The Faithfulness of Christ

“The American painter, John Sargent, once painted a panel of roses that was highly praised by critics. It was a small picture, but it approached perfection. Although offered a high price for it on many occasions, Sargent refused to sell it. He considered it his best work and was very proud of it. Whenever he was deeply discouraged and doubtful of his abilities as an artist, he would look at it and remind himself, ‘I painted that.’ Then his confidence and ability would come back to him.”

(Bits & Pieces, September 19, 1991, p. 9.)

This story illustrates the power of confidence.  But where John Sargent found confidence in his own ability, the true Christian finds confidence not in themselves but in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  In other words, it’s not about what we do but what He did and does.  Over the past number of weeks we have read in Hebrews about how Christ is the foundation of salvation and without Christ salvation is impossible for anyone to inherit.  This week we will look at how we can find confidence in our salvation because of the faithfulness of the One who became the perfect atoning sacrifice. 

Join us this week as we look at Hebrews 3:1-6 and the confidence the disciple of Jesus Christ can have in the salvation bought and paid for by the faithfulness of Christ.  May we be prayerfully prepared to hear the gospel truth and be encouraged by the Word God has prepared for us this week.

Christ the High Priest and Savior

Every week the Church of God gathers to worship our Creator, our Friend and Master, our High Priest and Savior.  And each week it is important for the Church to be reminded of the unspeakable gift the Father has given his people through his Son, Jesus Christ.  J.C. Ryle, a pastor in England in the late 1800s spoke of this great gift in this way:

“Who can estimate the value of God's gift, when He gave to the world His only begotten Son! It is something unspeakable and incomprehensible. It passes man's understanding. Two things there are which man has no arithmetic to reckon, and no line to measure. One of these things is the extent of that man's loss who loses his own soul. The other is the extent of God's gift when he gave Christ to sinners...Sin must indeed be exceeding sinful, when the Father must give His only Son to be the sinner's Friend!” (J.C. Ryle, Foundations of Faith)

Join us this week as we look into Hebrews 2:10-18 and what it means that Christ is our High Priest and Savior.  Why do we need a High Priest?  How did Christ fulfill his role as High Priest?  What does it mean that Christ is our Savior?  How great is our sin that God himself must be sacrificed to pay the price?

Be prayerfully prepared to meet God as we study his Word and Truth this Sunday morning.  And be prepared for the Holy Spirit to move in us through the Truth of his Son, our High Priest and Savior.

Neglecting the Gospel

“In St. Louis in 1984, a woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home.  Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them.  Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out of the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees.  The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees.  While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect” (Robert T. Wenz).

Most of us are clearly aware that if we neglect a leak in our homes or a hole in the ceiling we will eventually pay the consequences, which usually are greater than the initial repair costs.  And yet many of us fall prey to the habit of neglecting our most valuable possession, the gospel message.  How do we fall into the dangerous position of gospel neglect?  Why is it so dangerous for us to neglect the gospel message?  What is so valuable about the gospel message?

As we gather this Sunday to worship our God and Creator may we be prayerfully prepared to hear the words of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word.  May we fight the tendency in our hearts and lives to neglect this vital message: the Gospel.  Join us this week in hearing the words of God to his people.