When visitors come to a United Reformed Church, something stands out from many other churches: catechetical preaching. Catechetical preaching is when a minister “preach[es] the Word as summarized in the Three Forms of Unity” (URCNA Church Order, article 40), which happens at one of the worship services each Lord’s Day. While the URCNA federation is […]
In my last article, I mentioned that when faced with failure, we tend to flee for refuge to one of three idols: control, comfort, or approval. We saw how Americans, surrounded by comfort, often hide under its shifting shadow. But comfort is not our only antidote to failure; we also chase the dazzling rays of […]
How do you and I respond? As we reflect on the prior topics, all dealing with the jealousy of God, we need to react. We need to ask the question: How should we worship a jealous God? Knowing what we do about God, how do we worship him? We have seen how God reacted on […]
Our Worship, chapters 2–3, 13, 15–17, 30 Our examination of liturgy in the last issue of The Outlook emphasized that worship communicates. The design of a church’s building, the arrangement of its sanctuary, and the attire of its worshipers are all clues to the content of its faith. But this is not all. At a […]
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” That statement is the starting point for much of personal evangelism.1 Is there a Reformed way to do evangelism? Yes. It relates to the principles recognized, the approach, the message, and the goal. But is it effective? Could we be more effective evangelists or […]
Dear believer, I desire to write you about something with which you are well acquainted: affliction. Much has been written on affliction by our forebears. A good part of it you have known for a long time. For example, you know that all affliction is ultimately traceable to our tragic fall in Adam. You know, […]
In everyday life we take words and language for granted. Every baby learns the language from his or her parents, and we use it to communicate with others throughout our lives. Even when a person becomes handicapped, we all will try to communicate with some kind of language, like Braille or sign language or even […]
The Right Kind of Strong: Surprisingly Simple Benefits of a Spiritual Strong Woman Mary A. Kassian. Nashville: Nelson Books, 2019. Paperback. 224 pages. Publisher’s list price: $17.99 In this book, Mary Kassian explains seven habits that can make a woman spiritually strong. Using 2 Timothy 3:6–7 as the starting point, she sets forth in a […]
Hymns of Devotion: 25 New Hymns for the Church Jonathan Landry Cruse Paperback: 26 pages. Self-published. Available through Reformed Fellowship: $5.00 Two hundred thousand—that’s the number of hymn texts currently catalogued in Calvin University’s Hymnary.org database, from North American sources alone.1 The ever-expanding library of Christian hymnody demands that we ask weighty questions about why […]
Members come and go. Some leave because they relocate. Others are compelled to leave because of doctrinal errors. Some leave not because the church is at fault but because they want to look for a congregation where their worldly practices can be tolerated. Or others leave with unrepentant hearts, wanting to avoid church discipline. There […]