Grace Baptist Church of Danville

April 1, 2012

 

God’s servants do not promote themselves, their ministry, or their church. They promote Christ, his Gospel, his Kingdom, and others who faithfully serve him. — The man who promotes himself serves no one but himself!

 

Daily Readings for the Week of April 1-8, 2012

    Sunday                  1 Samuel 28-31                               Thursday       2 Samuel 11-12

    Monday                  2 Samuel 1-3                                               Friday             2 Samuel 13-14

    Tuesday                2 Samuel 4-6                                               Saturday                    2 Samuel 15-17

    Wednesday          2 Samuel 7-10                                 Sunday                      2 Samuel 18-19

 

 

·      We will have our Quarterly Fellowship on Sunday — April 29th.

·       Katy Baptist Church in Fairmont, WV will host a Bible conference next weekend (Friday night through Sunday morning). Todd Nibert and Don Fortner are the scheduled speakers. — Bro. Marvin Stalnaker is the host pastor. — Telephone: (304) 825 1116 — Email: marvins49@frontier.com.

·      Bro. Todd Nibert and I are scheduled to preach for Millsite Baptist Church in Cottageville, WV at 5:00 PM next Sunday. — Contact: Jeff Vandall — Telephone: 304-546-7318 — Email: jwvandal@us.ibm.com.

·      Bro. Linwood Campbell, pastor of the Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Boonville, NC will preach here next Sunday.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Lindsay Campbell-6th   Sally Poncer-7th

 

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Vicci Rolley (AM) Dee Dee Raneri (PM)          Tuesday: Ruth Wall

 

Christ Jesus Gave Himself for Me — Don Fortner

(Tune: #222 — There is a Fountain — CM)

 

1.    Christ Jesus gave Himself for me. —

(Made sin, He bore my guilt!)

All that I need in Him I see,

Who says, “Ask what you will.

 

2.    He gave Himself; by faith I take

My Savior as my own.

His covenant He will never break. —

He’ll bring me safely home!

 

3.    He gave Himself and took my sins, —

O blest exchange for me!

My hope in this sweet truth begins;

And I shall glory see!

 

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Before you call that pastor…

Hebrews 13:8 and 17

 

I am often asked to assist local churches who are seeking pastors. I am always glad to do whatever I can for them. But there are some things a congregation should seriously consider before calling a man to be its pastor, before calling him, not after calling him.

 

            In gospel churches a pastorate is normally a life-long term of service. Rarely do you find gospel preachers moving from place to place. In my opinion that is as it should be. So, before calling a pastor, a local church should find out everything possible about a man, his gifts, his character, his faithfulness, and his family. You should ask yourself a few questions. Each person, most particularly every man in the congregation should ask…

 

            Is this a man I will be anxious to hear preach the gospel to me three times a week? A congregation should never call a pastor thinking, “This is the best we can hope for.” No matter the size of the assembly, no matter its location, no matter how poor the people are, if God has raised up a gospel church, he has a pastor for that church (Jeremiah 3:15). And the pastor God gives will be the pastor specifically gifted for that specific congregation. He will be specially gifted to minister to you, as no one else can.

 

            Am I willing to do what I can to support this man? When you call a man to be your pastor, in all likelihood he will quit a good job, sell his house and move his family across the country to be your pastor. If he is an older man, that will mean leaving behind his children and grandchildren. A faithful man will willingly make such sacrifices to serve the cause of Christ.

 

However, if you ask a man to make such sacrifices, you should be prepared to make some sacrifices yourself. You should be ready to do whatever you are able to do to provide for his needs. You should be ready and willing to follow his lead and obey him as your pastor. Without question, you will find some things about his personality, his personal habits, and/or his preaching that do not perfectly please you. But if the man faithfully preaches the gospel of Christ, it would be childish and irresponsible for you to walk away from his ministry.

 

            Do I highly esteem this man as God’s messenger to my soul? Every believer should esteem his pastor very highly (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). The word “highly” is “superabundantly,” over and above the esteem given to other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not because he possesses any personal superiority; he does not. He, like you, is “only a sinner saved by grace.” But he is to be esteemed superabundantly for his work's sake. What does this mean?

 

You are to entertain the highest possible opinions of your pastor at all times. Hold him up in your own mind. Highly esteem his gifts and abilities as a preacher, and his grace and faithfulness as a believer. If you have a low opinion of a man, it is not likely that he will be of much use to your soul. His words will carry no weight with you.

Always speak  honorably  of  your pastor.  Believers should always speak

 

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well of one another, but this is especially true regarding their pastor. If you do not speak well of your pastor, it is not likely that anyone who knows you will have any respect for him. At home, among the members of your family, at work, in the midst of your co-workers and in the community, always give God's servant the highest possible esteem in your speech.

 

Speak respectfully to your pastor as God's messenger to you. The use of titles and names of distinction to separate and elevate God’s servants above his people is to be deplored. Our Lord plainly forbids it (Matthew 23:7-9). We should address no man as “Reverend,” “Father,” or “Doctor.” But God's servants should be spoken to in respectful terms. Neither the pastor's office, nor his work, should be made the object of a joke or of ridicule. Like a father in his household, the pastor is to be treated and spoken to with the respect that becomes his high and holy office in the church.

 

This superabundant esteem must be the esteem of sincere love for the pastor's work’s sake. It is not a forced reverence for an office. It is to be a heartfelt esteem flowing from your realization of the burden, labour and value of the work of the gospel, to which God's servant faithfully gives himself. That man deserves your highest, most loving esteem who spends his life in ardent labour for the gospel, who has been the instrument used of God for your salvation, who ministers to the comfort of your soul and is used of God for your spiritual growth and edification in the knowledge of Christ.

_________________________________

 

Songs of Worship

Pastor Angus Fisher

Shoalhaven Gospel Church — Nowra, New South Wales, Australia

 

As Christians are gathered to worship God, two remarkable realities should come to our attention: the Lord Jesus has promised to be with us (Matthew 18:20) and His angels (1 Corinthians 11:10), and we worship in heaven as we are represented by and in our Lord Jesus. To what extent is our worship today in harmony with that which resounds continually in the courts of heaven (Revelation 4:8-11; 5:9-14)? If these are the songs of the redeemed children and the angels and will be the joyful song of all the redeemed, then these should be our songs now. With so many discordant voices of “worship” in the “church” worldwide they cannot all be in tune with the songs of heaven. Unless you are in tune with the worship in heaven here you will never sing with the choirs of heaven.

 

Essential themes in these songs: (1.) The Holiness of God (2.) God alone is Creator and Sustainer of all things and they all serve His purposes. (3.) God’s purposes centre on the glory of the Lord Jesus as the sovereign, sufficient, successful and satisfied Redeemer of all those whom the Father gave Him in the eternal covenant (Hebrews 13:20). Those He purchased can never be lost – they belong to Him. These are made, by His work, to represent His glory on the earth. His making causes and controls their doing. (4.) The slain Lamb of God receives sevenfold praise from the heavenly host. (5.) The triune God reigns over an everlasting kingdom to bestow blessing and to receive glory and honor forever.

 

 

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The Grace Bulletin

 

April 1, 2012

 

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com

 

Donald S. Fortner, Pastor

 

Schedule of Regular Services

 

Sunday

10:00 A.M. Bible Classes

10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service

6:30   P.M. Evening Worship Service

 

Tuesday

7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service

 

Television Broadcasts in Danville

 

Channel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M.

Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

 

Television Broadcasts in Harrodsburg

Channel 6 - Sunday Afternoon 3:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 6:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.DonFortner.com

http://www.FreegraceRadio.com

http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com