Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 9 August, 2015
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom. 12:2)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Constrained by Christ’s Love [youtube]
Scripture Reading: II Corinthians 5:11-6:10
Text: II Corinthians 5:14-15
I. Constrained: By What?
II. Constrained: What?
III. Constrained: How?
Psalms: 122:1-9; 107:39-43; 18:1-7; 116:1-8
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Ascension of Christ [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36-53
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 18
I. The Event
II. The Worldview
III. The Significance
Psalms: 99:1-7; 108:1-6; 47:1-9; 68:16-20
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: https://cprc.co.uk/live-streaming/
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quotes to Consider
Albert Barnes on II Corinthians 5:15: “A servant, a slave, does not live to himself but to his master. His person, his time, his limbs, his talents, and the avails of his industry are not regarded as his own. He is judged incapable of holding any property which is not at the disposal of his master. If he has strength, it is his master’s. If he has skill, the avails of it are his master’s. If he is an ingenious mechanic, or labours in any department; if he is amiable, kind, gentle, and faithful, and adapted to be useful in an eminent degree, it is regarded as all the property of his master. He is bound to go where his master chooses; to execute the task which he assigns; to deny himself at his master’s will; and to come and lay the avails of all his toil and skill at his master’s feet. He is regarded as having been purchased with money; and the purchase money is supposed to give a right to his time, his talents, his services, and his soul. Such as the slave is supposed to become by purchase, and by the operation of human laws, the Christian becomes by the purchase of the Son of God, and by the voluntary recognition of him as the master, and as having a right to all that we have and are. To him all belongs; and all should be employed in endeavoring to promote his glory, and in advancing his cause.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
We welcome Chris LouHing (Jackie’s brother) to our services. Chris is staying with the Kennedys.
On the back table are new pamphlets on “The Prohibition of the Remarriage of the Innocent Party” by Prof. Engelsma and a letter from the Philippines.
Prof. Hanko’s commentary on James, Faith Made Perfect, is now available in the bookstore for £15.
Our thanks to Herbie and Hazel Hall for their work as caretakers over the last five weeks.
The Council meets this Monday at 7:30 PM at the church.
The Tuesday Bible study will meet at 11 AM to continue our study of Hosea.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled “Homeward Bound.”
Rev. Stewart will be preaching in the Limerick Reformed Fellowship next week while Rev. McGeown is in the US. The CPRC will use DVDs for the services.
Offerings: General Fund £796.80 (5-7-15), £698.15 (12-7-15), £565.20 (19-7-15), £691.52 (26-7-15), £716.93 (2-8-15). Building Fund £134.42 (5-7-15), £127.93 (2-8-15). Donations: £200 (DVDs), $100. Gift Aid Refunds: £8,818.90 (for 2012 & 2013).
Website Additions: 1 Korean and 4 Indonesian translations, including “Does God Really Desire to Save the Reprobate?”
PRC News: Peace PRC called Candidate Ryan Barnhill. The new trio for the Philippines is Revs. Eriks, Haak and Huizinga.
Have You Been Feeling a Bit Strange?
Brian D. Dykstra
There is an envelope on my desk in which I keep articles from various sources. Sometimes these articles can be grouped into some common theme which will then be suitable for “the back of the note.” It is time to clean out some articles from the envelope.
Some months ago there appeared an interesting item in a small column entitled “News of the Weird.” It told of Rev. Marvin Munyon who spoke at a seminar at the Eau Claire Gospel Center. He spoke about “how to administer the loving and supportive corporal punishment demanded in the Bible.” Rev. Munyon affirmed that the proper use of spanking would “build self-esteem because it lets children know they are loved.”
From time to time my children have provided me with the opportunity to use the rod of correction. However, my purpose was not to build their self-esteem. I was merely trying to follow the direction God gives in His Word. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Prov. 22:15). I know my discipline is not administered in perfection, yet I pray God is able to use my weak efforts for the good of His covenant children.
What struck me about how strange my disciplinary methods must appear to the world was evident in the next little story from the “News of the Weird.”
What followed the item about Rev. Munyon was an article about a complaint from some female dancers (let’s call them “exotic showgirls” here in an effort to be polite). They wanted an exemption from the “no-touching-the-dancers” rule because it discriminated against blind customers.
I suppose I have been in some unusual or interesting company from time to time, but I must wonder why my belief in corporal punishment should put me in the company of these “dancers”! I feel a bit strange to learn just how “weird” the world views me.
Next, in the November 27, 2000, Grand Rapids Press there was a report about the Canadian elections which were about to take place. A conservative named Stockwell Day was in the race for Prime Minister for the newly formed Canadian Alliance. The Canadian press and the political competition repeatedly called upon Day to “defend his faith that humans were planted full-grown in the Garden of Eden—as the biblical book Genesis describes—and that if dinosaurs strode the Earth at all, they did so at the same time as Adam and Eve.”
A paper in Montreal had for a headline, “Day Admits Creationist Views.” The press reported that the news was “as if he’d confessed to an extramarital dalliance or cheating on his tax returns.”
What caught my attention, however, was the article’s final paragraph. One Montreal woman said, “It’s kind of freaky, being in denial about fossil evidence and carbon dating. I do like his message on taxes. Plus he’s real cute. But heavy-duty Christianity makes me nervous.”
If creationism makes this woman nervous, have I got a denomination for her! How would she react to people who held to all of the Five Points of Calvinism? How would she, and others, feel about being told that God does not love everybody? How would they react to being introduced to the true God who is the judge who will some day return?
Such news items make us realize just how strange we seem to the world. This is the world in which our children are growing. If, by God’s powerful, efficacious grace, our children continue to walk the old path marked out by God’s truth, how strange will they appear to be in the next twenty years, should our Lord tarry?
The ark-building Noah must have seemed strange to people who had never even seen a drop of rain. “Of what use could that ark possibly be?” they must have wondered. The father of all the faithful, Abraham, must have appeared strange as well. This old, childless man speaks of his children inheriting Canaan? Strange!
May God give us His grace that we might be as pilgrims and strangers in the earth. He has promised His people a great heavenly reward and He will keep the promises which He has made to His beloved strangers in Jesus Christ.
