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"If God were your Father, you would love Me." ~ Jesus Christ (John 8:42).
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January 2010 Entries
Services Cancelled for Tomorrow (Jan. 31st)
Services at Grace have been cancelled for tomorrow due to icy conditions. Since most services are cancelled for tomorrow we would encourage you to consider a few options.
- Consider using tomorrow's planned time at Grace for you or your family to pray, sing, and read/discuss portions of scripture.
- If you live in close proximity (sledding distance) with other GC'ers consider getting together at someone's home to worship in prayer, scripture, and fellowship.
- Listen to a recent sermon at Grace or one you've recently missed.
- Eat whatever you were supposed to bring for lunch:)
Eph. 4:2-3
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Worship Preparation | Prayer-Soaked Evangelism with Guest Preacher, Steve Smith
Be praying for our guest preacher, Bro. Steve Smith, and all who will attend Grace this coming Sunday. Steve is my father-in-law, and to the little people who live under my roof, he's better known as "Pawpaw."
Introducing Steve - The Most Godly Man I Know
Steve wouldn't want me to publish this, but he doesn't even know how to turn on the internet, so I'm safe :).
Steve is the most godly man I know. I've watched him for the past 17 years...
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Heart-Cry for Revival | Pray for those who will gather tomorrow
Tomorrow another Christian event will happen. What will be the effect 100 years from now? A revived people of God? I pray so.
In our day of churchy program-driven fluff, I found the Tennessee Baptist Convention's e-invitation for "Heart-Cry for Revival" very refreshing!
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Sermon Redux | "Father! An Attribute so Sweetly Veiled in Love That The King's Crown is Forgotten in the King's Face"
Sunday I preached on the theme that He Who is Christ's Father is
also the Father of all who come to Him through Christ. Astonishing
reality! Oh to live more in its light!
In clear connection, a dear sister in our congregation sent Spurgeon's entry from today's Morning & Evening as a further application of this truth. Amen! I couldn't help but post it here for you all. Enjoy!
Morning, January 26
Matthew 6:26 - "Your heavenly Father"
God's people are doubly His children, they are His offspring by creation, and they are His sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call Him, "Our Father which art in heaven." Father! Oh, what precious...
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Foundations of Grace | Saturday Feb. 6th
We will be hosting a Foundations of Grace Seminar on Saturday February 6th from 9a-3p. Foundations of Grace is an informal seminar outlining the vision, mission, and ministries of Grace Church. Essentially it is a meeting on what we are about, or more appropriately stated--who we are about.
Foundations of Grace serves as a prerequisite for those...
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Worship Preparation | Hebrews 1:5b - Jesus: Fathered by God
Ever wonder what a perfect father/son relationship would look like? Look no further than God the Father and the Lord Jesus!
In our text for tomorrow morning's sermon, we will seek to see three things and to be impacted eternally by them:
- Jesus is in view in 2 Samuel 7 (Which is the text that Hebrews 1:5b quotes)
- God is Jesus' Father (Which has infinite implications)
- God is the Father of all who come to Him through Jesus (Which has infinite implications)
Pray that we would go hard after God tomorrow, and that He would draw near to us!
See you in the morn, Lord willing ~ John 15:9,
Jordan
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"Ministry isn’t everything. Jesus is.”
Those were Ray Ortlund's dad's dying words to him.
Related: I've heard so many pastors talk about committing church infidelity because, "ministry became a mistress."
I'm sure that your pastor is very susceptible to that same sin. Pray for him today. Encourage him to have consistent time with his family. Expect it. Settle for nothing less. Thank you for praying just that for me, as well as the other pastors of Grace Church!
Yes, Mr. Orlund, Jesus is everthing!
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Enjoying the Manifest Presence of God: How Long Has it Been? How Long Will it Be?
Dear Christian (who hasn't felt God draw near in a long time),
Can you remember what it used to be like? Do you reminisce of a day gone by when God's manifest presence was the atmosphere in which you lived? What's changed?
Have we moved beyond the intitial passion to taste God through His Word and beyond a fervency in prayer because we've gotten more sophisiticated in our idea of godliness? If so...
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Pleading God's Promises
I'm gearing up to preach on the theme of intercessory prayer tonight for my final meeting with Worden Baptist. I was encouraged and exhorted when I came across Spurgeon's counsel via today's timely First Importance post:
"Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see his promises put in circulation; [God] loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say, Lord, do as thou hast said. We glorify God when we plead his promises." - Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, January 15
Would you plead one or more of God's promises for those of us who will gather tonight?
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Where to find God's Self-Descriptions
As I've been preaching away this week I've emphasized that Christians must strive to know God on the basis of His revelation of Himself, rather than according to our own imaginations.
As a result, an excellent question came via email from one of the listeners regarding where to look to find such texts. I thought others might want to treat themselves to the richest of fare by mining and meditating on similar texts. If so, here's my reply:
Dear __________,
Excellent question! I'm encouraged that you thought to ask.
You may have been able to track down many of God's Self-descriptions in Scripture using a quick concordance search, or some means of online search? Oftentimes, though, this will exclude many other important references (Because the verse may not include our search words; "Thus saith the LORD", etc)...
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Live in the Words of God
Pray for God to speak to you. Then, take 2 minutes to watch this video that should shape the rest of your life.
ht:tc
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Pray Psalm 85:6, Please.
Would you please say a brief prayer right now over those who will be part
of the special meetings I've been invited to preach this week at Worden
Baptist Church in Bald Knob, AR? In particular, would you pray the
words of Psalm 85:6:
Will You not Yourself revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
Please pray also for their pastor, Bro. Jerry Goodwin, who went to the Emergency Room around 1:30 this morning with extreme nausea, and was diagnosed with vertigo. He was advised by his doctors to remain home for rest the remainder of the week. As a pastor myself, I know it will be doubly burdening for Jerry to miss worshipping the LORD with the congregation he so dearly loves and serves.
Thank you,
Jordan
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Worship Preparation | The Gospel and Ethnic Harmony - Romans 1:1-6
There is only one race - the human race
Every person's lineage reaches back to our first parents, Adam and Eve.
The one humanity is fractured by sin
Every person has been thoroughly infected with Adam's sin. Therefore, apart from Christ, we are at enmity with God and with one another.
The one true God has provided forgiveness and grace in Jesus
In mercy, God sent the perfect Man to redeem sinful men. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
Heaven will consist of all types of men
Before us stands the fixed future reality that heaven will be populated with men and women who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. God will save His people and will fulfill all of His promises to them through Jesus, including eternal life. The heavenly population will be comprised of all types of men. Not men that are fundamentally different than one another -- for we are all human, and we are all sinful. But men from every corner of God's earth -- those from every "tribe, tongue, people, and nation" (Revelation 5:9).
In heaven what began to dawn at Pentecost will be fully consummated. The curse of Babel will be wholly reversed. Man will have God as his everlasting treasure, not through his own self-effort, but through the gospel condesencion of our Loving God applied immediately to every inhabitant by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, you must answer two questions about your existence
- Will you be part of that happy multitude?
- And will you risk all to seek to lead others to be there with Christ, with you?
For Sunday
Pray for
- Faith and every grace necessary to "consider others more important than yourself".
- Pastor Bryan as he prepares to preach Romans 1:1-6
- Gospel faithfulness in every relationship -- For edification and evangelization
- (Please pray for me also as I preach Sunday-Wednesday at Worden Baptist Church in Worden, AR).
Pray against
- Every impulse within you, assumed or named, stated or implied, that would allow you to suppose that you are inherently better than any person, in any place in the world, from any culture, at any level.
- Ethnocentrism (and we are all prone to this sin more than any of us have ever begun to realize!)
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Haiti Quake Response
Thought I should post this email from the IMB's response team:
Southern Baptists mobilize to help earthquake victims
Southern Baptists are mobilizing to assess disaster relief needs after the largest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti the evening of Jan. 12.The initial Southern Baptist disaster relief effort will be led by Florida Baptists, who have had ministry relationships in Haiti for more than 20 years and currently have six staff members who live and work in the country, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist relief and development organization. The International Mission Board does not have long-term personnel stationed in the country.
Initial funding for the relief effort will be provided by the IMB’s disaster relief fund. You can contribute to the disaster response effort at gobgr.org.
The North American Mission Board’s disaster relief office is organizing an emergency consultation with state disaster relief directors to coordinate response to the catastrophe, Brown said. Disaster relief teams in Mississippi and Kentucky are on standby for immediate response.
An assessment team is being organized by Baptist Global Response, IMB, NAMB and state convention disaster relief directors to enter the country as soon as possible, Brown said. They will work with Haitian Baptists to identify immediate needs that must be addressed and will draft mid- and long-term plans for an ongoing relief effort.
The 7.0 magnitude tremor hit 10 miles from the center of Port-au-Prince, a city of 3 million people, at around 5 p.m. Jan. 12, according to news reports. One source said the quake could be felt more than 200 miles away. The earthquake triggered a tsunami watch for Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Multiple strong aftershocks continued to rock the country after the initial tremor, said David Brown, who with his wife, Jo, directs BGR work in the Americas. Reports from inside the country indicate infrastructure and many buildings suffered catastrophic damage. The main airport is closed; power and communications are down and security is a serious concern. Specialized search and rescue teams and military units from several countries are being rushed into Haiti to help secure the situation and begin relief efforts.
Apart from donating to the disaster relief effort via gobgr.org, you can help greatly by joining in focused prayer for Haiti’s 9 million people, more than 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, said David Brown.
“Please pray for us as we assess and monitor the situation in Haiti after the 7.0 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks this evening,” Brown said. “The initial information indicates 2 million people in Port-au-Prince are directly affected. Please pray for victims and their families. Pray for wisdom as responses are initiated.”
The situation in Haiti is very fluid and additional information will continue to flow in on a daily basis, Brown said. Updates will be released as new information becomes available.
Prayer updates will also be available.
Share Jesus
Pray for an opportunity to commend Him Whom you cherish. Take it when God provides (which often means seeking to make the opportunity happen).
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Worship Preparation: Jan. 3rd | 1 Corinthians 1--Christ: The Power and Wisdom of God
Lord willing tomorrow morning we will spend our time together in 1 Corinthians 1 honing in more specifically in verses 17-25. So often when Pauls letters to the Corinthians are mentioned people immediately think of a church with serious issues. Although Paul does address numerous issues in these Holy Spirit inspired scriptures, he preceedes the words of teaching, rebuking, and correcting with a crystal clear picture of what he was sent to do--preach Christ and Him crucified.
As a means to help prepare our hearts for tomorrow consider this outline:
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