Hopewell Herald –
February 14, 2026
Next week, we’ll read the following in Deuteronomy:
Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers
possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more
than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the
heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul, that you may live.
Deut 30:5–6
In v5, the Lord says that He will prosper and multiply His people more, after the exile, than He had before the exile. But, historically, we did not see this until the grafting in of those elect from among the nations.
It is helpful for our understanding of God's dealing with covenant children, in the administration under Moses, that His promises to them were not only visible/externally covenantal, but internal and spiritual: "YHWH your God will circumcise the heart of your offspring, to love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
And it is helpful for our understanding of God's dealing with covenant children, under Christ, is that this "and the heart of your descendants" aspect of the promise has a focus especially on the time in which the visible church would be prospered and multiplied "more than your fathers."
When it included children, under Moses, it was the covenant of grace.
And under Christ, the covenant of grace still includes children!
When the apostle says, "For the promise is to you and your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call," (Ac 2:39), he is saying exactly what Deut 30:5–6 says.
Spirit-baptism includes this circumcision of the heart. It corresponds to water baptism, just as the Lord's gracious work of heart-circumcision corresponded to the covenant sign that He had commanded upon covenant children.
Deut 30:5–6 was solving the problem of a people who could not circumcise their own hearts, as commanded in Deut 10:16. And, on the day of Pentecost, there was this wonderful proclamation that Jesus provides, by His Spirit, the repentance that the baptism of John could only announce to us that we need it. Christian baptism announces that Jesus actually gives it.
This hope He gives us for ourself. This hope He gives us for our children.
Looking forward to holding fast to our hope in Him together in worship tomorrow,
Pastor
Audio lessons to help you prepare for the
Lord’s Day:
▪Theology
Simply Explained — CC39, An Exchange of Heart
▪Theology
Simply Explained — WSC16, We Sinned in Him with Whom We Fell
▪Song of Songs 5:1, “Glorious Answer to Prayer”
▪Deuteronomy 29:22–29, “Give to God What Is God's”
▪Ecclesiastes 11:7–10, “How to Live Your Blink of a Life”
▪Matthew 27:45–54, “Truly This Is the Son of God”
▪Song of Songs 5:2–8, “The Way Back from Backsliding”
LORD'S DAY – February
15, 2026
9:50 a.m. Breakfast Line Opens
10 a.m. Sabbath School
We are preparing our minds and hearts for
public worship by studying our Confession of Faith from Scripture, affirming
that Scripture is our only ultimate authority, but also discovering that what
we confess is thoroughly Scriptural.
11 a.m. Public Worship
▫Children’s Catechism for February 15. Q39 What is a change of heart
called? Regeneration. [CC 39 Simply Explained: “An Exchange of Heart”]
▫Shorter Catechism for February 15. Q16. Did all mankind fall in
Adam’s first transgression? The covenant being made with Adam, not
only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by
ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first
transgression. [WSC 16 Simply Explained: “We Sinned in Him with Whom We Fell”]
▫Songs for public worship on February 15:
TPH403 [mp3], ARP22A [mp3], ARP22B [mp3]
Scripture Text for first portion of worship service
Song of Songs 5:1
Scripture Readings and basis for confession of sin
and petition for help
Deuteronomy 29:22–29
Ecclesiastes 11:7–10
Sermon Scripture text and topic
We will be hearing the sermon from Matthew 27:45–54
about “Truly, This is the Son of God!”
Lord’s Supper! (Please see the section at the end of the Worship Booklet on how rightly to prepare for and take it).
1 p.m. Coffee Fellowship and Catechism Class
1:30 p.m. Fellowship Lunch
▫Memory
Verse for February 15, Matthew 27:54, So when the centurion
and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things
that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of
God!”
3:00 p.m. Evening Praise and
Preaching
We will be singing at least ten Psalm
selections and hearing the sermon from Song of Songs 5:2
about “How Jesus Awakens the Church”
Hopewell this Month
Hopewell’s Presbytery
Prayer Focus for February
Madison-Monrovia
ARP in Harvest, AL
February Psalm of the
Month
ARP22A My
God, My God
• Wednesday,
February 11, Midweek Prayer Meeting. 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel. We will
hear a sermon from Proverbs 21:10–18 then pray until 8 p.m.
• Saturday, February 28, Men’s (and future men)
breakfast, 7a in the Fellowship Hall
• Tuesday, March 5, Diaconate Meeting, 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 18, Session Meeting, 8
p.m. in the Pastor’s Study