Central Grace Church
3596 Franklin Street Rocky Mount, Virginia
Website: www.centralgracechurch.com Email: [email protected]
May 12th . 2019
10:00 am &hel lip;& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;&hel lip;& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;.& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;&hel lip;& helli p;&he llip; ..&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;&hel lip;& helli p;&he llip; &hell ip;&h ellip ;.&he llip; &hell ip; Message by Brother Roland Browning
It is good to have Roland and Lorie Browning back with us today. Brother Roland is an elder from Grace Baptist Church of Dingess, West Virginia. We thank him for coming at short notice to help us in this time of need.
Rest --“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for THOU LORD ONLY makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).
Better than bars and locks is the protection of our Lord. Armed men kept the bed of Solomon; but we do not believe he slept more soundly than his father, David, whose bed was the hard ground, and who was hunted by evil men. Note the word “only” which means that God alone was his keeper; and that though alone, without man’s help, he was in good keeping; for he was, alone with God.
O Lord, give us calm repose on Thee that, like David, we may lie down in peace and sleep each night while we live and then joyfully lie down at that appointed time to sleep in death and rest in Christ. – H.T.M
The Day We Fly Away
“ Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away, and be at rest.” – Psalm 55:6
This spring we watched a Robin build her nest, lay her eggs, and hatch her young…4 little birds. Then we watched that mother feed her babies day by day . . . and they began to grow and grow. Then, one by one those little birds began to fly away. But one hesitated. One stayed in the nest. That little fellow was afraid and didn’t want to leave that nest. And so we watched and waited. We watched the mother come back and continue to feed him. We watched her fly away (and so did he) then she would come back to him, seemingly encouraging him . . .“it’s okay little one, take that leap… you’ll find yourself flying just like your brothers and sisters, for you were born to fly.” Then one morning . . . the day had come . . . his big day; he was standing on the edge of that nest, looking out over that big world, wondering . . . and lo’ and behold . . . he flew away!
And so it is with every child of God, every believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, everyone who is born of God, begotten by His will & Word. Those born of God are fed by Him as that mother robin fed her babies. The Spirit of God takes the things of God, the Word of God, the Christ of God, and feeds His little children on Him. And they grow! They grow in grace and the knowledge of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And according to the purpose and promise of their Lord, that they be with Him in glory someday . . . they all look forward to that day . . . the day when they shall fly away and be at rest, be with the Lord. But . . . they are all afraid . . . they are all their lifetime subject to the bondage and fear of death; fear of stepping out into the unknown. But wait! It is not unknown. Someone went before them and returned to tell them, ‘He that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die . . . to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord . . . He that hath the Son hath life! Eternal life! . . They shall never die . . . they are born to live! That Someone was the Lord Jesus Christ, Who came to live and die for them, to redeem them, to give them that eternal life; to give them their freedom from sin, bondage and death; to give them their wings!
And so we wait . . . wait for our day. . . wait for the day when we will mount up with wings of like a dove, on wings of an Eagle and fly away! We watch our brothers and sisters fly away one by one, while we linger, perhaps afraid, wondering when our day will come . . . and it will come . . . one day soon (for we all stand on the edge of eternity). Then it comes . . . Our day . . . the day we fly away. . . that blessed day when we go to be with the Lord and our brethren who went before us.
Be not afraid brothers and sisters for the Lord came back and showed us, and keeps feeding us with promise after promise of our certain salvation, and is coming back again for us, one way or another. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words.
Don’t Sit With The Scornful -- “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
We’ve all sat with them, heard them . . . the scornful . . . that man or woman who mocks, scoffs and ridicules everything and everyone (but himself). Scorners think very highly of themselves, their thoughts and opinions, but make light of and fun of nearly everyone else. They love to belittle and make fun of others, always finding fault and ridiculing. They love to gossip, find fault and talk about others. They are suspicious of others, believing no one and nothing, thinking all are full of guile (like them). They are self-righteous, for there is no one more self-righteous than he who calls everyone else self-righteous. Beware of these scorners. Don’t sit with them. Don’t listen to them, lest you be poisoned by them, become like them, and be cursed with them. Blessed is the man who sitteth not in the seat of the scornful.
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