Hopewell Herald – May 16, 2020
Dear Congregation,
As I write, my heart is gladdened by the
sound of fellowship wafting down the hallway to my study. What a joy it is that
God’s bringing us near to Himself in Christ has also brought us near to one
another.
There is a great Christian fellowship in
recreation together, but I think that every time we have one of these workdays,
we are reminded that there is a fellowship of a different (and in some ways
superior) quality in working together. And there is a fellowship of a truly
heavenly quality in worshiping together, when the worship is truly governed by
God’s Word unto God’s glory.
In the Ephesians passage for this week’s
Hopewell @Home (the May 24 morning service/afternoon exhortation), we are
reminded that when God creates us new in Christ, He makes us part of a
commonwealth of people who are joined to one another, and a covenant people who
are joined to Him.
Having had some aspects of our worship
curtailed a bit these last couple months has only heightened the gratitude for
being able to enjoy it together. Although we are all called as Christians to
think of one another, it is my actual vocation to look forward to and prepare
for our times together. This is especially a blessing to me because that which
I do imperfectly and finitely, our Lord does infinitely with reference to His
divine nature and even perfectly with reference to His human nature.
What a wonderful thing to have
reinforced to me (and which I now wish to reinforce to you)—the desire and
delight of our Lord to have fellowship with us in all things, and especially as
He gathers us to Himself in worship, and through Himself unto the Father!
Looking forward to this fulfillment of
His perfect desires (and our grace-given, though yet imperfect desires!),
Pastor
LORD'S DAY – May 17,
2020
9:50 a.m. Breakfast
Line Opens (feel free to bring your own, separate food if preferred)
10 a.m. Bible Class
We are studying the ARP’s confessed theology
from Scripture. We’ll be studying Election as the ultimate source in the
application of redemption to believers
11 a.m. Public Worship
▫Children’s Catechism
for May 17
Q29. What is meant by “want of conformity”? A. Not being or doing what God requires.
Q29. What is meant by “want of conformity”? A. Not being or doing what God requires.
▫Shorter Catechism
for May 17
Q37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.
Q37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.
Psalms and Hymns
TPH365 “Thine
Be the Glory”
ARP78B “O
Come, My People, to My Law”
ARP56B “You
Have Recorded All My Ways”
Scripture Text for first portion of
worship service
Scripture Readings
Sermon Scripture text and topic
We will be hearing from Genesis 26:1–11 about the Lord’s patience with a
cowardly saint whose unfounded fear was greater than either his confidence in
the Lord or fear in the Lord.
12:45 p.m. Coffee
Fellowship and Catechism Class
1 p.m. Fellowship
Lunch & Open Mic Time
There will be plenty for everyone, but
as with breakfast, those who are uncomfortable eating from the line are
encouraged to bring their own food that they keep separate.
At open mic time, we’ll begin with
birthdays and anniversaries and recitations of the memory verse: (Genesis 26:9)
Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife;
so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said,
‘Lest I die on account of her.’”
2:30 p.m Psalm/hymn
Sing
Carryover song requests from last week:
Carryover song requests from last week:
Blue: 183, 2, 119W
Red: 510 | 567 | 354, 243
Red: 510 | 567 | 354, 243
3:30 p.m. P.M.
exhortation from Ephesians 2:1–7
After Party at ???? (No open invitations
to congregation yet at time of writing)
Hopewell this Month
Hopewell’s
Presbytery Prayer Focus for May:
Pressly-Memorial
ARP in Red Level, AL
May
Psalm of the Month
ARP78B O Come, My People, to My
Law
Upcoming Events
•May 13, Prayer Meeting, 6:30p.m.
•CONGREGATIONAL Breakfast, May 16, 6:30a.m. With the Men’s Breakfast
scheduled to resume for the 16th, the Session invites the ladies to
join the men this month for a congregational breakfast on the 16th,
followed by a workday with the 23rd as an overflow day in case the
work is not completed on the first Saturday.
•October 2-4,
HARPC 200th Anniversary Celebration
Congregational Prayer Requests
(new/updates in bold)
▪ Pray with the Reformed sidewalk-counseling group @PP in
Nashville for their Wednesday and Friday ministries
▪ Early Rain Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church,
Christians in Nigeria, and other persecuted churches like them; Pastor Wang Yi
in prison.
▪ Alan McClelland and his ministry at
Ft. Rucker
▪ Repentance of the Church and the
Nations, as well as comfort and strength through the advancement of the gospel against
the backdrop of SARS-CoV-2 and its accompanying panic, especially joining the
rest of the ARP at 9a.m. central every day
▪ Comfort and provision for the LeeAnn Billings
family as they grieve, especially for new work, as the university just
eliminated her position from the department
▪ Pray for the Jeffers family, whose
granddaughter Isabelle (14) and then her mother Norma both attempted suicide; there’s
a long way to go medically, financially, and especially spiritually for all
involved; please keep praying for them and for Sue’s ministry to them
▪ Pray for Kacey and family, going
through difficult trial
▪ Pray with D&L L for her 85yo mother
and her heart issues
▪ Pray with KC for her acquaintance Linda who doesn’t seem to know the Lord, and just
lost 21 year old son; and, for sister Diane and her husband Frank, who need a
living faith in Christ; and for friend Patty, a believer, that she will
continue to do well after treatment for uterine cancer
▪ Pray with D&M G that her mother
would continue healing well and not smoking; for Sean; for Jeremiah and
Julianna
▪ Pray with W&C G for her mother’s
health and caregivers; and for spiritual (and total) well-being of son Greg
▪ Pray with J&H H for his father’s cancer and recovery from
open-heart surgeries; and sweetness in his parents’ remaining time together;
for his youngest brother
▪ Pray for James Heard to make good
choices and to walk with an serve the Lord in this next phase of his life.
▪ Pray with H&K H for their health (especially
Karen’s back, which keeps getting reinjured, and their schedule which it
affects) and for many of their loved ones; needing Christian fellowship: her
grandmother and father, widow Hope w/4 children, Brown family of 7 (wayward son
Nicholas); needing health: her mom, sister Lisa, Martina, Donna, Joyce; needing
spiritual life: Velvet and Reagan (lost their sister/daughter to a brutal
murder), neighbors Shawn, Merlin, & children; other widows: Libby, Naomi
(w/daughter Stacia), Stephanie (w/many children, were missionaries); friend
Andrea’s New Age friends; Charles & Robert to be able to forgive; friends
w/family problems: Dave, Lee, Melodie, Cole; spiritual growth and wife for
friend Scott; their family’s evangelism, recently firefighter Dalton; Riggs to
grow mighty in the Lord
▪ Pray with R&M J for Meredith,
young daughter of M’s college friend Ashely (and husband Brad), who’s taking
medicine to shrink her brain tumor
▪ Pray with O&A L for her
unbelieving mother w/heart condition, and her family’s grieving over her
brother
▪ Pray with CM for for Sheriff’s
Reserve James Wilson, and his wife Andra’s cancer; and friend Michael Duval and
his recovery from knee surgery
▪ Pray with C&T P for wisdom for
him about what to do with two good career choices, and for the
conversion of her brother Todd; and for her dad who is not doing well and his
wife Jolene whom they expect to pass away imminently, and for Tami while she
is there.
▪ Pray with D&K R for their
family’s growth in godliness, especially dying to self, godly speech, and
Lord’s Day keeping; for Micah, Rachel, and baby girl due in July; and for local
pastor/constable Darryl Thrasher, who has an aggressive, malignant brain tumor
▪ Pray with GR for friend Abby to come
to faith in Christ
▪ Pray with JeR for believing friend
Jeanette Cary’s CHF, Fibromyalgia, & slow-healing wound
▪ Pray with J&M R for baby
Bentley, and their family’s adjustment and future with him
▪ Pray with J&S R for her nephew,
who needs life in Christ; and for her and her family in the loss of her father,
especially spiritual impact on her sisters and nephews; and for her sister
Rebecca’s pregnancy; and for the whole family, and especially his mother, as
they grieve the passing away of his father
▪ Pray with S&V Y for his parents
and siblings as they deal with his father’s declining health and his mothers
dementia
▪ Please pray with Pressly Memorial ARP
in Red Level, AL, throughout the month of May
▪ Please pray for the TN-AL Presbytery
to be enabled to plant a faithful church with the resources available and
earmarked for that purpose
▪ Please pray for all ARP presbyteries, churches, and agencies
▪ Please pray for our nation, state,
community and all the officials thereof
Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one
special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men: and, that it
may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his
Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility,
fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue. (WCF
21.3)
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