SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH
2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE
JULY 1, 2007
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORSHIP
SUNDAY
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Psalm 53 (Mike)
Call to Worship: ‘Faith! ‘Tis a Grace of Divine’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: I Corinthians 10 (David)
Hymn:
# 475- ‘Redeemed’
Message: THE VIALS OF GOD’S
WRATH- Revelation 16
Hymn:
# 16- ‘The Lord is King!’
AFTERNOON WORSHIP – 12:30PM
Hymn: # 46- ‘O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing’
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 12 (Jim)
Hymn: # 49 ‘Our Great Savior’
Message: THE LORD’S PORTION- Numbers 31:25-54
Hymn: # 309- ‘Beneath the Cross of Jesus’
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
E-MAIL: pastor@shrevegrace.org
WEB SITE: http://www.shrevegrace.org Updated weekly with audio lmessages now available on-line.
RADIO BROADCASTS: 9:00 AM (CST)Sunday on KWKH, 1130 AM, Shreveport, LA or live streaming at http://www.am1130thefan.com/pages/listen_live.html
CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune: # 317- ‘A Charge To Keep I Have’)
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AITH! ‘Tis a grace divine,
A gift both rich and free;
‘Twas grace that made this blessing mine,
From guilt to set me free.
The faith of God’s elect
Is precious, pure, and good;
Such is its pow’r, and its effect,
True faith prevails with God.
To Jesus and His blood,
It looks for life and peace;
The oaths and promises of God,
Its power and zeal increase.
When saints in darkness roam
With sin and guilt distressed,
Faith in Christ’s righteousness alone
Can set the soul at rest.
WHAT IS THE WAY OF ESCAPE?
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” I Corinthians 10:13
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ow does the Lord provide a way of escape from temptation? Those in religion consider the way of escape as an opportunity that THEY must seize. Some refer to it as exercising THEIR ‘free will’ or an exercise of THEIR new nature (so called), but either way it is an opportunity for THEM to act. In so acting they draw comfort and assurance from the notion that THEY have chosen aright and have overcome.
The child of God in the way of the cross, however, sees those moments of defined decision not as an opportunity to act aright, but rather a time to cry unto his Savior, ‘Lord save me or else I perish!’ He knows that there is NO soundness in himself, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Therefore he cannot act aright. He loathes himself and he loathes his choices. He learns that Christ is ALL in all things, including triumph over sin. His only comfort or assurance is the Lord Jesus Christ in whom he lives & moves and has his being, and who works in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He hopes in Christ ALONE to lead him not into temptation but to deliver him from evil, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever, AMEN! LAYNE DENTON, Scottsville, TX
GROANING UNDER THIS BODY OF SIN
“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” 2 Corinthians 5:2
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reachers today are telling their hearers and followers that once the Spirit of God regenerates them, there is created in them a new, sinless, perfect nature just as holy and pure as God Himself, and it is that sinless nature that makes them fit for heaven. Someone evidently forgot to inform the apostle Paul.
His language here, and in Romans 7, is one of laboring under the body of sin, and awaiting the day in glory when he, as all others of the Lord’s redeemed, will be made perfectly like Christ Himself, 1 John 3:2. In the mean time, the Lord’s redeemed continue to groan (sigh), desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, that perfect body and soul that awaits us at the final resurrection.
Our Lord Jesus bore the legal body of sin away in His death, Romans 6:6. The old man (our condemnation in Adam) was crucified with Him, and that body of sin was destroyed that we should no longer serve sin, once the Spirit of God has revealed Christ in us. In His death, Christ delivered His own from the curse of sin, but the presence of sin has not changed, having been born into this world as sons of Adam. Not to serve sin, in no way means that we are sinless. The truth is we are in no way to be subject to its dictates, nor its guilt, because Christ removed the curse for us. And yet, the reality is that we continue to be sinners and must continually confess with David, “Against Thee, and Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight,” Psalm 51:4. It is the Spirit of God that brings us to confess continually our sinfulness before the Lord. He truly is perfect and holy, not us!
It is times like these that we are caused to look again outside ourselves to our only hope- the blood and righteousness of Christ. It is in love that the Lord chastens us with our sin, Hebrews 12:6. It is but a small reminder of what it took for the Lord to put away our sin. “By His stripes, we are healed,” Isaiah 53:5. With so complete a redemption and justification by His blood and righteousness alone, we are all prone to treat the sin lightly for which He died. In life, don’t we tend to take for granted those things that are free, and become accustomed to them as if we are entitled to them? It is no less true of those spiritual blessings that we enjoy in Christ, by His grace alone.
Some of the strongest testimonies of God’s love for His children are when He
brings the soul low by sin, difficulties, and discouragements. God’s
purpose in these is not only to remind us of our own creature weaknesses,
but more importantly His loving and gracious faithfulness toward us in spite
of our sin, because of Christ’s shed blood. Jeremiah wrote,
“it is good that a man should both hope and
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord,” Lamentations 3:26.
May it ever be so with us!
KEN WIMER
“MUST YET BE ACCOMPLSHED”
Luke 22:37
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hat was yet to be ‘accomplished’? It was His reckoning among the transgressors. He wasn’t reckoned among the transgressors until He hung suspended between heaven and earth, between two thieves. Consider two conclusions. First, this event was purposed before the foundation of the world and prophesied in time but not accomplished until the obedience of Christ unto death. Secondly, Christ was not a transgressor but was among the transgressors. ‘Reckon’ means impute; He was among transgressors by imputation not practice. All other scriptures are subservient to this truth. Less clear passages are understood in light of the clearest passages. Furthermore, the Lord chose this passage to declare the goal and method of His work. When the sin of the elect was reckoned to Christ, righteousness was established, accepted and imputed by the Father. How could righteousness be imputed before it was established and accepted? Of course, it couldn’t, hence there was no justification before the foundation of the world.
This passage lands a deathblow to two false doctrines: first, eternal justification; secondly, Christ was a sinner. Our Lord’s choice of words: ‘accomplished’ and ‘end’ are the same word. Both are good translations of the original word. However, it finds its richest and fullest meaning in our Lord’s declaration: ‘it is finished’ (Jn 19:30). Now, that is plain language! That which was not ‘yet’ before the cross; was ‘finished’ by the cross! T. DAVID SIMPSON- Powell, TN