Articles

Bulletin - December 19, 2021

Hymn of the Day

(words: Joe Terrell - tune: "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” #84)

 

Unto us a Son is given,

Unto us a Child is born;

That our sins might be forgiven,

He, our God, appears this morn,

Son of David, Son of Mary,

Son of God in human flesh!

Myst’ry of the incarnation,

Lies asleep in swaddling dress.

 

On His shoulders rests the Government,

Of the House of Jesse’s stem,

He shall build it up with judgment,

All shall be upheld by Him.

Of its increase, of its increase,

Never shall there be an end!

For the zeal of God Almighty,

Shall His every work attend.

 

By what names shall all His people,

Call on Him before His throne?

Though their cries may be so feeble,

Yet the One they call is strong!

Call His name “The Wondrous Couns’ler,”

“Mighty God,” “The Prince of Peace;”

He “The Everlasting Father,”

Let His praises never cease!

 

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Today’s Hymns

There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood - #222

Did God Become a Man? – see below

To God Be the Glory #449

 

Special Dates: Steve Jensen – 21

Keith and Neleigh – 27 ~ Jim and Sharon – 28

 

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(words: Joe Terrell - tune: Crown Him with Many Crowns, pg.62)

 

Did God become a man? Put on our mortal frame?

Are Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and God one and the same?

My soul is mystified; I cannot comprehend.

Such thoughts, alas, are much too high

For mortal thoughts and minds.

 

But it is solemn truth, that God in flesh has come,

And by His spirit God has shown that Jesus is that One.

His messengers have seen; His name is preached abroad;

And many in this sin cursed world

Have owned Christ as their God.

 

Jesus, we cannot know, nor can we fully see,

How you possess created flesh and yet are Deity.

But in that sacred bond, God’s wisdom is displayed:

He who could never die has died, And, thus, our ransom paid.

 

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The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound,b
ut you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. -John 3.8

 

With these words, the Lord taught Nicodemus that the winds of God’s grace are not under the control of man – not the man who receives the grace nor any man operating in his behalf (other than the Man, Christ Jesus).

 

And the same can be said of the winds of God’s providence: they blow when and where God wills. Recently, this was seen quite literally, when a tornado cut a path over 230 miles long and destroyed much and killed many. Who among men called up that storm? And who among men could stop it?

 

We cannot control or predict the winds of God’s providence, but we whose trust is in the sovereign God of providence can be assured that no matter how they blow - whether pleasant breeze or terrifying storm – whether a heart-brightening southern wind bringing warmth and cheer or a northern blast bringing a chill to the bones – it is the Lord’s providence, and in in the end, it will prove to be the best providence for the times.  -Joe

 

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For unto you is born this day, in the City of David,
a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. -Luke 2.11

 

The shepherds, when told where the Christ-child was, went as shepherds to the Shepherd. They came as men to a Man. He is "God with us." We can come to Him just as we are. We do not have to make ourselves angels to come to Him. Come as the shepherds came. "They came with haste." If you only knew who He was, you would come with haste. You would say with the Prodigal, "I will arise and go to my Father and will say unto him, Father I have sinned."   -Milton Howard

 

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What we need in this thing of salvation is not merely to be acquainted with Christ but to have His righteousness! It is nothing to reform a man, to get him religious and make some decisions for Jesus, but what is needed is regeneration from the Holy Spirit. “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son IN me….” (Galatians 1:15,16a). The passage did not say to reveal Christ TO me but IN me, now there’s the difference for sure; that’s the problem with today’s preaching, the pulpiteer is more interested in the facts and trivia surrounding the Son of God than he is in the Person of Christ. In John’s gospel and the 14th chapter Christ himself is saying the same thing when he mentioned ‘At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I IN you.’ We must have a vital union with Christ Jesus for there to be life! He has eternal life and this life is IN Him; ‘…Christ IN you, the hope of glory’ (Col. 1:27). Do you abide with Him, in Him? If not you will wither and fall away like the grass that dries up and blows away or the chaff that is sifted from the threshing floor. Oh, to be found IN him not having my own righteousness! -Drew Dietz

 

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We ever stand in amazement as we consider the unfolding of the LORD’s purpose in the redemption and salvation of those whom He has loved from the foundation of the world.   Such thoughts are all the more glorious as we see Him manifest that purpose, likening Himself to that faithful Shepherd (see Mat.18: 12-14) who will not allow even one of His sheep to perish, regardless of the effort and cost involved in rescuing them.  Having provided such a great benefit for them, HE will then bring each one out of the darkness and into the LIGHT of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

The very basis of the true gospel is that Jesus Christ has “obtained eternal redemption” with HIS own blood.  If HE has “obtained” this redemption, then it must follow that this redemption is complete.   If it is “complete”, then it is sure and steadfast for all that He has obtained it for.   If He has obtained it for every member of the human race, then all must have it.   If, however, (as we read in the Scriptures) there are some who perish, then it is clear that they are not those for whom He has obtained it or redemption would be of no value.  -Mike McInnis