CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune – Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned – p. 52)
(Words by Pastor Gary Shepard)

O God into whose presence now,
We come as sinners low,
And trace all blessings to your throne,
Received by us below. (R)

O precious Christ whose blood alone,
Did put away our sin,
Whose righteous death there in our place,
Did our redemption win. (R)

Stir now our hearts to praise your Name,
And glory to you give.
Be this our purpose and our goal,
In all the days you give. (R)

Then raise us up when death has come,
To live with you above;
And with the people of your choice,
There sing your matchless love. (R)

TODAY’S SERVICES – Messages by Pastor Bill Parker
BIBLE CLASS – 10:00 a.m. –The Loosing and Destruction of Satan – Rev. 20:7-10
MORNING WORSHIP – 11:00 a.m –

• OPENING – Psalm 110:1-3

• CALL TO WORSHIP (above)

• HYMN – I Am Thine, O Lord – p. 314

• READING – John 6:22-47

• MESSAGE – The Drawing Power of God – John 6:37-45

• CLOSING HYMN – Have Thine Own Way, Lord! – p. 388

MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDY – WEDNESDAY – 6:30 P.M.
Preaching Christ in the End Times

Birthdays: Bill Sparks – Jan. 22^nd | Tim Hall – Jan. 26^th

There was not a speck of sin on the conscience, nor a principle of sin in the nature of His people, for which Christ was not judged on the cross; and they are now looked upon as having died with Christ, lain in the grave with Christ, been raised with Christ, perfectly accepted in Him. Their sins, their iniquities, their transgressions, their enmity, their uncircumcision, have been entirely put away by the cross. The sentence of death has been written on the flesh; but the believer is in possession of a new life, in union with his risen Head in glory. What rest – perfect rest – for the heart and conscience here! What full relief for the burdened spirit! All our sins buried in the grave of Christ, not one – even the smallest – left out! God did this for us! All that His searching eye could detect in us, He laid on the head of Christ when He hung upon the cross! He judged Him there and then, instead of judging us in hell forever!

-- C. H. Mackintosh

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:6-7). Someone said that in Christianity the first thing one must recognize is the need of forgiveness from God. But in true Christianity (as revealed in the Gospel of God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ) along with that recognition of the need of forgiveness comes the acknowledgment that God is holy and just. He MUST be just and punish all sin. This means that if God were to give any of us what we deserve or earn, it would be the wages of sin which is death. This brings us to recognize that even if we try to live a “good life,” we cannot expect God’s forgiveness based on such efforts. God MUST be just when He forgives a sinner. He MUST be both a righteous Judge as well as a forgiving Father. How can He be both? Herein lies the essence of true Christianity – Forgiveness and a right relationship with God come by God’s free, sovereign grace based on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ freely imputed and received by God-given faith (Rom. 5:21; Eph. 2:8-9). Any god who would save in any other way or who would accept anything less than the perfect death and righteousness of Christ is an idol. – Pastor Bill Parker

Is faith necessary in salvation? Most certainly! For “he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16), and “without faith it is impossible to please” God (Heb. 11:6). But why is faith necessary? It is not because faith is the ground of salvation, nor is there any merit in faith, and faith is not the instrumental cause of salvation. IT IS BECAUSE SAVING FAITH (WHICH IS THE GIFT GOD) BELIEVES IN AND LAYS HOLD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND SUBMITS TO HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED AS THE ONLY GROUND OF SALVATION! -- Copied

Horatius Bonar wrote, “In another’s righteousness we stand, and by another’s righteousness we are justified. All accusations against us, founded upon our unrighteousness, we answer by pointing to the perfection of the righteousness which covers us from head to foot, in virtue of which we are unassailable by law as well as shielded from wrath.”

“Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
And set my spirit free.”

GOD’S INSTRUMENTS