Jesus Will Still Be There By Point Of Grace

Welcome to Point of Grace! The easiest church to find and the hardest church to leave. We are so glad you are here. We are an Apostolic Church that believes in the Power and Demonstration of the Holy Ghost. We welcome you to join us for any one of our services and activities. With all of the hurt and turmoil going on in the world, there is only one Hope and His Name is Jesus Christ. You will find Jesus at Point of Grace!

Jesus Will Still Be There by Point of Grace

Produced and arranged by Kent Hooper and Phillip Keveren, Beautiful Name features cherished hymns "All Creatures of Our God and King," "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Blessed Assurance," among others, alongside such worship classics as the Twila Paris-penned "How Beautiful"; Hillsong Worship's anthemic "Cornerstone"; and renowned modern hymn "In Christ Alone (My Hope Is Found)," by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. "We have always known at some point in our career we would record a hymns and worship project," said Point of Grace's Shelley Breen. "After being together for 25 years, this seemed like the perfect time. So much of our ministry is based on the foundation we received growing up in the Church and singing these hymns that are so theologically rich and full of verity.""These days, especially, we believe every single song we record and release needs to be heavily anchored in Truth," Breen adds. "Our hope is that the words of this project will remind people of the absolute trustworthiness and freedom we can find in a life with Christ." For more than two decades, Point of Grace's soaring melodies and rich harmonies have helped define the sound of contemporary Christian music. The seminal group has sold more than 8 million units; garnered two Platinum records; three GRAMMY nominations; 27 #1 singles and numerous Dove Awards. With a discography including 10 best-selling studio recordings and five beloved Christmas albums, Point of Grace are known for such Christian radio standards as "I'll Be Believing," "Keep the Candle Burning," "Circle of Friends" and "Jesus Will Still Be There." Comprised of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones and Leigh Cappillino, the group founded the groundbreaking Girls of Grace conference and have authored multiple books. Point of Grace regularly appear on the historic Grand Ole Opry stage.

These people held my hand, dried my tears, calmed my fears, loved me when I felt unlovable. They showed me grace upon grace, and they were the people who always pointed me back to the cross of Jesus Christ. They spoke truth when it was hard to hear and came to my rescue when they saw me in need. They have gave me more love and grace than I could have ever imagined and they have demonstrated what it means to be in true community.

It has been three years since I was a part of RUF at TCU. Three years since I attended large group in that chapel. And yet the work of RUF is still being done not only in my life but in so many of my friends lives as well. I fully believe that it will still be twenty years before we recognize all the work that was done in RUF at TCU and the way it changed students hearts and lives.

And, of course, today is no exception. Some of you from around the world have sent in your favorite hymn requests and, so, we're going to sing those right now. The first one #304 - faith of our fathers. Pull out your hymnals those of you at home and join with us. Kara in australia, karl and liseby in France, dave in Indiana, liya in ireland, jean, gloria and carol in italy, sandie, vern, jamie, jenny and jared in North Carolina, wilson in oman, sharon in the Philippines, abel in puerto rico, lucky in south africa, cleveland temple adventist church in trinidad and tobago, and camille and xavier in Washington.This is their favorite and so we're going to sing all three stanzas. Faith of our fathers - #304. Were you paying attention to the words you were singing just then? There's a powerful testimony of those who have gone before us and they have given everything for the Gospel. I grew up in england and in london there was a Market that we would go to sometimes and on the floor of this busy Market was just this little plaque where it used to be where they would burn people at the stake. And it was just a plaque to the martyrs that this is where it happened.And it's no different today than it was back then. Yes, we act more civilized - we don't burn people at the stake, but you can still deny Jesus in your life and you're not being burned right now for the beliefs that you have - for having a Bible, but there will be a day when what you profess will be a life and death decision. And I've just been really impressed this last week when I saw that people had written in with this song. It was like this is so appropriate for the times that we live in right now. This world isn't going to last much longer - it's quite evident.And it's scary but it's also really exciting because one day really soon we'll be in heaven and I want to be there so bad. Our next song is #336 - there is a fountain. We are going to sing the first, third, and sixth stanzas. And this is from yolanda in California, yeukai in england, bob and Paula in Idaho, lois in Indiana, venica in jamaica, tammy in Oregon, and charlotte in Texas. #336 - There is a fountain.If you have a favorite song that you would love to sing with us on an upcoming Sabbath, it's so simple - go to our website at saccentral.org and click on the 'contact us' link and you can pick any song in the hymnal and if we don't know it, jolene will be more than happy to sing that with you because she's always the one that says, 'sing it - send in The Songs we don't know.' So we'll save those for jolene because she's not here today. But go ahead, send them in. At this time, let's bow our heads for prayer. Father in Heaven, we just thank you so much for that fountain that cleanses us and gives us the assurance that we can be perfect - that we don't have to wait until we get to heaven to be perfect because, obviously, it will be too late by then. But we can be like you down here on this earth and we can live a perfect life so that we can be an example to those around us that with you we can do all things through Christ.Come and live in our hearts. Be with us as we open up your word and we study together. Just send your spirit in a mighty way. And I pray that you will continue to be with Pastor Doug Batchelor and his ministry here at central church and around the world. In Jesus' Name, amen.At this time our lesson study will be brought to us by our senior pastor, Pastor Doug Batchelor. We are continuing our study on 'glimpses of our God' but before we get to that we have a free offer that we'd like to tell you about. This is a book called 'to live in his sight' by leslie kaye and it's just got a number of inspiring devotional thoughts about how to live a new life - a born again life - and if you don't have this book, we will send it to you. It's a gift just to enhance your study. It goes along with this quarter's lesson - 'to live in his sight' 'glimpses of our God' if you call the number on the screen 866-study-more -788-3966 we'll send it to you as a gift.You've just got to call and ask for it. Also, I want to welcome those who are part of the extended central church family. Some of you who watch every week maybe are not connected with a church because you're in some isolated region or for some reason you can't attend. We do have some online members here at Sacramento central. We welcome you to investigate how you can be part of the central family.Just go to saccentral.org. Saccentral.org. And one more very important announcement - everywhere I go - I was in houston last week with the family at the gyc meetings - that was very exciting to see the - oh, between six and seven thousand young people all in one place learning how to be witnesses. But people come up all the time and they say, 'we watch central study hour as we prepare for our class and can we have your notes? Is there any way we can get your notes?' Sometimes there's a note or an illustration or an extra Scripture or a quote or something and so debbie has just developed a new page at the central church website where you can get the notes of the various teachers. For instance, today's lesson is dealing with the subject of judgment and grace and I have some notes on that and yes, I've already sent them in and they'll be posted.And so, if you'd like to have the notes that deal with our lesson today on the God of grace and judgment, I have my notes - about four pages with some quotes and illustrations - teachers are free to use that. I don't know why you shouldn't be able to plagiarize from me since I did from others. It's called research. But, yeah, we'd be happy to have you look at that. And, of course, the lesson itself is online.We think you know that. Oh, one more good thing - a good reference for today's lesson, if you're looking for extra material - at the Amazing Facts website we have both a sermon and a study guide called 'facing the judge'. It has a lot of other good information on the subject of the Bible, grace, and judgment. Just go to the Amazing Facts website - it's free - and you can look for the lesson 'facing the judge' and it's in both a video format and others. All right.So that's information for the teachers and now we're going to get into our lesson for today - 'the God of grace and judgment' - it's lesson #4 in our new quarterly and, of course, here at central church, while this is just the first week in the new year in real time - we pre-record these programs - and so, we're on lesson #4 already. And a number of verses we're looking at, but we have a memory verse: Ecclesiastes 12, verse 14. Before our Sabbath school lesson, how many of you already knew that verse? It's a pretty popular verse at evangelistic meetings and why don't you say it with me? Ecclesiastes 12:14. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." That's about as clear as it could be. Every work is brought into judgment with every secret thing - those things that we think that nobody knows about - they're all going to be something that will be faced someday.So, as we delve into the lesson - you know what I'm going to do first? I just want everyone to understand how pervasive this theme is in the Bible. The concept, the study, the subject of the judgment is as plain and clear and frequent in the Bible as is the subject of grace and salvation. It is a Bible subject if it's anything. In 1993, the times mirror company conducted a poll and more than 4 out of every 5 Americans believe that we will all be called before God at judgment someday to answer for our sins. Now that - it's not only a Christian belief, it's a belief, of course, among judaism, which Christianity grew out of - that there is a judgment day.It's a belief among the people of islam. Even buddhists in the concept of reincarnation and krishna believe in a form of judgment - that there's some accountability for what's done. And so, we do need to think about what we say and what we do and what we think in this life and how we treat people, because the Bible is clear - very clear - that for all these things we'll give an account to God someday. That's why we're so thankful for God's grace that we can find forgiveness for the past mistakes and live with a new record. So there is no conflict in the Bible between judgment and salvation.Some people think that you can't really talk about grace and talk about judgment - they really do coexist in the Bible. Matter of fact - this is later in the lesson, but I just want to look at it now. Go with me in your Bibles to the book of Revelation. Now, we here are a seventh day adventist church. I know a lot of people watch these satellite programs from all different backgrounds, but one of the special messages that the seventh day adventists resonate is in Revelation 14 - it's called the three angel messages - it begins with verse 6.Revelation 14, verse 6. And here you can see the co-mingling of these concepts of grace, salvation, and judgment that are to go to the world in the last days. And you read here, "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth." - There you have everlasting Gospel - the good news - salvation. "To go to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people saying with a loud voice, 'fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.'" By the way, that last phrase there is almost a perfect quote that is drawn from the fourth commandment - 'for in six days the Lord made - remember the Sabbath for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and the seas.' And so, it's saying that we have an everlasting Gospel that is to go to the world about the creator because there is a time of judgment that not only will come, that is come. Now, follow me.If Jesus is handing out rewards when he does come - does the Bible say 'behold I come and my reward is with me to give to every man according to his" - does the Lord know who's going up and who's not when he comes? So if all that's determined prior to his coming, does it then make sense to you that some form of judgment takes place before he comes? Now, the Lord, of course, knows everything so no aspect of the judgment is so God can figure anything out, because God is all-knowing. He already knows who is saved and who's lost - and, so, the judgment is not to surprise him. It's not so he can find new evidence that's been uncovered or disclosed or something. But there's an aspect of judgment that begins before the Lord comes. Matter of fact, it tells us about that.I've given out some verses here - who has - okay, I want to know who that call is. Who has this verse? We've given out some different verses. Someone has 1 Peter 4:17. If you've got that slip of paper, hold your hand up. Right here? Okay, melissa's got that.We're going to give you just a second to get that. We're talking about where the judgement begins. If there's this judgment - sometimes it's called the investigative judgment or the pre-advent judgment and it's a judgment that happens before the Lord comes. Are we ready for that? We are. Okay, please read that for us melissa."For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?" All right. So some judgment happens before Jesus comes. Who does that judgment begin with? What did Peter say? The house of God. There's a lot of stories in the Bible that help illustrate this. You have Ezekiel chapter 9 - a very - whew - a very serious prophecy.It talks about the six angels with destroying weapons and one among them with a writer's inkhorn who's supposed to go and put a Mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry for the abominations done in Israel. And he then sends the angels through after everybody is Marked in the forehead with the saving Mark there - you want that saving Mark - and he says, 'begin at my sanctuary' - this judgment - 'begin at my sanctuary with the ancient men.' And so, here's a judgment that begins at the house of God. Now, suppose that the Lord is going to go through a list and people are going to be judged prior to his coming. Where would you obviously want to start judging? Doesn't God want to save as many as possible? Wouldn't you want to start with those who have had the greatest opportunity? Wouldn't it be true that those in the church have had the greatest exposure to light and would have the greatest opportunity? And wouldn't it be true that those who are the oldest - who have lived the longest in the church have had the greatest opportunity for the longest time? You wouldn't want to start with the children, right? Who didn't know. And so, there's a judgment that begins.People are wondering, 'well, has my name come up in that judgment?' Well, nobody knows, but - by the way, if you don't make it through this day because a meteor falls out of the sky and bonks you on the head, well then, your judgment's up. You know what I'm saying? So nobody knows when their probation has closed. Probation has closed for most of the world because they've died, right? Most of the people who ever lived have died. Though I heard that with the population - now that was a profound statement, wasn't it? Most of the people who ever lived have died. So, their probation has closed, right? Their destiny is sealed.But there is a judgment that takes place prior to Jesus coming. Now, one big reason for that judgment is not so God can find out, but the Lord is about to reintroduce into heaven sinful people and angels say, 'hey, we remember what happened when lucifer was here and he was unconverted and there were problems. Are you going to take these humans now who have been under the influence of satan and bring them back to our perfect unspoiled heaven?' And God is going to demonstrate they have been transformed by the power of the Gospel. You see what I'm saying? So, part of the reason for this judgment is that. All right.Judgment day - and I'm going to just - let me see - I gave out Matthew 12:36. Who has that? Right - I've got a hand over here. We're going to get you a microphone and while we get set up for that I'm going to read our opening verse one more time, except we started with Ecclesiastes 12:14 - I want to read 13 too. Ecclesiastes 12, verses 13 and 14. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:" - now, this is such a powerful statement because who wrote Ecclesiastes? Wisest man who ever lived - we're going to talk about him later in the sermon today.After he reviews the purpose of life and he talks about the vanities of life, he says, 'all right, let me sum everything up for you.'" Let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep his commandments. For this is all of man's duty. This is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it be good or evil." You notice he doesn't have any middle ground there? All right. Jesus talks about this judgment too and he gets a little more specific.Why don't you go ahead and read for us now Matthew 12, verse 36 through 37? Okay. "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by Your Words you will be justified, and by Your Words you will be condemned." Wow. So one of the things considered in the judgment - it talks about our works - I already read that. It talks about our words.Why would you judge - I mean, you know - sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me. Have you ever heard that before? Is that true? Did anyone ever believe that when you came home from school and you were crying because people were making fun of you and your mom or dad said, 'sticks and stones can break your bones but words' - and you maybe even said it back to your friends once or twice, but did you really believe it? Have you ever been hurt by words? Yeah, words are powerful. Why will we be judged by our words? You know, in the same passage Jesus said, 'for out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks.' So what comes out of your mouth really is spilling out of your heart. What comes up in the bucket is what was in the well. And so, if you keep bringing from the bucket, you know, bitter water, that's what's down in the well.And so, Your Words really reflect what's in the heart. And so, man looks on the outward appearance - in the judgement, God's looking on the heart and the words reflect that. You know, there's few verses - there's just a few verses that trouble me as much as this verse, because first of all, I'm a preacher. Preachers preach - they talk a lot. And James s