Grace Baptist Church

God does not save us to set us on a shelf. We wants us to do His work. How can we use our unique talents and abilities to do -the work of the Lord-- Sunday we begin to consider how we can do this by applying Acts 2-42 to our own culture. We will also thank God for speaking to us in His Word as a theme for the worship service.

We have had another slew of images and stories develop here in the US which have reverberated across the world, through the news cycles, and no doubt your mind and thoughts. COVID headlines are replaced with the storming of the Capital buildings. It does make you wonder the -what- and -why- of what is happening. Or perhaps more importantly, what part do I play in all this as a Christian-- -I thought it would be helpful for our church to pause our New Year series -see below-, and consider God's hand in world events--and especially the coming and going of administrations and rulers. Also, how should God's people respond to these coming and going of events- We will answer these questions in this Sermon from the book of Daniel.

One is often tempted to feel let-down following the beginning of a New Year, because so much anticipation and hope surrounds that turn of the calendar page. It seems that more are let down this time than normal. After all, many things seemed to be moving more positively just a bit ago as we looked ahead to 2021. But then, we find many of the same stress factors still in our lives. Perhaps you have found your hopes dashed because of hopes that are unfulfilled. . . -The vaccine, is here- yay-... but delayed in getting to many.-Political unrest continues to boil.-COVID numbers increase leaving schools and restaurants closed.-The loss of loved ones and -normalcy- hurts more in this time of year.--I thought 2021 was going to bring new hope-- Well, it does. Please continue patiently in the Lord. And yet, perhaps these continuing factors will hep us have a good 2021 focus... in the best places. Let's try to gain the right focus for the New Year together in light of all the pressures surrounding us in life.

Brother Phiri shares how the genealogies of Jesus point us past the baby in the Manger to the Lord of all.

What glory is this One Whom Wesley states - --Born in flesh, the Godhead see, -Hail the Incarnate, Deity.--Perhaps John 1-14-18 gives the closest explanation to this mystery that we will ever know.

Our Lord always keeps His promises. Because of Jesus, all the promises of God to us are -yes.- That is why we will praise Him this Sunday----For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory- -2 Corinthians 1-20-.--This is not only a call to praise, it is a call to follow. As we admire the Lord's commitment to His promises in Christ, we follow by fulfilling our promises one to another in our marriages and in our promises. This is the next topic that the Lord speaks to in the Sermon by the Sea.

I love reading the Old Testament examples -- good and bad. They are there both for our learning and our warning. They teach about how the Lord sees our gratitude or grumbling. In this sermon, we will look into 1 Corinthians 10 to learn the Lord's pleasure in our thanks.

Christ's law of love encourages us to find our ultimate fulfillment in our relationship with Him. In Christ we can be truly satisfied - thankful for our current conditions. This gives us a new perspective on love and lust.

There are times when we do not obey the Lord's command from last Sunday to refrain from speech that is unkind. Even in the church body this can happen. So, what should our response be if we have offended, or are offended- The Lord encourages us to reconcile with one another first.

We want to thank God for how He speaks with kindness towards us in the Gospel. This kind speech is a genuine test of someone's Christianity. This is the first of several applications that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount to the internal Law of Love.