"Our Salvation is Protected by the Power of God!"

                                           "This is the good news:
                                             our salvation is protected by the
                                             power of God (a)!

                                             The power that spoke the cosmos into
                                             existence (b), cracked the earth open
                                             in the great flood (c), brought Jesus from
                                             heaven to earth (d), and then from the grave
                                             to heaven (e), the power that forgives sin (f)
                                             and causes grown up people to be born again (g),
                                             also keeps us safe in Jesus (h).

                                             I do not hold onto Jesus' hand - that would be
                                             a perilous way to live.

                                             Jesus holds me with His hand (i), and nothing can
                                             undo His grip of love, grace, and forgiveness (j)."

                                                                                       Bob Adams
                                                                                       Baptist Message
                                                                                       September 12, 2013


                                                               ***********

                                                   "PROTECTED BY THE POWER OF GOD"

                               (a) " ... into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade -
                                      kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by
                                      God's power until the coming salvation that is ready to be
                                      revealed in the last time."
                                                                                   1 Peter 1:4-5

                                                 
                                                     "SPOKE THE COSMOS INTO EXISTANCE"

                                (b) "And God said, 'Let there be light and there was light."
                                      "And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters ...'
                                      "And God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to
                                            one place, and let dry ground appear.'"

                                      "And God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation ...'"
                                      "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky
                                             to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as
                                             signs to mark seasons and days and years ...'"

                                      "And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according
                                              to their kinds ...'"

                                      "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness ...'"
                                                                             Genesis 1:3,6,9,14,20,24,26


                                                      "CRACKED THE EARTH OPEN"

                                  (c) " ... on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth,
                                                  and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

                                         And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights."
                                                                              Genesis 7:11-12


                                                      "BROUGHT JESUS FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH"


                                  (d) "While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
                                                and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son."
                                                                                Luke 2:6-7


                                                     "FROM THE GRAVE TO HEAVEN"
                                 
                                  (e) "... He has risen!  He is not here."
                                                                                Mark 16:6

                              
                                                     "FORGIVES SIN"

                                  (f)  "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought
                                        us into the kingdom of the Son He loves -- in whom we have
                                        redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
                                                                               Colossians 1:13-14


                                                     "CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN"


                                  (g) "According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again ..."
                                                                                1 Peter 1:3

                                                     "KEEPS US SAFE"


                                  (h) " ... our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless ..."
                                                                                 1 Corinthians 1:7-8


                                                     "HOLDS ME WITH HIS HAND"

                                  (i) "... no one will snatch them out of my hand ..."
                                                                                   John 10:28


                                                      "NOTHING CAN UNDO HIS GRIP OF
                                                       LOVE, GRACE, AND FORGIVENESS"

                                  (j) "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
                                        nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height
                                        nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
                                        separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
                                                                                   Romans 8:38-39