Trivia question In 2001, when a group of families and individuals met to organize Trinity PRC, what were some of the other possible names for this new congregation? Answer can be found in the church profile segment of this issue. More trivia next time. Evangelism activities The Byron Center Evangelism Committee made plans to have Prayer Day on March 11 be their community outreach service this year. Flyers were made available to use when inviting friends and acquaintances to worship with them. There was a sign-up sheet for bringing cookies/bars to a time of fellowship and welcome with their visitors...
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February 20, 2020 Dear saints in the Protestant Reformed Churches, Due to the pressure of work—mostly good, beneficial, and rewarding work—it is now six months since my last letter. The bimonthly epistle is now biannual! Congregational news The new church season began in early September with ten catechumens, eight boys and two girls, in three classes: Old Testament Juniors, New Testament Seniors, and Essentials of Reformed Doctrine. The covenant children are doing well. “Saving Faith: A Biblical and Theological Analysis” is the current subject of our Tuesday morning meetings. So far we have treated the significance, necessity, source, subject, object,...
What a comfort to know we are included in God’s covenant! To be in God’s covenant means that God dwells with us, communing with us, making known to us His secret will concerning our salvation. It means also that He promises us that He will fully deliver us and bring us nigh unto Him to dwell with Him forever. The previous article was on God’s covenant as a relationship of friendship. In this article we consider that those who are included in God’s covenant are the recipients of His promise. We consider first that those who are in God’s covenant...
All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord. Colossians 4:7 As was stated in a previous article (Dec. 1, 2019), the effectiveness of the apostle Paul was aided by a network of individuals who were a support to him in the spread of the gospel. In addition to the equipping of Paul, God also equipped many other “behind-the-scenes” men and women who demonstrated courage, commitment, and faithfulness in establishing, developing, and maintaining the churches of the first century AD. Tychicus was a man who was given...
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34a One of the outstanding features of Jesus’ ministry was His willing and wholehearted determination to do His Father’s will. Determined to do His Father’s will, Jesus “steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), even though He knew that He would “suffer many things, and be set at nought” (Mark 9:12). Determined to do His Father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). When the mob came with Judas to capture Jesus, He...
In the 1970s the city of Hudsonville, Michigan was experiencing a population growth that also was reflected in the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church. Hudsonville PRC outgrew its little white building on the southeast corner of VanBuren and School Street, and decided to relocate to a brand new facility on a hill less than a mile away on 32nd Avenue. In the next few years the congregation experienced more steady growth in membership, so a decision was made to establish a daughter congregation in Byron Center, Michigan in order to help alleviate overcrowding in the “new” church building. In 1994 the...
Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met on March 4–5, 2020, in Peace PRC (Dyer, IN). This was the first time that Classis was held in Peace’s new building, which accommodated the Classis very well. The meeting was capably chaired by Rev. Allen Brummel (Calvary PRC). After opening devotions and the constituting of Classis, routine reports of the stated clerk, classical committee, and reading sermon committee were read and approved. The church visitors also reported on their work over the last year and the presence of unity, peace, and love prevailing in the churches. Before Classis was a protest...
Previous article in this series: February 15, 2020, p. 227. Introduction We have been following John Calvin as he teaches us the evidences Scripture carries within itself of its divine origin. Learning these things, says Calvin, we “will be abundantly equipped to restrain the barking of ungodly men; for this is a proof too clear to be open to any subtle objections.”1 So far in this series we have treated the relation of these evidences to the internal work of the Spirit in our hearts; we have examined the fact that Scripture correctly foretells things no humans could foretell; and...
The Word of God now turns our attention from the natural joy of life under the sun and its spiritual implications to a similar reality, the joy and strength of youth. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes (Eccl. 11:9a). The Word of God here comes first of all with an exhortation to rejoice, which is perhaps easy to overlook, given the warnings that follow. That calling to rejoice, however, is important. It...
The 2019 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) received the interim report of a committee of ten individuals that was tasked to write a “theology of human sexuality.” This is a committee that was appointed at Synod 2016 “to articulate a foundation-laying biblical theology that pays particular attention to biblical conceptions of gender and sexuality” (Acts of Synod 2016, pp. 917–19). A final report is to come before the Synod of the CRC in 2021. The reason for coming to Synod 2019 was that delegates of this past year’s Synod might give feedback for the committee in its ongoing...
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