Vacation Bible School, 2011

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Vacation Bible School


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Grace....

"Many people pay lip service to the idea of grace, but they stop there. Their conception of grace is not so much debased as nonexistent. The thought means nothing to them; it does not touch their experience at all. What is it that hinders so many who profess to believe in grace from really doing so? Why does the theme mean so little even to some who talk about it a great deal? The root of the trouble seems to be misbelief about the basic relationship between a person and God; misbelief rooted not just in the mind but in the heart, at the deeper level of things that we never question because we always take them for granted, the doctrines of grace presupposes, and if they are not acknowledged and felt in one's heart, clear faith in God's grace become impossible. The moral ill desert of humankind, the retributive justice of God, the spiritual impotence of humankind and the sovereign freedom of God."


J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Sunday Bulletin, June 26, 2011

Something to think about...

"By nature, you are completely addicted to this legal method of salvation. Even after you become a Christian by believing the Gospel, your heart is still addicted to salvation by works. In your heart you still want to make the duties of the law come before the comforts of the Gospel. You find it hard to believe that you should get any blessing before you work for it. This is the mindset you tend to fall into: You sincerely do want to obey the laws of God. Therefore, to make sure you obey the law of God you make all of God's blessings depend upon how well you keep his law.  Some preachers even tell you that you had better not enjoy the blessings of the Gospel! They tell you to diligently obey the law first and that only by doing this will you be safe and happy before God. Just keep in mind, however, that as you go this route, you will never enjoy your salvation for as long as you live in this world."


Walter Marshall, 1628-1680

Downriver Cruise, 2011

This Saturday, June 25...beginning at 10:00 a.m.

We're meeting in front of the

Downriver Christian Library

3755 Fort St., Lincoln Park

Come join us as we

share the Good News and
see some great cars!

Sunday Bulletin, June 19, 2011

A New Creature

"The Christian is a new creature, born and taught from above. He has been convinced of his guilt and misery as a sinner, has fled for refuge to the hope set before him, has seen his Son and believed on Him: his natural prejudices against the glory and grace of God's salvation have been subdued and silenced by almighty power; he has accepted the Beloved and is made acceptable in Him; he now knows the Lord; has renounced the confused, distant, uncomfortable notions he once formed of God. He sees God in Christ, reconciled, a Father, a Savior and a Friend, who has freely forgiven him all his sins and given him the spirit of adoption; he is now no longer a servant, much less a stranger, but a son; and because a son, an heir already interested in all the promises, admitted to the throne of grace, and assured expectant of eternal glory."

John Newton, Letters of John Newton 1781

Church Bulletin, Sunday, June 12, 2011

Grace is not a Thing

Grace is not a “Thing”

It is legitimate to speak of “receiving grace,” and sometimes (although I am somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing language) we speak of the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper as “means of grace.” That is fine, so long as we remember that there isn’t a thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is is the person of the Lord Jesus — “Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing” that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself.

Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
 – Sinclair Ferguson



 

New Members

Welcome New Members

We are honored to have received into

membership today

Russell Forth
Julia Lagodzinski
Drew Merritt &
Barbara Stenske

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Birthdays in June

Verda Hedden - 3

Pat Grant - 3

Madison McKee - 5

Louise Moore - 9

Lana Norman - 10

Maggie Salewske - 11

Erica Moore - 25

Lee Anne Blevins - 25

Stanley Solgot - 27

Stephanie Moore - 28

Anniversaries

Everett & Jacque Sollars - 4

Sunday Bulletin, June 5, 2011