BEHOLD HIS WONDROUS BIRTH Tune to it Came upon a Midnight Clear cm/double Words by JIM BYRD
1. Behold a virgin has conceived And borne the promised Seed; He is the Son of God and Man, Who came to meet our need. Christ is the everlasting Word, Our God and sovereign King; The virgin’s child, the Son of God, The Lord of everything.
2. O blessed Name - Emmanuel - God with us on the earth; Incarnate God, with us to dwell, O what a wondrous birth! The angels gathered in the sky, With adoration sing; Peace and good will on earth to men, From God, through Christ the King.
3. All glory to the Son of God, Who down from heaven came; He died to save us from our sin, Sing praises to His Name! We trust the Savior, and to Him All glory we shall sing; The mighty God, the Prince of Peace, Our Prophet, Priest and King. *****
SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: MORNING: Luke 24:36-53 EVENING: Acts 26:1-18
DYING WORDS OF JOHN BUNYON Weep not for me but for yourselves. I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who no doubt will receive me, though a sinner, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. I go where I hope we shall ere long meet to sing the new song, and remain happy forever, in a world without end. *****
WORDS BY TOPLADY ON FREE-WILL While Augustus Toplady is most famous for writing his great hymn "Rock of Ages," he was also a solid preacher of God’s sovereign grace to sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ. Writing on the subject of man’s free-will he penned these words. "A man’s free-will cannot cure him even of the tooth-ache, or a sore finger; and yet he madly thinks it is in its power to cure his soul. The greatest judgment which God Himself can, in this present life, inflict upon a man is to leave him in the hand of his boasted free-will." *****
If a sermon printed many years ago, an old preacher made nine thoughtful statements regarding what it means to love Christ. 1. If we love Christ, we like to think about Him. 2. If we love Christ, we like to hear about Him. 3. If we love Christ, we like to read about Him. 4. If we love Christ, we want to please Him. 5. If we love Christ, we like His friends. 6. If we love Christ, we are jealous of His honor. 7. If we love Christ, we like to talk to Him. 8. If we love Christ, we like to be with Him. 9. If we love Christ, we like to speak of Him. *****
EVANGELISM Biblical evangelism is the declaration of the glad tidings of the glorious person and successful redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." We preach the gospel calling upon our hearers to repent of dead works and believe the Son of God. We proclaim who Christ is, why He had to die, what He accomplished by His death, where He is now and what He is doing. The message is delivered with the prayer that God will make His gospel effectual in the hearts of those who hear. It is our responsibility to spread the Word, to tell needy sinners about the blessed Savior, to compel them to come to the mighty Savior, and it is God’s business to apply the Word. We sow the good seed and water it with prayer and tears, but it is Lord alone who can and must give the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Let us be careful while fulfilling our responsibility to evangelize that we do not begin thinking that it is also our obligation to achieve results. We tell sinners of the holiness of God and our own sinfulness. We declare that there is only one Mediator between a holy God and sinful man, only one way whereby a guilty sinner can come to the Lord of glory, through the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach that Christ died on the cross, suffering in His flesh and in His soul divine wrath in order that God in undiluted justice might justify the ungodly. Guilty sinners are pointed to Jesus Christ with this admonition, "Behold the Lamb of God"(John 1:29). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). But that is as far as we can go. If we think that conversions are dependent upon us, we will be tempted to water down the message, make it more acceptable and tasteful to the natural man thereby taking away what Paul called, "the offence of the cross" (Galatians　5:11). Someone said, "The way to tell whether in fact you are evangelizing is not to ask whether conversions are known to have resulted from your witness. It is to ask whether you are faithfully making known the gospel message." –Pastor Jim Byrd, 13th Street Baptist Church
***** "O LORD, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."(Isaiah 25:1)
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