Living in Liberty

A Ministry of Bryce Lowance

Elder Bryce Lowrance

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It's a Boy!

18 February 2014

And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. - Luke 1:56-58

After her song of rejoicing, Mary spends the final three months of Elisabeth’s pregnancy with her cousin. We are not sure whether she stayed until the delivery or left when people started to arrive to celebrate the birth.

This was a great time of rejoicing for the family of Zacharias and Elisabeth. They had prayed for so long for a child, and now they have been blessed with a son! Gabriel told them that there would be great rejoicing at the birth of their son (Luke 1:14), and so it is.

There are two key points that I would like to make about this celebration.

1. People rejoiced at the birth of this child.

This should not just occur when a special child is born. When any couple is blessed by God to have a child, it should be a time of great joy and celebration. Today, children are often viewed as a burden. They should not be seen this way because they are a heritage and blessing from God!

2. When fellow brethren in our church are rejoicing, we should rejoice along with them.

If we have the mind that we are instructed to have, then we see ourselves as part of the single body of Christ in our local congregation. This means that when something good happens to my brother in Christ, it is like it is happening to me as well. Therefore, the blessing God has for him is not an occasion of jealousy for me. I should be happy, not just for him, but with him.

The same holds true for times of sorrow. When a fellow member of my church hurts, I should hurt as well. When a brother suffers loss, I suffer loss. All of this is because we are one body in Christ. We experience the grace of life and the hardships of this world together.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. - Romans 12:15

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Tags: elisabeth, famliy, harmony_of_the_gospels, jesus, john, john_the_baptist, mary, zacharias

Welcome

Brentwood Hills Primitive Baptist Church is a community of believers working together to transform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. We believe it is our duty and privilege to live the gospel of the doctrines of grace in such a way as to edify the families within our church and other children of God in our community. Through regular worship based on strong Biblical principles, fellowship, admonishment, and outreach, we glory in the grace of the sovereign God working in our lives thereby showing the Spirit of God in the world.

Brentwood Hills was organized in 1906 in Fort Worth, Texas as Laodicea Primitive Baptist Church. You can find much of the history of the church, as well as other churches here: Primitive Baptist History Database

We identify ourselves as an old-line Primitive Baptist church. If you read our Articles of Faith, you’ll see that we hold to such doctrines as the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. We recognize the King James Version (KJV) as the only English translation worthy of being called the Bible. We believe in salvation solely by the grace of a sovereign God. We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to the earth to do the will of His Father, which was to deliver from the sentence of death all those the Father gave Him before the world began. We believe that Jesus fully satisfied the Father by atoning for all the sins of all His people. In time, we believe the Holy Spirit comes to each person that belongs to Jesus and regenerates them. Then (and only then) can anyone have faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, by which you are able to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you ever hear the gospel, or believe it if you did hear it, or obey it if you did believe it, rest assured that Jesus will remain forever faithful to you because, if He died for you, He will never deny that you belong to Him.

We believe that everyone for whom Christ died will without fail be raised again from the dead to a glorified life. Even if we are alive when He returns to raise the dead, we shall be changed to a glorified life. All the Redeemed will meet the Lord in the air. Then He will take us to Heaven and there we shall forever be with the Lord. The wicked will be raised at the same time as the righteous, but the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. Until that glorious day when Christ returns to raise the dead, He has provided a place for His people to find rest for their souls. This place is the Church. Jesus Christ set-up His church on this earth before His death on the Cross. The church is there for those of His people who have come to believe that God saved them by His Son, Jesus Christ. To believe that Christ “paid it all” gives believers the strongest motivation to serve Him. Once enlightened to this glorious truth, then the child of God should feel an obligation to become and remain an active member of the His church. To serve the Lord in His church makes for one of the great blessings to experience this side of Heaven. It fulfills you to serve in His church and it gives your life purpose and meaning.