December 31, 2007
Sunday 10:00am WLEX TV Channel 18

Compared with Christ, in all beside
No comeliness I see
The one thing needful, dearest Lord
Is to be one with Thee.

The sense of thy redeeming love
Into my soul convey
Thyself bestow, for Thee alone
My All-in-all, I pray.

Less than Thyself will not suffice
My comfort to restore
More than Thyself I can not crave
And thou cans’t give no more.

Loved of my God, for Him again
With love intense I’d burn
Chosen of Thee ere time began
I’d choose Thee in return.

(Tune: “According To Thy Gracious Word” p. 192)


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We will have a New Year’s Eve service tomorrow night beginning at 8:00pm. We will observe the Lord’s Table and have a meal together afterwards – bring a dish. There will be no evening service tonight or this Wednesday.


I would like to thank each of you for the generous gift you gave to us. We enjoyed our evening together with all of you – our hearts are with yours in the bond of our Saviour. As we approach this New Year, may we do so with gratefulness for the mercies of the past year, and anticipation for the grace that is to be given in the New Year!


We extend our sympathies to Lissie McGuire and her family on the death of her sister this past week.
Birthdays
31st – Donna Wooten 3rd – Rachel Parker 5th – Michael Mohr


“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” - Proverb 17:15


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TRUTH AND LIFE
”Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth” (James 1:18) “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth” (John 17:17.
We are greatly mistaken if we believe that God works apart from the Truth. Spiritual birth and sanctification come only through the truth. To suppose that God is bigger than the truth and can use error to bring His children to Himself is to dishonor God. God is a God of Truth. Christ came to bear witness to the Truth. Why do men want to cloud this issue? There is only one reason. They disobey the Truth! Remember, the Truth is more than accurate data. The Truth is a Person. To seek to go around the Truth is to disregard the Truth and disobey the Truth. As John said, “No lie is of the Truth” (I John 2:21).


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There is an Advocate and Intercessor waiting to present the prayers of those who come to God through Him. That Advocate is the Lord Jesus Christ. He mingles our prayers with the incense of His own almighty intercession. Our prayers, as poor as they are in themselves, are mighty and powerful in the hands of our High Priest and Elder Brother. The bank note without a signature is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. The stroke of the pen gives it all its value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a poor, feeble thing in itself, but once indorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus, it availeth much.
- Pastor Scott Richardson

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Since God is sovereign, we have no legitimate reason to worry about anything. God reigns! All is well.
We should ever remember that Christianity is not a set of opinions, a system of dogmas, or a number of views; it is pre-eminently a living reality – a personal, practical, powerful thing, telling itself out in all the scenes and circumstances of daily life, shedding its hallowed influence over the entire character and course, and imparting its heavenly tone to every relationship which one may be called of God to fill. In a word, it is that which flows from being associated and occupied with Christ. This is Christianity. There may be clear views, correct notions, without any fellowship with Jesus; but an orthodox creed without Christ will prove a cold, barren, dead thing. – C. H. Mackintosh


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Believers are a confessing people. We confess our sin to our Savior, and confess our Savior before men. We confess Christ in the waters of baptism, being buried with Him in the watery grave and rising with Him from the grave, we identify ourselves with our Lord and publicly declare our allegiance to Him (Rom. 6:3-6). We confess Christ when we defend His honor amidst His enemies. We confess our Lord when we press His claims upon His enemies. We confess the Lord Jesus Christ when we make His gospel and His glory the rule by which we live in this world. – Pastor Don Fortner


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If I did not believe the Scriptural teaching of election unto salvation, I would not bother to ever preach again. But since God has a people chosen unto salvation and redeemed by Christ, I am encouraged to preach “Christ and Him crucified.” I am assured that the Holy Spirit will cause His people to hear the gospel and believe on the Son. -Copied


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We must be careful that we always make Scripture the master of our theology, and not the servant. We do not go to the Scriptures to prove our theology but to find God’s theology. We must not twist the statements of Scripture to fit what we believe, but must always alter what we believe to fit the Scriptures. – Pastor Joe Terrell