Articles

Bulletin - March 28, 2021

Hymn of the Day

(tune: "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord""p.188)

 

Behold the Throne of Grace,

His promise calls us near;

There Jesus shows His lovely face,

And lives to hear our prayer.

 

That rich atoning blood,

Which at the cross we see,

Provides for those who come to God,

An all-sufficient plea.

 

Thy mercy, Lord, bestow,

Thy presence and Thy love;

We ask to serve Thee here below,

And reign with Thee above.

 

Cause us to live by faith,

And then in faith to die;

Let us victorious be in death,

And then in glory shine!

 

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Today's Hymns

Tell Me the Old, Old Story - #229

Be Thou My Vision #334,

Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus #257

 

Special Dates:

Ann Vlastuin – 28 ~ Shaina Hoogendoorn – 30 ~ Jason Scholten – 6 ~ Maria Vlastuin - 7

 

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Death effects no vital change to the heart of man. If there has been no walking with God down here, there will be no dwelling with God up there. If there has been no real communion with Him in time, there will be none with Him in eternity. If a person did not hate sin and love holiness before death, he certainly will not do so afterwards. -Arthur Pink

 

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Thou shalt call and I will answer. ~Job 14:15

 

Sooner or later the Lord will call His people home to Glory.  Sooner for some, later for others, certain for all.  Be glad you don't make that call.  We might never decide, certainly not for those we love.  But know this, the Lord loves His own more than we do.  And whenever and however He calls, it is great mercy for the one He calls home.  And it will be so for you too. Sooner or later, believer, He will call you and you will answer. And be so glad!  -Paul Mahan

 

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"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.' – 2 Timothy 4:6

 

These were some of the very last words of the apostle Paul. He knew that soon after this he would be executed. Yet how calmly he faces death. The reason Paul faced his last hours so serenely was because he knew "whom he had believed." It was the God-given knowledge of Jesus Christ that comforted Paul. It was not knowing religious traditions but knowing a Person, Jesus Christ, that gave Paul comfort in his dying hour. What else matters? When John Gill knew that he was dying, he said to a friend standing by, "I have nothing to make me uneasy."

 

 It is only in knowing Christ that anyone is enabled to face death with a good hope. It all comes down to this: Do I know Christ? If I do, I am ready, prepared by grace to stand before the Holy God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, accepted in him. Every believing sinner can say with Paul when their time comes to leave this world, "I am ready."    -Larry Criss

 

And when my task on earth is done,

When, by thy grace, the victory's won,

E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,

Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

 

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Learn from the repentant thief on the cross.  Christ was made his Wisdom, so he believed Christ.  Christ was made his Righteousness, so he was righteous. Christ was made his Sanctification, so he had that holiness without which no man shall see God.  Christ was made his Redemption, so he entered that day into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.  All of this was through the simplicity of believing on Christ.  May God nail our hands and feet to the cross so the only confidence we have is Christ.   -Clay Curtis

 

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I have a painful complaint, a bitterness in my soul that is well-nigh unbearable.  My love for Christ is so horribly little that I often fear I have no love for him at all.

 

  Yet, bless God, honesty will not allow me to say (horrible thought!)" I do not love Him."  Oh no!  When I hear my Savior say, "Lovest thou me?" I hang my head with shame, but confess, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee."  We love Him because He first loved us.

 

I take great comfort and delight in this: soon, I will love my Savior perfectly!  As soon as these eyes are closed in death, as soon as I have gasped my last breath in this weak, mortal, sinful frame.  I will love Him who is altogether lovely as He ought to be loved.     -Don Fortner

 

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But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. ~Hebrews 8:6

 

We who preach and believe salvation by God's grace have a more excellent ministry because we have a more excellent message: the covenant of God's grace. The covenant of grace is more excellent than the covenant of law because the covenant of grace is dependent on Christ not the sinner. The covenant of grace is more excellent because it depends on God's eternal grace not the works of the sinner. The covenant of grace is more excellent because it forgives sin instead of charging with sin. The covenant of grace is more excellent because it imputes righteousness, not sin. The covenant of grace is more excellent because it gives freedom not a burden, peace not war, rest not work, life not death, and light not darkness. Thank God for a more excellent covenant!  -Frank Tate