From Pastor Caleb's Study

November 7, 2024

This coming Sunday evening, we will host a fourth installation service of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley. Over the last couple months we've been able to celebrate as the Presbytery ordained Josh Beck as a Chaplain, installed Nathan Stevenson as a Church Planter, and installed Charles Marchman as our own Associate Pastor. This Lord's Day we will rejoice with the Rev. Dr. Josh Malone and Reformed Theological Seminary as the Presbytery installs him as Associate Pastor of Theology. Josh has been a minister of the gospel in the Gulfstream Presbytery in South Florida, and he passed his transfer exam this week at our Presbytery meeting. His wife Emily, and children Rebekah (18), Luke (16), and Lizzie (13), are members of our congregation, so it is our pleasure and privilege to host this wonderful event in the life of their family and for the RTS community.

One of the joys of being a church in a seminary town means that we get to benefit from the resources of the seminary, whether its library, its bookstore, its students, or its professors. Because the Malone family is here at our church, we have the blessing of Josh's public ministry among us from time to time - many of you have already sat under his ministry of the word from the pulpit or the Sunday School/Bible study lectern. Let's come out this Sunday evening to give thanks and pray for the ministry of RTS in general, and Josh Malone specifically!

----------

Next week I will be away on my annual study week. In the past, it's been the week where I put together our annual preaching calendar and begin to prepare for the next year's sermon series. But I've moved that work to the summer, so my plan for this upcoming week is to do more reading for my soul and for ministry reset, as well as spend time in prayer. As I prepare for the week, Mark 6:31 comes to mind: "And Jesus said to His disciples, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." Don't worry, I'm eating :-). But I'm looking forward to resting a while. Please pray that the Lord will richly bless the week, for my good and for your good as the sheep whom I have the privilege of feeding and leading along with our other teaching and ruling elders.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

October 31, 2024

Today is the 507th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. In God's providence, this simple action of using what was essentially the bulletin board of that day to call for academic debate over the question of indulgences became (through the newly invented printing press) a catalyst for spiritual revival and reformation across the entire European continent and the British Isles.

The Reformation was used by God to recover many Biblical teachings that had been lost through the darkness of Romanism that had dominated the preceding centuries:

• The good news of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone - over against works, merit, and the mediation of anyone but Jesus.

• The priority and sufficiency of the Bible as the supreme rule for faith and practice - over against traditions of the church or the word of the Pope. The Bible was translated out of Latin and into the common vernacular of the various peoples in Europe, so that even the lowliest who was able to read could study God's word.

• The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers eroded the idea that the only way to glorify God was through service in the church, and that the clergy class was somehow more spiritual than the "normal" believer.

• The purity of worship was recovered by cleansing the church of the idolatry of the mass and the worship of God by images, the veneration of saints, false views and practices of the sacraments, manmade feast and fast days, and a low view of the preaching of the word of God in corporate worship.

• Biblical church government began to be restored to the people of God, and the supreme authority of the Pope was rejected.

There were several different Reformation streams of thought, and not all of them were equally Biblical or edifying. As Presbyterians, we obviously look back with greatest fondness on the Reformed/Calvinistic teachings that took hold in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. Men like Ulrich Zwingli, Heinrich Bullinger, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox were leaders of the movement (if you're interested in learning more about the Reformation, check out Timothy George's Theology of the Reformers). Give thanks to God today for His mercy in restoring His truth to His people, and pray that we might continue to uphold the truth of the Bible and the gospel.

----------

At our Session meeting back in August, the elders heard an encouraging report from Cathy Haynie, Head of School at Christ Covenant School. The original thought of the School Board was that it would take more than five years to reach the goal of having 50 students per grade in the Upper School. But the Lord has richly blessed our ministry, and enrollment has grown more quickly than was anticipated. We now have the privilege of serving nearly 600 students in PK-11th grade, and it appears that the desire for a Christ-centered, Biblical worldview model of education is only increasing. The increase in enrollment, both present and anticipated, has put a strain on our current facilities, both for the church and the school.

Therefore, at our September Session meeting we approved several requests from Christ Covenant School:

• To increase the grade limitation from two sections to three sections per grade in 7th-12th grade, so that CCS can accommodate future growth of the Upper School. The school is on schedule to finish the construction of the second high school building at 443 Northpark Dr. in time for the next school year.

• To pursue the acquisition and renovation of 406 Orchard Park, a building adjacent to the Preschool side of our property, to create more academic space (and to include creating a large, shared classroom on the third floor of the Education Building suitable for adult Sunday School).

• To pursue additional campus improvements for athletics (e.g., field expansion, new concession stand/restrooms, bleachers, a Warrior Walk to replace the gravel driveway), working closely with the POPC Diaconate and the Buildings & Grounds Committee to determine the appropriate scopes of work and timelines.

We are excited to watch how this expansion will further the mission of both CCS and POPC as a whole. Please continue to pray for this ministry of our church, and pray for wisdom for the School Board, School administrators, Elders, Deacons, and Church staff as these improvements to our campus are implemented over time!

----------

As we come upon another Presidential election next week, let us remember that we are citizens of two kingdoms, and thus we are called to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (Matthew 22:21). As Americans, we have the right to participate in the election of those officials who will lead us, voting as we are led by our conscience held captive to the word of God. No matter the results, King Jesus is still and always on the throne of the universe. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and He "is the ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of men" (Daniel 4:17). God has decreed from before the foundation of the world who will govern us these next four years, and He calls on us to pray for and submit to whomever is elected:

• I Timothy 2:8 - "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."

• Roman 13:1 - "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God."

Like Joseph in Egypt, as well as Daniel and all the post-exilic saints in Babylon, we are to serve our country no matter who is leading it, seeking its welfare as those who are sojourners and exiles in America (Jeremiah 29:7), whose true citizenship is in heaven and not on earth (Philippians 3:20-21; I Peter 2:11-12; Titus 3:1-2). May the Lord give us grace to trust Him and to walk in love for our neighbors (even if He calls us to suffer at their hands), and to be the best citizens we can be, so that King Jesus might be glorified by us and by those who come to put their trust in Him through the light we shine in the darkness.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

October 24, 2024

This coming Lord's Day we will present our newest members to you in the morning worship service. One of the chief joys of our elders is to hear the testimonies of those desiring to join with our body, as well as how the Lord in His providence led them to POPC. Several of those in this group of new members were drawn here directly through one of our ministries, including Sonbeams, Christ Covenant School, and Trail Life. It was such an encouragement to hear how the Lord is using our ministries, and the relationships that are essential to them, to bless those outside the church. Whether it results in new members or not, we have been blessed to be a blessing to believers and unbelievers alike in our community. As you use your gifts to serve the Lord and your neighbors, know that He will use your service to bear much fruit for His kingdom!

Another note that was sounded at the latest new members meeting was how warm and intentionally welcoming our congregation was to them. So though it sounds like I don't really need to say this, I will - whenever you see someone that you don't know in worship, go up and introduce yourself and make them feel welcome. You may be meeting someone who has been a member for some time, but you just hadn't crossed paths with them yet. Or you may be meeting a visitor. Either way, noticing someone and showing that you are interested in them can make such a huge impact in their life. If you haven't met the new members that you'll be introduced to this Sunday, please make it a point to do so soon! Have them over to your house for Sunday lunch or dinner during the week, get together for coffee, go out to eat, play together, serve together. Let's continue to be the body of Christ and the family of God!

----------

Many of you have asked me about my father in the last month, and I so appreciate your words of encouragement and your prayers for my brothers and me. My brother Cory, who lives in Hot Springs, AR, near my dad, moved him into a nursing home at the end of September, and I was able to go up there last week for a day to see him with my own eyes. It was heartbreaking. I'm pretty sure he knew I was his son, but I don't think he recognized me by my name. His speech was not fully coherent (I had been frustrated before that I couldn't call my dad on the phone any longer, but now I realize that he wouldn't be able to hold a conversation on a phone even if I could call him). He wasn't making much eye contact with me, and dazed off into space several times while I was there. He was walking slowly with his walker, and was able to make it down to the cafeteria for lunch and feed himself, for the most part. But when I tried to get him to sit down in a chair to trim his beard, I could tell he was unable to easily locate the chair behind and underneath him and so was hesitant to sit in it. It was all very hard to see. But thankfully he's not agitated or violent, and is in a place that is safe and warm, with a lot of staff present who seem to care for him, and who are willing to redirect him back to his room whenever he tries to wander into someone else's room. My brother and sister-in-law and their six children are able to go see him regularly.

It's been aptly said that aging is a process of loss. So is experiencing and watching someone you love age - particularly when part of what they are losing is their mental faculties. It's a slow process of death - which allows you to begin the process of grieving already, on the one hand, but feels so very unnatural, on the other. They're present but not present. They're themselves but not themselves. You want to ask questions to see how they're feeling or what they want to do, but you realize right away they can't understand what you're asking, and even if they could they wouldn't be able to express an answer. For all who are living with someone walking through the decline of dementia/Alzheimer's, whether a spouse or a parent, my heart grieves with you. How we long for the day when every tear will be wiped away, when memory will be restored, when bodies will be made new! Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

An Update from your Diaconate

October 10, 2024

As we move into the last quarter of 2024, we wanted to give you an update on some things the Diaconate has been doing recently and changes taking place around the campus. 

Our campus has grown with the purchase of 419 Northpark Drive. Renovations are well underway to configure that space for our church staff and we expect to have them moved in by the end of the year. Our staff offices are currently spread around campus in the front of the sanctuary, the back of the sanctuary, the education building, the multipurpose building, and the parlor. While 419 cannot accommodate every staff member, all of the full-time staff and a few others will have dedicated offices in this building. Not only do we expect this to be a blessing to our staff, but it will also free up significant space in the current footprint of the campus—particularly the sanctuary—for future campus improvements.

General fund giving has been right on budget so far. Through the end of August, general fund contributions were over what we budgeted to receive by that point in the year by $4,638 (which is less than 0.5% over budget). We thank the Lord for his gracious provision through your giving. Being on track with giving lightens the burden of preparing next year’s budget. At the same time, we want to encourage you to continue to give generously so that we might not merely make budget this year, but that we would have a surplus and be able to expand the work of Pear Orchard. When we prepare the budget, we strive to exercise prudent planning based on economic realities and giving trends from prior years while also having a bold, hopeful vision for what the Lord would do at Pear Orchard. Annual giving that exceeds what we have budgeted encourages Pear Orchard’s staff, officers, and ministries to deepen and broaden their vision as we seek to pursue transformation by truth and grace together for the glory of Christ! 

Speaking of the budget, please pray for the 2025 budgeting process that is underway. Several steps in that process have already taken place. The Diaconate will discuss and approve a budget at our October meeting next week. Then, the Diaconate and the Session will have a joint meeting the following week where the budget will be presented to the Session for approval and adoption. 

The Diaconate is working closely with Christ Covenant School on a number of projects as the school is making improvements around the campus including campus security. Cathy Haynie, head of school, gave an encouraging presentation to the Diaconate in September about CCS’s mission, growing enrollment, achievements, and master campus plan. It is exciting to see how the Lord is prospering the work of CCS!

Please pray for us as we seek to be good stewards of what the Lord has provided to Pear Orchard. Please also pray for the men who are currently in officer training. 

~ Madison Taylor, 2024 Diaconate Chair

From Pastor Caleb's Study

October 3, 2024

Mark your calendars for the last Sunday evening in October! First Presbyterian Church is hosting a Joint Presbytery Reformation Day Worship Service at 6:00 p.m. on October 27. The Rev. Jonathan Landry Cruse, a pastor in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, MI, will be preaching God's word to us. We will not be holding our evening service that night, but encourage everyone to gather in Jackson with the saints from around the area. It's always a joy and privilege to sing praise together to God for the liberty of pure worship, the gift of the Scriptures, and the grace of the gospel - three primary things He gave us through the Reformation. Make plans to join us with your family - there will be a nursery and a special program for children ages 4-3rd grade.

----------

In my sermon last Sunday, I read two poems that reflect two diametrically opposed worldview, one arrogant, rebellious, depressing, atheistic and humanistic, and man-centered, and the other humble, submissive, joyful, theistic, and Christ-centered. I want you to be able to read these poems for yourself, side-by-side.

First, "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903):
 

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul.

Next, "My Captain," by Dorothy Day (1897-1980):

    Out of the night that dazzles me,
          Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
    I thank the God I know to be
          For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
      
    Since His the sway of circumstance,
          I would not wince nor cry aloud.
    Under that rule which men call chance
          My head with joy is humbly bowed.
      
    Beyond this place of sin and tears
          That life with Him! And His the aid,
    Despite the menace of the years,
          Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.

    I have no fear, though strait the gate,
          He cleared from punishment the scroll.
    Christ is the Master of my fate,
          Christ is the Captain of my soul.

Meditate on these words as you prepare your hearts to come to the Lord's Table this coming Sabbath Day. Jesus has given Himself for us, taking the punishment that we deserved upon Himself, and redeeming us from every lawless deed to be a people for His own possession (Titus 2:11-14). Therefore by His grace our hearts can view every circumstance with joy and quiet trust and submission. Henley wanted to be "invictus" - i.e., unconquered, undefeated - by his own human strength and willpower. Day's words understand that because Christ has conquered our sinful souls, and because He has defeated death by dying, Christians are truly the unconquerable souls. May God give us grace to humble ourselves day by day under His mighty hand of grace in Jesus!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

September 26, 2024

This coming Sunday evening is our annual Fall Concert, and I hope you'll make plans to be there. Our goal is to alternate year by year between an outside musician and our own musicians, and this year we have the delight of hearing our own choir. They'll be directing our hearts to some of the great hymns of the faith. We will also be hearing the testimonies of God's grace from two of our members, Dr. Rob Waltzer and Mr. Howard Graylin. Both of these men were converted to Christ from a Jewish heritage, so it will be a rich privilege to hear how God continues to graft back into the vine of the church branches from Jew as well as Gentile (Romans 11:23)!

----------

Though this isn't the way they're often viewed or experienced, there are few truths more practical than the Five Points of Calvinism - especially the L of TULIP, Limited Atonement. This truth teaches that Jesus died on the cross for all of the sins of all of the elect. He died to save His sheep, those His Father gave Him before the foundation of the world, from the wrath of God - the punishment their sins deserved (see Matthew 1:21; John 10:14-15). If He had died in order to save every person who has ever lived without exception, then the cross would be a miserable failure, since not everyone is saved - and Jesus would have died for people who were already in hell, which makes a mockery of His sacrifice. The question of the extent of the atonement (i.e., for whom did Jesus die?) is ultimately related to question of the nature of the atonement. Did Jesus die to make salvation possible, or to accomplish salvation? Did He pay 99%, or did He pay it all? If He merely died to make salvation possible, then ultimately the glory for salvation belongs to man, since the determining factor in salvation would then not be the cross of Jesus, but the faith of the believer. But the Bible in fact teaches that Jesus died on the cross to accomplish our salvation, and to purchase the gifts of faith and repentance for His sheep.

While this truth is often the focus of much debate, it should actually be a source of great comfort to the people of God. We see this most clearly in an old hymn about the cross of Jesus by Augustus Toplady (who also wrote "Rock of Ages"). The hymn was originally titled "Faith Reviving," but if we call it by its first line, its title is "From Whence This Fear and Unbelief". Both titles show how practical an efficacious cross is (that is, a cross that accomplishes all the purposes that Jesus intended by it) - our faith is revived, and our fear and unbelief are silenced. Here are the lyrics:

From whence this fear and unbelief,
Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous judge of men
Condemn me for that load of sin            
Which Lord, was charged to Thee?

Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid,
Whate’er Thy people owed.
Nor can God’s wrath on me take place
When sheltered by Thy righteousness
And covered by Thy blood.

If Thou my pardon hast secured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First from my bleeding surety’s hand
And then again from mine.

Return my soul unto thy rest;
The sorrows of thy Great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty.
Trust in His efficacious blood
Nor fear thy banishment from God
Since Jesus died for thee.

May the Lord encourage our hearts and grant us the rest and peace that comes from knowing that there is no double jeopardy - if Jesus has drunk the full cup of God's wrath to the dregs in our place, then we need not fear that we will taste even a drop of it!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

September 19, 2024

Dementia. Alzheimer's. These words are hard to hear, and even harder to face in yourself or one you love. My father has dementia, and it's only getting worse. It looks like he's not going to be to stay in his assisted living facility, because he's no longer able to care for himself to the degree they require. The basics of life are increasingly difficult for him to accomplish on his own, so my brothers and I are facing the reality that we will need to move him into a long term care facility very soon. He's only 72, which makes it all the harder for us to process. Was it too many hits to the head while playing football at LSU from 1970-1973? Too much Ambien for too long? Stress and poor choices? The brain stem stroke he had back in 2005? Genetics (his mother had Alzheimer's)? We don't know why it's happened, especially since he was taking all manner of supplements the past decade to stave the disease off. All we know is that the man we knew the last 40+ years is barely still the same. It's hard, especially for my brother who lives in town with him in Hot Springs. It's difficult to know that we're walking the long, slow, goodbye of forgetfulness unto death.

I know my brothers and I aren't alone. Many of you are going through similar struggles, whether with an aging parent, a spouse, or a beloved friend. We live in a fallen world, and these afflictions of the mind are some of the miseries that Adam's sin brought to our race. Death is inevitable, and the loss of mental faculties is often a part of how the Lord brings a life to a close. Yet in the midst of a caregiver's sorrow and pain the Lord grants grace to cry out to Him, to lean on Him, to know that He will never leave us nor forsake us - and He will not abandon His son or daughter who is no longer in their right mind. Through the suffering of dementia the Lord gives the not-yet-demented opportunities to glorify Him by honoring a parent, sacrificially loving a spouse till death do you part, or bearing a friend's burden. He reminds us to enjoy our loved ones while they are still in full possession of their mental sharpness. He urges us not to take life and reading and intellectual pursuits for granted. And He calls us to walk by faith and not by sight, to know that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

September 12, 2024

If you missed the installation for Nate Stevenson as a church planter this past Sunday night, I encourage you to watch it when you have a chance. David Strain's sermon on Ezekiel 37:1-14 was powerful, and it was a joy to see the great turnout from our congregation and from First Presbyterian Church (the other congregation that is heavily involved in this new church plant on the Old Canton Corridor).

• God is at work in our Presbytery, as we currently have three churches being planted: Steen's Creek PCA in Florence, Ouachita PCA in Monroe, and now the new effort in northeast Jackson. Like the plant in Monroe, the Old Canton plant is a scratch plant - which means that it is starting from scratch, without a core group of members. Sometimes scratch plants are done by necessity, and sometimes by choice. In the case of the Old Canton plant, being a scratch plant allows the focus to be evangelism growth rather than transfer growth, and allows the plant to be more intentionally reflective of the diverse community from the start. Our prayer is that the unconverted, deconverted, and dechurched from a variety of backgrounds might be reached for Christ through the ministry of Nate and those whom the Lord raises up to labor with him.

I rejoice that we are, and have long been, a church planting church, and I pray that this will always mark us.

----------

The joy of seeing God at work continues this coming Sunday night, as we will install Charles Marchman as associate pastor of POPC. Kelly Dotson, a pastor at South Baton Rouge PCA (where Charles formerly served), will be preaching God's word. Some of you remember Kelly and Amy from their time here while in seminary; he was a good friend of mine at LSU, so I'm looking forward to getting to hear him preach. Let's fill the Sanctuary in celebration of God's kind provision for our congregation, particularly for the young adults and young families in our midst. And don't forget about the reception following the service!

----------

I write this on Wednesday night, the evening of September 11. I was in seminary when the World Trade Center towers were struck by terrorists and collapsed into a heap, killing so many. It's hard to believe that it's been 23 years ago. There were many stories of heroism and sacrifice in the midst of tragedy and loss. If you've never seen the eleven minute video, "The Man in the Red Bandana," about Welles Crowther, it's worth your time. It's a beautiful illustration of Jesus' words in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" - or in this case, for strangers.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

August 29, 2024

This Sunday we resume our series in the gospel of Luke! It's actually been a year since Pastor Carl preached Luke 6:12-16. From that time, on Sunday mornings we've preached through the Elisha narratives, a series on stewardship, Romans 12-16, selected Psalms, and a series on the "one anothers" of the New Testament. So I'm excited to start walking through our Savior's life once more. The plan is to be in Luke up until Easter, with breaks for a series on prophecies of Christ's incarnation in December and our Missions Festival in February. May the Lord grow us in our knowledge of Him and His work for us!

----------

This coming Monday is Labor Day, which always makes me think of the Bible's teaching about work. Since work is so important and time-consuming in a normal lifespan, it's important for the Christian to know what (and how much!) the Bible has to say about it. Work, like essentially every other topic you can imagine, can be outlined by the basic redemptive-history outline of Creation-Fall-Redemption. Here's a brief overview:

• Creation: Genesis 1-2 clearly teach us that work was a good gift of God to man before the fall, and thus not a result of the fall. The mandate to fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over the creation was a command to bring the creation under man's control – to harness and utilize all of earth’s resources and forces. Adam and Eve were (and we are) to change, transform, rearrange, guide, reorganize, and improve upon the original creation. So work is a blessing, and we must never think of it as a curse. Manual labor and mundane labor is not undignified, so we must not treat it as such. And there was variety before the fall. As John Murray has written, "The subduing of the earth must imply the expenditure of thought and skill and energy in bringing the earth and its resources under such control that they would be channeled to the promotion of certain ends which they were suited and designed to fulfill but which would not be fulfilled apart from the exercise of man’s design and labor..." We were made by God to work.
   

• Fall: Genesis 3 shows us that work is hard because of the fall. The ground is cursed because of Adam's sin, and so we can only create food and wealth by the sweat of our brow and toilsome labor. Futility has set in (Ecclesiastes 1:3; 2:18-23; Romans 8:20). Not only is the arena of work affected, but we as workers are affected as well. We succumb to the temptation to make an idol out of work, or to work for the wrong reasons. We are not only prone to overworking, but we are prone to laziness. Again, John Murray: "The Christian ethic strikes not only at conspicuous idleness; it strikes also at the sloth, the laziness, which is too frequently the vice of professing Christians. It strikes at the dissipation of time and energy of which we all must plead guilty. The principle that too often dictates our practice is not the maximum of toil but the minimum necessary to escape public censure and preserve our decency . . . [Man] is out to do the least he can for the most he can get. He does not love his work; he has come to believe he is very miserable because of the work he has to do. Labor is a burden rather than a pleasure."
   

• Redemption: When God graciously saves lost and dead sinners, He saves us for good works: and one of those good works is work. He tells His ransomed people that we are to work, and how we are to work. II Thessalonians 3:10 tells the church, "if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either" (vs. 10). The fourth commandment commands us not only to work, but to work six days - and only six days - a week. The seven day week (work six - rest one) is a creation ordinance, and we rub our lives against the grain of God's word to our own misery if we seek to live by another pattern. We are to work for Jesus - "Whatever you do, do your work . . . as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Colossians 3:22-23). And we are to work hard - the word in the ellipsis in the previous sentence is "heartily" - we're to do our work heartily, with all our strength. We glorify God when we use our gifts to serve Him and the people around us. Even when we retire from active labor in a specific career, there is still work to be done around our house, church, and community, whether paid or unpaid. When we are able to stop working for a living, we are freed up to do the other works of ministry that we didn't have time to do when we needed to work. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might!

So if you enjoy an extra day off from work next week (or even if you don't), I encourage you to remember to thank God for the gift of work, to pray that He would keep you from the temptations that beset our work, and to seek His face for grace to work in a way that pleases Him and does good to your neighbor.
 

From Pastor Caleb's Study

August 22, 2024

Charles and Allie Marchman move to town tomorrow! They are closing on their house (5257 Saratoga Dr.) in the morning and then unloading their U-Haul later in the day. If you're interested in helping them, please text Seth Winchester first at 601.307.3080 and he will let you know the plans.

• Also, don't forget that we want to welcome them not only with love, but also with gift cards to grocery stores and restaurants to stock their pantry and feed their family as they move to town. See the details below.

Pray for their move with three little ones, and for a smooth transition back to the Jackson area and into the life and ministry of POPC. I'm excited that Charles will finally be able to start getting to know our young adults and young families!

----------

I hope that our mini-series on the "one-anothers" of the New Testament has been an encouragement and admonishment to your soul, as it has been to mine. The word of God is often painful in the way it exposes and reveals our sins of omission and commission, but it is a productive pain, cleansing and scouring and sanding in order to till up the soul for the beautiful fruit of the Spirit to grow. What a joy to know that we are being transformed together, growing in our love for one another and in our knowledge of the grace of the gospel together. Pastor Dean will close out our series this Sunday from Galatians 5, and then it's back to the gospel of Luke in the mornings. In the evening services, we will begin a new series in the book of I John this Sunday. I'm looking forward to getting back to some consecutive expository sermon series, and pray that our Father by His Spirit will continue to mold us and shape us into the image of our Savior.

----------

Monday night, the Session approved funding the renovation of our new office building at 419 Northpark Drive. Lord willing, by the end of this year, the work will be done and we'll start moving into our new offices!

• You'll be seeing several things happening on that property soon. In addition to the work on the inside, the Deacons also voted to allow Christ Covenant School to move the dumpster to the 419 Northpark parking lot and to build a new maintenance shop right behind the new office building. These improvements will not only give our maintenance team a better and more unified work area, but they will open space to beautify and connect the back of our campus, and to provide our children and youth with more activity space on a full-size football field.

Be in prayer for all the construction work that will be happening this fall! Pray that the Lord will enable us to be good witnesses for Christ to those who work on our campus, that the work would be done within budget and in a timely manner, that we would all have patience as we wait for the completion of these projects, and that the Lord would use the finished product for His glory!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

June 6, 2024

We spent a few days at the beach right after school got out, and as I was watching the waves crash onto the shore, I remembered that the Bible mentioned waves in several places. When I clicked on the trusty concordance on my Blue Letter Bible app (if you have ever used a Strong's Concordance [named after a person, though when I first got one I thought it was named after the ability you needed to carry such a large book!], isn't is amazing to be able to carry a concordance in your pocket??), I saw that God speaks of waves in more place than I realized. If you're heading to the beach this summer (or even if you've already been), I hope these reflections will be a helpful guide for your meditation on God's word and world.

1. Waves are a picture of suffering and death.

• Psalm 42:7 - "Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me."

• Psalm 88:7 - "Your wrath has rested upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves."

• 2 Samuel 22:5 - "For the waves of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me."

If you've played in the waves, you likely know how easy for the waves to turn violent. You know what it's like to have a wave roll over you, even to the point where you're trying to come up for air but you're finding nothing but water, or even worse so disoriented by the wave that you think you're swimming up and you're actually swimming toward the seabed. Big waves are scary, and can kill and destroy. Suffering often feels like waves as well in the sense that we're sometimes hit over and over again in a short space of time. Yet isn't there a strange comfort in the fact that the waves of suffering are God's waves? Even our suffering is under His sovereign control, and He afflict us only for our ultimate good as His children.

2. Waves assure us that God is sovereign over all creation.

• Jeremiah 5:22 - "'Do you not fear Me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.'"

• Jeremiah 31:35 - "Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name..."

• Psalm 107:25, 29 - "For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea . . . He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed."

• See also Job 9:8; Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:7; Psalm 89:9; Isaiah 51:15.

God is one who has ordered the moon, gravity, winds, and the tides so that waves can only come as far as He ordains them to come. He is the one who stirs up the waves and stills the waves. When we watch the waves crash on the storm, whether in fair weather or foul, we are seeing the hand of God at work. And does not Psalm 107 point us forward to our Lord Jesus Christ, who still the waves with the sound of His voice in Matthew 8:26? Our God is sovereign over all the forces and powers of this world, even the waves. Nothing happens without His appointment and permission. There is sweet encouragement in that face.

3. Waves warn us against an immature faith.

• Ephesians 4:14 - "so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine..."

• When we are not equipped with the word of God through the servants of God, we are immature in our faith, and like seaweed on the sea we are tossed around back and forth. The Scriptures ground us, giving us solid footing to stand firm against the waves of false doctrine. Like a pier whose pilings are deeply sunk into the sand, so the mature believer is fixed in truth, and is able to rest in peace when all around his souls gives way.

There are more verses in the Bible where God uses the waves to drive home various points. I encourage you to dig around in the Scriptures this summer to see how creation teaches us about our faith!

----------

If you have a college student in your home, or know one, encourage them to go to Summer RUF. It's a great way to connect to students from other campuses and hear great teaching. Here is the schedule:

• Tuesday, June 4 @ 7pm: Austin Braasch (Ole Miss)

• Tuesday, June 11 @ 7pm: Jeff Jordan (MC)

• Tuesday, June 18 @ 7pm: Scott Miller (FPC Jackson)

• Tuesday, June 25 @ 7pm: Jermaine Van Buren (JSU)

• Tuesday, July 9 @ 7pm: Bentley Crawford (Belhaven)

• Tuesday, July 16 @ 7pm: Davis Morgan (USM)

Here is a link to the summer RUF Groupme where RUF will share details for each coming week.

----------

Next week, the PCA General Assembly will be held in Richmond, VA. Pastor Dean and I, along with Ruling Elders Ken Haynes, James Clark, and Eddie Moran, will be our representatives.

• You can see the schedule and follow along with the livestream here.

• Here are the overtures that we will be considering this year.

Please be praying for safe travel, for a unified and peaceful Assembly, and for the Lord to continue to keep the PCA faithful to the Scripture, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission!

Check out the new Adult Sunday school Classes for summer!

May 30, 2024

Music to God's Ears: Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 
Taught by Madison Taylor & team 
Location: Outback Room
*Geared toward Young Adults, but anyone is welcome!*

Music is evidence of God’s abundant goodness to us. In this class, we will explore what the Bible says about singing and how that shapes the role of music inside and outside of the church, and meditate on some of the songs we sing at POPC. And we may even sing a little...
 

• Church History — Part 1: Early Church History
  Taught by John Kwasny
  Location: Cafeteria
  
  Join us as we begin our travels through HIS-Story, the continuing story of the Church in the world,  Most of us are pretty unfamiliar with much of church history, but especially early church history. The study of church history is important to grow our faith and to learn not to repeat the sin patterns of our predecessors,  It also helps us have a bigger view of God and His Kingdom, giving Him the glory for what He has done through His people!
   

• Psalms by Authors
  Taught by Ken Haynes
  Location: Room 127
  
  The Psalms are often studied by genre, but in this class we will do a survey of Psalms by authors, with at least 7 different authors specified.  We will look at styles and content that might be unique to each author, always looking for the over-arching theme of calling upon Yahweh and looking forward to Jesus Christ the Messiah.
   

• Children's Bible Stories for Adults Part 2
  Taught by Newell Simrall
  Location: Room 238
  
  Did David kill Goliath with the stone? How did Jesus rise after 3 days if He died on Friday and rose on Sunday? These are a couple topics we discussed last summer in this class. This summer we continue to look at Children’s Bible Stories that we have known for decades and will dive deeper to learn applications for our lives as adults that we may not have learned when we learned these as children. Come learn new things about Joshua and the Battle Jericho, Jonah and the Fish (was it a whale?), Daniel in the Lions’ Den and other familiar stories from God’s Word to examine with fresh eyes.  *****Attendance to Part 1 of this class is not required *****

Don't miss the announcement below about our congregational meeting on Sunday!

An Update from your Diaconate

Financial Update: Last week's POPC Weekly Update contained financial highlights through the end of April. As that report showed, the Lord has blessed POPC richly through your tithes and offerings so far in 2024. Through the end of April, actual general fund contributions exceeded what we had budgeted to receive by $37,640. We give thanks for your faithful giving and encourage you to continue to give generously to help the deacons fulfill their duty to care for POPC's campus and to enable the various ministries of POPC to complete their plans this year and to encourage and enable them to pursue grander visions of Kingdom work going forward. 
 

1. Campus Update: As you may have noticed, our Church campus is changing and improving. Your diaconate is carrying out a campus-wide plan to keep things up as well as make improvements. HVAC maintenance and updating is always something BIG we carry out each year. Part of the campus-wide plan is a multi-year plan to replace old HVAC units around the campus. That project is on schedule and we are planning to replace six more units this summer. Additionally, the multi-purpose building just received some long awaited attention and the youth offices/classrooms have a fresh coat of paint. The education building has also seen updates on flooring this year. If you see anything you think needs a set of eyes on it, please let us know.
   
   CCS has a lot going on the northwest corner of our campus with their new buildings. They just wrapped the school year which means they will be moving and shaking on their summer projects, renovating 443 Northpark Drive, and gearing up for a larger student body this fall.
    

2. Other Works In Progress: The nursery playground lost a tree and we are working with many teams from POPC and CCS to cast a long term vision for that space. You will probably see some changes there over the next couple of months.
    

3. Points of Contact: Our church body has grown by God’s blessing over the past few years. This also means the diaconate has grown with it. If you see a church family or member who has needs, we can help. We welcome you to let us know. You can reach out to any member of the diaconate or pastoral staff, Madison Taylor (current chairman of the diaconate), or John Wiggins (former chairman 2023). We have men who want to serve the body with effort, love, and community.
    

4. Usher Duty: If you wish to get involved with the Sunday morning usher rotation, it is a great way to connect with the larger church body. Please let us know and we will happily get you plugged in. It’s a small investment of time that really provides an opportunity to continue our church’s gift of being hospitable and warm.
    

5. Encouragement: A short excerpt from Colossians 2:2 says, “That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love.” I try to keep this scripture in mind as we try to look for those who need to be LOVED ON. Christ’s work in our lives should push us to love one another in action. These works (great or small) provide us encouragement and help knit us together with something greater than just the accomplishment of a task.
   
   Please let us know how we can be of service as your church officers.

In Christ,

John Wiggins, Communications Chair on behalf of the POPC Diaconate

From Pastor Caleb's Study

May 16, 2024

This past Sunday morning I mentioned that Romans 15:4 really needed its own sermon. I'm not going to write that sermon here. But I do want to break the verse down a little more for you. Here's what Paul said, right after quoting Psalm 69:9 about Jesus bearing the reproaches/insults that were aimed at God: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

• Note how similar this passage is to 1 Corinthians 10:11, "Now these things [the events of the Exodus and wilderness wanderings] happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come," and to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

• Note the broad scope. "For whatever [Scripture] was written"/"All Scripture." Paul has just quoted a fragment of a Psalm in Romans 14. In 1 Corinthians he's speaking of the events recorded in the Pentateuch. "All" is as universal a word as Paul could use - he has in mind here the entirety of what we call the Old Testament.

• Note the contemporary audience. What was written in former times is not a dead letter. Rather, it was written ultimately for us. What happened to the Israelites of old happened to them as an example for us, and was written down for our good. And who are we? We are those "on whom the end of the ages has come." With the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the last days, the end times, have dawned. And all that was written before Jesus came (as well as the Scriptures written after He came!) was written for God's people in Paul's day, and for the church in every generation.

• Note the purposes of Scripture. Instruction, examples, teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness, equipping for every good work, endurance, encouragement, and hope. The whole Bible, including the Old Testament, teaches us the gospel of Jesus and how to live in the light of that gospel. We see the finished work and the example of our Savior in Psalm 69. We see the example of sins to avoid and duties to fulfill in the wilderness generation. We gain endurance, encouragement, and hope as we see the faithfulness and steadfast love of the triune God.

• Note the divine nature of the Bible - In Romans 15:4 Paul says that endurance and encouragement come through the Scriptures. And in Romans 15:5 he says that God is the "God of endurance and encouragement." This drives home the point that the Scriptures are the very words of God Himself, not merely the words of man.

• Note the Christ-centered nature of the Bible. Paul's citation of Psalm 69 shows how Jesus is in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27, 44). As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:15, "the sacred writings . . . are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

As we approach the summer months, with perhaps a different schedule, let us commit anew to reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing the word of God. May we be like newborn babies all our lives in the sense that we continually yearn for the pure milk of the word (I Peter 2:2-3), and may we continue to grow up to mature manhood and womanhood, who can eat the solid food of the word and more and more "have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14). My prayer is that our preaching not only teaches you what the Bible says, but also shows you how to read the Bible for yourself. I long for each one of us to be like Ezra, who "set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).

----------

Speaking of reading and teaching the whole Bible in light of the coming of Jesus Christ, RTS and The Gospel Coalition announced this weekthat the lectures by Tim Keller and Ed Clowney on Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World are newly available online with a host of great accompanying resources. Tim Keller (1950-2023) is well-known; Ed Clowney (1917-2005) was a pastor and a professor (and for eighteen years the president) at Westminster Theological Seminary in the late 1900s. They co-taught a Doctor of Ministry class for RTS in 2002, and though it is aimed primarily at preachers, any Christian can benefit from the way they discuss seeing Jesus in the Old Testament and communicating Him and His gospel to a secular world, especially those of you who are teaching in various ways at our church!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

May 9, 2024

If you were at church last week, you noticed that we're using a new bulletin style now. Not every church uses a paper bulletin these days, but we have found it helpful for the purpose of our liturgy and to communicate important information about our church and our ministries. This new style will allow us to do some things we haven't been able to do heretofore:

• We can now include the music to songs that are not in the Trinity Hymnal. This is a help to visitors (and members!) for whom the songs are unfamiliar. Even those who cannot read music are able to see if the notes are going up or down, and can engage more fully in praising the Lord with us.

• We can include all our information/announcements every week, and no longer have to rotate between missionaries, church staff, officers, Sunday School class locations, and other occasional items we want to convey. Visitors each week will be able to gain a better knowledge of who we are.

• We can provide a page for sermon notes. From what I see as I preach, it doesn't appear that many in our congregation take notes, but perhaps this is partly a factor of not having a convenient location on which to do so? Not everyone learns by writing down what they hear, but I do encourage you to at least write down the main points of the sermon - this will help you engage more actively with what the preacher is saying.

• We can offer some comments on the elements of worship in our "Guide to the Morning Worship Service." I've done this at each of my two previous churches, and I'm glad to get to do it again at POPC. It's a great way to learn about why we worship as we do, what each element is, and details about the songs we sing, the confessions of faith we use, etc.

We hope this makes our bulletin more useful to you, and an even handier reference for you to take home and use in private worship, in family worship, and in staying more closely connected to the life and ministry of POPC!

----------

This Sunday we will be presenting new members at both morning services. God has been kind to continue to bring new families into our midst, and I hope that you will have a chance to get to know the new members as you have opportunity. (Their names and pictures will be in an upcoming email!)

I like to present new members to the congregation, not only to encourage us that God is continuing to bring fellow disciples of Jesus to minister alongside us, and so that we can connect names to faces, but also so that existing members are reminded of what they vowed when they joined POPC. Use the opportunity each occasion to be humbled for ways you have fallen short of what it means to be a member of Christ's body, to be grounded again in the grace of God in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that are our only hope, and to renew your vows to the Lord and to your church family.

How vital it is to know and serve one another in the church! I am so thankful that Jesus has saved us into fellowship and community with other saints, and pray that we will welcome our new members with open hearts and open calendars, and that they will be blessed by and a blessing to our congregation as they use their gifts for God's glory.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

May 2, 2024

Depending on what time you're reading this, there may still be saints praying in the Sanctuary on this National Day of Prayer. James tells us that "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16, NASB). God has ordained the ends as well as the means, and prayer is one of the means that He uses to bring to fulfillment His sovereign decree. One of the books I read as I was coming to embrace Reformed theology during college was Doug Kelly's If God Already Knows, Why Pray? It was an encouraging look at the sovereignty of God, the responsibility of believers, and the way those two things go together. Let us be diligent and fervent in prayer for the Lord's work in our country, our church, our families, and in our lives!

----------

Our youth families have already heard this news, but I want to let all of you know that Ashley Benton has announced that she will be leaving her position as Youth Ministry Coordinator at the end of the summer. Ashley started working with us right after COVID hit, and has been the steady presence through several Youth Directors, a Youth Pastor, and Interim Youth Directors. She's given her heart, time, and energy to ministering to our youth, and will be deeply missed when she steps down to focus on her calling as an artist. Fortunately, she and her husband Jackson will remain here at POPC while Jackson finishes med school, and Lord willing even beyond. Be in prayer for Ashley, the youth staff, and the youth as they enjoy this last summer together with Ashley on staff. And pray for our Youth Director Bobby Epps and the Youth Ministry Team as they search for Ashley's replacement. If you get a chance over the coming weeks to say thank you to Ashley, please do so!

----------

Have you ever had the experience of reading something in the Bible that you feel like you've never seen before, even though you've read that book of the Bible numerous times before? I just had that experience with the book of Hosea. In Hosea 13:4-6, we read this: "But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me." God is lamenting over the defection of His people, whom He had delivered from Egypt, whom He knew and cared for in the wilderness. It's verse 6 that stood out to me: "but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me."

Here we see a pattern of backsliding and leaving our first love that has repeated itself time and time again in the lives of the Lord's people: God provides for us, we become full, our heart becomes proud, and we forget the Lord. God's goodness sadly becomes the opportunity for our sinful hearts to believe that we don't need the Lord, that we can do just fine without Him. We become satisfied with the gifts and forsake the Giver. We become satisfied with the blessings He has freely and undeservedly granted, and we become prideful in our possessions. Like Israel in the wilderness, we begin to think, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:17), and we forget that it was the Lord who gave us all that we have, even the power to make the wealth we have. So let us always be on guard, lest affluence and comforts like we enjoy in America be an occasion for pridefully forgetting the Lord. Let us remember daily that it is the Lord who gives us our daily bread!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

April 25, 2024

As you'll see in the pictures below, the Session has recently heard the professions of faith from 30 young men and women. Having gone through our communicants' class, they were received into communing membership by the elders, and were presented to the congregation last Sunday morning. This is a glorious and joyful time in the life of these covenant children, their families, and our church family. God has been at work through the preaching and teaching of His word Lord's Day by Lord's Day; through parents' instruction, example, and prayers; and through the encouragement and witness of older saints and friends. He has revealed to these children that they are sinners in need of a Savior, that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone.

• It's important to recognize that these children did not join the church when they professed their faith in Jesus. Presbyterians believe that the children of professing believers are members of the church from the day of their birth - even the day of their conception - by virtue of being sent by God into a believing family (see Genesis 17:7; Acts 2:39; and I Corinthians 7:14). They thus have a right to the sacrament of baptism (the sign of initiation into the covenant community), but must profess faith in Jesus in order to come to the Lord's table (the sign of communion, continuation, and growth in the covenant community). Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ, and so parents, pastors, Sunday School teachers, school teachers, and friends prayerfully bring the gospel of Jesus to them from their earliest days, looking for the day when the dots get connected and the penny drops.
   

• Our Book of Church Order helpfully explains: "Believers’ children within the Visible Church, and especially those dedicated to God in Baptism, are non-communing members under the care of the Church. They are to be taught to love God, and to obey and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. When they are able to understand the Gospel, they should be earnestly reminded that they are members of the Church by birthright, and that it is their duty and privilege personally to accept Christ, to confess Him before men, and to seek admission to the Lord’s Supper. The time when young persons come to understand the Gospel cannot be precisely fixed. This must be left to the prudence of the Session, whose office it is to judge, after careful examination, the qualifications of those who apply for admission to sealing ordinances" (57.1-2).

These children now have the full privileges and responsibilities of their inheritance in the household of faith. In particular, they can commune with us at the Lord's table and cast their vote in congregational meetings. As we gather around the table in two Sundays, let us rejoice that God has added to our numbers those who recognize Him as Savior and Lord, and let us be praying that Christ would continue to deepen their knowledge of Himself through His Word and Spirit!

----------

I want to let you know about an opportunity for evangelistic hospitality. Our brother Eldrin Bhanat has let us know that a young Muslim lady from Pakistan is coming to our area to intern at CSpire during June and July, and needs a place to stay for the summer. Her name is Rabeea Fatima, and she has been involved in a variety of activities with Christians in Hattiesburg. This appears to be a wonderful chance to continue to sow seeds of the gospel in her heart. If you possibly have the ability and desire to host her, please contact Eldrin or Rinku for more details (their contact information, along with that of every other member, is in the MinistryOne app - if you don't have it on your phone yet, please visit this page to learn how to access it!).

From Pastor Caleb's Study

April 19, 2024

Prior to moving here, we lived in Cookeville, Tennessee, where I pastored Grace Presbyterian Church. Cookeville is in the Upper Cumberland region of the state, so there are lots of waterfalls and lots of hiking trails. We did a lot of hiking, but our children were all ten years younger back then - which means we did a lot of carrying on our shoulders or in baby backpacks. I was reminded of those days as I was doing my daily Bible reading this week in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses' last book begins and ends with the powerful image of God carrying and bearing up His people through the wilderness and all their days.

• 1:31 - "...in the wilderness, ... you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.

• 33:27 - "The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

How comforting to know that God carries His people all their journey through this difficult world, in spite of our sin and rebellion! If you are weary and growing faint, if you feel ready to throw in the towel, remember this truth that it is the Lord who carries you. Underneath and all around you are His everlasting arms, and He will never drop you.

----------

The first Thursday of May has been declared a National Day of Prayer since Harry Truman signed a law passed by Congress in 1952. This year, upon the wonderful suggestion of Mrs. Beth Watts, we will be opening up our Sanctuary from 9:30-1:30 for us to pray together (come and go as you are able). We will be praying for the areas of government, military, media, business, education, church, and family. For more information, contact Beth at 205.902.3641 or elmtree1980@gmail.com. The Lord is gracious to hear our prayers through Jesus Christ, and His command to the Israelites in Babylonian exile is applicable to us as aliens and exiles in America: "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7). May the Lord make us more and more fervent and constant in prayer for our country, church, and families.

----------

Men, I'm going to be starting up another Monday lunchtime small group soon. Due to schedule conflicts, vacation, and General Assembly in Richmond, VA, "soon" will most likely be June 17. We'll be reading some "Reformed Shorts" (HT: the SEC Shorts video series) - classic Reformed/Presbyterian articles, sermons, and booklets from which I have benefited over the years. If you're interested in joining us for the discussion, email Anna Vinson, our Administrative Assistant, and she will get you several of the readings I've already picked out so that you can get started reading them over the next eight weeks.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

April 12, 2024

This Sunday evening we begin a new series through selected passages from the book of Isaiah. The Old Testament prophets can be difficult to read for a variety of reasons, and Isaiah's 66 chapters can be particularly daunting. Yet the reader who perseveres will be rewarded. We will be looking at some of the noteworthy texts from this "major" prophet (so called because the impact of his ministry and writings was sizeable, as opposed to the "minor" prophets whose works and/or ministries were on a smaller scale) - texts that I want you to know so that you can return to them in your time of need. Among the passages we'll be look at are 6:1-13 (Isaiah's call to ministry), 12:1-6 (a song of salvation and strength in the Lord), and 44:6-23 (a satire on idolatry). If you've never read the book of Isaiah, this is a great time to do so. We'll be in it through the month of July, so if you read half a chapter a day, you'll read nearly the entire book by the time we finish preaching these foundational passages.

If you haven't been coming to evening worship in a while, now is a great time to start a new habit for the summer!

----------

One of the verses that many of you have memorized is Philippians 4:6 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Benjamin Morgan Palmer was a pastor in New Orleans in the 19th century, and his sermon "The Antidote of Care" is a convicting and encouraging study of this passage. In it he reminds us that prayer is the remedy that God has provided when we are tempted to fretting and worry. How does prayer dissolve our anxieties? He gives six reasons:

1. In prayer we cure brought to an habitual and practical sense of the supreme will of a personal God. By drawing near to the sovereign God who loves us, we are enabled to see that He had ordained all that we walk through for our good, and can cast all our cares upon Him in submission and patience, knowing that He cares for us.
    

2. Prayer leads to the contemplation of God in his Covenant relations to us, which will soften the lot otherwise rugged and difficult. Prayer in the name of Jesus Christ by the help of the Holy Spirit to a Father who loves us assures us of the triune God's commitment to be our God and to take us as His people. This assurance strengthens us through every difficulty.
    

3. Prayer compels us to take an inventory of our mercies, and to balance, these against our trials. Petition must be accompanied by thanksgiving, and as we see all that God has done for us, despite our sinful unbelief, our hearts are led to a contentment that comes only from God.
    

4. Prayer imparts a tone to the spirit, girding it for the hour of trial. Communing with our holy Father strengthens and equips us for the battles of faith through which we walk day by day.
    

5. Prayer has the effect of bringing us to a distinct issue with ourselves in relation to our cares. By this Palmer means that in prayer we are brought to see that all of our cares are a part of the callings God has granted to us, and so He grants us grace to stand firm in them as a part of His lot for us.
    

6. In prayer we apprehend the nearness of Heaven, which is a motive to submission and patience. As we draw near to the Lord, we are reminded that our eternity with Him free from all suffering is soon approaching, and we are encouraged to persevere through trial with the peace of God keeping our hearts and minds in Christ.

May the Lord God grant us grace not to be anxious about anything, but to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving!
 

A note on morning worship, from Margaret Sprow:

This Sunday Caleb will be preaching on Romans 13:1-7, a passage that focuses on submission to governing authorities. We'll be singing Great King of Nations, Hear Our Prayer to the St. Anne hymn tune which is familiar to us as the tune for Our God, Our Help in Ages Past. The words express submission and humility before God by whom all governments exist, confession and repentance of our national sins, and a plea for God's mercy on our land. May we make this our fervent prayer.

Great King of nations, hear our prayer, while at your feet we fall,
and humbly, with united cry, to you for mercy call.

The guilt is ours, but grace is yours, O turn us not away;
but hear us from your lofty throne, and help us when we pray.

Our fathers' sins were manifold, and ours no less we own,
yet wondrously from age to age your goodness has been shown.

When dangers, like a stormy sea, beset our country round,
to you we looked, to you we cried, and help in you was found.

With one consent we meekly bow beneath your chast'ning hand,
and pouring forth confession meet, mourn with our mourning land.

With pitying eye behold our need, as thus we lift our prayer;
correct us with your judgments, Lord, then let your mercy spare.

From Pastor Caleb's Study

April 5, 2024

This coming Lord's Day we eat and drink the Lord's Supper, the Christ-authorized picture of His cruciform love for us. Recall that this meal, also called Communion, is a sacrament of the new covenant - that is, it's a sign and a seal of God's covenant mercies and promises in His Son. As we gather around the table, the Lord nourishes and cherishes us spiritually, by reminding us of His substitutionary death on our behalf, and assuring us that if our trust is in Him, we have union and communion with Him in His death and resurrection (read Romans 6!). The Lord's Supper is a means of growth and grace in our knowledge and experience of how wide and long and high and deep is the love of our Savior.

On Sunday evening, as we continue working our way through the Westminster Larger Catechism, we will be confessing two questions pertaining to the Lord's Supper, and I thought it would be good to put them here also so that you can meditate on them before coming to the table.

Question 170. How do they that worthily communicate in the Lord's supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ therein? This question is getting at how Jesus is present in the Supper, and the nature of our feeding upon Him. The early church was sometimes accused of cannibalism, because they spoke of eating the body and blood of Jesus. But the Bible doesn't teach that the elements actually are or become the literal body and blood of Jesus (aka transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic view) or that the literal body and blood of Jesus are somehow with, in, or under the elements (aka consubstantiation, the Lutheran view). Rather, Presbyterians believe in the real spiritual presence of Jesus, a presence to our faith.

• Here is how our catechism answers the question: "As the body and blood of Christ are not corporally or carnally [i.e., in a bodily/fleshly manner] present in, with, or under the bread and wine in the Lord's supper, and yet are spiritually present to the faith of the receiver, no less truly and really than the elements themselves are to their outward senses; so they that worthily communicate in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal and carnal, but in a spiritual manner; yet truly and really, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death."

Question 171. How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it? This questions presupposes and explains what Paul's command in I Corinthians 11 to examine ourselves means. We aren't to show up without having taken any time to think about what we're about to do, or about our sin and our Savior. I'll break it down into its phrases:

• "They that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto,

  • by examining themselves

    • of their being in Christ,

    • of their sins and wants [i.e., what we lack, need, have a deficit of];

    • of the truth and measure of

      • their knowledge, faith, repentance;

      • [their] love to God and the brethren,

      • [their] charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong;

    • of their desires after Christ,

    • and of their new obedience;

  • and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer."

May our Father give us grace to come to the table rightly prepared and anticipating Him to work through His spoken and visible word to grow us up in Jesus Christ by His Spirit!