Perryville Bible Church

09/08/2026

09/04/2026

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Matthew 11:28 ESV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

1 John 1:9 ESV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Dear friend, if you are "in Christ," you are someone who has not only already been renewed (as a "new creation") but also who regularly needs to be renewed ("cleansed" and "rested"). Are you fleeing to Christ daily (hourly?!) for your renewal, cleansing, and rest in Him? He is faithful and will meet you where you are.

Psalm 51:10, 12 ESV
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

09/02/2026

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not [be in] want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

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We might well ask, "Where'd the Shepherd go when I reached that dark valley?" David answers the question before the last word even leaves our lips. "You are with me." He never left!

That seems to suggest a conclusion we had perhaps not considered before. The “paths of righteousness” that lead us into the green, nourishing, pleasant pastures and beside the still, refreshing waters are the same paths that lead us into and through the “valley of the shadow of death” and into the presence of our enemies.

But dear friends, it is right here in this valley where our Shepherd prepares for us a table and anoints our heads with His healing oil and abundantly blesses and comforts us with His gracious presence as He defends us from our enemies with His rod and staff!

08/31/2026

Stephen Yuille writes,

"We often forget that just as our physical senses are enamored with beauty, so, too, is our heart. Beauty is one of our deepest longings, and therefore it always exerts a compulsive and persuasive influence on us. For this reason, the Puritans were convinced that the heart must be ravished with Christ’s beauty in order to be drawn to Him. This accounts for the attention they give in their writings to celebrating and commending Christ’s loveliness. For example, Samuel Rutherford declares,

"O, what a fair One, what an excellent, lovely, ravishing One is Christ! Put the beauty of ten thousand worlds like the Garden of Eden in one. Put all trees, flowers, smells, colors, tastes, joys, sweetness, and loveliness in one. O, what an excellent thing that would be! And yet, it would be less to that fair Christ than one drop of rain to all the seas, rivers, and lakes of ten thousand earths."

08/31/2026

The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties that belong to man alone. (John Stott, in "The Cross of Christ," 159)

08/29/2026

Save the date!!

08/26/2026

God's Decrees, by John Ryland (1753-1825)

Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise;
All my times are in your hand,
All events at your command.

His decree who formed the earth,
Fixed my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time,
All were appointed by Him.

He who formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb;
All my times shall ever be,
Ordered by His wise decree.

Times of sickness times of health;
Times of poverty and wealth;
Times of trial and of grief;
Times of triumph and relief;

Times the tempter's power to prove;
Times to taste the Savior's love;
All must come, and last, and end,
As shall please my heavenly Friend.

Plagues and deaths around me fly;
Until He bids, I cannot die;
Not a single shaft can hit,
Until the God of love sees fit!