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1 John 2:1- “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

Though Satan accuses the brethren night and day (Rev. 12:10), Jesus Christ is at the Father’s throne acting as the believer’s Advocate. Jesus is our perfect Defense Attorney that answers the fierce accusations of the Devil by pointing to His finished work of redemption on our behalf.

Carefully read the words of this poem entitled ‘My Advocate’ written by Martha Snell Nicholson that points to the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross as the basis for the believer’s right standing before God.

“I sinned. And straightway, posthaste, Satan flew

Before the presence of the most High God,

And made a railing accusation there.

He said, “This soul, this thing of clay and sod,

Has sinned. ‘Tis true that he has named Thy Name,

But I demand his death, for Thou has said,

‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’

Shall not Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead?’

Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.

What other thing can righteous ruler do?”

And thus he did accuse me day and night,

And every word he spoke, O God, was true!

Then quickly One rose up from God’s right hand,

Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.

He spoke, “Each jot and tittle of the law

Must be fulfilled; the guilty sinner dies!

But wait—suppose his guilt were all transferred

To Me, and that I paid his penalty!

Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day

I was made sin for him, and died that he

Might be presented faultless at Thy throne!”

And Satan fled away. Full well he knew

That he could not prevail against such love,

For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!”

Glory to God!

by Grant Colfax Tullar (1869-1950)

“My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Sometimes He weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me;
I see the seams, the tangles,
But He sees perfectly.
He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim;
He gives His very best to those
Who choose to walk with Him.”

Another Year is Dawning (Frances Ridley Havergal)

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above;
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

Hymn History (Source: Another Year Is Dawning! Hymn and Lyrics – Composer: Frances Ridley Havergal, 1836-1879 – Lyrics, Videos and Stories Behind Hymns)

Miss Frances Ridley Havergal, who wrote the famous New Year’s hymn,

Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be
In working or in waiting,
Another year with Thee,

She spent her life “in working and in waiting” for the Master. In August 1850, before she was fourteen years old, she entered Miss Teed’s school, where the influences over her were very helpful.

The following year, she says, “I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment.” She earnestly strove to make each year after that hallowed experience

Another year of service,
Of witness for Thy love.

Wherever she went in her frequent travels she was constantly asking people whether or not they knew the joys of salvation, and by thus being a witness she led hundreds of souls to the cross.

Another year of training
For holier work above.

Her heart was fixed upon the more glorious work, which God has prepared for us to accomplish in heaven.

When, in 1878, she was taken seriously ill, and was told her life was in danger, she replied:

“If I am really going, it is too good to be true!”
“Splendid! To be so near the gates of heaven.”

This hymn was written in 1874 and was first published as a New Year’s card, later in collections of her own works, and finally in many hymn books.

It has proved to be an inspiration to thousands standing at the threshold of a new year.

Hymn Lyric Video

“What happens when I die?”

“Why is there so much suffering in the world?”

“Where can I find hope?”

“What is my purpose in life?”

“Who is Jesus Christ?”

“Can I trust the Bible?”

What is beyond the grave?

Is this life all there is or is there something more?

Is there a heaven and hell?

Where will I spend eternity?

These are big questions that many people have. God has given clear answers to these big questions of life in His Word- the Bible! 

If you are interested in finding answers to questions like these, please download our FREE PDF Bible study that you can do at your own pace in the privacy of your home OR request an in-person Bible study with someone from our church. This four-part Bible study covers topics such as: 

-The Perfection (Reliability) of Scripture

-Mankind’s Problem of Sin

-The Promise of the Savior

-God’s Plan of Salvation

Click the link below to access this FREE PDF Bible study or to share with others!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

“He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever.”  -John Tillotson

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.”

One of the most widespread but unsound religious teachings of our day is that there are many roads to God. If men are sincere, we are told, it does not matter which path they travel—in the end they will all reach the same destination.

 Speaking to a large audience on God’s eternal purpose in relation to man, a nationally prominent educator quoted an Old Testament declaration that God created man for His own glory,  and said that this purpose cannot be defeated. All men, he said, are brothers, and at the last great gathering not even the most erring ones will be missing.

The speaker depicted a beautiful palace standing in a delightful garden. There was only one entrance to the castle, though there were many roads that led to it from all directions. On these roads throngs of pilgrims traveled. Many climbed over tortuous mountain trails; others followed less rocky paths; some, with songs and laughter traversed smooth and flower-bordered ways. But all, finally arrived at the palace gates, and then it mattered not that some had found the journey hard and painful, for all the sufferings of the way were forgotten in their complete and perfect joy.   

A pretty picture, this—but not a true one!

Since by divine revelation alone we can discover the way to God, we must turn to the Bible, rather than to man’s imagination, for our guidance.

Jesus the Christ, describes the two roads open to men. One is a straight, narrow pathway leading to God and eternal life. The other is a broad and easy road leading to final destruction. On this broad road are many travelers, enjoying the fellowship of their comrades and thinking little about their destination. On the narrow way are fewer pilgrims, but a heavenly radiance lights their pathway.

 Our Lord stated it this way: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

 Jesus is the way (John 14:6); the only way (Acts 4:12)!

 [This article was copied from a tract published by American Tract Society]

One song that I remember singing many times as a child was “This Little Light of Mine”. The words that have been sung countless times by many children through the years have a very simple, yet profound Biblical message- “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine… Hide it under a bush – OH NO! I’m gonna let it shine… Don’t let Satan blow it! I’m gonna let it shine… Let it shine till Jesus comes. I’m gonna let it shine.”

This song is based on words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount in which He told the disciples- “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

As the world descends into greater spiritual darkness, believers have been given a prime opportunity to shine brightly for the Lord Jesus Christ! Not only is it a prime opportunity, but it is also a pressing responsibility!  

Through words we speak and by the way we order our lives, we can make an eternal difference on those around us as we display the transformative work of Christ within our lives! We show the world that Jesus is real and active and powerful through the reality of a life conformed to the image of Christ! The way we live our lives either attracts people to Christ or repels people from Christ.

Philippians 1:27a- “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ…”

It’s been said that “We may be the only Bible people ever read!” Let that sink in!

Someone once said, “Don’t be so worried about what other people think of you. Be concerned about what they think of Christ because of you.”

In the second century A.D., an Athenian philosopher by the name of Aristides wrote the following about the shining testimony of the Christians of his day:

“But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings, they have come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the nations. For they know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of earth, in whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other god as companion, from whom they received commandments which they engraved upon their minds and observe in hope and expectation of the world which is to come. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Every morning and every hour they give thanks and praise to God for His loving-kindnesses toward them; and for their food and their drink they offer thanksgiving to Him. And if any righteous man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies in his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and sorrow as for one who goes to meet his doom.”(http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/aristides-kay.html)

May we learn from the example of these early Christians and shine brightly for Christ in our generation!

May the world “see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.”

~Pastor Aaron Francis

‘What is the purpose of life?’ ‘Why am I here?’ ‘What is the meaning to it all?’ These are the kinds of questions that mankind has asked since the beginning of time. Many have pursued meaning in life only to find that the things of this earth cannot satisfy. Many have pursued riches, pleasure, industry, human philosophies only to find in them emptiness and futility. Many have mistakenly come to the false conclusion that there is no ultimate purpose in life which has led many to despair. So where can we go to find the answers? Where can we find meaning in life? Thankfully, God has given us the answers we need in the Word of God.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, “the Preacher” (i.e., Solomon) reviews man’s life “under the sun” (apart from God) and concludes that “all is vanity”. Solomon was able to look back upon his life and see the futility of life apart from God. Solomon showed that the alternative to a life of faith was an empty, meaningless “striving after wind”. A life apart from God is a life full of frustration and confusion. It is a life that has stamped upon it “vanity of vanities”. And although man will strive after earthly things to fill the emptiness within, it will only lead to greater emptiness and despair.

When life is lived apart from God, it will never satisfy. Futility, despair, and “striving after wind” will be the result of a life apart from God. As Solomon nears the end of Ecclesiastes and has made a thorough review of all the works of man that are done “under the sun” (apart from God), he finally reaches a conclusion to his long investigation. He says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil” (12:13-14).  All is vanity apart from God, but when God becomes central to the reason we exist, life takes on the meaning that it was intended to. When God is central in the course of our life, life takes on fullness, meaning, and satisfaction.

When God is left out of the picture, life is futile. Yet when God becomes our motivation for living, life becomes full. We were made by God and for God. When we learn to fear God and keep His commandments, we cease living in futility and begin living in fullness. When we realize that there will be a day when we stand before God and give an account for our life, it brings meaning and importance to everything we do. And this is the conclusion of the matter!

~Pastor Aaron Francis