June 29, 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 FOR THE DAY
Oh, love beyond the reach of thought
That formed the sovereign plan
Ere Adam had our ruin wrought
Of saving fallen man!
Chosen in Christ, His ransomed flock
Th’ eternal purpose prove
By nature of a sinful stock
Made blameless now in love.
Ransomed by price, by blood redeemed
Restored by power divine
Though lightly by the world esteemed
They as the stars shall shine.
Blessed be the Father of our Lord
From whom all blessings spring
And blessed be the Incarnate Word
Our Saviour and our King!
(Tune: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” p. 10)
*****
Drew Charron will confess Christ in believer’s baptism at the close
of the service this morning.
Andy Davis will bring the message this evening.
For the next several weeks, we will have services in the Fellowship Hall while
the building is under construction.
Birthdays
1st – P. J. Nevels 3rd – Kristina Carroll 3rd – Aubrey Nibert
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth
the bones.” - Proverbs 17:22
*****
IS MY WORK IMPORTANT?
“Is my job important? Is there=2 0significance to what I am doing? Could
I not serve God better if I was devoted to ‘full time Christian service’,
and not doing something as insignificant in the grand scheme of things as
what I am doing?” These are questions that arise in everybody’s
mind from time to time. Man made religion has developed a “caste system”.
You have those who are involved in “full time Christian service”
as in the center of God’s will. Then there are those with “secular”
jobs (secular means without reference to the sacred), but still have offices
or responsibilities in the church. These people are not quite as significant
as the full timers, but they are more significant then the regular “laymen”.
This corrupt kind of thinking has a way of rubbing off on us. In Ephesians
6:5-8, Paul addresses slaves. These people had no rights, and were g iven
the most menial of jobs. A hard life to be sure! Yet Paul tells them to be
obedient unto their masters…and in doing so they would be “doing
the will of God from the heart.” Whatever your job is, whether it be
a C.E.O. or a ditch digger, a lawyer or a laborer, a doctor or a plumber,
do not even think it is insignificant. You are doing God’s will, just
as much as if you were an apostle! You can change a diaper to the glory of
God! What an encouragement this word must have been to those slaves, as they
went through their daily grind to know that they were actually “servants
of Christ, by doing the will of God from the heart.” Whether preaching
a sermon, or driving a truck, every believer is involved in “full time
Christian service”. There is no such thing as “secular”
work to a Christian! “Is my work important?”……Is God’s
will important? Then my work is important!
*****
True is it, O Jesus, that there is no light of love in our hearts except the
light of Your love! It is the holy fire from Your altar that must kindle the
incense in the censer of our hearts. There is no living water to be drawn
out of these dry wells! You, O Jesus, must supply them from the bubbling spring
in Your own Heart! When my heart is conscious of Your love, it loves you in
return. –C. H. Spurgeon
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God.” - Romans 10:3
It is not for ignorance, as such, that the Jews were condemned. If that were
so, a simple theology lesson would have brought them salvation. Rather, it
was what their ignorance led them to do that sealed their doom: they would
not submit to the righteousness of God revealed in Jesus Christ. It is certain
that if a man is ignorant of the righteousness of God, he cannot and will
not submit to it. But it is also true that a man may be fully aware of the
righteousness of God as revealed in the Gospel doctrine yet not submit to
it. So subtle is Satan and so deceptive the human heart that one may actually
think that his acknowledgement of the righteousness of God is his righteousness:
He may think that, because he believes the doctrine, and even publicly defends
it, God accepts him. It is one thing to submit to a doctrine, it is another
thing altogether to submit to Jesus Christ as one’s only righteousness
before God.
How can we know whether we have gone, not only from ignorance to knowledge,
but also from knowledge to submission? It is primarily revealed in this: we
cease from establishing our own righteousness before God. We glory in nothing
other than Christ’s cross, soothe our conscience with nothing but His
blood, and rest our hope for favor with God on nothing other than Christ’s
acceptance before the Father. – Pastor Joe Terrell
*****
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.For with
the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
- Luke 6:38
Now, don’t be mistaken, the Lord isn’t endorsing the self-indulging
ways of the health, wealth and happiness crowd. That’s not giving to
support the Gospel. It’s investing in order to receive that which satisfies
your flesh. Giving solely for the purpose of getting is abominable. But this
scripture clearly reveals that all who give desiring nothing in return, who
give for the shear privilege of it, will be deluged from on high with endless
blessings! It ever there is a time when a believer can safely throw caution
to the wind, it’s in this matter of giving. One who gives for the glory
of God the love of His people and the furtherance of His gospel, can never,
I repeat, never give too much! Neither can he ever give to his own detriment.
– Mark Daniel