CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: "Come Thou Fount")

Praise the God of all creation,

Praise the Father's boundless love;

Praise the Lamb, our expiation,

Priest and King enthroned above;

Praise the Fountain of salvation,

Him by whom our spirits live;

Undivided adoration

To the ONE JEHOVAH give!

For Thy free electing favor,

Thee, O Father, we adore!

Jesus, our atoning Saviour,

Thee we worship evermore!

Praise the God of our salvation,

Hosts on high His love proclaim;

Heav'n and earth and all creation,

Laud and magnify His name.

Hebrews 11:4,

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."

TODAY'S SPEAKER: Eager Avenue Grace Church extends a warm welcome to Pastor Bill Parker and his wife Debbie. Bill is pastor of 13^th. Street Baptist Church, Ashland, Ky. and once again we welcome him as our guest speaker. Bill will conduct both the 10:00 am and 11:00 am services today. Pray for him as he delivers God's Word.

Radio Broadcast: Sunday morning at 9:30am on 98.7 FM -WISK

You can also hear the sermons on your computer. Just click on

http://www.americusradio.com/

Birthdays: Jimmy Casey, April 30^th.

GOD MAKES US TO DIFFER

One of the hardest lessons that we as believers must continually learn is that it is God alone who makes us to differ. The apostle Paul wrote of this to the church at Corinth when they were exalting preachers and pitting one against another. He wrote this that they (and we) "might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another" (1 Cor. 4:6). Whatever differences exist among us as sinners saved by grace or in spiritual gifts and grace's, it is God alone who makes us to differ - "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). All that we have in salvation, all spiritual blessings, are the products of God's grace in Christ Jesus. We do not deserve or earn the least of the blessings we have received. Christ earned them for us by His obedience unto death on the cross in our place. This being the case with all of us who are saved, we have no reason to glory as if we deserved or earned any blessing of grace. We glory only in Christ and Him crucified, not in the flesh. Never let us forget that it is God who makes us to differ.

-Pastor Bill Parker - 13^th. Street Baptist Church, Ashland, Ky.

A MAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL

We are persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is CHRIST. He must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair's breadth in the direction of this infidel age. (1 Cor. 2:2)

C.H. McIntosh

"God's ONLY Means of Salvation"

Most people in religion today are confused when it comes to God's appointed means of salvation. According to them, their god uses a variety of means to encourage those who hear to "accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior". Some claim they have seen visions that caused them to "seek the Lord." Some think they have heard voices that called them to salvation. Some who have survived horrific events in their lives have been changed from ungodly individuals into religious, seemingly moral, dedicated church goers. Still others think God can save sinners with or without the use of any means, i.e., they think if God has purposed to save somebody, he will save them any way he pleases. My question to all of us is, " What do the Scriptures declare to be God's ONLY MEANS of salvation?" I'm not asking what your denomination says, or what some old preacher said, or what Mom and Dad taught you. I'm asking that we simply go to God's Word without any preconceived notions and see what the Scriptures declare on this vital issue.

We must understand that the preaching and Spirit-given hearing of the Gospel is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for one of God's elect to have the salvation Christ accomplished for them at Calvary revealed to their minds and understanding and bring them to Christ in repentance. Paul wrote in I Cor.15:1,2-"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved." Notice what verses 3 and 4 declare-"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES (He died as the substitute and surety for His people); And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES (He died, was buried, and rose again, not for Himself, but for all those He represents)." So anything men declare to be the gospel, if it doesn't declare this truth, it isn't the gospel at all, but a product of man's depraved understanding. One thing is certain: GOD NEVER CHANGES. The Old Testament saints were saved, i.e., they had Christ's righteousness revealed in their minds and understanding the exact same way that New Testament saints have it revealed to their minds. It's through the preaching of the Gospel that God is pleased to reveal to His people what they actually possess by virtue of their oneness with their Representative, the Lord Jesus Christ-"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."(II Cor.4:6) How does He give us this knowledge? "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."(Rom.10:17) Even as there is only one means whereby God has put away sin and justified His people in the death of His Son, so He has determined that ONLY through the means of preaching the Gospel He will bring each of His elect to see His Christ and submit to and rest in His righteousness imputed in Christ alone as all of their salvation, Romans 10:3,4.