Christian Doubt and the Source of Assurance In a biblical view of knowledge, God’s word is the ultimate criterion of certainty. What God says must be true; for, as the letter to the Hebrews says, it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18; compare Titus 1:2 and 1st John 2:27). His Word is Truth (John 17:17; compare Psalms 33:4, 119:160). So God’s Word is the criterion by which we can measure all other sources of knowledge. When God promised Abraham a multitude of descendants and an inheritance in the land of Canaan, many things might have caused him to doubt. He reached the age of one hund ..read more

Doubt Assured and Faith Strengthened So what do you do when those questions about God’s goodness and trustworthiness press in on you, as they inevitably will in this fallen world? You look again to the cross, the ultimate sign, where Jesus Christ proved once and for all God’s undying love for you, and where he paid in full the price of all your sins. Even you sinful doubts and questionings about God’s goodness were covered there, and the perfect faith and trust in Jesus Christ, which never wavered from his Father even fo an instant, in now credited to you as if it were your faith. That is why ..read more

Eric opened our session with words of encouragement from Psalm 78 and our need to listen to our fathers and speak to our children in order to pass on the faith. We prayed for 11 families of the church according to their needs. An officer training class is beginning this week. Future Sunday School plans were discussed reaching into the next year when we will start a Christian History class. A Family Discipleship Class will begin in March. We named Dan and Ted as our delegates to General Assembly in Birmingham in June. Our income is about $8,ooo behind our expenses for the year. We are nearer t ..read more

Ted opened our time together with a devotion from Ephesians 1:3-14 on the blessed sovereignty of God in the ‘big’ things of life. And, He is present and working even in the ‘little’ things, too. We prayed for 8 families of the church, and even for one family outside the church. Classical Conversations has a summer Parent Practicum on May 27-29 and we approved their request to hold the event at Westminster. We discussed the many recent visitors to our church and were encouraged by their presence and those who invited them. We have several men willing to stand for the office of deacon and we wi ..read more

Genesis 8:20-21 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. The burnt offering turned away the wrath of God from his people. It was a sacrifice of atonement. Like the other sacrifices of the Older Testament, this prefigured the sacrifi ..read more

The church has stopped growing. Why is that? For every church in that situation, and there are far too many, the specific answer requires a painfully honest self-examination to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. But here is one factor that is not often considered. The flock stops growing because the sheep stop growing. What are some of the tell-tale indicators of Christian growth and maturity? Growing means increasing in our knowledge of, love for, service to, and sweet delight in, the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowledge We are exhorted to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus ..read more

Communion Meditation November 24, 2019 Titus 3:3-8 Who we are. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. What God did about it. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, How did God save us? not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, Why did God save ..read more

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The Lord’s supper is personal. This is my savior - I know him, I love him, I live for him. The Lord’s supper is also communal. We partake together. Each of us personally communing with and committing to Christ. But we do this, together. We come as the blood bought people of God, together, in unity with one another. The Lord’s Supper is a confirmation of our faith. Jesus Christ fee ..read more

For our last session meeting of the year we had one elder away on business and one on injured reserve. Two women of the church also attended the meeting to share their wisdom. Pastor Mark led a devotion on Psalm 133 and how good and pleasant it is when brother dwell together in unity. Roy Smith will again give a brief meditation at our Christmas Eve service. Eric Eagle and Ed Payne will fill our pulpit on December 29 and January 5. Our next session meeting will be on January 20th. We discussed the officer nominations and noted that Jim Finlay, Randy Waters, and Ted Kuhn, are scheduled to rota ..read more

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” God loves. That is the heartbeat and the core of the good news. God so loved the world. The world was loved in an astonishing manner. BB Warfield, “The point … is not to sugge ..read more