Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 26 August, 2007
"Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth:
unite my heart to fear thy name" (Ps. 86:11)
Morning Service - 11:00 AM
God’s Fatherly Care and the Heavenly Bodies
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 9, Genesis 1:14-19
I. Their Creation by God
II. Their Purposes for Us
III. Their Message to Us
Psalms: 148:1-10; 98:1-9; 136:1-12; 104:19-24, 34-35Evening Service - 6:00 PM
God’s Unbreakable Covenant and the Heavenly Bodies
Jeremiah 33:17-26
I. The Covenant King and Priest
II. The Innumerable Covenant Seed
Psalms: 19:1-8; 99:1-9; 8:1-9; 74:16-21
For audio cassettes of the worship services or CDs of the sermons, contact Sean Courtney (cprcaudiostore@yahoo.co.uk)
CPRC website: www.cprc.co.uk
Quotes to Consider:
Robert C. Harbach: "... perhaps more than any other science, astronomy enables us to realize the omnipotence and glory of God!" (Studies in the Book of Genesis, p. 29).
Herman Hoeksema: "Everything strives for the light. Even the bosom of the ocean lifts itself up in the tides to the light of the sun and moon. The lights rule in every way the life of plants, animals, and man. On the evening of the fourth day a rich part of the work of creation was finished. Everything then awaited the creation of the living creature, the living soul, especially man, to view all the riches of this glory, to rejoice in it, and to glorify and praise God the creator" (Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 1, pp. 274-275).
Belgic Confession, Article 2: "By what means God is made known unto us. We know him by two means: first, by the creation, preservation and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God, namely, his power and divinity, as the apostle Paul saith, Romans 1:20. All which things are sufficient to convince men, and leave them without excuse. Secondly, he makes himself more clearly and fully known to us by his holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his glory and our salvation."
Stuart Burgess: "One of the reasons why God has made the stars beautiful is that He takes joy in His creation (Rev. 4:11). Another reason is that God wants mankind to enjoy the beauty of the stars. The Lord Jesus spoke of beauty in creation when He taught that the lilies of the field were more beautiful than Solomon in all of his glory (Matt. 6:28-29). Nothing that man has made can match God’s creation for beauty. This is true not only for the Earth but also for the stars. Job says this about the stars: ‘[God] doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number’ (Job 9:10). Powerful telescopes have demonstrated the profound truth of this verse. In an age when we are surrounded by man-made entertainment, it is important to take time to look up at the stars at night to see how God has ‘adorned the heavens.’ How we need to follow the advice of Elihu who said: ‘... Hearken unto this ... stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God’ (Job 37:14)" (He Made the Stars Also, p. 104).
Homer C. Hoeksema: "As to the alleged geocentric viewpoint of the creation narrative, let us note that there is absolutely nothing in the entire narrative or anywhere in the scriptures that makes the earth locally and physically the center of the universe ... Still, we must indeed remember that the Bible presents the earth as the center of creation from the viewpoint of its significance and its history. The earth was destined to be the home of the highest creature. This is true not merely in view of the fact that the earth is created as the home of man, but also because it is to be in history the home of the Son of God in the flesh, the King of all, in whom ultimately all things in heaven and on earth are to be united" (Unfolding Covenant History, volume 1, p. 55).
Announcements (subject to God’s will):
We welcome Michael Kimmit and Lindsay Williams to our worship services today. We welcome back Mr. & Mrs. Philip Hall into our midst. Philip & Susan’s address is 33 Craig Court, Ballymena.
Everyone is welcome to stay for tea and sandwiches after this evening’s service.
Offerings: General Fund £603.18. Donations: £50 (C. R. News), £200 (Limerick).
Next Lord’s Day morning, the second offering will be for the building fund.
The Reformed Witness Hour next Lord’s Day, 2 Sept (8:30-9:00 AM, on Gospel 846MW), is entitled "Christian Education is Covenant Education" (Isa. 38:19).
Advanced Notices: S. Wales Lecture, 14 Sept., on "The Perseverance of the Saints"
Reformation Day Lectures: "Lessons from the Reformation for Today" Fri., 26 Oct. in Portadown Minor Town Hall and Fri., 2 Nov., in Ballymena Protestant Hall
Website Additions: 2 Russian, 21 Portuguese (mostly pieces by Herman Hoeksema on the covenant), and 5 German (bringing our German section to 65, mostly translated by Martyn) translations. We have also added a link to the Heidelberg Catechism in Vietnamese.
PRC News: (1) Byron Center PRC has sermon videos, not just audio, on-line (www.byronprc.org/27.html). (2) Rev. DeVries declined the call to be missionary to the Philippines. (3) South Holland PRC sold its building and will hold their last worship services in South Holland on September 2. Beginning September 9 the worship services will be held at the St. Archangel Michael Serbian Social Center in Lansing, Illinois. The times of worship will remain at 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.