West Main

In our sermon last week in the book of Hebrews we learned how Jesus is our Kingly Priest. Recall how Hebrews (Hebrews 1:13; 5:6) takes note of verses one and four of Psalm one hundred and ten: The  LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”; and “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

 

 

Remember that there is only ONE throne of God and ONLY God sits on the throne. Jesus sits on the ONE throne of God and therefore is God. Jesus is not sitting on a second throne at the right hand of God; rather Jesus is the right hand of God! Jesus thus rules as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Therefore, Hebrews (1:8) sings the words of David about Jesus, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”

 

 

Yet, if Jesus were to rule only as King on the throne of God, he would have to condemn us with his “scepter of uprightness” for all our sin committed in unrighteousness.  However, Jesus is not only the King of Righteousness; he is our Great High Priest who washes away our sin with his own blood (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16; 9:12-14). Therefore, the Hebrew writer declares: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

 

 

So through the mercy and grace of our King and Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, we have no need of the fear of punishment when approaching the throne of God. Now worthy of further consideration is how we not only approach the throne of God as subjects of the King seeking mercy and grace, we approach the throne of God as family! The Hebrew writer (Hebrews 2:12, 13) echoes the words of Psalms and Isaiah (Psalm 22:22; Isaiah 8:18) concerning how Jesus regards us now: “I will tell of your name to my brothers;”  “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

 

 

Jesus is our King, Priest, and Brother! What I encourage you to contemplate today is how forgiveness of sins is not merely a legal transaction or a mere exchange of sacrifice for sin. God does not regard us simply as subjects in need of a legal remedy.  God regards us as His children; as younger siblings to our Great High Priest and eldest Brother, Jesus Christ!  God regards us now in Jesus as His children in need of care, comfort, and love. In short, we come to God’s throne by love and for love—God is love (1 John 4:16). Therefore, to the worldly, God’s throne will remain a symbol of judgment and condemnation, but to us who know Jesus as Brother, the throne of God is a symbol of home and love.

 

– Terry

 

 

 

Vacation Bible School  --  VBS is just around the corner!  How can you help make it be successful?  What do we need?  Your kids to attend, teachers, food, prizes, and lots more!  Contact Denise Beeks any time to volunteer to help.

 

***VBS DATES: June 19-22 (Please note the change of dates.)  Ages: Finished Kindergarten-6th Grade. Time: 9:00-11:30 a.m.

 

 

Camp Meeting  --  CAMP STAFF MEETING is Thursday,  April 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the Teen Room.  All people interested in working at Camp should attend!  Camp is July 8-14 at Box R Ranch. Cost is $50.00 per camper.  Camper Registrations will be available in May.

 

 

Gospel Meeting  --  The Rogue River Church of Christ invites us to a Gospel Meeting on May 18-20.  The topic is, “You Can Be Sure.”  The guest speaker is Jason Hilburn from the Nesbit Church of Christ in Nesbit, MS.  Please see the notice posted on the courtyard bulletin board for complete details.

 

 

Prayer Requests . . .  For Tom Dixon as he recovers from his fall and pneumonia.  Tom is in Linda Vista Health Care in Ashland, Room 36.  Please call first before visiting - as of this time the facility is experiencing a flu outbreak...For Fred Pannell, grandfather of Brian, whose house burned down and everything was lost...For CaraMia Page as she recovers from wrist surgery...Jesse Page is still in a lot of pain, is not healing well and has limited mobility...Nick, son-in-law of Stephen and Diane Liles, injured his arm and is in a lot of pain - please pray for his healing and relief from pain...Dawn Lake requests prayers for her sister, Staci, during her pregnancy for her health and well-being...Colleen Godfrey requests prayers for her friend, Chris, who will be having surgery, and for her friend Sherry’s, mother, who has a punctured lung...Patsy Brophy will have a breast biopsy this week...Eva Loy Knight has a lung infection...The Dimas family in San Felipe request prayers for Junue Dimas Cortez and her fiance, Jorge, as they are married on Saturday.  The doctors have told Junue that she has a tumor and will need surgery in May...For Ryan Woods and his family - he and his wife have  two young children. His cancer took a drastic turn this week;  he was told that he has a very short time to live...For Brandon Sconce to give himself to God and help him with some personal problems...For the homeless in our area...Joy Stevenson requests prayers that her stomach will heal and that the doctors can find the source of her pain and that some of her family members come to know the Lord...For friends of David Mayes - Cora and Barbara for spiritual growth; Brandi to have better health and relief from chronic migraine headaches and for David to be more Christlike...For all of our members who have continuing health concerns...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

 

 

 

Birth Announcement  --  Mary Ragsdill is pleased to announce the birth of her first great-granddaughter, Melina Perry.  Melina weighed in at 6 pounds and 1 ounce and was 18" long.  Proud parents are Jeremy and Nicole and proud grandmother is Brenda Nordenstrom.