Articles

Bulletin - December 20, 2020

Hymn of the Day

(tune: "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"p.84)

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. -Isaiah 9.6, 7

 

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!

 

 

Today's Hymns

Angels We Have Heard on High, 89  

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, 83

O Come, All Ye Faithful, 100

Silent Night, 86

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, 89,

Joy to the World, 87

 

Special Dates: Steve Jensen – 21 ~ Keith and Neleigh - 27

Jim and Sharon – 28 ~ Cornell Hoogendorn - 30

 

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To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,

not imputing their trespasses unto them;

and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,

as though God did beseech you by us:

we pray you in Christ's stead,

"Be ye reconciled to God!"

2 Corinthians 5.19-20

 

Our sin makes us UNABLE to come to God, our sense of self-righteousness makes us UNWILLING to come to God through Christ.  The cross of the Lord Jesus remedies both problems.  The blood of Christ's cross puts away our sin so that it is no longer a hindrance to fellowship with a righteous God; and the love revealed in the suffering of His cross puts away our rebellion and reconciles us to God.  The cross of the Lord Jesus works in both Divine and human directions: appeasing God and reconciling His people. -Joe

 

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Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go; and when it gets you there, it will keep you there longer than you wanted to stay; and it will make you pay a price you do not want to pay.  -quoted by Bruce Crabtree

 

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Do we then make void the law through faith?

God forbid: yea, we establish the law. -Romans 3.31

 

Faith does not make the Law void.  A finished painting does not destroy the artist's vision but verifies it, and a completed building does not disannul its plans but substantiates them.  The Lord Jesus Christ did not destroy the Lamb, He was the Lamb. The Law was established by the execution of its penalty, not by relieving the lawbreaker.  The penalty must be paid by either Jesus Christ or the lawbreaker, himself.  –W.E. Best

 

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When, by His grace, I know WHO HE IS, I better understand who and what I am! When I know WHAT HE DID in obedience and death, I realize what I cannot do! When I understand WHY HE MUST SUFFER, I understand how God can be just and justify me. When I know WHERE HE IS, I can rest in the blessed hope that I shall one day be there too! -Henry Mahan

 

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The whole of the Christian religion rests upon two completely mysterious events: 1) That the Creator of our reality became a part of the reality He created, and 2) That He who is the life of every living thing died. If Jesus Christ is not quite literally the Son of God, then nothing He said or did is of any eternal consequence. Yet, if He is literally the Son of God, it is impossible for us to understand His existence and death. But we do not need to understand how those things could be so; we need only believe that they are so and worship Him who made them so.  -Joe

 

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We love Him, because He first loved us. -1 John 4:19

 

Christian, to forget you, Jesus must first forget Himself. To cease to love you, He must cease to live, for that love and that life are one.

 

You see some of the tokens of His love in His drawing you to Himself, and thus showing you that in Himself alone can your truest joy be found and that in Himself alone can you realize a sufficiency for every need, both for time and eternity.

 

You are as much a necessity to His joy as He is to yours. He finds a heart-rest in His thoughts of love for you, and He in love has shown you that you can only find heart-rest in thoughts of that love of His and what it has wrought for you.

 

In your heart-desires after the Lord Jesus, even though such desires may not have reached their full realization, yet in these desires and in your heart-sorrows because of desires unrealized, you see sure evidences of your love for Him.

 

You would not long after that for which you had no liking. The very longing shows the love. You would not look for rest and peace and joy to one in whom you did not believe and in whom you had no confidence. The fact of looking only to Jesus for rest and peace and joy is evidence of a faith that is not born of earth but is a gift of Heaven and is the true outflow of that new nature which can be satisfied by nothing but Christ.

 

Sometimes a child of God cannot go beyond the language of Isaiah 26:8, "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." It is joy indeed when the soul can say as in Song of Solomon 7:10, "I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me." This you can truly say; for your desire toward Him is really the result of His desire being first toward you. How emphatic are the more literal words, "We—we love Him, because He first, He loved us."  -Thomas Moor [edited for clarity]