CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: How Firm A Foundation)

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,

The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue;

Thy grace, so free, from the first to the last,

Has won my affections and bound my soul fast.

Thy mercy in Jesus has saved me from hell;

Its glories to sing and its wonders to tell;

Twas Christ my Redeemer who hung on the tree,

That opened the fountain of mercy for me.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,

And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;

All praise to Thy Spirit; His calling Divine,

Makes wisdom and pardon and righteousness mine.

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)

Bible Study 10 AM. Video sermon

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

Birthdays: Amy Lee - Jan. 12^th. , Jerry Wages - Jan. 17^th.

Harold Riggins - Jan. 17^th.

"For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)

To the ancient Hebrew the distance from east to west and "the depths of the sea" represented infinity. God's forgiveness of our sins in and by the Lord Jesus Christ is infinite. He took away our sins to the farthest reaches of eternal infinity. This is how glorious, powerful, and valuable the blood of Christ shed on the cross is for all for whom He died, was buried, and rose again, all who believe on Him. Christ's blood resulted in the righteousness by which God justifies all His people. Justification by His grace in Christ results in spiritual and eternal life by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:18). So the fact that He took away all the sins of all His sheep to the farthest reaches of eternal infinity results in bringing all His sheep into the closest communion with the Godhead through Him. Let us never take these great truths for granted, but let us enjoy them in worship, growth, and fellowship. --- Pastor Bill Parker

Romans 14:17

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

Here in the Sermon on the Mount, the kingdom of heaven does indeed speak of God's sovereign rule - but it does so in the specific sense in which His sovereign rule bears directly on His redemptive glory that is seen in the salvation of sinners (the ones who inhabit this kingdom), and His purpose to bless them freely and fully and to provide for them the whole inheritance of eternal life and heaven itself, all based on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

This kingdom spoken of here includes all the things of eternal life and glory that Christ as our Representative, Substitute, and Surety obtained for His people by establishing an everlasting righteousness of infinite value whereby God the Father is manifested as both a just God (who extracts a sufficient payment for the injury against His holy justice) and a Savior (who shows mercy to sinners, who violate or break His law) - and all of this based upon that satisfaction made by Christ - a righteousness that saves. It's Christ's establishment and imputation of righteousness that justifies and demands the regeneration and conversion, and the final glory in heaven of all whom Christ represented - all that the Father gave Him, all for whom He lived, obeyed, suffered, bled, died, and rose again - a righteousness that demands life!

--- Randy Wages - Eager Ave. Grace Church

"No confidence in the flesh"

In ourselves we have no resting place. It is the quality of the work without (that is, the work of Christ), not the quality of the work within, which satisfies us. "No confidence in the flesh," must be our motto, as it is the foundation of God's gospel.