April 22, 2007

CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: "O For A Thousand Tongues")

O Christ of never-ceasing grace, Thy saints' exhaustless theme;

Great object of immortal praise, essentially supreme.

We bless Thee for the glorious fruits Thine incarnation gives;

The righteousness which grace imputes and faith alone receives.

In Thee we have a righteousness by God Himself approved;

Our rock, our sure foundation this, which never can be moved.

Our ransom by Thy death was paid, for all Thy people giv'n;

The law Thou perfectly obeyed, that they might enter heav'n.

As all when Adam sinned alone in his transgression died,

So by the righteousness of One are sinners justified.

Proverbs 3:21-26

²¹My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: ²²So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. ²³Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. ²⁴When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. ²⁵Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. ²⁶For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

MORNING WORSHIP:

10:00 Bible Study: Video sermon by Ken Wimer, Pastor of Shreveport Grace Church in Shreveport, La.

11:00 Service: Speaker, Mark Pannell, Eager Avenue Grace Church

STICK TO THE WORD OF GOD

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."  (II Timothy 3:16-17)

      Let us never forget that our only rule of faith, doctrine, and practice is the Word of God, the Scriptures that reveal Christ and the way of salvation by God's grace in Him alone, and all things consistent with the precious Word of Truth  . Whenever men promote doctrines, ideas, and practices that are not founded upon Biblical truth, it is nothing more than undue speculation or human rationalization which falls into the category of false and deadly doctrine. We must stick to the Word of God,  because as one man wrote, "I will give you this as a most certain observation, that there never was anything of false doctrine brought into the church, or anything of false worship imposed upon the church, but either it was by neglecting the Scripture  , or by introducing something above the Scripture." Let us cherish the Word of God above all things, and let us pray that we never be moved from seeking to have our lives ruled by it, no matter what men say. Whenever we hear men preach or teach in the name of the Lord, let us first be like the noble Bereans who when they heard Paul and Silas preach,  "received the word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11) Let us remember that it is the holy Scriptures which "are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (II Tim. 3:15) Sometimes men will lead us in all different directions and into confusion, but the Scriptures lead us unto Christ and Him crucified." (Jn. 5:39) 

--- Bill Parker, Pastor of 13^th. Street Baptist Church

CONFESSING OUR SIN

1 John 1: 5 – 10

Salvation is a comprehensive term (covers a lot of ground). It began with God choosing. That is where salvation was purposed. It continued to the Cross, where every sinner God chose was redeemed and justified (saved from the penalty of sin). The sins of those chosen were imputed to Christ, who discharged them by a Just Satisfaction. And, the Righteousness He established in His life and death was imputed to them. All that the Father chose were justified at the Cross.

Salvation is ongoing (right now) wherever the Gospel is being preached. Under the Gospel, God is calling (summoning) those that He chose, those that Christ Justified by His blood. They are in bondage to sin. They are entrenched in the darkness and ignorance of this world’s religion. They think their fellowship with God is based on something found in them. They need to be saved from the power of sin. (Like I said, “All start out in 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: ) But God is calling His elect out of this ignorance and darkness to the “light of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ”; to that salvation of sinners conditioned on and accomplished by Christ alone. This “part” of salvation will continue until every sinner chosen in eternity and redeemed and justified at the Cross is brought to rest in the Savior whose blood has saved them from God’s wrath and whose imputed Righteousness will keep them in His favor throughout all eternity.

Salvation completed is when Christ will return and finally glorify all that the Father chose, all that He justified at the Cross, all that the Spirit calls to Him. This is when salvation will be complete. This is when sinners will be saved from the presence of sin.

But, we are still in the on going “part” of salvation; the “part” where God is calling sinners to “walk in the light”; to rest in Christ’s blood and Righteousness alone for all of salvation; to fellowship with Him in the light of that truth. So, we continue to preach the Gospel. We continue to set Christ forth as God reveals Him in the Scriptures.

Mark Pannell, Eager Ave. Grace Church