He First Loved Us

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” | 1 John 4: 19

Because He first loved us, there are some things that we, God’s people, love about Him: We love His sovereignty. We love the fact that He has the power, ability, and right to do as He pleases. We especially love that truth because He said, in Christ, it pleased Him to make us His people. (1 Samuel 12: 22)

We love His election. We love who He elected to save. He said He chose to save sinners, and that is what we are. (1 Timothy 1: 15) We love His predestination. It is the means that He said He would use to conform us to the image of Christ, and that is our greatest desire and need. (Romans 8: 29)

We love His grace, because it is what gave Christ to us.

We love His mercy, because it is what gave Christ to the cross of our punishment. It is what shed His blood for the payment of our sin.

We love His redemption, because it is finished. We are washed clean, made pure, and accepted in Him.

We love His righteousness, because it has covered everything that we are in our flesh with His perfection.

We love His glory, because it magnifies Him.

We love His word, because it reveals Him.

We love His message, because it points us and calls us to Him.

We love His people, because there is no greater pleasure on earth than being with those who love Him and desire to worship and praise Him together.

The glorious gospel of Christ is in the fact that He loved us, even when there was nothing about us to love. For that, we love Him.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Therefore Wait Ye Upon Me”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 18 April, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

I Am What I Am, By The Grace Of God

“But by the grace of God I am what I am” | 1 Corinthians 15: 10

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Ephesians 2:8)

Until we see our sin, we will never understand, love or be thankful for God’s sovereignty, His election or His finished work of salvation.

Men and women naturally reject God’s sovereignty because they do not want to be ruled by someone else. Mankind wants to rule himself. Men and women naturally reject God’s election because they think that if God didn’t choose for them to be saved, it would be unfair and wrongful treatment to them. Men and women naturally reject God’s finished work in salvation through the blood of Christ ALONE because they pridefully and self-righteously believe that they have something good in themselves that they can add to Christ’s work.

But after sinners truly see their sin, they LOVE God’s sovereignty, because they know that their own rule over themselves has only brought absolute ruin to them. They LOVE God’s election, because they know that God’s unconditional election is the only hope that sinners like them could ever have of being saved. And they LOVE God’s finished work in salvation, because they know that there is NOTHING they could add to it but the deadness of their sin. They know that if Christ doesn’t finish the work, it’s not going to be finished!

Men and women by nature hate everything about God… until God causes them to hate everything about themselves. Once men and women truly hate what they sees in themselves, they will LOVE everything that they see in their merciful, loving, gracious Lord. At that moment, they all will confidently and humbly say: “I am what I am, by the grace of God.”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “The God Of Manoah And His Wife”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 23 August, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

TRUE WORSHIP

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” | Mark 9: 23

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 3: 3, “For we are the circumcision.”

That means: we are God’s chosen people; we are the true followers of Christ. “Which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

That is truly what we are here to do today. We are here to (in, soul, body and spirit) worship our God. And how do we do that? By rejoicing in Christ Jesus for everything that he has accomplished for us through the death of his cross. And by having absolutely no confidence in our flesh.

We are here to worship HIM and not ourselves. The work of salvation was Christ’s alone! We did not, and could not, lift one finger to help Him in any way, shape, or form. All glory and praise be unto Him, and no glory or praise be unto us. If that is the spirit of why we are gathered before our God, then we have gathered before Him for true worship.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Lord, Help My Unbelief”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 25 April, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

JUST PREACH CHRIST TO ME

“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” | Acts 16: 14

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23, “We preach Christ crucified”. The same man told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the Word”!

We cannot preach Christ apart from The Word. We cannot know who a man is, what he believes or what he desires, apart from his word. We cannot know what a man thinks, how he feels or what he has purposed in his heart to do, apart from his word. Therefore, we cannot know who Christ is, what He has done, who He has done it for or why He has done it, apart from His Word!

To preach Christ, is to preach His Word. And to truly preach His Word, is to preach Christ in every word of it!

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Whose Heart The Lord Opened”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 2 February, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

God’s Election

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” | 2 Thessalonians 2: 13

Knowing something of the wickedness of my own heart;
knowing that I would have never come to the Christ of the scripture on my own;
knowing that I would have chosen destruction, and loved darkness more than the salvation and light of life with Christ.

That makes God’s election to be the sweetest, kindest, most loving thing I have ever heard in my life.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “A Great Concern For Lost Souls”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 26 January, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

We Have An Inheritance

“The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” | Isaiah 52: 10

Like the Israelites who were bitten by the fiery serpents, because of the judgment of God, were perishing, so all of us were perishing under the sentence of death because of sin.

But God graciously provided the remedy.

The serpent of brass, having the form of a serpent, but having no poison, was lifted up on a pole for all to see.

Everyone who looked upon it was healed.

Even so, Jesus Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, but had no sin.

He was lifted up by God upon the cross in the place of sinners.

And, behold, every sinner who looks upon Christ with a believing heart is healed!

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “We Have An Inheritance”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 11 April, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

God First Loved Us

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” | 1 John 4: 19

Because He first loved us, there are some things that we, God’s people, love about Him:

We love His sovereignty. We love the fact that He has the power, ability, and right to do as He pleases. We especially love that truth because He said, in Christ, it pleased Him to make us His people. (1 Samuel 12: 22)

We love His election. We love who He elected to save. He said He chose to save sinners, and that is what we are. (1 Timothy 1: 15)

We love His predestination. It is the means that He said He would use to conform us to the image of Christ, and that is our greatest desire and need. (Romans 8: 29)

We love His grace, because it is what gave Christ to us.

We love His mercy, because it is what gave Christ to the cross of our punishment. It is what shed His blood for the payment of our sin.

We love His redemption, because it is finished. We are washed clean, made pure, and accepted in Him.

We love His righteousness, because it has covered everything that we are in our flesh with His perfection.

We love His glory, because it magnifies Him.

We love His word, because it reveals Him.

We love His message, because it points us and calls us to Him.

We love His people, because there is no greater pleasure on earth than being with those who love Him and desire to worship and praise Him together.

The glorious gospel of Christ is in the fact that He loved us, even when there was nothing about us to love. For that, we love Him.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “A Message for Sinners”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 18 April, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Let Us Come Boldly

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” | Isaiah 52: 7

Oh, how God’s people rest in His absolute sovereignty over all things concerning them. That is their good news. That is their peace. That is their hope of salvation.

No matter how much their sin has abounded, it will never be able to reign over His mercy and grace that He has mightily supplied in the death of His Son!

Every soul that the Father sovereignly chose, the Son sovereignly redeemed, and the Spirit has sovereignly called will through the ages of eternity cry, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Let Us Come Boldly”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 17 May, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

Who Did God Appoint To Salvation?

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” | 1 Thessalonians 5: 9

Here are five truths concerning the salvation that is IN and OF our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

#1 Jesus Christ came into this world to save SINNERS. (Matthew 1: 21)

#2 Jesus Christ came into this world to save the CHIEF sinners. (1 Timothy 1: 15)

#3 Jesus Christ ONLY saves sinners. (Luke 5: 32)

#4 Jesus Christ only saves sinners FREELY. (Isaiah 55: 1, Romans 3: 24, Revelation 22: 17)

#5 Jesus Christ only saves sinners FULLY/COMPLETELY. (John 19: 30, Colossians 2: 10)

Our Lord came on purpose, to save a particular people, and He accomplished what He came to do!

If you are one of those particular people, and if He accomplished salvation for you, then He will notify you of it through the preaching of His Word.

In His notification, He will convince you of the fact that you are a sinner; the worst sinner you’ve ever known! That is the very reason why He had to die. It was to save you from your sins. His death was God the Father’s free gift to you. And in His free gift, you are completely redeemed!

It was all appointed by the Father, and obtained by the Son.

To Him be glory forever!

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Thank God There Is A Remnant”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 21 February, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

The Difference in No Faith, Weak Faith, and Strong faith.

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.” | Luke 17: 5

When a person has no faith at all, he looks to his own flesh for all of his confidence before God. He believes that God will be satisfied with him by what he sees in himself – his actions, his words, and his thoughts.

When a person has weak faith, he looks to himself for a little bit of confidence before God. He knows that he will never be able to satisfy God outside of the blood of Christ, but something in him still thinks that he must produce good actions, good words, and good thoughts along with Christ’s blood before God will accept him.

When a person is strong in faith, he does not look to himself at all. He knows that he can have absolutely no confidence in his flesh. When it comes to God accepting him, all of his hope is in Christ’s actions, Christ’s words, and Christ’s thoughts. He firmly believes that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief!” And “He is made unto (me) wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”

Christ is all I need!

In summary…

  • No faith – has all confidence in the flesh.
  • Weak faith – has a little confidence in the flesh.
  • Strong faith – has NO confidence in the flesh at all!

~ Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Whosoever Believeth On Him”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 24 May, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a