During the service this last Sunday, as we were singing and worshipping, Angi Sussex sang a song she sensed God wanted to use to minister specific encouragement to those in the congregation struggling with anxiety and fear over the future.

Here’s the lyrics from the song, and a rough recording. May it serve and encourage you all!

Today you may be hurting,
In pain or suffering.
Today you may feel God is far away from you.
Today you may be anxious,
Afraid for tomorrow.
Today you may feel temptations lead you astray

But we have a hope of a greater day coming;
A day when our Saviour will make all things new.

So don’t be disheartened,
If you feel that the days ahead
Look too hard for you;
Because of a day when Jesus gave everything,
We can be confident He’ll carry us through.

So we’ll trust in Your promises,
Hold on to Your faithfulness.
Holding on to the hope of that glorious day;
For we know You are coming,
For those You have loved;
And we trust You that You would carry us through,
Everyday.

Prophectic Song (22 01 2012)

It was great to be together today and join our voices in praise of our great God, who’s revealed his love through the gospelicous work of Christ!

It was also a wonderful privilege to share in the joy of two of our families as they dedicated themselves to raising their children for the glory of God!

Jadie Stiven led us in singing praises to God, and rejoicing in the truth of the gospel.

We sang the following songs together:

• Generous King (Sovereign Grace Music, “The Gathering” album)
• Your Name Alone Can Save (Sovereign Grace Music, “Risen” album)
• Glorious Day (The Village Church, from the “God of Victory” album)

This week we continued our current preaching series from the book of Daniel.  You can listen to or download the third sermon of the series, preached by Nathan Smith from Daniel 3:1-30, entitled “Faith in the Furnace” from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

 
Here’s the quotes from Sunday’s sermon:

One Anonymous Commentator:
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego feared the face of no man, because they had learned to live in the fear of the Lord.”
 
Iain Duguid:
“Surely we should delight to bow our knees to the Lord and sing his praises daily, even if everyone around us refuses to bow.  We should be willing to give up our very lives rather than give in even once to the demands of our idols.  And we should celebrate the one who went through the fire of God’s wrath alone in our place, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour.”

It was great to be together today and share the privilege of lifting up our voices in praise of our great God, who’s revealed his love through the gospelicous work of Christ!

Colin Elliott led us in singing praises to God, and rejoicing in the truth of the gospel.

We sang the following songs together:

• Your Great Name We Praise (Sovereign Grace Music, “Upward: Hymns Project” album)
• Sweetly Broken (Jeremy Riddle, from the “Full Attention” album)
• Now Why This Fear (Sovereign Grace Music, “The Gathering” album)
• Completely Done (Sovereign Grace Music, “Sons & Daughters” album)

This week we continued our new preaching series for the early part of 2012, from the book of Daniel.  You can listen to or download the second sermon of the series, preached by Nathan Smith from Daniel 2:1-49, entitled “Bad Dreams, Good News” from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

Here’s the quotes from Sunday’s sermon:

John Goldingay:
“The wistful, sad admission of the Babylonian wise men in verses 10 and 11, that seeks to excuse them, actually exposes them and judges them.”

Sinclair Ferguson:
“The test of our spirituality does not lie only in the fervency of our prayers in times of crisis, but in our wholeheartedness of worship when God acts in grace.  Relief unaccompanied by worship is never an adequate response to the mercies of God.”

We want to be a church who loves to read, and so to help us toward that end we are resurrecting our GRACE CHURCH “Book of the Month” Recommendation idea.

Each month we plan to highlight one book that we feel compliments and re-inforces the truths taught on Sunday mornings, and will benefit our souls and families to go deeper in believing, living out and representing God and his gospel to the world.  The books will be available to purchase on Sunday mornings – at a cracking price!

To kick us off, and to go alongside our new preaching series from the book of Daniel, we want to recommend:

Daniel (Reformed Expository Commentary) by Iain Duguid

Iain Duguid is an Old Testament scholar with a passion for the church and for the preaching of the gospel. A native of Great Britain, he initially trained as an Electrical Engineer and served as a missionary in Liberia, West Africa, before studying for the ministry. He completed a Ph.D. in Old Testament at Cambridge University, and subsequently planted a church on an inner-city housing estate in Oxford, England. He has taught Hebrew and Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi and at Westminster Seminary in California, before moving to his present position at Grove City College, in Grove City, Pennsylvania. While working at the seminary in California, he also planted and pastored a church in Fallbrook. He takes every possible opportunity to share his love for the Scriptures around the world, teaching regularly in Latvia as well as having taught in the Ukraine and in Canada.  He also currently pastors Christ Presbyterian Church in Grove City, PA.

Dr Duguid’s commentary on Daniel is the “must-read” commentary for our series. Duguid is a wonderful combination of top-class scholar and pastor, and this commentary is a rare blend of insightful exegesis and discerning application.  Full of good scholarship, with a devotional edge, it is very accessible, and will educate, edify and encourage any reader as the glories of Christ coming shining through Scripture texts that can otherwise appear obscure and irrelevant.

This commentary will be available on Sunday mornings for only £12!

It was great to be together on Sunday morning for the first time in 2012!  What a privilege to lift up our voices in praise of our great God, who’s vast, unmeasured grace has saved us!

Colin Elliott led us in singing praises to God, and rejoicing in the truth of the gospel. Peter Bowley lead us in sharing communion together.

We sang the following songs together:

• Generous King (Sovereign Grace Music, “The Gathering” album)
• You Alone Can Rescue (Matt Redman, “We Shall Not Be Shaken” album)
• Grace Unmeasured (Sovereign Grace Music, “Worship GOD Live” album)
• I Stand Amazed (Traditional Hymn, Passion arrangement)

This week we began our new preaching series for the early part of 2012, from the book of Daniel.  You can listen to or download the first sermon of the series, preached by Nathan Smith from Daniel 1:1-21, entitled “By The Rivers of Babylon ” from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

Here’s the quote from Sunday’s sermon:

J.I. Packer:
“The book as a whole forms a dramatic reminder that [in the face of the might and splendour of the Babylonian Empire], the God of Israel is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, “that heaven rules” (cf. Daniel 4:26); that God’s hand is on history at every point; that history is, indeed, no more than ‘His Story’ — the unfolding of His eternal plan, and that the kingdom that will triumph in the end is God’s.”

Tomorrow (6th January) sees the first instalment of 2012 of our monthly “First Friday Fast” at Grace Church.

It’s one day a month we encourage all the people of Grace Church to set aside, to devote time to fasting and praying for our church and the advance of the gospel in our community and city.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, and at the beginning of the year we want to dedicate time to praying again for God’s grace to be lavished upon His church.  As I was thinking about preparing our hearts for tomorrow I was stirred afresh and helped by these words from Josh Patterson.  Josh is a pastor at The Village Church in Texas.

Josh writes:
“A call to prayer is a declaration of dependence.  A call to prayer is an invitation to intimacy.  A call to prayer is a corporate response to grace.  The Lord has proven Himself faithful to His people, both biblically and historically, when they have humbled themselves before Him in prayer…  We want to ask God to do what only God can do.  A call to prayer is a confession of a need and desire for greater affections for Jesus. We need Him to do what we cannot, and we desperately desire to grow in our affections for Him. To that end, we will labor in prayer as watchmen on the walls.”

As we think about the year ahead, and what God might want to do in us and through at Grace Church in 2012, let’s join together and pray for the following:

• Give thanks to God for his unending grace, mercy and faithfulness towards us as a church in 2011.  There are numerous examples we could draw from throughout the year.

• Pray that God would bless our church in 2012 and use us in mighty ways to shine the bring light of the gospel into the darkness of the world around us.

• Pray that the Holy Spirit would move powerfully among us as a church; that God would increase our thirst for him, and deepen a burning desire to see him act, and manifest himself and his power — that people would be healed, that spiritual gifts would be used to build up the church, that the Spirit would soften and pierce hard hearts by the power and truth of the gospel.

• Pray that God would stir up greater devotion and desire in our hearts for him, and for his Son.  Pray that we would grow in treasuring the good news of the gospel.

• Pray that our passion for Jesus would be freshly awakened, and our desire to proclaim the gospel to our community and city would grow, be Spirit-empowered and effective.

• Pray that he would make us a people and church who are characterised by gratitude and joy.

• Pray that our church would grow as many from our community and city come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

• Pray that God would give us a God-sized vision of what he is doing in his world, and that he would give us an increase of faith to play our small part in His unstoppable gospel mission.