“O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” -1928 Book of Common Prayer
Read More“A final don’t: Don’t tolerate discourtesy. Since the beginning of the world, young people have resented good manners as dishonesty. They think manners are substance. If you say ‘Good morning’ while it rains outside, you are a hypocrite. But there is a law of nature that where moving bodies are in contact with one another, there is friction. And manners are the social lubricating oil that smooths over friction. Young people always fail to see this. The only difference is that in my youth you got slapped if you were not courteous; but we didn’t feel like being courteous either. One learns to be courteous – it is needed to enable different people who don’t necessarily like each other to…
Read MoreIn February 1945 Associated Press photographer Joseph Rosenthal snapped what became the most widely distributed photograph in America’s history, the raising of the our flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. During the month long battle to take the 8 square mile island, 6,800 United States Marines gave their lives; 21,000 more were wounded. The sliver of land became a strategic airbase for U.S. fighters escorting heavy bombers on missions to Japan, and a haven for crippled aircraft that otherwise would have been lost to the unforgiving sea. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph captures the valor and fierce determination of the United States Marine Corps. It is also one of the cherished cultural symbols of what Tom Brokaw calls “the greatest generation,”…
Read More4. Lord’s Day Question 9. Does not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in his law, that which he cannot perform? Answer: Not at all; for God made man capable of performing it; but man, by the instigation of the devil, and his own willful disobedience,deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts. Question 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Answer: By no means; but is terribly displeased with our original as well as actual sins; and will punish them in his just judgment temporally and eternally, (as he has declared, “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things, which are written in the book of the…
Read More“ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” – 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Read More“We quickly learn that God is more interested in our holiness than in our comfort. He more greatly delights in the integrity and purity of his church than in the material well-being of its members. He shows himself more clearly to men and women who enjoy him and obey him than to men and women whose horizons revolve around good jobs, nice houses, and reasonable health. He is far more committed to building a corporate ‘temple’ in which his Spirit dwells than he is in preserving our reputations. He is more vitally disposed to display his grace than to flatter our intelligence. He is more concerned for justice than for our ease. He is more deeply committed to stretching our…
Read MoreClick here for Sunday’s bulletin. 1. MORNING WORSHIP (9:30): Charlie Wingard, preaching Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:14 “Living Wisely in a Broken World” (9) 2. ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL (11:00): Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands Michael Shipma will be teaching a course based on the book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp. It will weave video instruction with class discussion on the topic of how God uses people, who themselves are in need of change, to be instruments of change in other people’s lives. Please contact Michael if you would like more info or a copy of the book. (Meets in room 105/106) Christians in Politics 3: Religion and Law in America Nat Causey explores the history of our right to…
Read MoreIn my opinion, the best manuals of the Christian life remain the historic Reformed confessions and catechisms, and especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort. In them we learn what we are to believe about God and man, the way of salvation, the shape of godly behavior, and the life of prayer. Michael Barrett’s The Grace of Godliness: An introduction to doctrine and piety in the Canons of Dort places the Canons in their early 17th century historical context and provides a good exposition of its main points. Both the Canons and Barrett’s fine commentary identify the vital connection between the doctrines of…
Read MoreSeveral years ago one of Westminster’s teenagers recommended to me The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer. What a read! From beginning to end a fast-paced and moving story of heroism. Leyte Gulf was the largest naval engagement in history, and also the world’s last large-scale naval battle (or perhaps, more accurately, series of battles). Leyte was a desperate attempt by the Japanese to disrupt MacArthur’s Philippine invasion, and to keep the the Philippines and its vital natural resources under Japanese control. The book focuses on one engagement of the Battle of Leyte – the two-and-a-half-hour fight off the island of Samar. There,…
Read More6. Did God create man thus, wicked and perverse? No, but God created man good and after His own image, that is, in righteousness and true holiness, that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love Him, and live with Him in eternal blessedness, to praise and glorify Him. 7. From where, then, does this depraved nature of man come? From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise, whereby our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin. 8. But are we so depraved that we are completely incapable of any good and prone to all evil? Yes, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.
Read More