Radio WXCC 96.5 fm (internet wxccfm.com) 8:30 A.M.
Radio WPKE 98.1 fm; SuddenLink TV (channel 9) 10:30 A.M.
Bible Study 10:30 A.M.
Morning Service 11:15 A.M.
WPRG Channel 5 (Pastor Henry Mahan) 8:00 P.M.
Wednesday Worship 7:00 P.M.
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Psalm 50:10-12
"O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." (Psalm 65:2)
Is there anything more comforting to a believing soul than to know his God will hear his prayer. We are told in this country to express our needs and complaints to our congressmen and representatives in Washington. We write them and send them off but never knowing if they were actually read and considered or simply received and thrown in the trash. But here we are assumed that our God hears our prayer. His house is a house of prayer and God hears our prayers and answers them according to his wisdom and purpose. Teach me, Lord, to pray. To pray much, pray often, and pray from my heart. "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5: 16). Pastor Darvin Pruitt
Seek Christ First
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).
May I say something again that I have said many times? I will try to say it a bit differently and illustrate what I mean.
Do not seek assurance – seek Christ! Do not seek peace first – seek Christ first and peace and assurance will follow. You may have an assurance and not have Christ, just as you may enjoy the peace of a false profession, which is no peace. But you cannot truly know and have Christ without some assurance and peace.
You must have the ROOT of grace before you enjoy the FLOWER of peace. Suppose a child sees flowers blooming in the yard, goes and picks several of the prettiest blooms, and makes her own little garden of flowers. She stands back, admiring the blossoms, and says, “Now, what a fine flower garden I have!” But, to her dismay, the next day all of the blooms are withered and dead. They looked good for a while; but, having no root, no source of life, they died.
Such is peace without Christ; it does not last very long. It would be better to plow the ground, plant the seeds of grace, and wait until they sprout; then you will have the living flowers, not borrowed flowers. If you try to have peace before grace, you have a flower without root. If you seek assurance before you seek Christ, you may attain unto some measure of confidence; but it will not last because HE is our peace, our assurance, and our hope.
Pastor Henry T. Mahan (Bulletin 1986)
The New Birth
By nature sinners are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and their first need is spiritual life, for “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In the new birth God brings us from death unto life (John 5:24). He imparts to us His own nature (2 Peter 1:4). He delivers us from the power of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13). Now, manifestly, we could not do this ourselves, for we were “without strength” (Romans 5:6), hence it is written, “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10).
In the new birth we are made partakers of the Divine nature: a principle, a “seed,” a life, is communicated to us which is “born of the Spirit,” and therefore “is spirit;” is born of the Holy Spirit, and therefore is holy. Apart from this Divine and holy nature which is imparted to us at the new birth, it is utterly impossible for any man to generate a spiritual impulse, form a spiritual concept, think a spiritual thought, understand spiritual things, still less engage in spiritual works. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” but the natural man has no desire for holiness, and the provision that God has made he does not want. Will then a man pray for, seek for, strive after, that which he dislikes? Surely not. If then a man does “follow after” that which by nature he cordially dislikes, if he does now love the ONE he once hated, it is because a miraculous change has taken place within him; a power outside of himself has operated upon him, a nature entirely different from his old one has been imparted to him, and hence it is written, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Such an one as we have just described has passed from death unto life, has been turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God (Acts 26:18). In no other way can the great change be accounted for.
The new birth is very, very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or “joining the church.” The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf, but is the inception and reception of a new life. It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting.
A. W. Pink (written 1930)
ZEBULON
GRACE
CHURCH
“We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
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