’. Their personal lives, marriage and family are testimonies of God’s Grace and goodness. They really do ‘walk the walk’, not just ‘talk the talk’. That’s why I am very happy to endorse Craig’s first book, The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit For More of God. This book is truly a reflection of Craig’s own journey with God, of the desire for ‘more’ and going deeper, to pursue Him and truly KNOW HIM, and like Moses, to know His heart and His ways not merely His acts.

When Craig writes, Grace was not sent just to restore what has been lost, but to resource you for the life you were destined to live, I believe this encapsulates the reality of God’s Grace. His empowering Presence fills our day-to-day lives and is never meant to be merely about a salvation event, but a whole of life journey in Grace, appropriating the truth and experiential reality of our perpetual Jubilee in Christ, as Craig so wonderfully articulates in Chapter 7.

Enjoy the unfolding journey of Grace Exchanges that will propel you further into greater realms of revelation and knowledge through experience and encounter with Christ. This journey will take you deeper into a life of fullness and freedom, the inheritance of every believer through Christ’s finished work on the Cross and His resurrection life now residing in us.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to take the journey of The Grace Exchange with Craig, read and read again, meditate, engage with the activations and watch your life accelerate into greater freedom, Grace upon Grace.

WAYNE WILLIAMSON, Senior Leader, Gateway Church, Lake Macquarie, Australia.

THE GRACE EXCHANGE

The Pursuit for More of God

CRAIG SPARROW

© Copyright 2018 by Craig Sparrow. All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form or means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the author or as provided by Australian law.

ISBN: 978-0-6483253-0-7

ISBN: 978-0-6483253-1-4 (e-book)

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version Bible

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Hodder Headline. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the New Living Translation

Copyright © 1996 by Tyndale Publishing. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

All excerpts used by permission.

Language is written in British English throughout the book content.

In this book, the generic pronouns he, him, and his are used whenever explicit inclusion of both gender-specific pronouns would result in grammatical cumbersomeness. I know that in Christ, there is no difference between male and female (see Galatians 3:28), so the pronouns used in this way should be read as generic, not masculine.

Bold-face sections within scriptural quotations are used for my emphasis and are not found in the original text.

Design and cover art by Michelle Sparrow and Jonathan Bärnreuther

Printed by Ingram Spark

Out of his fullness we have all received grace interchanging with grace already given.

John 1:16 (paraphrased)

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the men and women who hold an insatiable hunger to pursue the more. I walk in the momentum of many who have pursued the more before me; and I pray this book stirs you to steward greater personal breakthrough and increase.

Our goal is to represent the One who modelled perfect theology, so our experience aligns with His. We are stepping into the greatest season of history for the gospel. I prophesy over you grace exchanges that will promote you into your divine purpose.

CONTENTS

PART ONE: RESTORATIVE GRACE

1.Dis-Grace to Grace

2.Lack to Provision

3.Condemnation to Acceptance

4.Dealing with the Sinful Nature

5.Fear, Punishment, and Accusation

PART TWO: RESOURCING GRACE

6.Seeing Through the Cross

7.The Voice of the Lord

8.Abiding Grace

9.Resting Into Increase

10.Intimacy and Union with God

11.Walking in Healing Anointing

12.Holiness—The Foundation of Grace

13.Hope—The Platform Grace Moves Upon

14.Faith—The Accelerant for Grace

15.Love—The Atmosphere Grace Dwells In

16.Grace Upon Grace

17.The Priority of the Kingdom

18.Stewarding the Increase

Closing Remarks

Appendix A—Flourishing in the New Realm of Glory

Appendix B—How to Receive Jesus

Appendix C—How to be Filled and Baptized in the Holy Spirit

Notes

FOREWORD

It is an incredible delight to write this foreword for The Grace Exchange: The Pursuit for More of God. It is a book that describes a journey into and through renewal. I had the joy of Craig interning for me while he was in the process of writing. It is not a book of just head knowledge, but having worked with Craig, I have seen the fruit of what he writes about clearly on his life.

We live in an exciting day. The Lord is raising a Jesus generation with people who want to make His Son famous. They are a people who understand their identity and know and walk in a revelation of righteousness. The good news of the gospel is that the cross redeemed our sin and opened our life to the righteousness of God. When believers understand their worthiness is not merited by their performance but rather because of God’s goodness, signs and wonders will flow.

Jesus is the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). When we see Jesus, we see the Father. The nature of the Father is to display His goodness. Jesus modelled this: Jesus never welcomed a hurricane or an earthquake. Rather every storm He encountered was calmed and every person He prayed for was healed. Sadly, the church has justified their powerlessness to the level of experience, not truth. My pursuit is to encourage the church to recognise God’s nature is His will and align her thinking with His.

I have not met many like Craig that are so Jesus centred in their lives, holding such a deep revelation of the cross and grace that is available today. This is so evident through the way he ministers to people in the purity of grace, resulting in love and power.

Jesus is not a window showing us who we can become, but He’s a mirror showing us who we already are. As the body of Christ embraces the person of Jesus and His purity of grace, the more the purity of the power of the gospel will flow through us as sons and daughters of God. It is so true that grace is the pathway to experiencing the more.

There are so many misconceptions today around grace, and in reading this book, it’s clear that grace is not a subject, teaching or even a theology, but Craig sees grace as a person, and that person is Jesus.

The Gospel of Jesus is so powerful. It’s time to embrace the good news of the gospel and live as Jesus lived: with power, love, purity, and compassion filled with grace. This book will capture your attention with a fresh understanding of the gospel and more importantly, help and empower you to live a powerful life like Jesus.

It is for these reason I endorse this book to you. As Craig’s mentor while at Bethel Church, this is a really proud day for me to see a dream of Craig’s come to reality. Craig’s hunger for God is contagious. He’s always going after the more and pushing into deeper revelation of Jesus, of who we are in Him and who He is in us. As you read this book, I have no hesitation believing you also will carry his passion.

Much Grace,

CHRIS GORE

Director of Healing Ministries, Bethel Church

Author of The Perfect Gift - Seeing the Child Not the Condition; Walking in Supernatural Healing Power; Overflow - A daily Experience of Heaven’s Abundance

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my wife, Michelle, Thank you for your love and support—you are a gift to me. I am blessed by the grace on your life and thankful you are my life partner on this journey of faith.

To my daughters: Brielle, Elisha and Jessika—Thankyou for showing me how to mature into childlikeness. You carry such a grace upon your lives that inspires me and I love you so much.

To Chris Gore, thank you for inviting me into your life. Witnessing raw power flowing through righteousness has forever changed me.

To Dave Arns, thank you for your generous gift editing this work. Your attention to excellence is a great blessing.

To my friends and family who have supported, encouraged and inspired me to live life courageously: Thankyou. Your investment of time, prayer and resource into my journey has positioned me to encounter the more. I have become an encounter for a world longing for its own.

INTRODUCTION

There is always more in God, is a statement my pastor reinforced year after year through my formative discipleship years. It created an inquisitive pursuit for seeking what a human life could experience this side of heaven. If David served and fulfilled his divine purpose in his generation (see Acts 13:36), I am passionate to pursue mine. And I assume, because you’re reading this book, so are you.

The question arises: how much of God’s fullness is possible to experience in your lifetime? I am excited to arrive in heaven one day, but when I do, I don’t want to discover magnitudes of heaven I could have had on Earth. I want to arrive with an offering for the Lord that carries expressions of heaven that were released through my lifetime. After all, the possibilities within God are immeasurable. The potential to carry and demonstrate the fullness of God is available and accessible.

We all have been offered a gift of grace that enables us to be filled to the measure of the fullness of God. Our assignment is to become more and more aware of this truth so that we can live it out through our lives. The pursuit for more is far greater than a search for increased knowledge. Rather, it is a quest to abide in Jesus, through the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and enjoying communion with the Father. In this journey, we are progressed from glory to glory and strength to strength so we re-present Jesus, perfect theology, to every person we meet. This is the quest to discover the more of God.

Our world’s culture is infatuated with the need for more. Our newspapers and online sites release more information in one day than people last century discovered in an entire year. Modern athletes are never satisfied with the Status Quo of world record markers. They train harder and more intently to perform faster and stronger. Scientists eagerly research to discover what has yet to be explored. Similarly, creative artists and designers passionately push the margins of what is possible, searching for what has yet to be seen.

This yearning for more is a God-given desire. God has birthed within humanity an ache for exploring the unknown and discovering new things. I am excited to confirm it is no different for believers. We carry an innate desire to discover more about God and experience His goodness so we can display it in greater measures. Paul prayed over the church in Philippians 1:9–11,

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and