Saturday, September 19, 2020

A Better Altar (2020.09.18 Pastoral Letter and Hopewell Herald)

Hopewell Herald – September 18, 2020

Dear Congregation,

As we come to the table tomorrow, I hope that you will be examining yourself beforehand so that you can come with joy at your Lord’s feeding you, confirming His covenant to you, and granting to you to show forth His death until He comes.

Hebrews 13:10 speaks of us as having an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. The implication, of course, is that Jesus as our true Tabernacle, has given us the right to eat from His altar.

There won’t be an earthily impressive tent or temple. There won’t be fire and roasting meat. But what there will be is Christ Himself—Who, without moving from the throne of glory communicates Himself to us on earth by means of the faith that His Spirit gives us.

Those who do not have this faith will find it rather unimpressive. But those who have faith will find that Christ Himself is the impressiveness of His Supper, just as He Himself is the glory and substance of all New Testament worship.

Looking forward to that worship and supper together with you,

Pastor

The following is the latest update from Sue:

I arrived in NY last night.
Brenda is about the same.
Tomorrow will be crucial for her.
Thank you for your love and concern, my friend.

Dave's update from last night follows:

Dear friends,

I am sorry for the late update, but as I may have already mentioned, our oldest daughter Valerie and my sister Suzie arrived today and we went to meet them at the airport.

Brenda's condition is relatively unchanged from yesterday, but she is going to have a couple of things happen within the next few days that I would be grateful if you would pray about.  You have heard me talk about her intercranial pressure, (ICP), and how they are monitoring it closely since her brain needs the pressure to be lower so that it can heal.  The device that does that measuring is referred to in neurologic speech as a "bolt".  It provides direct access through her skull to her brain.  This device has a very short time that it can be in place since it could be a source of infection if it is left too long.  Tomorrow is the last day that she can have it in, so as of tomorrow there will not be a method to get those readings directly.

Earlier I told you that this was what was holding up the MRI that she needs; her pressure spiking when she has laid flat.  She is still doing that, but not as severely.  Yesterday her spikes went as high as 40, (much higher than the upper limit of 22 that they like to see), but today she only went to the upper 20's.  It's still not ideal, but what the ICU attending is going to do is to order a fast brain MRI.  A normal MRI takes 25-35 minutes, but the fast version takes 10.  This will limit the amount of time that it will be elevated and still provide the information that they need for her continued treatment.  If everything goes according to plan, the MRI is scheduled for 9 am on Saturday.  If you would make this a subject of prayer, I would be grateful.

People from various groups who have ministered alongside the Reformed Personhood TN ministry on the sidewalk outside PP in Nashville are gathering to discuss the sidewalk ministry at Gateway Community Church in Franklin, Friday, October 9, 6:30p.m. Those praying for and interested in the ministry are invited.

LORD'S DAY – September 20, 2020 

9:50 a.m. Breakfast Line Opens

10 a.m. Sabbath School

This week, we begin being taught by a team of men who are leading us through the book The Day of Worship, by Ryan McGraw

 

11 a.m. Public Worship

Children’s Catechism for Sep 20
Q47. How could the Son of God suffer? A. Christ, the Son of God, became man that He might obey and suffer in our nature.


Shorter Catechism for Sep 20
Q55. What is forbidden in the third commandment? A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh Himself known.

Psalms and Hymns
TPH404 “The Church’s One Foundation”   
TPH27A “The Lord’s My Light” 
TPH219 “O Worship the King”

Scripture Text for first portion of worship service
Ephesians 2:19–22

Scripture Readings
1Samuel 17
Ephesians 4:17–25
Luke 8:19–21

Sermon Scripture text and topic
We will be hearing from Genesis 33:1–17 about how Jacob seeing God’s graciousness to him enables him to be humble and generous toward his brother.

Lord’s Supper
We plan to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. See attached guide.

1 p.m. Coffee Fellowship and Catechism Class 

1:15 p.m. Fellowship Lunch & Open Mic Time
Members are encouraged to bring way more than enough, so that there will be plenty for everyone, including any members or guests who are deciding last-minute whether or not to stay. 

At open mic time, we’ll begin with birthdays and anniversaries and recitations of the memory verse:
Genesis 33:11Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it

2:45 p.m Psalm/hymn Sing

3:45 p.m. Evening Sermon from Ephesians 4:17–25, Christianity: Theological Living

Hopewell this Month

Hopewell’s Presbytery Prayer Focus for September
Bethel ARP in Los Angeles, CA 

September Psalm of the Month
TPH27A The Lord’s My Light


Upcoming Events

•September 23, Prayer Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
•October 2-4, HARPC 200th Anniversary Celebration, with guest speaker Dr. Nick Willborn
•October 16, HCCFS school campout
•October 17, Congregational (not just men’s) breakfast

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