March 30, 2008
Sunday 10:00am WLEX TV Channel 18

It is requested that all children under the age of five stay in our nursery
so there will be no distractions during the preaching of the Gospel.

HYMN OF THE DAY
My Shepherd will supply my need
Jehovah is His name
In Pastures fresh He makes me feed
Beside the living stream. (Repeat)

He brings my wand’ring spirit back
When I forsake His ways
And leads me for His mercy’s sake
In paths of truth and grace. (Repeat)

When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay
A word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away. (Repeat)

The sure provisions of my Lord
Attend me all my days
His heav’nly house is my abode
And all my work His praise! (Repeat)

(Tune: “Majestic Sweetness” p. 52)


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Donnie Bell, Pastor of the Lantana Grace Church in Crossville, Tennessee will bring the message this evening.


Birthdays
3rd – Mariesha Watters 4th – Barbara Tucker 5th – Jessica Elliott



“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” -Proverb 22:15
GODLINESS
Godliness is a scriptural word. It is found in the New Testament 14 times. What does it mean? It is made of two words which mean literally, “well devout”. It is an attitude of awe and devotion toward God. Paul called it “the mystery of godliness” in I Timothy 3:16. It is the product of the Gospel, embodied in the Person of Christ. It is what always accompanies the doctrine of Christ when believed (I Tim. 6:3; Titus 1:1). Godliness is what is truly beneficial. “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having a promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (I Tim. 4:8). Godliness is connected with a quiet and peaceable life (I Tim. 2:2), and contentment (I Tim.6:6). Godliness is to be pursued (I Tim. 6:11). Those who live in godliness are promised persecution (II Tim 3:12). Godliness is the gift of God, wrought in every believer by divine power through the knowledge of Christ (II Pet. 3:3). We do not do things to reach the state of godliness. We do things because we are godly. This is the state of being of every believer!




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“For the love of Christ constraineth us” - II Corinthians 5:14-15
All ministers of Christ and all believers in the Lord Jesus are under the strongest and most compelling constraint to do what they do and live as they live. They are motivated by “THE LOVE OF CHRIST” – His love for them and their love for Him! It is not the fear of hell, nor a desire for special rewards, nor to establish a righteousness that they engage in worship, works of faith, and labors of love. It is Christ’s eternal love, which led Him to redeem them by His life and death, and the love of God for Christ and His church and kingdom which is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. “All the law is fulfilled in one word – LOVE GOD AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER” (Gal. 5:14). It is unreasonable to suggest that an unworthy sinner, loved with an everlasting love, chosen in Christ, redeemed by His blood, and called with a holy calling, would disregard the commandments of His Lord and live a selfish, self-centered, and worldly life! “For the love of Christ constraineth us....that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.” - Pastor Henry Mahan

 

SAVING GRACE

God’s saving grace does everything for a people that could do nothing. He gives spiritual life to dead sinners. He pays the ransom of an unpayable debt. He turns God-haters into God-lovers. He turns sinners into saints. He makes the foolish wise. He finds the lost sheep. He turns rebels into worshippers. He lifts the fallen. He carries the lame. He gives strength to the helpless. He comforts the hopeless. He does it all, and He does it all for Christ’s sake, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”
- Brian DuFour

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When it is all finished – when every one who ever shall be called, has been called – when every one of the Lord’s elect has been regenerated, justified, sanctified, and glorified – when the whole of the blood-washed family of God shall surround the throne above, all the glory shall be given to the Lord alone. There will be no jarring note in heaven, no whisper of human merit, no claim of a reward for good intentions; but every crown shall be cast at Jesus’ feet, and every voice shall join in the ascription, “Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name be all the glory of the salvation which thou hast wrought out for us from first to last.” - C. H. Spurgeon

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Predestination does not make preaching vain. Divine election makes preaching effectual. All men are to be preached to and commanded to repent and believe the gospel; and, thank God, all men in their spiritual deadness will not regard the message of the cross as foolishness. Some, by electing grace, will be effectually called to rejoice in God in the cross of Christ. – E. W. Johnson

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WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE ON CHRIST?

1. To believe that He is all that God says that He is and all that He claimed to be – the Son of God manifest in the flesh, the Messiah, Prophet, Priest, and King – the only Redeemer of men.
2. A reliance on Christ in His propitiation, on His saving, sanctifying, and protecting power.
3. An adoring love for His person, zeal for His glory, and submission to His will. – Charles Hodge