CALL TO WORSHIP

Tune: "Doxology"

Complete in Thee, no work of mine

May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;

Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,

And I am now complete in Thee.

Compete in Thee, each need supplied,

God's law and justice satisfied;

By Christ's own righteousness set free,

I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Savior, when before Thy bar

All tribes and tongues assembled are,

Among Thy chosen I will be,

At Thy right hand complete in Thee.

For in Him (Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. - Colossians 2:9-10

Bible Study 10 AM. Video sermon by Bill Parker

Today's Speaker: Brother Winston Pannell will conduct the 11:00 am service today. Pray for him as he delivers God's word.

Birthdays: Robert Margeson - Nov. 30^th.

DOCTRINAL SERMONS

Much is said in regard to preaching Christ, and not doctrine. But how is it possible to preach Christ apart from doctrine? Christ is not an abstraction, but a living, personal Being. If, then, we preach him, we must preach His divinity, His humanity, and His mediatorship between God and man. If we preach what he has done, we must declare His humiliation, His death, and the atonement he has therein made for sin. If we preach Him as He is, we must proclaim His enthronement in Heaven, His intercession with the Father, and His Headship of the church, with all the laws and ordinances he has instituted for it. And if we preach Him as He shall be, we must affirm the final triumph of His Gospel, His second coming, the resurrection and the judgment, and the glory to which He will raise His people with Himself. It is not possible to preach Christ apart from doctrine; for His incarnation and vicarious death presuppose the fall and depravity and guilt of men, and the need of regeneration, justification, and sanctification; and his resurrection and glorification of the church. All doctrines of Scripture thus center in Christ, and we preach Him only as we preach them. Here, therefore is the true power of the pulpit. Only as the sermon lodges these great truths in the soul is it a living force for the salvation of men. They constitute the sole foundation of genuine experience and practical appeal.

Hezekiah Harvey 1821-1893

We do not know and cannot be sure of what this life holds for us who believe the Gospel, who are in Christ. We may be here tomorrow; we may not. We may be healthy; we may be sick. We may prosper; we may suffer. But one thing we do know and of which we can be sure - "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1), and "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).

THE ONLY TRUE GROUND OF REJOICING

He is, "the Holy One of Israel," also, not only in the constitution of his Person, but in all the thoughts of his heart, in all the expressions of his lips and in all the actions of his life. Nothing but holiness and purity ever centered in or flowed from him; so that he is, "the Holy One of Israel," in the strictest sense of the word. He is now enthroned in glory, inhabiting the praises of his Israel above. He is, "the Holy One of Israel," in the realms of bliss. And as I before said, all the holiness and purity of the redeemed comes from him; they owe it all to him. In him they exult and glory, and cast their crowns at his blessed feet, while they sing, "the song of Moses and the Lamb.""The poor among men," then, shall rejoice in this precious Christ, "the Holy One of Israel." We can find no holiness in ourselves; but Jesus Christ has a holiness which is made over to us. Now, I know I am on ground which many of our professedly pious religionists do not like. The very sound of, "imputed holiness," they abhor and detest; they are for having a holiness in themselves.Indeed, my friends, I was in this hole for many years. There was one text which I was always hitting at; it was this: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." I maintained that I was chosen of God before all worlds; that I was chosen to be holy in myself; that I was to grow in grace till I became holy and unblamable before God. I aimed at this year after year but could never attain to it. Instead of attaining to holiness and unblameableness, I saw myself to be more and more unholy; to be blameable in this and blameable in that; and if my outward walk and conversation was such that my brethren could not blame, nor the world lay hold of, my conscience was always accusing and blaming me. I was groaning and mourning about as a poor, guilty wretch; and I believe if I live to be fourscore years old, it will be the same.So that there is no holiness in us as sinners, in which we can stand unblamable before God, but what is in Christ. Blessed be God, we have a holiness and unblameableness in the Lord Jesus Christ in which we stand before him holy as Christ is holy and pure as Christ is pure. What does the church say? There are two words, they are very broad but very firm. Speaking of herself as she viewed herself in Christ by the eye living faith, she says, "Comely," through, "the comeliness which thou hast put upon me." Again; black, "as the tents of Kedar," white, "as the curtains of Solomon." The Lord, addressing the church as she is in Christ, says, "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."