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Sovereign Grace
Missionary Baptist Church 1217 Dillon Dr. (Wake Village) Texarkana, Texas 75501 December 26, 2004 Elder Randy Johnson, Pastor Bro. Ronnie Henderson, Song Director Pastor E-Mail: sgmbcpastor@countrybaptist.org Web Site: www.countrybaptist.org/sgmbc |
| Please Pray For:
Virgil and Alice Hoskins & His Daughter Debbie Wenske & Great Grandson Coty. Ronnie & Sarah Henderson, Wendell & Hazel Henderson, Joe Henderson, Eddie & Lorain Murray, Larry & Linda Mollette, Donna Johnson, Vinson Hoskins, Rosa Graves, Danny Hammond, Bobby & Vickie Thompson and Family, Raymond Hammond, Fay Johnson, Brad Hensley, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Mansfield, Ohio, Bro. Curtis & Sister Janet Pugh, Randy Henderson, Larry Mollette II, Zee Mink and Family, Her son Bryan Armstrong and Sister – in - law Sondra Thornsberry, Bro. Kelly Hinson, Dianna Willis, Mrs. Grace and Daughter Barbara, Mrs. Thompson, Danny & Nita Mollette (about moving here and getting a job), And All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East. |
| A Thought For The
Week: "CHRIST OUR CASTLE" Psalms 18:2 When one walks up the walkway out of Waverly Station in Edinburgh,
Scotland, one of the first sights that greets him is that of Edinburgh
Castle silhouetted against the highland sky. This picture of strength,
safety and endurance is an impressive sight. It provides a good
illustration of the safe refuge enjoyed by all of God's elect in Christ.
The Psalmist said, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." (Psalm 18:2) This ancient
castle also provides a good picture of the place and danger of each one
before faith in Christ. It is built upon an extinct volcano. As sinners,
we stood in the face of offended holiness, against a God angry with our
wickedness, condemned with the judgment and wrath of God against us
ready and sure to erupt at any time. But Christ came and took our place,
bore our sin in His own body on the tree, turned the wrath of God away
from us by His propitiatory sacrifice and brought in everlasting
righteousness, His righteousness which is imputed to us. On the mount of
Calvary the judgment of God erupted against Christ and He endured it all
in the place of His people. He has made peace by the blood of His cross
and reconciled us to God. The hot lava of divine justice cooled itself
to satisfaction on Christ and now becomes the very ground upon which our
hope rests. He is faith and just to forgive us. Another amazing thing
about Edinburgh Castle is that the castle and stones of which it is
built seem to just grow up out of the rock. It is like they are one.
Likewise, the least believer dwells in perfect safety because of their
relationship to the Rock. We are not only built upon the Rock, not only
hidden in the cleft of the Rock, but are by spiritual and legal union
one with the Rock. As Paul says, "That Rock is Christ!" Christ is our
Rock, our High Tower, our Fortress...our Castle! But this is no fairy
tale. It is the Word of the unchanging God who cannot lie. Castles seem
also to symbolize royalty. So it is in Christ that believers are "kings
and priests unto God." "Joint-heirs" with Christ who is the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. |
| News for the week:
...A conservative writer and history professor says historical documents
from America's founding fathers clearly indicate they intended for the
country to be a Christian nation. Dr. Thomas E. Woods is the author of
the recently published Politically Incorrect Guide to American
History. He says revisionists have done a good job of hiding the
vision that the nation's founders truly had for America. "It was just
absolutely taken for granted that this is, by and large, a Christian
people," Woods says. "And as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Joseph
Storey said in the early 19th century, it was understood from the
beginning that Christianity was to be in effect the religion of the
people and would be looked upon benignly -- and even directly and
indirectly promoted -- by the federal government." He points out that
the Northwest Ordinance, which dealt with territories beyond the Ohio
River, actually pledged federal funds for the Christian education of the
Indians. In addition, Woods notes that John Jay, the first chief justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court, actually celebrated the fact that the country
was not particularly diverse. Jay, he says, wrote in the Federalist
Papers that Divine Providence had bestowed on the nation a people who
speak the same language and, by and large, share the same religion --
Christianity. "He thought that was good, because that conduces to social
comity," says Woods. [Chad Groening] |
| For Love of Christ by C. H. Spurgeon "Can the rush grow up without mire?" --Job 8:11 The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case? Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received from His hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and like the withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me of outward joys. But can I honestly assert that when bodily comforts have been few, and my surroundings have been rather adverse to grace than at all helpful to it, I have still held fast my integrity? then have I hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The rush cannot grow without mire, but plants of the Lord's right hand planting can and do flourish even in the year of drought. A godly man often grows best when his worldly circumstances decay. He who follows Christ for his bag is a Judas; they who follow for loaves and fishes are children of the devil; but they who attend Him out of love to Himself are His own beloved ones. Lord, let me find my life in Thee, and not in the mire of this world's favour or gain. |
| DO YOU LOVE YOUR
OWN SOUL?: By: John Bunyan Then pray to Jesus Christ for an awakened heart, for a heart so awakened with all the things of another world, that you may be allured to Jesus Christ. When you come there, beg again for more awakenings about sin, hell, grace, and about the righteousness of Christ. Cry also for a spirit of discernment, that you may know that which is saving grace indeed. Above all studies, apply yourself to the study of those things that show you the evil of sin, the shortness of man's life, and which is the way to be saved. Keep company with the most godly among the professors. When you hear what the nature of true grace is, defer not to ask your
own heart whether this grace be in you. And take heed, |