"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." (Zechariah 13:7) ********************************************************************** WE GATHER FOR WORSHIP TUNE "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place" CM/DOUBLE WORDS BY Jim Byrd
1. To worship Lord Thy holy Name, We meet again today; Thy majesty we now proclaim, And for Thy glory pray. O Lord we gather at Thy feet, Speak with a quick’ning voice; To praise Thy Name we come and meet, And in Thy Son rejoice.
2. We come to honor only Thee, For Thou art God alone; With contrite heart and bended knee, We bow before Thy throne. It is a wonderful delight, To gather on this day; Cause carnal thoughts to take their flight, For solemness we pray.
3. Reveal to us Thy Son of love, The Savior of the lost; Who came to save us from above, And pay our ransom cost. Come mighty Spirit and appear, To sinners in this place; And pour on all who gather here, Thy free and sovereign grace. ********************************************************************** CONGREGATIONAL SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: MORNING: ACTS 10:1-20 AND EVENING: LUKE 2:21-35 ______________________________________________________________________ To return evil for good is devil-like. To return evil for evil is beast-like. To return good for good is man-like. To return good for evil is God-like. –copied ______________________________________________________________________ Humility To pretend humility by putting down one’s self is nothing short of hypocrisy. We are not without abilities which are distributed according to the sovereign will of God. Whatever gifts and talents we may have, let us not falsely deny that we possess them, but be thankful for them, glorify God through them and never forget Who gave them. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)--Pastor Jim Byrd ______________________________________________________________________ The Vow of Philip Henry When Philip Henry (father of Matthew Henry) was a young man he wrote: "I take God the Father to be my Chief End; I take God the Son to be my King and Saviour; I take God the Holy Ghost to be my Guide and Sanctifier; I take the Bible to be my rule of life; I take all God’s people to be my friends; and here I give my body and soul to be God’s - for God to use forever. I make this vow of my own mind freely: God give me grace to keep it." His last words were, "O death where is thy _____" and (before he could finish the words of 1 Corinthians 15:55, "sting? O grave where is thy victory?") he fell asleep in the Lord Jesus. ______________________________________________________________________ I Am a Man With... 1. One motive - the glory of God. In all things I seek to magnify and lift up the Name of the Lord our God in the trinity of His persons. Like Paul, my goal is that "no flesh glory in His presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29). I will not preach man up, but down. In creation, providence and salvation, the Lord alone is to be exalted. When you enter into this building you have every right to expect and demand that the recognition, praise and glory for all things go to God. "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).
2. One authority - the book of God. The Bible alone is the inspired Word of the Lord and is my only rule of faith and practice. All we need to know about God and His attributes, man and his sinfulness, the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, and the Holy Spirit and His regenerating grace is to be found in the Holy Scriptures. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).
3. One ambition - to know God. I sincerely seek to know the living God in Christ Jesus, for this is eternal life, and my ambition is that you also "know Christ and be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philippians 3:9). I prayerfully seek God’s face on your behalf that He will enable you to hear His gospel and be brought to repent of dead works and trust the Name of the Son of God, Whom to know is life everlasting. I compel you, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
4. One message - the gospel of God. I declare unto you the glad tidings that God, in sovereign grace, chose a people in Christ Jesus unto salvation and the Son of God retired the indebtedness His people owed to divine justice when He died in our stead. God is a just God and a Savior through the sacrificial work of the blessed Redeemer. The good news I proclaim is, "it is finished." Everything a holy God required of His chosen people has been fully accomplished by the cross-death and resurrection of His Son. "Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9). --Pastor Jim Byrd
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