SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH

2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118

CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE

JULY 23, 2006

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORSHIP

SUNDAY

WEDNESDAY

7:00 PM- Mid-week Service

Nursery care available for all services for ages 4 and younger.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Ken Wimer, Pastor- ( (318) 687-4943

PO Box 5028, Shreveport, LA 71135

E-MAIL: pastor@shrevegrace.org

WEB SITE: http://www.shrevegrace.org Updated weekly with audio messages now available on-line.

CALL TO WORSHIP

‘Praise for Preserving Grace’- Isaac Watts

(Tune:  #188- ‘I Love Thy Kingdom Lord)

o God the only wise,

Our Savior and our King,

Let all the saints below the skies

Their humble praises bring.

‘Tis His almighty love,

His counsel and His care,

Preserves us safe from sin and death,

And every hurtful snare.

He will present our souls

Unblemished and complete

Before the glory of his face,

With joys divinely great.

Then all the chosen seed

Shall meet around the throne;

Shall bless the conduct of his grace,

And make His wonders known.

To our Redeemer, God,

Wisdom and power belongs;

Immortal crowns of majesty,

And everlasting songs.

THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST

s there not a difference between the penalty of sin--and its pollution; between the penalty of the law incurred--and the vileness of the heart indulged; between legal responsibility and moral character? If an innocent man pays the penalty for a guilty man--does that make the surety a partaker of the moral character of the criminal? Surely one may voluntarily assume pains and penalties for even a guilty man without approving of his wrong, or without being like him in moral character.  The truth is, a transfer of moral character is simply impossible; but nothing is more common than a transfer of legal responsibilities…Nothing is more absolutely true, nothing more sacredly and assuredly believed by us, than that nothing which Christ did or suffered, nothing that He undertook or underwent, did or could constitute Him, subjectively, inherently, and therefore personally, a sinner, or guilty of any sin of his own. To bear the guilt or blame of other men's faults—makes no man a sinner, unless he did unwisely or irregularly undertake it.

COMPILED AND SELECTED

LOST SINNERS CHRIST CAME TO SAVE

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost,” Matthew 18:11

e often hear some speak of any sinner who is yet unregenerate as being lost. And yet, it would appear from Scripture that this is a term reserved for elect sinners, who are lost only for a time, being separated from God from birth in their experience, and at enmity with God in their minds, Colossians 1:21. And yet, God has already chosen, reconciled and justified them through the redeeming work of Christ, Romans 5:9-11, and will most certainly call them in time through the Gospel and His Spirit, 2 Corinthians 5:18, causing  them to know, believe on, and rest in Christ and His completed work of salvation at the cross for them as ALL their salvation.

                                In Matthew 18:11 and Luke 19:10, we read that Christ’s purpose in coming into the world was to SEEK and to SAVE that which was lost. It was not just to try to seek, or attempt to save, but to actually save HIS lost sheep.  He said in Matthew 15:24- “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  This is the reason He is the successful Savior, even though rejected by the majority of national Israel and others today.  He did not come for them, but for the lost sheep. They were lost in Adam’s fall, but being given to Christ in electing grace HE came to restore them, buying them back by His own precious blood- John 10:26-29.  What is clear is that our Lord will not, and does not lose ANY that the Father has given Him.  They are His by election (John 18:9) and by redemption (John 10:14-16).  Every one of them will be brought to life and drawn to Christ by the Spirit of God in time (John 6:37), and preserved and kept by Him unto final glory (John 17:12).

When we pray for the lost, we are not praying for just anybody, but those whom the Father has purposed to save in electing grace, and whom He has saved from the curse of their sin and condemnation of His holy law by the death of Christ.  They may yet be rebels toward God, lost in their minds, hearts, and consciences, ignorant of the Gospel of God’s righteousness imputed in Christ alone, having no repentance toward God or faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy 2:25, 26, and yet, the Spirit of God in time does regenerate each one and bring them to Christ in repentance.

 There are many who profess themselves ‘Christians’ and yet when confronted with the truth of their absolute depravity, and this message of salvation conditioned on Christ and His finished work alone, they become agitated and confrontational. They have never seen themselves as helpless, lost sinners. Some questioned our Lord asking, “Are we blind also?”  He answered, ‘If ye were blind, ye should have no sin:  but now YE SAY, ‘We see;’ THEREFORE your sin remaineth,’ John 9:40, 41.  The reality is, if you have never been lost, you have never been found. Let us, like blind Bartimaeus, cast aside our beggar’s cloak of self-will and self-righteousness, hearing Christ’s call, and run and bow at His feet as our only hope, Mark 10:49, 50.      KEN WIMER

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

he glory and majesty of the triune Godhead shines forth in the preeminence of Christ as our Redeemer and Lord.  It shines forth in the greatness of His person, for HE is the WORD made flesh, the GODMAN in Whom the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is honored, magnified, and revealed.

                                “Great is the mystery of godliness:  God was manifest in the flesh,” I Timothy 3:16.  This is ‘the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,’ 2 Corinthians 4:6.  It shines forth in the powerful, efficient, and successful work He accomplished on the cross to redeem and justify God’s elect by His blood and righteousness imputed.  It is in Christ crucified that we see how God the Father is both a just God and a Savior, and how He shows mercy, grace, and love, as well as holiness, justice, and truth.  “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:  for in these things I delight, saith the LORD,” Jeremiah 9:24.

                                It is in Christ crucified we see and realize the divine power of the Holy Spirit to give us ‘all things that pertain to life and godliness,’ 2 Peter 1:3, making us ‘partakers of the divine nature,’ 2 Peter 1:4, which is to  bring us personally into FELLOWSHIP with the very nature of God Himself- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  How is this possible?  It is by God’s grace in Christ!  “For in HIM dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in HIM, which is the head of all principality and power,” Col. 2:9, 10

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 BILL PARKER, Ashland, KY

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Romans 11:36 

NOTES

·         CLEANING SCHEDULE: Atchisons (7/10-7/23)

·     NURSERY SCHEDULE:  Tricia Pennywell/Pam Carter

·         BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: Jeff and Alyssa Slaton- 7/2; Callie Armstrong- 7/7, Pam Atchison-7/8, Jeff Slaton- 7/11