SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH
2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE
APRIL 21-23, 2006
Hymn: #13- ‘Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty’
Scripture Reading/Prayer:
Hymn: #228- ‘My Faith Has Found a Resting Place’
Message: Brother David Simpson
Hymn: #272- The Solid Rock
Scripture Reading/Prayer:
Hymn: #222- ‘There is a Fountain Filled With Blood’
Message: Brother David Simpson
Hymn: #118- ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’
(Fried Chicken dinner served on the grounds)
6:00 PM- Fish Fry at David and Elizabeth Strange's house
Ken Wimer, Pastor- ( (318) 687-4943
E-MAIL: pastor@shrevegrace.org
WEB SITE: http://www.shrevegrace.org Updated weekly with audio messages now available on-line.
CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune – ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd,’ #293)
Words based on Psalm 141
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Lord, I unto thee do cry,
Do thou make haste to me,
And give an ear unto my voice,
When I cry unto thee.
Set, Lord, a watch before my mouth,
Keep of my lips the door.
My heart incline thou not unto
The ills I should abhor,
Let him that righteous is me smite,
It shall a kindness be;
Let him reprove, I shall it count
A precious oil to me:
But unto thee, O God the Lord,
Mine eyes uplifted be:
My soul do not leave destitute;
My trust is set on thee.
GRACE DEFINED
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RACE, (true) GRACE, is defined in two ways. It is salvation CONDITIONED ON Christ alone, and it is salvation ACCOMPLISHED BY Christ alone. There is NOTHING left for sinners TO DO or to be done IN THEM to complete salvation or make it theirs. Ephesians 2: 8-9, “For by grace ARE YE SAVED through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” The sense of that verb “ARE YE SAVED” is that you HAVE BEEN saved and are being KEPT in THAT salvation “through THE faith” (through the work Christ FINISHED and the salvation THAT work ACCOMPLISHED at the Cross). You HAVE BEEN saved (redeemed, justified, sanctified. reconciled, and forgiven of your sins). You HAVE BEEN saved, and you are being KEPT in THAT salvation by the person and work of the Lord, Jesus Christ (His doing/His dying).
MARK PANNELL, Albany, GA
GOSPEL OF GOD
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aul called his message in Romans 1:1-“The Gospel of God.” He identified himself as the servant of Jesus Christ, and his ministry as an apostle, and being separated unto the Gospel of God, and from the end of verse 1 down to verse 5 he describes his message. Why is it called the Gospel of God?
The term Gospel is a compound word meaning “good news.” While it has a broad meaning, at the core of it is the death of Christ. The Gospel takes in what God did in eternity, it takes in what takes place in our heart, it takes in what will happen when we leave this world, and our hope of a glorified state, but the heart and soul of it is the death of Christ. Therefore, the death of Christ is always and ever our message. The GOOD NEWS is that God by Christ’s obedience unto death put away sin and justified His elect. So complete was this saving, forgiving, justifying work of Christ that He announced, “It is finished.” So in each generation, God’s preachers come announcing that God reigns in all things. “Turn from your self-professions of faith!” “Trust Him for what He’s done and Him alone!” Paul’s ministry and message were unto THE GOSPEL OF GOD. That is a comparable description of what we find in Romans 1:17, which is to the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. The Gospel of God and the righteousness of God are inseparable. What is the righteousness of God? It is a just satisfaction before God. Righteousness is what Christ earned and established by His obedience and by His death. He was the sinless Sin-Bearer, and established a just righteousness which God charged, reckoned, and imputed to the accounts of His people upon the completion of the obedience of Christ. By that righteousness God became the just justifier of His people. The Gospel is empty without righteousness and righteousness is empty without imputation. This message of forgiveness in Christ is called the Gospel of God. Let us rest all our peace and all our hope in this blessed truth!
DAVID SIMPSON, Providence Church, Powell, TN
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POSSESSIONS
“If we have Christ in all things while they are ours, we shall have all things in Him when they are taken away.”
ANONYMOUS
THE APOSTLE PAUL’S GROWTH IN GRACE
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any think progressive sanctification means to grow in holiness, sinning less and less, and thereby becoming fit for heaven. However, as we look at the apostle Paul’s own testimony, He clearly did not see himself improving as the years went by. His hope of glory was the blood and righteousness of Christ alone, established and finished on His behalf at the cross, and revealed by the Spirit of God to His heart! His growth was not in holiness, because by Christ’s imputed righteousness he was already made as holy as God Himself in his legal standing (forgiven of all sin, justified, and reconciled by the death of Christ, Romans 5:9-11). His growth was in grace, in the knowledge and understanding of it, and his need of it, causing him to continually look outside Himself to Christ alone and His finished work. The more he learned of Christ, the more he thought less of himself, and glorified Christ alone. Much like when in a dark room, we do not perceive how dirty we may be. However, as we are brought closer to the light, the brighter the light shines, the more we see our own blemishes. This was certainly Paul’s testimony and that which I find to be true of God’s work of grace in me as well. A dear friend and brother in the Lord gave me the following outline which I have found helpful:
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emember that Jesus Christ for us is all our righteousness before a holy God, and Jesus Christ revealed in us, by His Spirit and His Word, is all our strength to stand and live for His glory in an ungodly world.
SELECTED