Bulletins, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012

John 8:12

The world is a dark place, but there is a Light that shines brighter than any lighthouse and can save any battered vessel from being smashed against the rocks of sin. The light of Jesus will always take you out the darkness of selfishness, evil, fear, confusion, bondage, and dead religion. There are many false lights who say, “Look to me. Listen to me. Follow me.” But as we heed the voice of false lights we only go deeper into the darkness.

When Moses built the Temple, he followed God’s pattern. There was an outer court which had the natural light of the sun; there was the inner court which had the light of the Menorah; there was the holy of holies which had the light of the glory of God.

The glory of God was the light of His presence. The light that Jesus brings to us can only come from His presence within us. Jesus said that His light is the light of life. He lights up the deepest place within us—where we live, move, and have our being. When His light is in us we are spiritually alive. His light in us means that every step we take is a step of life. Following His light doesn’t rob us, it restores us; it doesn’t weaken us, it strengthens us; it doesn’t sadden us, it gladdens us.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV

by Roy Lessin

I Cor. 12:27

Merry Christmas, 2012

King Jesus

Garments for the King

"All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." (Psalm 45:8)

One of the most beautiful of the Christmas hymns (though rarely sung at Christmas) is "Out of the Ivory Palaces," telling how the King of heaven left His heavenly home and laid aside His perfumed, royal clothing to enter "a world of woe." That this 45th Psalm is symbolic in part is obvious; but that it refers to Christ is also obvious from its use in Hebrews 1:8: "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom," quoting Psalm 45:6.

That the eternal King left heaven to come to earth is not symbolic, however, but very real; nor did He have royal robes in which to be arrayed, for they "wrapped
Him in swaddling clothes" and laid Him "in a manger" (Luke 2:12).

Then, as He later walked the dusty roads of Judea, we know little of what He wore, but we do know that on one notable occasion, He "laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet" (John 13:4-5). A strange garment, and stranger action, for the King of glory!

Yet stranger still that men whom He had created, later "took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat. . . . but cast lots for it" (John 19:23-24), leaving Him naked to die a painful death spiked to a tree. Finally, His little remnant of friends took "the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes" (John 19:40) for His burial.

Now, however, in glory, He once again is arrayed in kingly apparel, "clothed with a garment down to the foot, and . . . with a golden girdle" (Revelation 1:13), and one day, all His redeemed shall see Him--in His beauty--the King in whose law we delight! HMM

~Creation Research Institute~

Bulletins, Sunday, December 23, 2012

Bulletins, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012

Bulletins, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012

Bulletins, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012

Welcome December

Bulletins, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012

Bulletins, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

Bulletins, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012

Veteran's Day, 2012

We remember our Veterans today.

Those who fought and died, those who returned home,

and those who are still fighting through-out this world.

Thank you for your service to our country.

May we never forget what you've given so that we can be free.

Pastor Appreciation Day, 2012

We thank God that He called Bill Connell to

Grace Bible Church to be our Pastor.

And we thank Bill Connell for answering that call!

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,

who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”"

Isaiah 52:7

Lean Hard

Lean Hard

 

 

Child of my love, lean hard,
And let Me feel the pressure of thy care.
I know thy burden, for I fashioned it—
Poised it in My own hand, and made its weight
Precisely that which I saw best for thee.
And when I placed it on thy shrinking form,
I said, “I shall be near, and while thou leanest
On Me, this burden shall be Mine, not thine.”
So shall I keep within My circling arms
The child of my own love; here lay it down,
Nor fear to worry Him who made, upholds,
And guides the universe. Yet closer come;
Thou art not near enough. Thy care, thyself,
Lay both on Me, that I may feel My child
Reposing on My heart. Thou lovest Me?
I doubt it not: then, loving Me, LEAN HARD.”

 

 

-The Christian

 

 

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.

He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22 NLT

Bulletins, November 4, 2012

Big Things...

"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small

(and yet really not small) gifts."

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

November, 2012

Reformation Day

Reformation Day‎

495 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, unwittingly sparking the Protestant Reformation. Here's his story of he came to grasp the gospel as he pondered Paul's Letter to the Romans:


"I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, ‘the justice of God,’ [Rom. 1:17] because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him.

Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith’ [Rom. 1:17]. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas the ‘justice of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressively sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate of heaven."

Fall Back Time Change

It's that time of year....

Remember to put your clocks back one hour

on Sunday, Nov. 4,  at 2:00 a.m.

Fall Back!

Ladies Retreat, 2012

Ladies Retreat

Oct. 12 & 13, 2012

at Bonnymill Inn in Chesaning, MI