Month: February 2025

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There are a couple of items of importance that I want to share with you today before briefly introducing Sunday’s sermon.

First, this Sunday our Adults will begin a new Sunday School class on the topic of ‘Apologetics for the Church.’  In this twelve-week course we will discover how to answer some of the most common objections to the claims of Christianity, and how we might more effectively engage with those around us who do not believe in Christ.   A wonderful additional benefit of such a study will be that our own understanding of God’s truth and our personal assurance in Christ will be strengthened.

Secondly, as we have been announcing for the past couple of weeks, there will be a Called Meeting of the Congregation on Sunday March 30, immediately following worship, for the purpose of electing new Deacons. The ten men whose names are listed below have completed their training and, following their final interviews with the Session, will be presented to you for vote.  Once approved by the congregation, they will be ordained and added to our current body of Deacons. They are:

Dean Alhorn
DJ Alhorn
Rich Bagdazian
Joshua Fortenberry
Todd Holloway
Clint Johnson
Bert Luoma
Marc Peterson
Dave Purinton
Drew Thompson

Our sermon for this Sunday will come from 1 Timothy 1:1.   The opening verse of this inspired letter, just eighteen words in the ESV translation, is one that we must carefully consider as it is filled to the brim with God’s transforming truth.  Among the beautiful truths that we will discover in verse 1 is the central place of “hope” in the Christian Gospel.  Thank you for your prayers as we prepare to worship and learn together this Lord’s Day.

I love you all, and pray for you constantly,

Mike

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Have you ever had the experience of retrieving a letter from your mailbox, opening the envelop rather hastily, and then realizing that the note is not addressed to you?  As you read the first line of the letter that identifies the recipient, you realize that your mail carrier has accidentally placed the envelope in the wrong box.  Now, if that has happened to you, were you tempted to keep on reading?  Be honest!

Reading someone else’s mail, even accidentally, leaves one feeling very guilty.  We come into information that was not intended for us, and a certain amount of shame naturally swells within us in that moment.

I bring this up today because this coming Sunday we will engage in a little ‘mail reading’ of our own.  However, there should be no shame involved at all since the author of the letter has penned his note knowing, and even expecting, that we would read it even though it is not addressed to us directly.

I am referring to Paul’s First Epistle to Timothy, one of the so called ‘Pastoral Epistles’ (along with 2 Timothy and Titus).  These three epistles were sent to two young men who were apostolic associates of Paul, each one stationed in a specific location where they would give leadership to the Churches there.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul gives his young protégé some detailed exhortations and instructions related to the life, health, and faithfulness of the Church at Ephesus. A survey of this epistle will show that Timothy is to take command of a troubled fellowship and courageously deal with such vital issues as 1) the presence of false teachers, 2) proper worship and prayer, 3) the roles of women and men in the Church and in the home, 4) the qualifications for the offices of Elder and Deacon, 5) personal discipline, 6) the practical care of the Church, and 7) the threat of materialism.

This Sunday, we will begin our study of this inspired piece of mail.  And we can look over Timothy’s shoulder with the confidence that the ‘Postmaster General’ Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, has also authorized us to read it and mine its riches!

I love you all so much!!

Mike

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,

This Sunday we will complete our studies in the Book of Ezekiel.  The sermon text will be taken from Ezekiel 48:30-35.  In this final section of the prophecy, Ezekiel gives us a short description of the new heavenly city of Jerusalem, the city of God.  However, the name of this city has been changed from “Jerusalem” to “The LORD is there” (v. 35).

What the prophet has envisioned here is the final dwelling place for all of God’s redeemed people, the place we know as “heaven.”  This is confirmed when we examine John’s use of this same vision in Revelation 21:10-22:15 (be sure to look carefully at this passage before Sunday).

If you have ever wondered what heaven is like, then both Ezekiel and John will shed much light on the answer.  Amazingly, the place that our Lord has prepared for us (John 14:1-4) can be described by the combined images of a new people, a new temple, a new city, and a new land!

The Next Sermon Series

The Lord willing, on Sunday February 23 we will begin a new series of sermons on the First Epistle to Timothy.  Of course, this is the Apostle Paul’s first letter to his protégé and fellow-pastor Timothy.  I look forward to digging deep into this inspired letter that speaks so powerfully about the purpose, leadership, and work of a true New Testament Church.

A Word About the Lord’s Supper

Our Presbytery recently passed a rule regarding the distribution of the Lord’s Supper.  In order to come into closer conformity to our Book of Church Order, the Presbytery ruled that only Teaching and Ruling Elders may distribute the elements to the communicants.  As you know, we (along with other PCA congregations) have used our Deacons to assist the Elders with the serving of the Supper (and we are most thankful for their help!).  However, beginning this Sunday we will restrict the distribution to our Session Members.  Thank you for your patience with us as we learn how to do this in the most efficient and timely manner.

Congregational Meeting on Sunday March 30

On Sunday March 30, immediately following the Service of Worship, there will be a Called Meeting of the Congregation for the purpose of Electing Deacons.  In keeping with the Book of Church Order, on Friday February 28^th the Session will provide you with a list of the men who have been nominated, trained, and examined for the Office of Deacon.  This will certainly be another great milestone in the life of our Church, and please put this on your prayer list.

I love you all so much, and rejoice each day in each of you,

Mike

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

As we gather in worship before our great Lord and King this Sunday, our sermon will come from Ezekiel 47:1-12.  In this section of Scripture, we find the prophet Ezekiel being led on a visionary tour of the new temple, located in the new Jerusalem, which is in the new land of promise.  In this remarkable vison, Ezekiel sees a very small trickle of water flowing from the temple.  Remarkably, and in apparent violation of all the laws of hydrodynamics, as the little and insignificant stream advances eastward, its depth and volume increases exponentially until it becomes a vast river much too wide to swim across.  What’s even more amazing is that this flow of water from the temple transforms the lifeless Dead Sea into a thriving ocean, filled with aquatic creatures (a fisherman’s paradise!) and lined with fruit-bearing trees on its shores.

Of course, we want to know what this vison meant to the captive Israelites living in bondage to the Babylonians.  But we also want to know why the Holy Spirit has preserved this ancient vision in the Scriptures for us today.  Surely there is a message for us as well!  This Lord’s Day we are going to get our feet wet as we ‘wade into the water’ with Ezekiel.  And along our way, we will encounter something amazing that will point us directly to our blessed Redeemer and Lord!

I love you all so much, always!

Mike