Church guide

From the Pastor’s Desk to Your Heart Last week we spoke a little about grace. We defined grace as the unmerited favor of God. We spoke of how salvation comes only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But, grace is so much more than just salvation. It begins at salvation and continues throughout our lives here on earth. Grace is God’s way of taking care of His children. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” This verse of scripture informs us that in times of need God will pour out His grace (unmerited favor) upon us. I don’t know about you, but I have found myself in times of need on many occasions. And, God has always provided…as long as I am in His will. We face various times of need in our lives. They may be financial, health issues, loss of loved ones or a number of other things. If we are a child of God, that is to say if we have placed our faith and trust into Jesus Christ, and we are in the will of God, we can rest assure that God’s grace will be bestowed upon us and our burdens will be lightened. The child of God continuously finds themselves in one of three places. We are in a valley, headed into a valley or have just come out of a valley. Very rarely do we get to enjoy the mountain top for long. Trials, temptations and storms bombard us every day, and some seem to have no end. But, the good news is that God is in the storm with us. When the Apostle Paul was suffering with a “thorn in the flesh”, he prayed and asked God to remove it three times. God then had Paul write these words found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” So, dear friend, when you find yourself in that storm, facing that temptation or confronted with trials, remember this one thing-God’s grace is sufficient for you. We are saved by grace and we are kept by grace. In John 10:10, Jesus puts it this way, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” I am come that they may have life refers to the eternal salvation of the believer. That they might have it more abundantly is a promise of God’s unmerited favor to keep us during this life…that, my friend, is GRACE! This has been a message from the pastor’s desk to you heart.

From the Pastor’s Desk to Your Heart Let’s take a moment and talk about grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. That means it is actions by God toward man that man does not deserve. Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” The first act of grace a person can ever experience in their life is salvation. Salvation (a.k.a. everlasting life, Heaven) comes by the unmerited favor of God through belief in the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. It comes no other way. This verse tells us that salvation is not of yourselves. That means there is nothing that you can do to earn your way to Heaven. You cannot be good enough or do enough good deeds to save you. Baptism will not save you. Prayer will not save you. Church membership will not save you. Salvation comes only by grace through belief in Jesus Christ. Next, this verse of scripture tells us that salvation is the gift of God. A gift! In order to give someone a gift, you must go out and purchase the gift in which you wish to give. That is exactly what God did. He purchased the gift of salvation through the death of His only begotten Son, Jesus, on the Cross of Calvary. And, since He purchased the gift, only He can give the gift. And, He gives the gift to anyone and everyone that places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter how bad you are or how bad you think you are-we are all bad. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And, Romans 3:10 lets us know, “For there are none righteous, no not one.” Even though we are bad and have been separated from God by our sin, God loves us. He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place and pay the debt of death that we owe. Romans 5:8 puts it this way, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And, the famous John 3:16 says it like this, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Isn’t it great that the God of all creation loves us enough to sacrifice His own Son in order to offer everlasting life to us? That, my friend, is grace…God’s unmerited favor. If I bought you a gift, it would remain mine until I gave it to you and you accepted it. The gift of God (everlasting life) is offered to whosoever believes in Jesus Christ. To accept that gift one simply needs to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for your sins and rose from the grave the third day. No matter how bad you might be. No matter how broken your life may seem. Jesus is the answer! Trust him with your life and begin brand new from scratch. Be born again…made new. Taste and see that the Lord is good. This has been a message from the pastor’s desk to you heart.

Make sure to come out and enjoy a burger and a little fellowship...oh, and bring a friend!

Join us on Father's Day as we baptize two fathers. God is working in Hopewell...come and see.

Due to flooding and potential future bad weather, we will not be having services tonight.