April 21, 2013
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
Order of service, announcements, nursery schedule, etc.,
are in attachment. All articles in the
bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
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“Faith Cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God” (Rom 10: 17) Hearing
is the only one of our five senses that requires us to do nothing in order to
do it. And hearing is the only one of
our five senses that requires us to do something in order not to do it.
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FOOD FOR SERIOUS THOUGHT
Pastor Henry Mahan
Suppose a man should say to you, "I will not open
my store today because I do not know if God has decreed that I should sell my
goods, or do not know if God has ordained anyone to buy from me." Suppose that he added, "I shall neither
eat nor drink this month, for God has fixed the length of my life and I shall
die at the appointed time." Would
you not conclude that the man was either mentally ill or a total fool? EVEN SO, the man who declares, "There is
no need to search the Scriptures, seek the Lord, nor strive to enter the
kingdom of God; for if I am elected and ordained to life, I will be
saved," IS ALSO A FOOL! It is true "the election of grace hath
obtained," and "as many as
were ordained to eternal life believed;" but let me tell you, in the
matter of seeking the Lord, repenting toward God, and believing on Christ, you
have no more concern with the secret counsels and purposes of God than you have
in the length or quality of your life on earth.
DO WHAT GOD COMMANDS YOU TO DO; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, reach
out (like the weary woman) and touch the Lord, cry out for mercy like
Bartimaeus of old, and THEN YOU SHALL KNOW YOUR ELECTION OF GOD. "God
maketh rich and God maketh poor;" but the man who draws the paycheck
is the man who goes faithfully to work; the man who enjoys eternal glory is the
man who goes, believing, to Jesus Christ.
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Faith: Knowledge, Persuasion and Commitment (2
Tim 1: 12)
The
Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostle Paul
to his lost sheep to preach the good news that Christ has accomplished their eternal
redemption. Paul said, “For the which
cause I also suffer these things.” It is
evidence of the enmity of the carnal mind against God that men threw Paul in
prison for simply telling them the good news.
Paul said, “Nevertheless I am not ashamed.” Brethren, how can we be like
Paul in the face of adversity? First,
Paul said, “I know WHOM I have believed.”
Secondly, he said, “And am persuaded that HE is able.” Thirdly, Paul said he had committed all to
Christ, “to keep that which I have committed unto HIM against that day.” By the knowledge of Christ, by persuasion that
Christ is able and by committing all to Christ the believer shall not be ashamed. The Psalmist said, “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for
thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” (Ps 9: 10)
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The Safest Safe
Somewhere in their homes many have a
safe where they commit that which is most valuable to them. Christ Jesus is the one in whom the believer commits
all because the Holy Spirit has persuaded us “he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim 1: 12) Christ is the safe “where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal.” (Mt 6: 20) There is no safer safe than Christ. Commit all to him today.
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At the Appearing of Jesus Christ
The “trial of our faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire” is “found
unto praise and honor and glory” when Christ appears in the midst of the fire
with us like he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (1 Pet 1: 7; Dan 3: 24-25)
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Christian, do not
assume the presence of Christ in your daily walk, call upon Him early, seek Him
out afresh and anew each day. Stand still and wait upon Him. Keep your eyes
upon Him and you will never have to suppose Him to be in your company--Bruce Crabtree
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If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject
what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself--Augustine
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The ancient gospel is an unceremonious thing.
It pays no respect to the academic because of his profound learning; nor
to the moralist on account of his upright conduct. It has not the least regard to the courtier,
because of his pompous honors; nor to the devotee for the sake of his zeal or
his righteousness. No, the potent prince
and the abject slave, the wise philosopher and the ignorant rustic, the
virtuous lady and the infamous prostitute, stand on the same level in its
comprehensive sight--Abraham Booth
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WHY PREACH CHRIST ALONE?
Pastor Milton Howard
Why do I continue to preach to you
Christ alone? Why do I continue to preach to you, “Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved?”
I preach Christ alone, because salvation
is so important. If it were not a matter of the life and death of your soul,
and that of your children, I could come before you this morning and give you my
theories. But I must tell you the truth. We are by nature, lost, without
Christ, separated from God, without hope, without life, without God in this
world. We are condemned members of a condemned race, and soon our life on this
earth will be over, our body will return to the earth, we will be stripped of
all this covering, and our immortal soul will stand naked before God in
judgment. God will demand two things of us in that day: Complete satisfaction
for all our sin, and a perfect righteousness. They are only found in Christ
alone. If I die without Christ, I die without hope. But if I have Christ, I
have eternal life.
I preach Christ alone because salvation
is not something we can get by something we do. Those who come to God come
through the merits and righteousness of Christ. We come when we see that He is
the only way to God. Good works,
religious reformation, baptism, prayer, tears, vows and resolutions will never
bring salvation. If you are trying to do something in order to find favor with
God, quit it! Trust in Christ alone. Only in Christ is salvation, and He is the
way, the truth, and the life of salvation. The good news is rest, cease from
your labors. There is no salvation in any other place. But there is salvation
in Christ. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." We have no other hope but Christ who is our only hope.