Grace Baptist Church

This Sunday we'll look at Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son which really teaches how God is our Father's of glorious merciful and love toward us. What a beautiful parable to consider this Sunday. Celebrate His great love toward us this Sunday as we gather for worship.

Last week, we enjoyed dwelling on the amazing truth that God makes all things work together for good! That is a joy and brings comfort knowing that all details of life are under His control and will work to our good. This is what He purposes by His great power and control. The "God causing all things to work together for good" truth is founded on the next verse—the fact that He has been doing this for us for a very long time. Even from eternity past! Let's praise the Lord for the first of the "five golden chains" of God's saving grace.

God is at work in your life today! In what way? In any and every way. He is causing all things in your life to work for good—even the most difficult parts of your life that you have a difficult time processing and making sense of—those things that you cannot fathom any good rising from the wreck. God works that. He works in such a way and is in control of circumstances in such a way that even these most difficult situations will turn out for good for those who love Him. We'll consider Romans 8:28 and affirm the glorious truth in song, scripture reading, and prayer. God is at work! HE is working all things for good today!

Every week we find situations where we need help. And, if we knew the reality of life, we probably would say every moment of every day we need help. Where do people go for help? I guess that depends on the type of health we need. But in every area of need for help there is a glorious Gospel provision through the Holy Spirit. As you come to God through the Gospel of Jesus, you are given the down payment of God's presence – the Holy Spirit. And He helps us in every way!

God is so good to us today! And that goodness leads us to think positively about our future. As one said: "Your future is as bright as the promises of God!" And so we take those promises and bank our life and our eternity on those. In this way, we are always hopeful. In Christ, we have true, steadfast hope!

What a joy to know that this life is not the end. Perhaps you have faced great difficulty this week, or this past year. Let me encourage you to look to the future for comfort for your current stress or distress. Part of that future is what we call an "adoption"… an eternal adoption. This adoption is defined as the redemption of our bodies. What a fascinating truth! God saved us – not just to enjoy heaven in spirit, but to re-unite with our spirit and enjoy heaven on earth once again. May the Lord give us grace to seek first His kingdom while here and promote His purposes in our lives.

One of the most consistent earthly examples of agape love on earth is the consistent love of a mother. The natural care and love of a mom is often such a beautiful example of unselfishly giving towards another's well-being. The greatest example of agape, of course, is our Lord. He unselfishly gave of His only begotten Son that we might have eternal life. In this message, we'll learn the example of a dear mom who came to Jesus for a great need for mercy. She is a great example as a mom and also teaches us much about prayer.

All things are sustained by our Lord… even in our broken condition as nature stumbles along. But it will all be renewed. One day in the future we will all receive glorified bodies and creation itself will be restored to pre-fallen conditions. This understanding changes our value system. It changes our view of pain. It changes our view of what the world's true problem is and the solution to that problem. Let's praise the Lord for His sustaining grace that sustaining us to the end!

the Lord reveals the answer to why so many bad things happen in the world. Why does evil touch all of our lives? Of course, one reason is that there are bad people who do bad things. But Romans 8 introduces another category of "evil" that helps us understand some of the pain and suffering all around us. It also shows how the Gospel relates to the suffering we see. Suffering is not the end of the story. The future will be glorious for those who are in Christ. The Good News of Jesus promises this. Romans 8 teaches us that the glory of that future time far outweighs the sorrow and difficulty of this present life. As we continue through Romans 8 we learn that this future glory is actually shared by the creation as well.

We are redeemed--bought back unto God with a great price... the blood of Christ! He paid the ultimate price so we might be free from sin and its penalty. This Sunday, we'll praise the Lord for redeeming us.