CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune – Doxology)

Hark, how the Gospel trumpet sounds,

Christ and free grace therein abound;

Free grace to such as sinners be,

And if free grace, why not for me?

The Saviour died, and by His blood

Brought rebel sinners home to God;

He died to set the captives free,

Then why, my soul, why not for me?

Christ Jesus came the poor to bless

To clothe them with His righteousness;

The robe is spotless, full and free,

Then why, my soul, why not for me?

Eternal life by Christ is giv’n,

And ruined sinners raised to heav’n;

Then sing of grace so rich and free,

And say, My soul, why not for thee?

TODAY’S SERVICES –

BIBLE CLASS – 10:00 a.m. – Brother Jason Renfroe

MORNING WORSHIP – 11:00 a.m – Brother Randy Wages

• OPENING – Proverbs 3:5-6

• CALL TO WORSHIP (above)

• HYMN – The Solid Rock – p. 272

• READING – Romans 10:1-14

• MESSAGE – Genuine God-given Faith – Romans 10:9-14

• CLOSING HYMN – Nothing But the Blood – p. 212

The pastor is preaching today at the 13^th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, KY, and will return home this week.

We welcome Marvin and Janet Fletcher into the fellowship of our church. May we be a blessing and an encouragement to them.

THE TRUE DEMERIT OF SIN

Never was sin seen to be more abominably sinful than when the burden of it was upon the shoulders of the Son of God! Would you, then, see the true demerit of sin? Take the measure of it from the cross of Christ! —John Owen

THE TRUE MERIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Never was righteousness seen to be more immeasurably righteous than when the power of it brought Christ out of the grave! Would you, then, see the true merit of righteousness? Take the measure of it from the resurrection of Christ and the gift of life to His people!

THE WORK OF THE SOVEREIGN SPIRIT

Believing the glorious Gospel of God is no small thing. The message of salvation altogether by grace and founded upon the worthiness and work of the Son of God is offensive to the natural man because it declares the sinner’s inability to make any contribution to his own salvation. This Gospel is the proclamation of the good news that all God requires and all the sinner needs has been rendered by the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. When God the Holy Spirit comes to a spiritually dead sinner, He finds in that poor soul nothing with which to work. The mind is enmity against God, the heart is as adamant stone toward the truth and the will is set in opposition against the divine will. The Spirit must quicken the dead, break down the rebellion, convince of sin, righteousness and judgment, grant repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. There will be a divinely wrought work of grace in the soul whereby the regenerated sinner is made a new creature in Christ Jesus and thereby is made to know and rejoice in the marvelous truth that he or she stands accepted before God solely upon the basis of Christ and His work of redemption. What but the work of the sovereign Spirit could bring a needy sinner to cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior? —Pastor Jim Byrd

A PORTRAIT OF JESUS?

A few years ago, the television news reported a controversy in a nearby local school concerning a “portrait of Jesus” hanging in the school in public view. Apparently, some people complained that this violated the laws separating church and state and infringed upon the rights of those who are not “Christian.” Well, I hate to tell them, but their controversy is really over nothing. They do not have a “portrait of Jesus.” They have a figment of some person’s imagination. There are no painted portraits of Jesus. No one knows what the true Jesus looked like. However, we do have a true portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can identify Him as the one true Lord of glory, our true Savior, and distinguish Him from all counterfeits. Where is that true portrait of Jesus? IT IS IN THE BIBLE, THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD! Christ Jesus Himself said – “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27).