"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

With humble hearts we gather here, And so begin another year; Another year, to us obscure, But by Thy grace we shall endure. To us the future is unknown, But trusting Thee we journey on, Relying on Thy providence, We face this year with confidence. By day and night our Refuge be, Cause us to always rest in Thee; To look to Christ for everything, And to His Name all honors bring. Without Thy presence and Thy care, To travel on we would not dare; Be Thou our Guardian and our Guide, And evermore with us abide. -Tune: "From Every Stormy Wind" LM Words by preacher Jim Byrd

Indulgent God, how kind are all Thy ways to me; Whose dark, benighted mind was enmity with Thee; Yet now, subdued by sovereign grace, My spirit longs for Thy embrace! My spirit longs for Thy embrace! How precious are Thy thoughts, which o'er my bosom roll! They swell beyond my faults, and captivate my soul! How great they seem, how high they rise, Can ne'er be known beneath the skies. Can ne'er be known beneath the skies. Preserved in Jesus when my feet made haste to hell; And there should I have gone, but Thou dost all things well; Thy love was great, Thy mercy free, Which from the pit delivered me! Which from the pit delivered me! A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood; The streams of love I trace, up to the fountain God; And in His wondrous mercy see Eternal thoughts of love to me! Eternal thoughts of love to me! Tune: Arise, My Soul, Arise Words by brother John Kent

The reason we all experience so many disappointments in life is because SELF is first in all we want. We want what we want for ourselves and when we don’t get it we are disappointed. The nature of sin is one of self-glory, self-sufficiency and self-love. But this is also why we are so naturally adverse to and even offended by the gospel of God’s sovereign grace in Christ alone. In salvation, as in all things, the glory is God’s alone. In salvation, all is of God’s grace alone. In salvation, all depends on God’s will alone. In salvation, it is all of Christ’s work alone. Thus, there is nothing to satisfy this self principle in us! God must work in us by the power of His Spirit to show us the helplessness, uselessness and emptiness of self and He does it by revealing Christ to us. We see ourselves for what we really are when we see Christ for who He is. The Spirit of God takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. In His light we see light. In Christ we find