Sermon Preview

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

As we come to the end of August, we are down to our last two sermons on the Epistle of Second John. This Sunday we will be looking at 2 John 1:9-11, and then next week we will finish up with John’s final words to the Church recorded in verses 12-13. In our text for this week, John will offer some very practical instruction regarding how the Church should deal with false teachers. As we have come to expect from him, the Apostle’s commands are straight to the point: “do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting” (v. 10). The implications of this blunt directive are many, and they touch not only the life of the Church as a body, but each individual member as well.  Strong words for dangerous times!

Looking ahead for the rest of 2017, in September we will once again take up the subject of ‘Great Events In the History of Redemption,’ and our text will be the Book of Judges where we will trace some of the great people (Deborah, Gideon, and Samson) and themes (idolatry, judgment, and restoration) that run throughout its pages. Then, in the month of October, in celebration of the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, we will take a brief detour from Judges to consider the five key doctrines of the Reformation, which are summarized by the Latin phrases Sola Fide (by faith alone), Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), Solus Christus (through Christ alone), Sola Gratia (by grace alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).  We will return to Judges in November, and then on November 26 we will begin our Advent Series on the Incarnation of our Savior.

Also in view of our special focus upon the Reformation, our Adult Sunday School Class will be studying the subject of The History of the Church: From the Reformation to the Revolutionary War beginning on September 10. The study of church history over this time period is very appropriate since we will be commemorating the Reformation’s 500^th anniversary that started when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church Door on October 31, 1517. This marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation against the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. Out of this Reformation came our Reformed faith. We will focus on the lives of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox and Tyndale, looking at their theologies and how they differed from the Roman Catholic Church and from each other. We will study how the English colonies started in America, and the First Great Awakening led by Edwards, Tennent and Whitfield. Although we will not be following a single textbook, if you are interested in studying church history of this time period, an easy-to-read book is The Church in History by B. K. Kuiper.

I hope you all have a most restful weekend, and thank you for your faithful payers as we prepare to come together in worship on the Lord’s Day.

I love you so much,

Mike