“There is no righteousness that makes us right with God except for the righteousness of Christ. But for those who have been made right with God by grace alone through faith alone and therefore have been adopted into God’s family, many of our righteous deeds are not only not filthy in God’s eyes, they are exceedingly sweet, precious, and pleasing to Him.”
—Kevin DeYoung
June 21, 2024 Last week the 51st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America took place in Richmond, VA. It was the third largest gathering of Teaching Elders (like me, Peter, and Paul) and Ruling Elders (like Brian, Ed, and John) in the history of our denomination. In our church government, it is the elders (both teaching and ruling) who are charged with the spiritual care and oversight of the church — presbuteros is the Greek word for elder, whence we get the term presbyterian.) And what strikes me every year I attend GA is, despite our shared calling to lead and shepherd the church as servants of Jesus, how incredibly different we are all from each other. There are some elders who wear blue blazers and bowties, and still others who might not know what a suit jacket or blazer is. There are those who speak much slower and twangier than their brethren, others who delight in making motions at microphones, and still those who delight even more in meeting fellow presbyters from other parts of the denomination. But we are all there to do the work of the Church for the glory of God and the good of the people who he gave us to shepherd. It is precisely this diversity within the unity that delights me about being presbyterian. I’m not one who delights in motions, Robert’s Rules of Order, or bowties — but I delight in sharing the ministry with fathers and brothers from different contexts, who have different strengths and gifts which complement mine. I appreciate those who are procedural. I am thankful for those who are experts in our Book of Church Order (particularly the Rules of Assembly Operations!). The slowness and the arduousness of our polity is a feature, and not a bug. We are there to do things decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40) and hold one another accountable to the work that Christ has called us unto. So even when I disagree with my fathers and brothers (it happens occasionally) I can be thankful that they are there for the same reasons as I — they have been called by Christ, ordained by his Church, to shepherd the flock among them. Despite our differences in approaches and appearances I am thankful for my brothers in Christ. I am even more thankful that I get to represent you, Mercy Church, to them. I am profoundly thankful for the diversity we share, but the common unity we have in Christ. We are richer and more fuller for having one another and being in one body together. It is truly a delight to share the gospel and our lives together. In Christ, John D |
Announcements
| —New Website! Please note that we have a brand new website thanks to the yeoman’s effort put forth by Brian Riedel! He has worked tirelessly for a significant length of time to make sure that we have a functional and aesthetic presence on the internet. On our website you can continue to give, listen to past sermons, see our bulletins, see a calendar of events, and more. Please thank Brian the next time you see him! —Summer Study of Ecclesiastes We will embark on a summer study through the book of Ecclesiastes beginning Sunday, June 23 at 5pm. This study will run for 10 consecutive weeks through the summer and will be located at the Downs’s home. We will eat a meal starting at 5 and begin our study promptly at 6pm. —Songs for Sunday Here’s what we’re singing this Sunday if you’d like to familiarize yourself with tunes + lyrics! Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder In Tenderness His Mercy Is More Psalm 1 (How Sweet And Awesome Is The Place Tune) Jesus Paid It All |
INTERESTING LINKS
These are some links that I have read recently that I enjoyed, found helpful, made me think, or otherwise did good for my soul/heart/mind.
PCA GA 51: Summary & 10 Key Decisions
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