May 18, 2014
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST
CHURCH
LOCATION
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd
Floor
150 Washington Street
Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553
Clay Curtis, pastor
Telephone: 615-513-4464
Schedule of Services
Sunday 10: 15 AM Bible Class
Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7: 30 PM Midweek Service
Be sure to check the order of service, announcements,
nursery schedule, etc., in the attachment.
All articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
So that the preaching of the glory of Christ is the full
focus of our attention, for those attending with children 4 and under, we have a nursery equipped with a
digital flat screen television broadcasting all services, with faithful ladies
to care for the little ones.
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There is an old saying, “If you get
to thinking you are somebody with much influence then try ordering somebody
else’s dog around.” Neither do we have power
to order Christ’s dogs around. But “to
his own Master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is
able to make him stand.” (Rom 14: 4)
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A faith that does not manifest itself in every area of my life is not
saving faith. The first thing the Lord said to each of the seven churches in
Asia was, “I know thy works.” It is our works that prove the reality of our
faith. The example we give is what we really are! Donnie Bell pastor of Lantana Grace Church, Crossville, TN
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The
mighty God will not despise
The
contrite heart for sacrifice’
The
deep-fetched sigh, the secret groan,
Rises
accepted to the throne.
He
meets, with tokens of his grace,
The
trembling lip, the blushing face;
His
bowels yearn when poor sinners pray;
And
mercy bears their sins away.
When
filled with grief, o’erwhelm’d with shame,
He,
pitying heals their broken frame;
He
hears their sad complaints, and spies
His
image in their weeping eyes.
By Bruce Crabtree pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, New Castle, IN
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Under the Law of Christ
1 Corinthians 9: 21: To them that are without law, as without law,
(being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain
them that are without law.
What is it to be under the law to Christ? It is to be under the law of Christ which is
the gospel of God the Father’s electing grace who chose whom he would to save
purely by his choice; it is the law of the gospel of redemption accomplished by
Christ for each sinner for whom he died, in whom God is just and the Justifier
of all who believe; it is the gospel of the necessity of the regenerating work
of God the Holy Spirit to bring each redeemed child to faith in Christ; the law
of Christ is the law of the everlasting, unchangeable, covenant, ordered in all
things and sure by Christ, which is written on the heart in the new birth (Jer
31: 31-34); it is the law of liberty in Christ because Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to all who believe; to be under the law of Christ is to
be under the believers rule of life which is faith which works by love (Gal 5:
6; 6: 16); to be under the law to Christ is to hear Christ teach us in the new
heart that character and conduct do matter “for ye are bought with a price” (1
Cor 6: 20); this law is summed up as “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus” which has freed us “from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8: 2)
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A QUESTION WITH NO ANSWER: God
does not have to save any guilty sinner, and that means any of us. He would be
just and righteous if He condemned us all without exception. This is what we
merit. But the gospel states clearly (and this is the "good news")
that God chose to save some. Why some and not all? To that question there is no
answer, for God has not revealed it to us. Even the apostle Paul did not have
the answer. People in his day were asking the same question, "Why does
He (God) still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" and Paul
replies with a reprimand, "Indeed, O Man, who are you to reply against
God? Will the thing formed say to Him who formed it, "Why has thou made me
like this?" (Rom. 9:19-20).
The marvel is that God chose to save any. In the Day of Judgment no condemned
sinner will be able to say that God is unjust and that he does not merit God's
righteous condemnation. Nor will any saved sinner be able to say that he
merited the salvation which God provided for him in grace and mercy. Could God
have saved all fallen sinners if He so desired? He certainly could, but He
chose not to. From the article “A Distinctive Gospel” by Bill Clark former missionary;
now departed to that blessed hope.
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Pray For One Another (James
5:16)
We often say we will pray or are
praying for one another, but too often I fear we are satisfied with just having
what some call an “attitude of prayer.”
I fear this usually means we are too lazy or neglectful to actually
follow through and pray for one another.
Paul desired God’s blessing upon the Ephesian believers, and he said in
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
. . . I can think of nothing more
encouraging than that one or some of God’s people are on their knees before
God, praying for me. Chris Cunningham
pastor of College Grove Grace Church, College Grove, TN
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The gospel of Jesus Christ, the whole
gospel, and nothing but the gospel must be stressed. The gospel is related to
every doctrine of the Bible, but each of those doctrines is empty without the glory
of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that faithful heralds of the gospel are much
more than mere doctrinaires. I am furthermore convinced that the faithful
proclamation of the glorious and unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ would rid
churches of the need for the modern glut of "Christian" psychiatrists
and psychologists, endless family seminars devoid of the gospel, evangelistic
racketeers who misuse and pervert the gospel for their own monetary gain, and
the whole host of modern Christless innovations. - Daniel Parks
pastor First Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Frederiksted, VI