October 19, 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
The bird without barn or storehouse are fed
From them let us learn to trust for our bread
His saints, what is needful, shall not be denied
So long as it’s written,20“The Lord will provide.”

We all may, like ships, by tempest be tossed
On perilous seas, but will not be lost
Thought Satan enrages the wind and the tide
Yet Scripture engages, “The Lord will provide.”

No strength of our own, nor goodness we claim
Our trust is all thrown on Jesus dear name
In this our strong tower for safety we hide
The Lord is our power, “The Lord will provide.”

When life sinks apace, and death is in view
The Word of His grace shall see us safe through
No fearing nor doubting with Christ on our side
We hope to die shouting, 8 0The Lord will provide.”

(Tune: “O Worship the King” p. 1)


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The College Grove Grace Church in Tennessee where Chris Cunningham is Past or, will have a Bible Conference this weekend. I will be preaching Friday and Saturday and will return Saturday evening.

Birthdays
22nd – Samuel Kincer 24th – Carla Bryan 25th – Norman Frye


“Rejoice=2 0not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.” -Proverb 24:17-18

If I said, “I have a problem with murdering people, shoplifting, and adultery,” you would think these to be serious crimes, and you would think me to be a very evil man. But if I said, “I have a problem with unbelief”, you would probably not think that to be so bad. This demonstrates our perverted way of thinking! Indeed, the sins I first mentioned are a great evil! But the Lord tells us that when the Holy Sprit convicts of sin, He convicts “of sin, because they believe not on Me” (John 16:9). Holy Spirit conviction is conviction concerning the evil of unbelief!
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As an instance of the patience, comfort, and hope, which comes from the Gospel, note the following from Dr. Payson: “Christians might avoid much trouble if they would believe that God is able to make them happy without anything else. God has been depriving me of one blessing after another; but as every one was removed, He has come in and filled up its place; and now, when I am a cripple, and not able to move, I am happier than even I was in my life before, or ever expected to be. If I had believed this twenty years ago, I might have been spared much anxiety.” ; - Copied

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WHY PREACH ELECTION?
I often hear this question asked: why preach election? Here are four reasons why I preach God’s eternal and unconditional election of a people.
1) God has declared it in His word (II Timothy 3:16). Since God said it, it is both true and necessary. I do not have authority to omit this truth but rather am obliged to proclaim it. I do not shun to declare it and must not keep back anything profitable (Acts 20:20-27).
2) It gives all glory to God in the salvation of a sinner from beginning to end. Our conformity to Christ and ultimate glorification is linked to, and begins with our election; it is all His doing (Romans8:28-30; II Thessalonians 2:13).
3) It is a most comfortable doctrine to the saints. All whom He chose, He has blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Nothing needful or necessary has been withheld (Ephesians 1:3-6).
4) It shuts men up to God’s sovereign grace and mercy in Christ. It kills our ideas of salvation by personal merit, works or will and causes us to seek Christ, Who is the salvation of God (Romans 9:11-16).
- Pastor Charles Pennington
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.” - I Thessalonians 5:18

A pastor was talking to the mother of a little girl who had just recovered from a near-fatal illness. The woman said, “Wasn’t God good to give us back our child?” The minister was about to voice his agreement when an arresting thought entered his mind. The woman was surprised when he answered, “Yes, but would not God have been just as good, or just as kind, if your child had no t been spared?” The mother hesitated. Her face clouded over. At last, though half-heartedly and without conviction, she conceded that her pastor was right. It takes an unshakable confidence in the wisdom, power, and love of God to give “thanks always for all things” (Ephesians 5:20).This does not mean we delight in pain and suffering. We simply cling to His unchanging attributes. It’s easy to be happy when everything seems to be going our way. We readily express thanks to God when we receive the things we desire. But there’s often an opposite response when we find ourselves in adverse situations and our heavenly Father does not grant our requests. The trusting child of God, however, learns to praise the Lord in every circumstance.
Romans 8:28 has become so familiar to many of us that we sometimes fail to appreciate it. But it’s a comforting truth that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” If we really believe that, we will give thanks in everything.

Thanks for thorns as well as roses
Thanks for weakness and for health
Thanks for clouds as well as sunshine
Thanks for poverty and wealth!

IF YOU DON’T GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT, THINK OF THE THINGS YOU DON’T GET THAT YOU DON’T WANT.
- Copied

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One of the remarkable things about growth in grace is that the more you grow, the smaller you become in your own eyes. In the first epistle Paul ever wrote, He was “the least of the apostles.” He later wrote to the Ephesians that he was “less then the least of all the saints.” Shortly before his death, he wrote to Timothy, “I am the chief of sinners.”