To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Today is a very special day! Not just because today in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man who walked on the moon, nor just because Jeff Godard was born in 1997 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF), but mainly because this is the day the LORD has made and His mercies are new every morning! It is good to know that as a follower of Jesus every day is fresh and new in light of His grace, so that we can choose today to follow Him afresh. Freedom from condemnation and purpose filled living is worth celebrating every day! So many have difficult circumstances, and it seems the older we get the more we can find to regret in our history, so today, live in light of the specialness of what God has in store for you...if you are His, He has good works for you to do, that He prepared in advance that will impact eternity! God's plan for your life included today, so choose to use it to the praise of His glorious grace!
Want to highlight two ministries today.
1. Soccer Camp: We are in the middle day of soccer camp, where excitement and exhaustion can collide. Please pray for the kids and families they represent who have come to our camp, and also please pray for our workers, and their energy level. Pray that the love of Jesus and the message of the Gospel would shine through us clearly. We long to impact children and their families with the love of Jesus, and introduce them to Him through the clear presentation of the GOSPEL.
2. ESL: Reaching and helping people who have just come to our country, or need to be trained in speaking is an amazing privilege. A number of experts in missions have said that one of the main differences in the mission field today is that it is coming to us. Pray for this ministry and please consider if God would have you get involved in teaching, prayer, or other areas that we need filled to introduce people to Jesus through this ministry. It is exciting to have the first year under our belt, and to be moving toward another year of reaching and teaching, please consider prayerfully if God would have you be involved in this ministry!
I love summer for the opportunity to relax and read. Jerry Bridges, one of the authors that has made the most impact on my life, wrote his last book, called Humility, just before he went to be with Jesus. It is a book that takes a very simple walk through the beatitudes, and is as valuable for its readability as for its potential impact on helping us to live lives with this attribute that God has as His #2 talked about characteristic for His followers in the Bible (#1 is love). Make sure you are in your Bible's and growing through being Word saturated and if you are looking for a good book, this would be one if read with understanding, could change your life.
Sunday is coming:
Please pray for receptive hearts as we focus on the Gospel through a look at Ephesians 2:1-10. This is the passage that I think most clearly displays the Gospel in a way that shows its value in glorifying God, as well as our value in being His work of art. Pray that it would impact your own heart, pray that I would have the Spirit's power as I preach, and please pray for the rest of the people who will be there, that the richness of the Gospel would be something we experience and that it would drive and define the rest of our lives!
Title: The Glorious Gospel
Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
How would you define grace?
I love the definition, "God's free unmerited favour shown to guilty sinners who deserve only judgement" (Jerry Bridges)
How is it important to see what we deserve and in light of that rejoice in what God has given us?
What does it mean to see the WRETCHEDNESS OF SIN?
What does being an object of God's wrath mean? What does it mean that you were once an object of wrath?
Why is it important that the Word of God shows this in light of one of the great passages on GRACE?
how can we live in light of the grace of God all of the time?
Why is seeing ourselves as His Work of Art important?
Have a great week!
Looking forward to Sunday,
Praying, and longing more and for us to be a church that prays together and alone,
Pastor Rob