The Gospel and Prayer

Tonight in PowerSource we looked at Hebrews 4:14-16 and discussed how the gospel relates to prayer.

Here is a quote that I shared tonight at the end of the sermon:

"Effective prayer is saturated in the gospel.....You don't move on from the cross to go deeper in prayer. Ultimately, all effective prayer is rooted in the cross.

Think about it. The gospel is the starting point of prayer. Without Christ's blood, you couldn't even approach God. Only in Jesus' righteousness are we invited to enter His presence. There's no mantra we can learn, no catchphrase we can recite, that will move God's hand. We appeal to him based on the person and work of His son. Jerry Bridges writes, "When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessing."

Students of the school of prayer never graduate from the school of the gospel."

C.J. Mahaney from The Cross Centered Life

--Mark

Have you seen Expelled?

On Sunday Dr. Land encouraged the congregation to go see Expelled this weekend because of the case the movie makes against Darwinism and for Intelligent Design.

To view one of the trailers, click here.

The movie is playing at two local theaters this weekend.

The Rave theater in East Ridge at 12:15, 2:50, 5:20, 7:45, and 10:20

The Carmike theater at Northgate in Hixson at 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45 and 10:00

If you have linked to Brainerd's Blog via the most recent edition of The BBC Mail, feel free to comment on the movie below. To view past editions of The BBC Mail or to subscribe, click here.

--Mark

Romans 7 - 8

Tonight Dr. Land preached on the doctrine of salvation and then we took of the Lord's Supper.

During the sermon he encouraged us to read slowly through Romans 7 -8 at some point this week.

You can read both chapters online by clicking here.

You can read what the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) says about Salvation (Article IV) by clicking here.

Jerusalem Day

The following pictures were taken last Saturday during the Jerusalem day activities. Members of Brainerd spread out across our city to serve the community in a variety of areas.

A picture of our children's ministry planting flowers for residents of a local nursing home

A picture of our children's ministry delivering flowers at the nursing home

Our pre-school ministry putting together care packages for our Sunday Bible Study volunteers

Members of our youth ministry served by doing yardwork for elderly adults

The free car maintenance clinic that was held for single ladies

The rummage sale held in our school's gym