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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

February 28, 2016

 

No trial endured by GodÕs child would ever cause a murmuring thought to rise in his heart if he knew GodÕs reason for sending it.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of February 28-March 6, 2016

Sunday                Deuteronomy 15-16                  Thursday Deuteronomy 25-27

      Monday                Deuteronomy 17-18                  Friday                   Deuteronomy 28-29

      Tuesday              Deuteronomy 19-21                  Saturday              Deuteronomy 30-32

      Wednesday        Deuteronomy 22-24                  Sunday                Deut. 33-Joshua 1

á      I am preaching this morning for Fairmont Grace Church in Sylacauga, AL, where Bro. Larry Criss is pastor. Tonight I am scheduled to preach for College Grove Grace Church in College Grove, TN, where Bro. Chris Cunningham is pastor. — Bro. Mark Daniel will bring the messages here today.

 

Happy Birthday! Amy Richards-3rd   Stephanie Wall-4th

Nursery Duty this Week

Jayalita McCormack (AM) — Debbie Bartley (PM) — Tuesday: Shelby Fortner

 

Hush All Doubts! Be Gone All Sadness! Don Fortner

(Tune: #291 — Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah —87.87.87)

1.    O my soul, while Christ believing,

Why do I so oft despair?

Why so fretful, unbelieving,

Disinclined to faith and prayer?

God, my Father, loved and chose me,

And says, ÒCast on Me your care!Ó

2.    Though great waves of sorrow, rolling,

Daily threaten to destroy,

This sweet truth is so consoling: —

(Though ten thousand foes annoy!)

Christ Who bought me reigns to save me. —

Nothing shall my soul destroy!

3.    Conflicts, trials, and temptation,

Are the lot of all GodÕs saints.

CovÕnant grace and free salvation, —

Let them silence all complaints!

God the Holy Ghost has sealed me.

Yes, my GodÕs my sure Defense!

4.    Hush all doubts! Be gone all sadness!

Here my troubled soul shall rest,

Changing all my grief for gladness,

This I must and will confess: —

God all-wise and ever-gracious,

Always, only does whatÕs best!

Why?

 

ÒBehold, we count them happy which endure.Ó (James 5:11)

 

Faith counts them happy who patiently endure trials, as Job, the saints, and prophets of old did. But why? Upon what grounds do we count them happy? Enduring their trials, GodÕs saints find themselves compelled to cling tightly to God their Savior; and that brings them into closer, sweeter communion with him.

 

      And that is our happiness! We are happy, indeed, when we are admitted into the inner chambers of him whom our souls love. When our sorrows more fully reveal to us the Man of Sorrows, we are happy. When our griefs cast us upon the heart of our God, our griefs make us happy. When our troubles take us to the Throne of Grace, there we find that which makes us happy.

 

      Little chicks in the sunshine run all over the yard, pecking and gathering whatever they find. But if a hawk appears in the sky, the mother hen calls them with a sharp alarm. Immediately, they perceive the danger and run under her wings for safety. GodÕs saints are like those chicks. — He was a much afflicted man who wrote, ÒHe shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trustÓ (Psalm 91:4).

 

      One of the most delicious of sensations outside of Heaven is to fall helplessly into the arms of Christ! We find strength in helplessness, joy in submission, rest in resignation, and peace in surrender! Anything which gives new life to prayer, brings us to the Throne of Grace, and renews communion with our God is so great a gift that, Òwe count them happy which endure

 

      Besides all that, the Lord has a choice way of manifesting himself unto his servants in their times of weakness. He draws the curtain around the bed of his chosen and, at the same time, as if it were shutting out the rest of the world, he shows himself through the lattices of grace to his beloved. In the fiery furnace we walk in the company of a Man like ourselves, who is the Son of God. And we never lose anything in the furnace, but the fetters that bind us.

 

      There is no place in all our pilgrim journey more needful for our souls than the Valley of Humiliation. The tops of the Delectable Mountains are wonderful, exhilarating spots, from which we sometimes see the Golden City. But those are heights too steep for our trembling feet to stand firmly upon them. The valley suits us better, though flesh and blood find it hard to go downhill. Here our dear Savior manifests himself to his chosen as he does not to the world. Therefore Òwe count them happy which endure

 

      Once more, Òwe count them happy which endure,Ó because Òour light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of gloryÓ (2 Corinthians 4:17). Oh, what glory awaits us on the other side! And that glory awaiting us is made all the more glorious by Òthe trial of our faith!Ó

 

 

Remembering My Friend

Pastor Robert L. (Bob) Harman

1938-2016

 

Bro. Bob Harman was the faithful pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jacumba, California for many years. I first met Bob in 1995 while I was preaching in Southern California. Shortly after we met we corresponded a good bit and he asked me to come to Jacumba for a Bible conference. Joining me in the conference were pastors Gene Harmon and Norm Wells. On Sunday morning, as we drove to the last service of the conference, Bob told me that he had decided to preach before me; and asked that I critique his sermon. Needless to say, I dreaded the thought and told him I would prefer not to be put in that position.

 

            At the ten oÕclock hour, Bob stood to preach. I do not recall his text; but I do remember the title of his sermon — ÒSteps to SalvationÓ! The title was horrible, and the sermon even worse. It was altogether heretical, the preaching of works from start to finish. When Bob was done, I turned to both Bro. Harmon and Bro. Wells, who were sitting one row behind me, and said, ÒIÕll give either of you $100.00 to preach in my place.Ó Neither was willing to do so.

 

            Had Bob preached that the moon is purple, snow is gray, and dogs never have fleas, I could have held my tongue. But what he preached was damning heresy. It had been preached publicly in my presence. And, though I was his guest preaching in his pulpit, his doctrine had to be publicly dismantled and corrected. The responsibility, by GodÕs providence, fell upon my shoulders. And God the Holy Ghost gave me grace and power, as only he can, to meet the responsibility.

 

            I presumed before I stood to preach that all hell would break loose and the 70 mile drive back to San Diego would be torturous. I was wrong! Instead, Bob stood before his congregation, broken hearted and weeping, as he confessed his sin and confessed GodÕs grace. The Lord God had made his Word effectual to a lost preacher!

 

            From that day until the Lord graciously received him up into Glory, Bob Harman and I were friends. We travelled together. Whenever I was anywhere on the West Coast he either flew or drove to the meetings. At those meetings, we usually had breakfast together most mornings and spent an hour or two together at some point during the meeting, talking privately about the things of God. We spoke often on the phone and corresponded regularly. We laughed together and wept together; but never once did a harsh word pass between us.

 

            After the Lord saved him, Bob remained pastor at Jacumba for many years. After retiring from pastoral work, he was instrumental in establishing San Diego Grace Fellowship, where Bro. Eric Richards is now pastor. I cherish the memory of my friend, wishing only that I had been as good and faithful a friend to him as he was to me. I hope to join him soon in the company of him who is the Friend of sinners, our beloved Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

The Grace Bulletin

 

February 28, 2016

 

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 576-3400 — 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

 

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