Hello to All,

It is still winter in case you haven’t noticed.

The Jews that Paul writes about in Romans …

These Jews share many similarities with the professing Church in today’s society.

The biggest similarity? They preferred the moral code of the Bible over the righteousness of God. After all, homemade is always better, right?

They were all about the Bible and biblical morals. Leading voices in religious affairs. Angry and upset about government involvement and regulations. They vigorously pursued righteousness through the law of Moses. Zealots that they were, they chased after the God of the Bible like nobody’s business.

But when their Bibles brought them before their long-awaited Messiah, they stumbled and fell.

Even as Christ stood before them in the flesh, and they were clueless.

• (John 5:39–40 AMP) ³⁹ You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me! ⁴⁰ And still you are not willing [but refuse] to come to Me, so that you might have life.

How could this happen?

Instead of receiving the righteousness of God, they sought to establish their own righteousness. They preferred their moral code over the righteousness of God and would not submit.

What made it so difficult for the Jews then and many who profess Christ in our country today is that they were so Bible-based.

The sadness and tragedy? They were building their lives on the Bible but not letting the Bible build their lives.

Message Title: Submitting to the Righteousness of God

Message Text: Romans 9:30-10:4

• PDF LESSON 25 Submitting to the Righteousness of God : Romans 9:30-10-4 : FFC : dave scott : 030115 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 25 Submitting to the Righteousness of God : Romans 9:30-10-4 : FFC : dave scott : 030115 STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello to Everyone,

Brrrrr… and Double-Brrr…. But Spring is coming!

An early reminder – Daylight Savings Time next Sunday @ 2:00 AM.

Here is this week’s bulletin.

• PDF Bulletin FFC March 1 2015

The Fool Has Said in His Heart!

INTRODUCTION: Nabal … the epitome of a fool …

He thought he was a king but was merely a dead fool. Terrified by reality. Literally and actually scared to death.

The fool’s life unravels the moment he or she sees God.

(1) The fool decides in his heart that there is no God and reaps what he sows, 14:1.

• Fools counsel themselves in their hearts.
• Fools live by a “no god” creed.
• Fools spoil (corrupt) their lives which results in terrible deeds and an absence of goodness.
• The word fool is Nabal, cf. 1 Samuel 25.
• Nabal’s life reflected this fool’s decision: “harsh” and “badly behaved” (1 Samuel 25:3), arrogant (1 Samuel 25:9–10), worthless, foolish (1 Samuel 25:25), evil (1 Samuel 25:39).
• Maybe worst of all his distorted perception of a “no God” life:
  – He thought he was a king but was merely a dead fool (1 Samuel 25:36–37).

(2) The fool may not know who he is but God certainly does, 14:2-5, cf. Matthew 6:19-24.

• The LORD looks down from heaven and gives a very grave evaluation of humanity, 14:2-5.
• His judgment is that everyone has turned aside 14:2-3.
• His judgment is that fools pool their foolishness and multiply corruption (rotten to the core), 14:3.
• The psalmist is incredulous at the lifestyle of the fool, 14:4.
• The tragic irony of the fool: Reality means great terror because he has left God out of his life, 14:5, cf. 1 Samuel 25:36-37.

(3) The fool disdains the poor but the LORD does not, 14:6-7.

CONCLUSION: Flip that house. Our creed in our hearts? God!

• Be encouraged with the renovation that God is working in your life.
• We are not fools. We may still act foolishly but we are not fools.

MP3: Psalm 14 : The Fool Has Said in His Heart : ffc : dave scott : 022215 PM

INTRODUCTION: Our metaphors in today’s text say it all.

God is the Potter. And we are  the clay.

OUR QUESTION: Should the lump of clay tell the potter what to do?

▶︎ Object Lesson: Red terra cotta clay from Hobby Lobby.

Who has the most experience and the best resources to construct our decisions?

God (the Potter) has a catalog of human experience since time began. Every person, every experience, our birth, our death, jobs, personal relationships, religions … everything.

God (the Potter) is experienced with humanity and the affairs of this Earth on every imaginable level. God has life and work experience on Earth and in Heaven. And God is the only Person we know who is eternal. He knows all about this life and the next.

So how about the lump of clay? What is on our resume? Maybe not so impressive. Finite beings whose time on this earth is compared to a vapor or a mist. But not only limited by our finiteness, but our perspective is obscured by the darkness of sin. We have the experience of one person living on the planet for a very brief time.

So let’s come back to our question: Should the lump of clay tell the potter what to do?

▶︎ Please turn with me to Romans 9:19.

(1) The Potter has the right to do whatever he wants with the clay, 9:19-21.

▶︎ Do we trust the Potter? Who do we believe the Potter to be?

(2) The Potter reveals the riches of his glory to the mercy vessels, 9:22-24.

▶︎ GET THIS: The Potter patiently tolerates the vessels of wrath because of his desire to show the vessels of mercy the riches of his glory. He endures the rebellion of the “wrath vessels” with much patience in order that we (“the mercy vessels”) may better understand the riches of his glory.

(3) The Potter is the one who makes people “his people,” 9:25-29.

• MP3: 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9:19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215

Hello to You,

News flash! What God tells us is sometimes shocking. Things that are just not found in the categories that we humans usually run to that help us sort out life.

And we have to trust God. Without even understanding what he is doing. Maybe note just a little sarcasm here.

God tells us things about vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy that are very hard to accept. Notice I didn’t say hard to understand. Most of these things are pretty clear but they seem so arbitrary on God’s part.

And we at times struggle with God’s sovereign will because … Well … We forget who God is.

God is God. Sovereign LORD of all.

So as we will see in this week’s text, the lump of clay has no business telling the Potter what he should or shouldn’t do. Even (especially) when it comes to our lives.

The fact is that for those who trust in Christ, everything goes to them. All of the riches and blessings of God are inherited through Jesus Christ. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and have received his gift of eternal life.

You, as a vessel of mercy, GET IT ALL.

“And the hell of it.” You’ve heard that expression? The HELL of it is that the vessels of wrath get nothing, absolutely nothing but the wrath and judgment of God.

Jacob I loved, and Esau I hated.

Sounds kind of mean, doesn’t it?

But I know that my God, the Sovereign LORD before whom I bow, that God …

Let’s hear it from the psalmist …

• (Psalm 33:1–5 NLT)
  ¹ Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise him. ² Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp. ³ Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy. ⁴ For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. ⁵ He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth. 

Message Title: The Rights of the Potter

Message Text: Romans 9:19-29

• PDF LESSON 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9-19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9-19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215 STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello Everyone,

Looks like we missed the snow this time. Yay!

Here is this week’s bulletin.

• PDF Bulletin FFC February 22 2015

Good Morning,

Yay! It’s Monday, right? But we are another week closer to Spring!

They couldn’t see God’s glory in Christ because they were blinded by the pursuit of their own glory. God offered salvation, but they just couldn’t get their mind around the amazing gift that comes by grace through faith.

They had it all and lost it all. Depending on their spiritual heritage instead of God, they found themselves in a spiritual wasteland.

Sometimes I hear on the radio: “Don’t be that guy!” Can’t remember who says it, probably more than one person.

My point here is: “Don’t be that guy. Don’t be that gal.”

Don’t be the one who thinks she has it all but actually has nothing because she pursued her idea of salvation rather than God’s.

Message Title: The Children of the Promise

Message Text: Romans 9:1-18

MP3: 23 The Children of the Promise : Romans 9:1-18 : FFC : Dave Scott 021515

Good Monday Morning to All,

Below you will find contact information for Bible Tracts, Inc. You will also find two MP3s from Mark Smith’s sharing time with us yesterday.

Must listen to Mark Smith’s Favorite Bible Tract Story.

MP3: FFC MW Mark Smith Favorite Gospel Tract Story 021515

MP3: FFC SS Mark Smith Bible Tracts Inc 021515

• Mailing Address:
  Bible Tracts, Inc.
  PO Box 188
  Bloomington, IL 61702-0188
•  Phone: (309) 828-6888
• Fax: (309) 828-0573
• E-mail: bibletractsinc@juno.com

Hello Everyone,

Still winter. Still cold. But Spring’s a coming! 🙂

The Jews had forgotten that the gospel of God is the Gospel of GOD!

They had it all but squandered the opportunity. God’s chosen people, richly blessed, but now as a whole spiritually bankrupt.

They were like lottery winners who four years later are broke and in debt. Or the former professional football player who made millions and rose to the top of his sport but now has to sell his Super Bowl ring so he can eat.

So how did they “lose it”? How could something like this happen?

They could not accept a salvation that came by grace through faith. Salvation apart from the works of the law was inconceivable to them.

Do you know what mercy and grace tell us? Mercy and grace tell us that we can’t do it. In fact, we can’t even think it. Mercy and grace mean that only God, and God alone, could come up with such an idea for our salvation and carry it out.

Mercy and grace should not be inconceivable in our minds.

Thinking that we could work for the spiritual riches of God in Christ Jesus. That is what is ludicrous. Believing that God would offer a salvation so low, so pitiful, that we, mere sinful humans could somehow do good enough, be good enough, run fast enough to earn his salvation.

That is what should be inconceivable to us. The Jews in Paul’s day did not realize this, and sometimes we don’t either.

Message Title: The Children of Promise!

Message Text: Romans 9:1-18

• PDF 23 The Children of the Promise II : Romans 9-1-18 : ffc : dave scott : 021515 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF 23 The Children of the Promise II : Romans 9-1-18 : ffc : dave scott : 021515 : STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello All,

Bout forgot to do this. Here is this week’s bulletin.

• PDF Bulletin FFC February 15 2015