SOCIAL GROUP: The Dark Side for REFORMED Christians

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Why is the thread titled "The Dark Side"? I seem to remember something about that phrase from 4 or 5 years ago???? Some vague memory of a religion question turned kerfluffle??? :confused1:

[Susan in TN]

Why is the thread titled "The Dark Side"? I seem to remember something about that phrase from 4 or 5 years ago???? Some vague memory of a religion question turned kerfluffle??? :confused1:

 

 

:D Dh and I both grew up in Charismatic/Pentacostal families, so by their doctrinal standards we have indeed gone over to the Dark Side. That's how I take it, at least.

[MamaBirdX7]

Raised Pentecostal...then Baptist for a few years (which is bad enough, in the eyes of my original church)...now Presbyterian; definitely the Dark Side.

[Heather in Neverland]

 

 

:D Dh and I both grew up in Charismatic/Pentacostal families, so by their doctrinal standards we have indeed gone over to the Dark Side. That's how I take it, at least.

 

Yes, it is really more of a joke. So many believe that anything related to Calvinism is horrid so we call it the dark side as a tongue-in-cheek sort of thing. :)

[KrissiK]

Why is the thread titled "The Dark Side"? I seem to remember something about that phrase from 4 or 5 years ago???? Some vague memory of a religion question turned kerfluffle??? :confused1:

 

I grew up Mennonite and becoming Presbyterian was coming over to the Dark Side as far as my family was concerned. We do not discuss doctrine or the whole infant baptism thing, although dh and I are still credo-baptists (that's the only place we differ with the Presbyterian church)!

 

[Saddlemomma]

Thanks ladies for all the suggestions. We are still praying about it. Right now we watch sermons online (thank goodness for technology). This area of Asia is absolutely saturated with a charismatic/prosperity gospel way of worshipping. Because the population is heavily Chinese, and because the Chinese here already accept "spirits" as part of life, they focus solely on the Holy Spirit and fairly well ignore the other two members of the trinity! Also, "prosperity" is a mainstay in their culture, especially right now as Chinese New Year approaches. All they talk about is prosperity and how to get it. So it is natural that a doctrine that appeals to their already-held beliefs of spirits and prosperity would be easily assimilated.

 

Dh and I are quite firmly cessationists and we don't believe in women pastors (also a big issue here). So going to those churches is not possible. But it is hard.

 

My next related question is: do you ever feel like solid doctrine in churches is becoming harder and harder to find? Even the people I work with who don't like the churches here just shrug their shoulders at the whole thing and go to the nearest church. They think my dh and I are overly concerned with doctrinal correctness and should just go to any church as long as we go. But our opinion is that DOCTRINE MATTERS. But it seems so many churches are shying away from standing for truth.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Well, my dh and I were in a situation 2 years ago with being dissatisfied with our church. It was pretty strict. However, the thing that was a problem for us was the worship part of the service. We are BIG on worshiping the Lord, and they only did 2 hymns at the beginning of the service and one at the end. We felt a hole growing in our hearts and spiritual life.

 

So, after some major praying, we transferred to a church 45 minutes away. We don't agree with everything they believe. For instance they are a pre-trib church. We don't believe in pre-trib. There are some other differences too, but we absolutely love the 30 minutes of praising our Lord and the laid-back, personal style of the Pastor. We feel like we're sitting in our living room listening to a trusted friend chatting with us while imparting great wisdom. That's quite a feat in a congregation of 300. We are filled each week with the Holy Spirit. We also now attend on Saturday evenings rather than Sunday mornings. Some would call this blasphemy and disrespecting the Sabbath, but it works best for us.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while doctrine is important, it's about time we stop worrying so much about little differences and start banding together as the BODY of CHRIST should. We are so worried about what each denomination does or doesn't believe that we are fighting amongst ourselves rather than working together as the BODY to defeat the evil that's in the world. Imagine what a force for God we would be if we all worked together rather than all the infighting.

 

Core doctrine is what's important: belief in the trinity, the deity of Christ, His virgin birth and resurrection; He is the only God; the Bible is the inspired Word of God and the New Testament a guide by which to live. Those are what are important. The rest is minor. I used to care and worry about which was true - old earth or young earth. But you know what? Who cares? We will never really know the answer until we meet with Christ in Heaven. For God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years a day. How can our finite minds ever think we can know exactly what God meant when writing Genesis. The shear number of varying interpretations attest to our arrogance in fighting about who's right and who's wrong. I'm done teaching my dd one way is the right way. I teach her that we can't know when, only that He created. Stick to the core doctrines and the Word of God. Don't worry about the rest.

[besroma]

So angry and sad about this:

 

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/27/iran-sentences-u-s-pastor-to-8-years-in-prison-group-says/?hpt=hp_t2

[Heather in Neverland]

That makes my heart hurt. :crying:

[Kim in Appalachia]

Hi, I'm going to jump in here. I've been "Reformed" ever since I read Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad way back when my oldest was just 1 (so back in '95). We are currently not at a Reformed church. There are none for a 60 minute radius, and it's just not doable right now. So I thought I could jump in here for all things Reformed. :)

 

Anyway, I just started a new book by Krummacher called, The Suffering Saviour. The book is very dense so I'm just doing a chapter a week and using it for my daily mediation time. I've read 1 chapter and I'm already underlining and taking notes.

 

I also just ordered two books by Ferguson, one is Heart for God, the other is, Deserted by God?

 

It's been a rough year. The church we had been attending (about an hour away) closed. And I'm frustrated by where we are. I'm hoping some good reading will help. :)

[twoxcell]

Bump. How is everyones week going?

[KrissiK]

Great. I've started reading Calvin's "Institutes..." And I must admit that I'd been avoiding it because I thought it would be hard to read or very dry, but my bil inspired me, so I got it. It's surprisingly very readable and very thought provoking. I would recommend it.

[Paintedlady]

Thanks Twoxcell for the bump!

 

I'm fairly new to the reform camp, probably within the last year or so. I struggled with Calvinism for years. For some reason I just couldn't quite wrap my mind around it. But I have finally decided, after much prayer and reading, that I do believe it.

 

We are have been members of a Presbyterian PCA church, but we are in process of leaving it for a Reformed Baptist church. We've been a handful of times and although the drive is much further (30 minutes vs. 5 min) it seems to be well worth it. Excellent expository preaching, full gospel being preached, etc... It's everything I believe the Bible calls us to be.

 

I'm re-reading R.C. Sproul's Chosen by God for the second time, also reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God & John Piper's 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die. I also love anything by Voddie Baucham and Mark Dever.

[ladydusk]

Great. I've started reading Calvin's "Institutes..." And I must admit that I'd been avoiding it because I thought it would be hard to read or very dry, but my bil inspired me, so I got it. It's surprisingly very readable and very thought provoking. I would recommend it.

 

 

I read some of it with a group from church years ago. I found Calvin very readable and kinda funny. I loved the way he put things. I've used bits and pieces of his commentary, too, for my study and found them as accessible.

[Marylou]

If anyone has an extra $9/month, Ligonier has tons of resources/classes http://connect.ligonier.org/

[Candid]

 

I read some of it with a group from church years ago. I found Calvin very readable and kinda funny. I loved the way he put things. I've used bits and pieces of his commentary, too, for my study and found them as accessible.

 

 

I agree Calvin is very readable. I also read his commentary on Romans which was good and shorter than the institutes. Luther is funnier and reading his The Bondage of the Will is an excellent plan.

[Heather in Neverland]

It's been a good week so far. I am looking forward to church again on Sunday.

 

In our adult Sunday school class they are doing a review of the Reformed faith and talked quite a bit about the history of it. I really want to read a biography of John Calvin.

 

Any suggestions as to which one? Favorites?

 

Also, tomorrow is the 121st anniversary of Spurgeon's death. This is an interesting article: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/borntoreform/2013/01/32-things-you-might-not-know-about-charles-spurgeon/

 

 

 

[ladydusk]

I haven't read a grown-up biography, but am partial to Simonetta Carr's Biographies for Children series including the one on Calvin.

[besroma]

I have missed church for weeks due to sickness in the family. When someone in the family is sick, DH takes anyone who can go, and I stay home. I really miss worshipping with my church family.

 

I listened to this sermon entitled "The Way of the Lord" with the boys on Sunday. We really enjoyed it.

 

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12013103553

 

 

[Candid]

It's been a good week so far. I am looking forward to church again on Sunday.

 

In our adult Sunday school class they are doing a review of the Reformed faith and talked quite a bit about the history of it. I really want to read a biography of John Calvin.

 

Any suggestions as to which one? Favorites?

 

Also, tomorrow is the 121st anniversary of Spurgeon's death. This is an interesting article: http://www.patheos.c...arles-spurgeon/

 

 

Here's an older children/youth version: http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Grace-Story-Calvin/dp/1882514548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359638091&sr=8-1&keywords=river+of+grace

[4Kiddos]

Could I join your group? I am Reformed and we go to a reformed church in teaching that is non-denominational.

 

I have been reading some wonderful books lately. Here is my current reading list:

 

Communion with the Triune God by John Owen/Taylor/Kapic

 

The Joy of a Word Filled Family by Barnett

 

A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson

 

The Life of Arthur Pink by Ian Murray

 

Favorites of all time:

 

The Two Volume Biography of Hudson Taylor. These two books are GOLD and I cannot recommend them highly enough. A lady in our church who was a missionary to Africa recommended these to me. She told me she reads these two books every year and I think that I will probably be doing that too. Here is a link with the cheapest price. Worth every penny:

 

https://www.omfbooks.com/p-76-hudson-taylor-the-growth-of-a-soulwork-of-god.aspx

 

I love to read and have lots of others to recommend if anyone else wants to know!

 

Love in Christ to you all,

 

Lauren

[Heather in Neverland]

Hello ladies,

 

I was not able to go to church today because we were at the hospital getting my broken foot x-rayed. So when you all get back from church, tell me how your service was. I can live vicariously through you! :)

[Susie in SWVA]

Good snowy, Sunday morning!

 

I am so sorry about your foot, Heather. I hope it isn't too painful and heals quickly. I was unable to go to church today, too. We are snowed in and wosrhip services were canceled for the day. I have been in the reformed camp for many years. When my husband was in the army we were forced to attend many less than ideal churches because of our location, but we have been here for 21 years now in an Orthodox Presbterian Church (southwest VA).

 

Over the years we have met, been friends with and know many well known reformed men. (Two of our daughters were members of and were married in First Presbyterian Church of Columbia SC - Sinclair Ferguson is the pastor.)

 

You mentioned that you would like to read a biography of John Calvin. I am really not familiar with a good one, but I have a book I would like to recommend , if you can find it. Idelette by Edna Gerstner. It is easy reading and not long. She was the wife of Calvin and it puts an interesting light on Calvin.

 

I enjoy and am encouraged by your posts, Heather. Not to mention all you other ladies. I wish I had closer fellowship with all of you!

 

Susie in SWVA

[Freckles]

Heather, I hope you are not in too much pain, and you get better quickly.

 

We usually go to church on Saturday evenings because my husband works nights. Last night instead of the service we went to an exhibit at our church. They had pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pages from the first editions of the Gutenberg and Tyndale Bibles. They had Bibles that were on the Mayflower and a first edition Spanish Bible that belonged to the Queen of Spain. The exhibit had a Bible on microphice that was on Apollo 13. It was very neat to see manuscripts from C.S. Lewis. They had a first edition collection of the Narnia series as well. It was a great educational experience for my 11 year old.

 

On another note for this thread, I just ordered Hank Hanegraaff's "The Last Disciple" series. Has anyone else read these? Thoughts without spoilers?

[mumto2]

We just returned home from our service at our US church home. I really love it there. It is PCA with a new minister so it was the first time our family was able to hear him preach in person. It was amazing and so uplifting. We have been part of a very small congregation which is hard and frequently the approach is anything but uplifting. Which makes it hard to drive a long distance to attend a service that you know will not nourish you for lack of a better description.

 

These past few months have been a time of decision making regarding exactly what the Lord is asking our family to do. I hate to post the whole situation but He spoke very loudly to us this week that our descisions are what we should be doing.

 

I hope your foot heals quickly!

 

 

[Susan in TN]

Hello ladies,

 

I was not able to go to church today because we were at the hospital getting my broken foot x-rayed. So when you all get back from church, tell me how your service was. I can live vicariously through you! :)

 

I'm so sorry to hear of your ankle!

 

Our pastor is in Colombia (South America) for a couple weeks so another local pastor filled in for him this morning - an RUF pastor for a local university who has recently begun a nearby church plant. He preached on Psalm 23:1-3; a message I really needed to hear today.

 

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

³ He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

 

Interesting things I didn't know about sheep - they will eat all the grass and then start on the dirt underneath if they aren't moved to new pastures. Also they have horrible depth perception which is why they are so susceptible to falling down gulleys and cliffs - boy do I need a Shepherd! :)

 

I also learned about the word "lead" in this passage - in vs. 2, the word in the hebrew means "leads to water", while in vs. 3 "lead" has a meaning closer to "carry" or "transport".

 

Hope you feel better soon, Heather.

[TravelingChris]

I am going to join in here. I am Reformed but in our military life, we move a lot and which denomination we attend differs at times. So we have been PC-USA, UMC,PC-USA but those churches are now EPC, Cumberland Presbyterian, Base Chapel, UMC, PCA, and now back to PC-USA- our presbytery here is much more conservative than the General Session and our church is probably one of the more conservative churches in our presbytery. Its mission statement includes statements about traditional marriage, and our entire presbytery won't ordain uncelibate homosexuals. Such a person certainly wouldn't become a staff member at our church. SO the whole gay clergy issue is not an issue here and this church is the right home for us. We have been blessed to be part of the congregation.

 

Now for our service. It was great this Sunday. Our church has a Korean semi-congregation and they have Korean language services three SUndays a month. But first Sunday, which is also communion Sunday, we have a joint service and the Korean minister translates some of the service like the sermon and the communion part in Korean. Then we also had one of the local universities (UAH) Chamber choir sing for us throughout the service- and they were great. Lots of great classical pieces and during Communion, a counter tenor sang three different solos, ending with a piece by Bach- just heavenly. We also had an Appalachian hymn song by our children's choir. Our Music director played his trumpet. We sang the Crusader's hymn for our closing hymn, which I have always loved, but really upped my enjoyment of the hymn after living in Belgium and understanding the phrase, fairer still the woodlands, when the woodlands in Northern Europe turn bright blue with a carpet of glorious bluebells. The sermon was very interesting and I am sure relevant to many, though not so much me and I will explain, it was about the parable of the servant who is forgiven his debts but goes and harasses and attacks someone who owes him money. The guest minister talked about how not only can we be in bondage to our own sins but we can also be in bondage to sins that were done against us. She talked about how hard it is to forgive and how she was convicted by the passage at one time, and God told her to keep count of how many times she forgave. She said before 25, she had been released from the bondage of the sin done to her and it was such an act of God's grace. She said in the beginning, it was basically just God making her but by the end, she knew what a blessing it was to forgive. Oh, and why I said it wasn't so relevant to me is that I think one of the true benefits of my ADHD is that I don't keep grudges. I can get quite angry but half an hour later, I am not at all. So, no, I haven't been held in bondage by someone else's sin against me.

[TravelingChris]

Oh and I forgot to mention, we also had commissioning of 24 people to go tomorrow on mission to the Dominican Republic in an area where they are coping with Haitian refugees and orphans. Plus we had an option to get anointed with oil for healing and since I have so many chronic illnesses, I opted for it.

[twoxcell]

Happy Sunday everyone! That Hudson Taylor bio sounds really interesting. My dh has beem reading some of those Ywam missionary bios to the kids and they are very fascinating. How many of you have your children stay with you during church service? Our kids stay in for worship and then go to childrens church. My oldest ds I started having stay in at least once a month and it is cool because he is choosing to stay in now more often than that. He stayed in today. We were in 1Sam 17 learning about Davidand Goliath and it was a great message. Our church streams services live online which is really nice when we have to stay home due to illness.

[Marylou]

The March 2013 TableTalk has a short, but good, article about children's church. [i have the written magazine; the online version probably won't be available until March].

[KrissiK]

We had a great morning in church. Our oldest boy is in Catechism class, even though he is not on track to being confirmed. He's the right age, though, and he does have some pretty grown-up questions about God and doctrine, so we figured it would be good for him. He struggles a lot spiritually. Some days I'm not sure if he's saved, others.... I think he is, but he's just incredibly incredibly immature and he's got so many besetting sins. He struggles. But, he seems to be learning in Catechism class, so that's good. I didn't grow up in a denomination with a catechism, and one of the biggest blessings about becoming Presbyterian is learning the Westminster Catechism.

[Susan in TN]

How many of you have your children stay with you during church service?

 

We do - our church doesn't have a children's service, only nursery through 2yo (though many people keep their babies and toddlers in service with them, too.) It was quite an adjustment for us coming from a large church that had children's Sunday School during the worship services. Plus our then 3yods had major auditory processing issues and would start wailing whenever the congregation sang :scared: . Happily we have been able to work through all that. :) We do have children, youth, and adult Sunday School classes between the morning services.

[ladydusk]

Hello ladies,

 

I was not able to go to church today because we were at the hospital getting my broken foot x-rayed. So when you all get back from church, tell me how your service was. I can live vicariously through you! :)

 

Ouch! Will pray for a speedy recovery!

 

We had a wonderful Lord's Day.

 

In Sunday School, one of our members is a professor from the local University and he teaches our winter quarter every year. This year he's teaching about the intertestamental period. How Judah get from the return from Babylon to the point where they were when Jesus walked earth. It's been fascinating. Today we started talking about the Ptolemaic Satrapsy of Egypt. He called himself "Ptolemy Soter" which means Ptolemy Savior (we get the word soteriology from soter). We had been discussing how the Medes were pretty hands-off culture wise. Establish your worship and culture and go for it; the Greeks were much more in your face and Culture Wars ensued. Great stuff.

 

Something, in passing, that he mentioned was that when Abraham took Isaac up on the mountain to sacrifice him, this was what the cultures surrounding did ... they sacrificed their children. God stopping Abraham established a new view and cultural expectation for the Hebrews. And I wondered why had I never thought about it that way before? What a great insight. Isaac was spared *knowing* that other children weren't by their 'gods.'

 

Our pastor has been preaching through the book of John for a couple of years now, and we're to the crucifixion. He preached on two points: 1) The Setting discussing a) the timing b ) the place c) the burden d) the hands and e) the others and 2) The Invitation a) to worship b ) to die to self and c) to to live - loving and caring for others. We closed by singing And Can it Be? Hard to be better. The sermon was spectacular. I can post a link later in the week if people are interested.

 

Our Associate pastor preaches for the evening service. He's been preaching through Hebrews, most recently in Hebrews 11. Tonight was about the faith of Joshua and the generation who took the promised land and Jericho. How we're called to believe in "foolish things" to obey Christ's command to baptize, preach, and teach. It was really wonderful, too.

 

We're blessed by excellent preaching and shepherding. So thankful that the Lord has put us here.

 

ETA: added the link :)

[ladydusk]

How many of you have your children stay with you during church service? Our kids stay in for worship and then go to childrens church.

 

 

We don't have children's church. Our children stay for the whole service. We love worshiping together as a family.

[Heather in Neverland]

Heather, I hope you are not in too much pain, and you get better quickly.

 

We usually go to church on Saturday evenings because my husband works nights. Last night instead of the service we went to an exhibit at our church. They had pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pages from the first editions of the Gutenberg and Tyndale Bibles. They had Bibles that were on the Mayflower and a first edition Spanish Bible that belonged to the Queen of Spain. The exhibit had a Bible on microphice that was on Apollo 13. It was very neat to see manuscripts from C.S. Lewis. They had a first edition collection of the Narnia series as well. It was a great educational experience for my 11 year old.

 

On another note for this thread, I just ordered Hank Hanegraaff's "The Last Disciple" series. Has anyone else read these? Thoughts without spoilers?

 

 

I am SO JEALOUS. How amazing!!!!

 

I have not read that book series but a very good friend said it was awesome.

[Heather in Neverland]

Happy Sunday everyone! That Hudson Taylor bio sounds really interesting. My dh has beem reading some of those Ywam missionary bios to the kids and they are very fascinating. How many of you have your children stay with you during church service? Our kids stay in for worship and then go to childrens church. My oldest ds I started having stay in at least once a month and it is cool because he is choosing to stay in now more often than that. He stayed in today. We were in 1Sam 17 learning about Davidand Goliath and it was a great message. Our church streams services live online which is really nice when we have to stay home due to illness.

 

 

We have service with the sermon first and all kids stay in the service. Then there is Sunday school and we divide up.

[Heather in Neverland]

 

 

Ouch! Will pray for a speedy recovery!

 

We had a wonderful Lord's Day.

 

In Sunday School, one of our members is a professor from the local University and he teaches our winter quarter every year. This year he's teaching about the intertestamental period. How Judah get from the return from Babylon to the point where they were when Jesus walked earth. It's been fascinating. Today we started talking about the Ptolemaic Satrapsy of Egypt. He called himself "Ptolemy Soter" which means Ptolemy Savior (we get the word soteriology from soter). We had been discussing how the Medes were pretty hands-off culture wise. Establish your worship and culture and go for it; the Greeks were much more in your face and Culture Wars ensued. Great stuff.

 

Something, in passing, that he mentioned was that when Abraham took Isaac up on the mountain to sacrifice him, this was what the cultures surrounding did ... they sacrificed their children. God stopping Abraham established a new view and cultural expectation for the Hebrews. And I wondered why had I never thought about it that way before? What a great insight. Isaac was spared *knowing* that other children weren't by their 'gods.'

 

Our pastor has been preaching through the book of John for a couple of years now, and we're to the crucifixion. He preached on two points: 1) The Setting discussing a) the timing B) the place c) the burden d) the hands and e) the others and 2) The Invitation a) to worship B) to die to self and c) to to live - loving and caring for others. We closed by singing And Can it Be? Hard to be better. The sermon was spectacular. I can post a link later in the week if people are interested.

 

Our Associate pastor preaches for the evening service. He's been preaching through Hebrews, most recently in Hebrews 11. Tonight was about the faith of Joshua and the generation who took the promised land and Jericho. How we're called to believe in "foolish things" to obey Christ's command to baptize, preach, and teach. It was really wonderful, too.

 

We're blessed by excellent preaching and shepherding. So thankful that the Lord has put us here.

 

 

This sounds so edifying. It is so great to be in a church that glorifies God. I love the part about it being "foolish" to the world to follow Christ. That is why I chose the verse in my signature. May we always be foolish for God!

[4Kiddos]

I'm so sorry to hear of your ankle!

 

Our pastor is in Colombia (South America) for a couple weeks so another local pastor filled in for him this morning - an RUF pastor for a local university who has recently begun a nearby church plant. He preached on Psalm 23:1-3; a message I really needed to hear today.

 

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

³ He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

 

Interesting things I didn't know about sheep - they will eat all the grass and then start on the dirt underneath if they aren't moved to new pastures. Also they have horrible depth perception which is why they are so susceptible to falling down gulleys and cliffs - boy do I need a Shepherd! :)

 

I also learned about the word "lead" in this passage - in vs. 2, the word in the hebrew means "leads to water", while in vs. 3 "lead" has a meaning closer to "carry" or "transport".

 

Hope you feel better soon, Heather.

 

Hi Susan,

 

I recently learned a lot about sheep too from the book "A Shepard Looks At Psalms 23" by Keller:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Shepard-Looks-Psalm-23/dp/B000JTHGIQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1360001647&sr=8-4&keywords=a+shepard+looks+at+psalm+23

 

I really loved this book and it was so insightful. If you ever get a chance to read it, it is wonderful.

[SnowWhite]

In Sunday School we are studying the book of Amos, and this Sunday we talked about Amos interceding for Israel and the Lord replying, that He would not destroy Israel by fire... and later saying he would not pass by Israel any longer, but judgment would fall. We talked about the importance of prayer, and how it does not undermine the sovereignty of God since He is the one who authored the compassion in Amos' heart which was at the root of his intercessory prayer. We talked about how that might look in our own lives as we pray for others who might be experiencing hard circumstances.

 

In church we continued in 1 Corinthians 1- this time addressing the topic of God choosing people who were not necessarily wise or wealthy or popular, so that His glory would shine through.

 

We had a Sunday School fellowship dinner in the evening. It was wonderful to relax with other believers and get to know each other informally.

[TravelingChris]

Thank you so much for this thread. I love reading about everyone's sermons. They are so interesting. Let's do this weekly. I think I will get a blessing from reading about other sermons and it will also make me remember what the sermon I heard was about.

[mommaduck]

Why is the thread titled "The Dark Side"? I seem to remember something about that phrase from 4 or 5 years ago???? Some vague memory of a religion question turned kerfluffle??? :confused1:

 

There also used to be a Borg joke with Borg smilies (not sure if that was here or the puritanboard), but the line "resistance is futile" was in line with Reformed thought ;)

 

(hope you don't mind that I commented in here)

[ScoutTN]

I'm sorry about your ankle, Heather! Are you on crutches? Does it hurt?

It is so hard to not be able to move as you wish to....engenders prayers of thanksgiving for our routinely mobile lives!

 

Happy Friday, all!

[Susan in TN]

Yes, I was wondering how your ankle is doing, Heather.

[Heather in Neverland]

Blessings to all on this Lord's Day.

 

Well, after a week on crutches, am I finally starting to hobble around a bit without them. So I am on the mend. Thank you for asking!

 

It is Chinese New Year here and most of the people in my new church are Chinese. The sermon was on Ephesians 1 and the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. Chinese New Year is all about wealth and prosperity so the pastor made a point of talking about not storing up our treasures here on earth and how the spiritual blessings we have are far more important than anything this world can offer. It was a great sermon.

 

How was your sermon?

[Remudamom]

Happy Sunday all!

 

We won't be going today, three hour round trip. I sympathize with all of you who have to drive to get to a reformed church. Oldest dd is getting over a cold and since she's only home on weekends and I missed her yesterday we're just staying home today.

 

Our pastor's sermons are on the internet. I'll have to listen there, but I hate to miss weekly communion.

 

I wanted to ask for prayer for one of our sons. He's having an outpatient procedure tomorrow. Maybe a bladder or kidney problem.

[KrissiK]

Happy Sunday, all! We are home. DH left this morning for Vegas (trade show) and then to Kansas (his company's main N. American plant is there). He'll be gone a week. My little 4 year old has had that fever that's been going around and though she's fine now, it hasn't been 24 hours since the fever left, so to be on the safe side, we all stayed home. Don't want to infect anyone in the nursery. We had our own little SUnday School this morning, studied the parable of the wise and foolish builders, read some Psalms and now the kids are watching Veggie Tales. Please pray for us this week. My younger DS doesn't do well at when Daddy is gone.

[Kim in Appalachia]

Heather, I 'm glad you're getting around. Krissi, so sorry your dh is out of town, I be praying for you.

 

We don't currently attend a Reformed church, it's a non-denominational type church. Next week they start a video series that I don't think I'll like, but this week was OK. The sermon today also had to do with not storing up your wealth here on earth, and of the joy of living sacrificially, but he didn't mention the lunar New-Year. I thought it would have been a good tie-in. I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it. He would have liked the connection.

 

I'm really enjoying the book by Krummacher, The Suffering Saviour. This week's (chapter's) meditaion was on the Triumphral Entry. The focus was on how when Jesus told his disciples to get the colt, and they asked what should they say if the owner objected, He said, "The Lord has need of it". He didn't say, "Master", or "Teacher", but "Lord". He showed/claimed His authority. I plan to spend the week thinking about how we are still waiting for Him to come, but this time not on a colt. I thought of John's words at the end of Revelation, "even so Lord Jesus, come".

[KnitWit]

Hi Everyone,

 

Heather, I hope your foot is doing much better!

 

Our pastor is preaching through Genesis in worship and teaching through Revelation in SS. We are a small church so we have no separate classes for kids, although we really don't miss it. My kids have learned a lot and we really enjoy discussing things when we get home. I am always amazed at how much they *get*, even my 7yo. :)

 

We have really enjoyed seeing the continuity of scripture between the old and new testaments. :)

 

I have had a relative in ICU for over a week after recovery from a routine surgery went bad. During SS this morning, I received a call that she had either a stroke or seizure or both. I'm grateful to have a church family praying with us for her.

 

I have been reading through Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. I also use Valley of Vision as part of my quiet time every day. I could not read VofV as a *book*. It is a book of prayers and meant to be *tasted*, rather than *read* or *devoured*, For the last week, I have read the same one every day because it is right where I am and exactly what I want to pray. For whomever was considering it or Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, in my opinion you could use both. We have been through THTM and are working through it again. We are a family who were Baptist, then Calvary Chapel and then Calvinist Baptist before we began studying covenants and pursued Covenant Theology which brought us to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Most of our children were old enough to be on the end of this journey with us and we wanted the older ones to be able to choose to *own it* for themselves as well as following their parents so we took a year to work through the Westminster Confessions and the Catechism. Of course, it was good and largely overwhelming as much of it was new to us, so we are slowly revisiting things and THTM has been a wonderful tool with our younger children. Valley of Vision has been a good tool for teaching prayer TO ME! LOL! But also, it is nice to read one a night.

 

I hope that helps a little bit regarding those two books. :) (Baptists may wish to know that Training Hearts, Teaching Minds does cover the topic of paedobaptism)

[KnitWit]

Pam L, I understand the transition blues. Along the way of our journey, between the Calvary Chapel and the Calv.Bapt., we went to a PCA church. Not long after we arrived, the pastor left and our church was YEARS...like 3?...without a pastor. That is why we went to the Calv. Bapt. church and it helped us hash out that we are truly Presbyterians. Those were hard, hard times. I totally relate to your post.

[LAmom]

I guess I should say hi since I have been following this thread! I don't think I was a part of the "old group", at least not where I participated in conversations. :) Soooo, shall I introduce myself?

 

I live in Los Angeles, my husband is the pastor of a church here, and I have 5 kids! I think you all are reading some great stuff!! Anything else? I don't think I saw other intros, so sorry if this is the wrong place! LOL. Anyways, thought I should let you all know I am lurking. :)

 

Oh, and to answer the original question, yes, I love the church I go to! And I think the pastor is pretty cute. We are an RPCNA (reformed presbyterian church of north america). Conservative, biblical worship.

[Tutor]

Like LAmom, I've been following along awhile and finally decided to jump in and say hi. (Plus, I have a class to prepare for our co-op tomorrow, so I'm procrastinating.)

 

Roadmap of our church background: I grew up Methodist/ Unitarian Universalist and dh grew up independent Baptist. We attended an independent Baptist church in college until dh's senior year when we dicovered the OPC. After we married, we joined an OPC then began our journey of moving (physically) and growing and changing (spiriutally), so since then we have been members of an OPC church plant, a PCA, another PCA, and now are in the proces of joining a Reformed Episcopal church (Anglican Communion). We love it! It is the beautiful dance of doctrine and liturgy that we have been searching for!

 

Right now I am reading a lot of church history and books on Anglican donctrine and practice as part of our membership class. I'm also familiarizing myself with the Book of Common Prayer.

 

We are generally not fans of children's church that removes children from the service, but this church offers a childrens church (for kids under the age of 12) during the sermon only the week before a major church holiday to explain the purpose and practices of the upcoming holiday, and it is wonderful! This week they discussed Lent and Easter, and the kids participated in every part of the service except the sermon. It's a really thoughtfullly planned program.