Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.
Keywords: Online Christian Worship Service Christian Online Worship Service Internet Church Of Christ Music Prayers Teachings Scriptures MIDI Music MP3's Draw Close To God, And He Will Draw Close To You Bible-based Spirit-filled Public Domain Jesus Christ Free For All Without Restriction
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"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
(James 4:8a RSV)
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If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and
Saviour, you have the opportunity to do so now by clicking
HERE! => http://www.internetChurchOfChrist.org/jesusdirect.html
Words by Henry Alford, 1844. Music by George J. Elvey, 1858. Public Domain. MIDI file is Public Domain, based on a Public domain MIDI file, tweaked by Rev. Bill McGinnis. MP3 file is Public Domain, made from the MIDI file, as shown.
Come, ye thankful people, come;
Raise the song of Harvest-home.
All be safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied,
Come to God's own temple, come;
Raise the song of Harvest-home.
All the world is God's own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord, our God, shall come
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offences purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final Harvest-home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide.
Come with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious Harvest-home.
Amen.
HTML page of this song, with more links, at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/comeyethankful.html
More like this at our website => http://www.Christmusic.ws
O Lord, we come together in Your name,
And as You promised, we know You are here.
AND SO WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS,
AND PRAY THAT YOU FIND PLEASURE HERE WITH US,
AS WE, YOUR LOVING CHILDREN WORSHIP YOU.
We now invite You to reveal Yourself,
And share with us Your presence, openly,
FOR YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT WE DESIRE,
AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE, WE GIVE TO YOU.
In Jesus' holy name we pray, Amen.
The Lord, Himself, taught us to pray like this . . .
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Source: Book Of Common Prayer, based on
Matthew 6:9-13
* * *
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
(Matthew 6:14-15 KJV)
* * *
MIDI music file at http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/nicaea.mid
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! - by Bishop Reginald Heber, 1827 - Public Domain
Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning
Our song shall rise to Thee!
Holy, holy holy!
Merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons,
Blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy!
All the saints adore Thee!
Casting down their golden crowns
Around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim
Falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and
Evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide Thee!
Though the eye of sinful man
Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy!
There is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow'r in
Love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name,
In earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy holy!
Merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons,
Blessed Trinity!
Amen.
Source of Bible Verses: The Bible, Revised Standard Version (RSV), as found online at http://www.hti.umich.edu/r/rsv/
The Lord has given us a very simple yet powerful way for us to understand how He wants us to live our lives. He wants us to be close to Him.
"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
(James 4:8a RSV)
And He has also provided us with the means to draw close to Him, which
is,
Our
Mystical Union With Christ.
This refers to the actual spiritual presence of Christ inside us, as
well as our actual spiritual presence inside Him. This mutual indwelling
of His Spirit in us and our spirit in Him occurs when we freely choose
to accept Him, inviting Him into our lives as our personal Lord and
Saviour.
For more about this, please click HERE => http://www.loveallpeople.org/pearl-ourmysticalunionwithchrist.html.
When we are fully "in Christ," we will naturally desire to do those things which please Him and which draw us ever-closer to God. But if we are not "in Christ," our sinful inborn nature will tend to draw us away from God.
Everything we think or do can be judged by whether it draws us closer to Him or pushes us farther away from Him. We can think of it as a Tug Of War, with one side pulling us closer to God and the other side drawing us away from Him. (If you know any physics, you can think of it as vectors along a horizontal axis.)
Throughout the Bible, there are fundamental dualities: good vs. evil; righteousness vs. sin; pure vs.impure; heaven vs. hell; fruits of the Spirit vs. fruits of the flesh; the sheep vs. the goats; saved vs. unsaved; the Kingdom Of God vs. the lake of fire; submission to God vs. rebellion against God; light vs. darkness; God vs. Satan.
All of these dualities are variations of the one basic duality: close to God vs. not close to God. The spiritual realm is "binary." It has only two moral states: close to God and not close to God.
Once we recognize this binary nature of all things, we can examine our own thoughts and actions to see if they draw us closer to Him or push us farther away. "Sins" are those things which push us away from God. What we see immediately is that some things draw us strongly closer to Him, some things push us strongly away from Him, and some things are quite neutral, exerting no particular force either way.
This is what Paul is talking about when he says that all things are lawful for us Christians, but not all things are helpful.
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"All things are lawful," but not all things are
helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things
build up. (1 Corinthians 10:23 RSV)
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The "helpful things" are the things which draw us closer to God.
We should emphasize and develop these helpful things and turn away from
those things which push us away from Him. Regarding the huge number of
"neutral" things, we are at liberty to do whatever we like.
At this point, we perhaps need to provide some kind of list of "helpful things" vs. "unhelpful things." But I'm not going to give you such a list, because it is better if you go and seek them for yourself. The Bible is filled with things to do and things not to do. Start with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20); then read The Sermon On The Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the other teachings of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke John). Then read the rest of the New Testament. Finally, if the Spirit leads you, you can go back into the Old Testament in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and read the specific laws God gave to the ancient Israelites under The Old Covenant. These no longer apply to us as Law, but they do give an indication of what God likes and does not like us to do.
But always remember this: THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LOVE. No matter what else you do, if you are filled with love for all people, you draw close to God. And the way that God has provided for us to upgrade our souls and become more loving toward others and closer to Him is by being "in Christ," in a mystical union with Him.
Galatians 5:14 (RSV)
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:8 (RSV)
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves
his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:9 (RSV)
The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other
commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:10 (RSV)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the
fulfilling of the law.
James 2:8 (RSV)
If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.
Proverbs 10:12 (RSV)
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
1 Peter 4:8 (RSV)
Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love
covers a multitude of sins.
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HTML page of this item is located at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/pearl-drawclosetogod.html
For more teachings like this, please see http://www.loveallpeople.org/pearlindx.html
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sometimes when you are busy with your life,
And jumping frantically from place to place
It's easy to forget about details,
Like where you put your keys or left your coat,
Or if your back-up copy has been made.
And so I pray the Lord will stay with you
And warn you when you walk in carelessness.
I pray that He protects you from the harm
That careless actions easily produce.
In Jesus' name I pray for you, Amen.
by William McGinnis, Public Domain
Please see all our prayers for you at http://www.loveallpeople.org/prayerindex.html
If you are alone, you will needed to be both "Leader" and "Assembly," as described in the ceremony.
Play and download the MIDI music file at http://patriot.net/users/bmcgin/knowp.mid
DO YOU KNOW JESUS? - by Rev. Bill McGinnis, 1995 - Public Domain
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus,
And the wonder of His love?
Yes, I know Jesus!
Yes, I know Jesus!
Yes, I know Jesus,
And the wonder of His love!
Also see separate HTML page at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/doyouknowjesus.html
EPHESIANS 3:14-21 (KJV)
14
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
15
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man;
17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love,
18
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us,
21
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen.
<><
Rev. Bill McGinnis
You can contact me at bmcgin@patriot.net. (Please mention "worship service" in the title line of your message, so I will be sure to see it.)
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
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