CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune – Jesus Calls Us – p. 374)

Precious Savior, friend of sinners,

We, as such, to Thee draw near;

Let Thy Spirit dwell within us

With that love that casts out fear.

Matchless Saviour, let us know Thee

As the Lord our Righteousness;

Cause our hearts to cleave unto Thee,

Come, and with Thy presence bless.

Open now Thy precious treasure,

Let Thy word here freely flow;

Give to us a gracious measure,

‘Tis Thyself we long to know.

Come and claim us as Thy portion,

Let us all find rest in Thee;

Leave us not to empty notions,

We would find our hope in Thee!

TODAY’S SERVICES – Messages by Pastor Bill Parker

BIBLE CLASS – 10:00 a.m. –

The Manifestation of the Sons of God – Romans 8:17-22

MORNING WORSHIP – 11:00 a.m –

• OPENING – John 3:16-18

• CALL TO WORSHIP (above)

• HYMN – Be Thou My Vision – p. 334

• READING – Isaiah 54

• MESSAGE – Keys to Christian Living – Romans 8:1

• CLOSING HYMN – Fade, Fade, Each Earthly Joy – p. 266

Birthdays: Sarah Hall – May 27^th | Alex Wages – June 1^st

I AM AS NEAR AS HE – Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

A mind at perfect peace with God, O what a word is this!

A sinner reconciled through blood! This, this indeed is peace.

By nature and by practice far, How very far from God!

Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him, Through faith in Jesus’ blood.

So nigh, so very nigh to God, I cannot nearer be!

For in the person of His Son, I am as near as He.

So dear, so very dear to God, More dear I cannot be!

The love wherewith He loves the Son, Such is His love to me!

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians5:1). The liberty that we as sinners saved by grace have in Christ is precious, and we should never take for it granted or fail to enjoy it. It is first freedom from the condemnation of the law because, as our Surety, Substitute, and Redeemer, Christ was condemned in our place. Having our sins imputed to Him, He suffered the full penalty and completely satisfied God’s justice for us. He established the righteousness that God has imputed to us, and we are freely justified before God by His grace in Christ. This liberty is also freedom from all legal and mercenary restraints of law. As fallen sinners, born spiritually dead in sins, we could never earn or deserve God’s blessings by our law-keeping. Even now we always fall short. But before we were born again by the Spirit and brought to faith in Christ, we imagined that we could have been “good enough” to earn God’s favor. Even though we did not realize it, this was bondage. But now, believing in Christ and submitting to His righteousness as our ground of salvation, we are free to serve the Lord according to His Word, not in bondage of legalism, but in the liberty of God’s grace. Whereas before, our motives were legal and mercenary, now our motives are grace, love, and gratitude. Let us stand firm in this liberty and allow no one to bring us back under bondage. —Pastor Bill Parker

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.” (Ephesians 1:5-6)

GOD’S PEOPLE ARE ACCEPTED IN CHRIST (Eph. 1:6). If a person is without Christ, then he has nothing that God will accept! God tells us that no man CAN COME unto the Father but by Christ; therefore, if a person is without Christ, he has no ground upon which he can approach God. Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." If He is THE WAY, there is no other way; if He is THE TRUTH, everything else is a lie; and if He is THE LIFE, everything apart from Him is death. Those who HAVE CHRIST have His blood for pardon, His righteousness for justification, His fullness for every need, His strength to support us, His promises to cheer us, His grace to keep us, and His power to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

—William Gadsby

“For HE (God the Father) hath made HIM (God the Son incarnate) to be sin for us, (Christ) who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM.”(2 Corinthians 5:21)

How was Christ “made sin”? Our sins were imputed to him as to a sacrifice. Christ the just is put in the place of the unjust, to suffer for them (1 Peter 3:18). Christ is said to bear sin, as a sacrifice bears sin (Isaiah 53:10,12). His soul was made an offering for sin. But sin was so laid upon the victims, as that it was imputed to them in a judicial account manner according to the ceremonial law, and typically expiated by them. Christ would not have taken away our sins as Mediator, had He not borne the punishment of them. As a surety, He was made sin for us, and He bore our sins, which is evident by the kind of death he suffered, not only sharp and shameful, but accursed, having a sense of God's wrath linked to it.