Reformation Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Luke 2:21-40 NKJV - And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Jesus Presented in the Temple 22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Simeon Sees God's Salvation 25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him ac

Continuing the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the Forerunner who came to prepare a way for our Messiah. Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Lord's Day 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098 (704) 931-8094 Luke 1:57-66 NKJV - Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. Circumcision of John the Baptist 59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." 61 But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and

Unpacking the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the Forerunner who came to prepare a way for our Messiah. Luke 1:57-66 NKJV - Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. Circumcision of John the Baptist 59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." 61 But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill count

Paul continues to build upon the idea already put forth in the preceding verses and even chapters that the governing decree of election is paramount in the revealing of who does and who does not belong to the family of God, whether they be by right of public or previous association either Jew or Gentile. What matters is not former covenant relationship status, but rather that you believe that Jesus is the Messiah. What matters is not external membership, but to receive the Messiah by faith. With regard to this principle of election by grace, we find that there are members of the family of God who are both Jew and Gentiles by birth, and are rightly called "Christian" by right of their being born again of the Holy Spirit, and baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what we mean by "one baptism for the remission of sins" - only Christ can wash us, and the Father has within the number of the elect those whom He has yet to call out of every tribe, tongue, and nation. The door then remai

This coming evening, we come to not only a known and well-loved text, the announcement to the young virgin who would be the mother of the Messiah, Mary. The announcement begins with these words - "rejoice highly favored one." Mary was chosen even before the foundations of the world were laid to be the one who would carry the Messiah, the miracle Son who came in the flesh to deliver His people from their sins. Such news laid heavy upon her heart, for it was not only grand but weighty new for Mary would play a key role not only in carrying and giving birth to the Messiah, but she would be His mother. Despite her essential and important role, it would be Jesus who would ultimately redeem not only His own mother, but as the future King and Head of the Church, He would bear the Name that indicated His role of Kingly and Priestly Savior of the World. Mary's Son would be her King, Mary's Son is our King, and His rule shall never end. Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Lord's Day 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rh

Romans 11:1-10 NKJV - I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 "LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life?" 4 But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. 7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And

Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Lord's Day 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098 (704) 931-8094 ropcgastonia@gmail.com

Elder Ben Stahl's sermon powerfully displays the real, true, and supernatural Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many counterfeits, but there is only one truth. Galatians 1:1-12 NKJV - Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Only One Gospel 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so n

Elder Ben Stahl brings a message continuing the topic of the AM service, which you can find here linked at the end of the video. This message is centered on the false gospels we deal with today and the true Supernatural Gospel of Jesus Christ. The contrast is urgent. Galatians 6:11-18 NKJV - See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! 12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. Blessing and a Plea 16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel

All who have ever lived are judged by one infallible and ever-present standard, who do you say that Christ is, and though the law condemns all men, only Christ can save, only His blood can make the foulest sinner clean, and whether one is Jew or Gentile, God reckons us not by our blood but by the blood of Christ. Whether or not we are in union with Christ, baptized into His death and resurrection, this is what matters, this is the primary division between men - Christ and His work rejected or received. The condition of Israel, was at the time of Paul's writing, a people who had stumbled over Christ the Stone, despite being zealous for righteousness. In contrast, the Gentiles, who had not sought for the righteousness of God, found it. Why? Because that was God's plan. From our perspective, God's plan is carried out through the means of grace, through the pattern of men sent out with Word, preaching, calling sinners to salvation, believing and resting upon Christ, clinging to Him as their righteousness before

"Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter!" This Boaz exclaims in relationship to Ruth's offer of marriage as the one who has taken it upon herself to provide for Naomi was lacking in the loss of her husband and sons. Elimelech's house was in ruins, broken under the just hand of God who compromised and left the Land of Promise to sojourn in Moab, a cursed and barren land with nothing to offer the chosen people of God. Once God had visited judgment upon the family of Elimelech, Naomi returned, embittered to the providence of God, such that she sought to push her daughters-in-law back to Moab. Naomi, despite her bitterness to warranted judgment, was shown kindness from Ruth, and through Ruth God restored not only one who had been brought back empty and embittered, but Israel as God was leading Israel closer to the True King promised them through Judah. Ruth, the blessed one of the Lord, would be the means, and through Boaz a faithful man, to bring life from death. Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Ea

Christ and the preaching of Christ is Stone and the message of the Stone that causes men either to stumble or to be saved. Either a man trips over the Stone or he builds a life upon the Stone. Israel failed to attain the righteousness of God because they sought it through the striving of the flesh, by the sweat of their brows, and by failing to come to terms with the reality that if any man seeks to be righteous in the sight of God apart from being justified through Christ, then that man seeks righteousness in vain. Whatever else the Church is called to do, what it must do first is preach Christ, and by that I mean that the message that through Christ and only in union with Christ can a man stand before God and be counted righteous. The matter at hand is this: How do you respond to the Stone and how do you receive the Gospel of the Stone, the Rock who is Christ Jesus? There are only two options: Either a man will seek to build a system of righteousness apart from the Stone and so stumble even as the Stone bri

Despite the bitterness of Naomi, God is, as a testimony of His extraordinary patience, weaving through His sovereign hand a means whereby a king will come to the family of Elimelech and to Israel. In fact Naomi's spirits are lifted by the end of Chapter 2 after hearing of the kindness of Boaz to her and her family. God would indeed restore the fortunes of Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and to the whole nation of Israel as God was, through His own law kept, bring redemption and life to the tribe that had been cursed due to the sin of Onan several generations prior. God would bring life from death, righteousness from wickedness, hope where there was no hope. Through the "younger son" God would restore the line of the righteous.  Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Lord's Day 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098 (704) 931-8094 ropcgastonia@gmail.com

What happened to Israel? They rejected the Messiah and for this reason, they were accursed. This rejection of the Messiah can be explained or understood from two different perspectives, yet are connected or parallel with one another such that we might say that Israel rejected Christ, a sin for which they are held liable because they were rejected by God. Their rejection of Christ, as a matter of their own wills and actions, happened as a result of God's willingness to show His wrath to those who, though belonging to the family or visible body, were nonetheless not of the true household of faith, the true family for whom Christ came to give His life and redeem. Not all of Israel was Israel, not all who passed through the Sea made it to the promised land. Not all who are named as members of the visible church are of the elect. Who decides, God decides, and yet man is held accountable for what he does with the offer of salvation, whether he, by faith, rests in Christ, or seeks salvation another way. That the Jew

Naomi and Ruth have returned to the land of Judah, specifically the city of Bethlehem, the city that Elimelech left during the famine years before. Having sojourned in Moab, a land filled with those who historically had treated Israel cruelly, Naomi returns to the land of her people having lost everything and without any hope of care, and rather than confess a proper response of repentance and groaning, her mouth is full complaint and heart full of bitterness. Despite her bitterness, Ruth gets to work providing for her family in the fields of Boaz, who will prove to be an instrument of provision according to God's mercy. Despite the bitterness of Naomi, God is, as a testimony of His extraordinary patience, weaving through His sovereign hand a means whereby a king will come to the family of Elimelech and to Israel. Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Sunday 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098 (704) 931-8094 ropcgastonia@gmail.com

Paul began the chapter by relaying the history of the rejection of the Messiah by the Israelites, those whom Paul called his brethren and countrymen according to the flesh. This "countryman" term is used to describe Paul's connection as an ethnic Jew though Paul was an ethnic Jew and a countryman in the flesh, now through the unfolding of the plan and purposes of God concerning redemptive history, it has become clear that his brotherhood and the nation to which he belongs that is supreme is that of the household of God, bound by Christ and the Holy Spirit, such that even at the time of Paul's writing, he could rightly say that the Gentiles, who the Ministry of Jesus Christ had brought in, are also his countryman, by a different qualification, not by flesh, but by the Spirit. In this chapter, Paul harkens back to the beginning (9:1-13) by outlining the nature of the Jews' rejection, how they lost their heart for the kingdom, and the King himself. In contrast, the Gentiles, who were not pursuing the kingdom, at

Many moments in Israel's history, recorded in the Book of Judges, illustrate their rebellion against the One who had graciously delivered them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the promised land. Not only do we see their sins listed as an unblushing record, but we are also told the primary contributing factor for their spiritual rebellion - the generation that took the land, the second generation, did not do so fully (Judges 1:27-36, and what is more, they failed to instruct or nurture the third generation in the ways of covenant faithfulness by failing to communicate the glorious and gracious work of the Lord (Judges 2:10). For their rebellion the Lord handed them over to their enemies, for their rebellion the Lord raised up nations against them, and for their rebellion the Lord did not give them the victory that was promised had they simply obeyed. The story of Ruth takes place in the time of the Judges, and despite the wickedness of her own people, the Moabites, Ruth rejects the national idols

Pastor Fowler dives deeper into Romans 9 in the Salvation, Root and Branch series. This week the focus is on Romans 9: 22-29 Romans 9:22-29 NKJV - What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." 26 "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God." 27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. 28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the eart

Judges: Disobedience and Deliverance Judges 17:6 NKJV - In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 18:1 NKJV - In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them Judges 21:25 NKJV - In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 19:1 NKJV - And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia! Each Sunday 9:30am & 5:30pm 203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098 (704) 931-8094 ropcgastonia@gmail.com

I wanted to take a moment as we moved through Romans 9, where Paul doesn't defend the doctrine of election, but rather puts it forward as the key to unlocking the challenge of our understanding the effect of God's power in combination with His purposes in the world with regards to the Jewish people and their denial of Him, and the bringing in of the Gentiles. Any study of the covenant, namely the covenant of grace gives us not just a broad strokes historical context for the events recorded in the scriptures, but a greater appreciation for the character of God that is revealed when the unfolding of His promise and plan for the redemption of sinful men, and the fulfillment of His kingdom on earth. The Triune Lord, the Maker and Redeemer is One who lives in covenant within Himself, between the persons, and as One who creates, life being that blessed overflow of the love that exists within Himself, He also entered into covenant with all those who proceed from Him. This is to say that the Lord relates to His cre