First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi Morning Service

For the next several Lord’s Days, some of our assistant ministers will be examining what we call “the means of grace,” that is, the means that God has given us for our use in spiritual growth - the Word of God, both in preaching and teaching and personal devotion, prayer, the sacraments, that is, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, corporate worship. These are the tools that God has given to us for our growth in grace, for our coming closer to Him, and His coming closer to us. They happen to be the very tools that God uses to grow us. So our growth in grace isn’t a willy-nilly, maybe so-maybe not random experience. If we use these means, we’ll grow spiritually because He’ll bless our use of them. And if we don’t use them, we won’t grow, and our spiritual formation will be weak and sickly, we’ll never be strong, never be able to bear up under the trial of difficulty inevitably God sends to us, never be able to experience the fullness of the joys that He sends as well. Without our using the means of grace, we’re not