February 1, 2009
Sunday 10:00am WLEX TV Channel 18

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


HYMN OF THE DAY
Join every tongue, to sing
The mercies of the Lord
The love of Christ our King
Let every heart record
He saved us from the wrath of God
And paid our ransom with His blood. (Repeat)

What wondrous grace was this!
We sinned, and Jesus died
He wrought the righteousness
And we were justified
We ran the score to lengths extreme
And all the debt was charged on Him. (Repeat)

A monument of grace
A sinner saved by blood
The streams of love I trace
Up to the fountain, God
And in His wondrous mercy see
Eternal thoughts of love to me. (Repeat)

(Tune: “Arise, My Soul, Arise”)

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We will observe the Lord’s Table this evening.

I will be preaching in St. Croix where Daniel Parks is the Missionary this Monday through Thursday and will return on Friday. Mark Daniel will bring the message this Wednesday evening.


Birthdays
3rd – James Carver 4th – Stan Warta & nbsp; 4th – Jessica Cunningham
7th – Clark Grubb 7th – Faith Hacker

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” - Proverbs 19:11


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CHARITY NEVER FAILETH
“Charity never faileth” (I Cor. 13:8). The fact that love never fails tells us the love being spoken of here is that love that only the believer possesses. All types of human love can fail at some point. But the love spoken of here never fails. It is the product of the new nature. It never falls off track. It never departs from its cause. It is never reduced to inactivity. It never fails to be patient and kind. It never envies, promotes itself, or is puffed up. Love is never rude, never seeks her own, nev er is easily provoked, and never is suspicious. Love never rejoices in iniquity and never fails to rejoice in the truth. Love never fails to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things. Love never fails. Is it any wonder Paul said, “Now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”



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THE LAW OF SOWING AND REAPING

“He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly: and to which soweth boutifully shall reap also bountifully.”(II Col. 9:6)
This Scripture is used by preachers to manipulate people to give. The basic premise is….give more and get more - give less and get less. The problem with that is, if we give to get, we have not given at all. It is more of an investment for profit. We are not to give to get. We are to give because we got! Giving is the believer’s response to the love and grace of God in Christ Jesus.
It is also true that when a believer is reaping sparingly, and their life is filled with unhappiness and discontentment, there is a reason! They are not abounding in giving. Show me a giving person and I will show you a happy, contented person. Show me an unhappy, discontented person, and I will show you a person who is remiss in giving. The Lord did say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
“Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.” - Hebrews 13:17
1. Those who ‘have the rule’ are faithful pastors and elders.
2. How does one ‘obey them’? By attending to the Word preached by them, by receiving the Word. By regarding and respecting their counsel, advice, and rebuke.
3. If we receive their message and are faithful to Christ, the faithful minister goes about his work with joy and not grief, and in that great day, when he shall be witness to your final end, that, too, will bring him joy and not grief.
4. To whom does the elder ‘give account’? To his OWN CONSCIOUS (for the true preacher is not covetous of gain or fame), to the CHURCH to whom he ministers, and to the LORD for whom he speaks. What a responsibility! But what a privilege!
- Pastor Henry Mahan

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In Scripture, whenever the word doctrine is used in the plural, it is always bad. The “doctrines of men.” The “doctrines of devils.” “Strange and divers doctrines.” God’s doctrine is singular. It is the doctrine of Christ.” It is one whole. To reject any part of this doctrine is to reject it all. It cannot be separated. Those who are willing for it to be separated are like the harlot in Soloman’s day who was willing to have the child cut in half. She had no true love for the child. Neither do these people have any true love for the doctrine of God. God’s doctrine is an undivided whole.


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Most preachers of our day present the Gospel as an offer by God that the sinner can accept or reject. I have at least three problems with this. (1) The Bible does not teach this. (2) It puts salvation ultimately in the hands of man, therefore salvation is at least partly by works. (3) It denies the depravity of man by implying some capability in man to make use of the benefit offered. Where the Gospel is preached as an offer, THE GOSPEL is not preached!