Friday, September 30, 2011

GFchurch.. New Series


Join us this Sunday as we begin a new series over Hebrews. Over the next few months we will be looking at the superiority of Christ and the finality and completeness of God's revelation and saving work in Him. God spoke through the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Now He has spoken to us through His Son, the creator and heir of all things. Jesus Christ is the express image of God and the brightness of His Glory. Christ is our great and faithful High Priest.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

SYATP~ Holy Is The Lord



Students leading out in worship this morning @GCS

SYATP~ Inside Out



Students leading out in worship this morning @GCS

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Puritan Prayer~ The All Good


MY GOD,

Thou hast helped me to see,
that whatever good be in honour and rejoicing,
how good is He who gives them,
and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
in receiving good from and in Thee,
but in holding forth Thy glory and virtue;
that it is an amazing thing to see Deity
in a creature, speaking, acting,
filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but Thee,
that I am near good when I am near Thee,
that to be like Thee is a glorious thing:
This is my magnet, my attraction.

Thou art all my good in times of peace,
my only support in days of trouble,
my one sufficiency when life shall end.

Help me to see how good Thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.

Grant me to feel Thee in fire, and food and every providence,
and to see that Thy many gifts and creatures
are but Thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.

Thou bottomless fountain of all good,
I give myself to Thee out of love,
for all I have or own is thine,
my goods, family, church, self,
to do with as Thou wilt,
to honour Thyself by me, and by all mine.

If it be consistent with Thy eternal counsels,
the purpose of Thy grace,
and the great ends of Thy glory,
then bestow upon me the blessings of
Thy comforts;

If not, let me resign myself to
Thy wiser determinations.

(Taken from ‘The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers,’ edited by Arthur Bennett)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Puritan Prayer~ The Mover


O Supreme Moving Cause,

May I always be subordinate to thee,
be dependent upon thee,
be found in the path where thou dost walk,
and where thy Spirit moves,
take heed of estrangement from thee,
of becoming insensible to thy love.
Thou dost not move men like stones,
but dost endue them with life,
not to enable them to move without thee,
but in submission to thee, the first mover.
O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.

Who made me to differ, but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
I could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!

Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation
into the mould of purchase and freedom;
Let wrath deserved be written on the door of hell,
But the free gift of grace on the gate of heaven.

I know that my sufferings are the result of my sinning,
but in heaven both shall cease;
Grant me to attain this haven and be done with sailing,
and may the gales of thy mercy blow me safely into harbour.
Let thy love draw me nearer to thyself,
wean me from sin, mortify me to this world,
and make me ready for my departure hence.

Secure me by thy grace as I sail across this stormy sea.

(Taken from ‘The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers,’ edited by Arthur Bennett)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Puritan Prayer~ “Morning Needs


O God the author of all good, I come to Thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without Thee I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Thy power. Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe.

Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite Thy inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take Thy name in vain.

May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Thy will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to Thee be the glory.