“One Holy Passion” – Rev.C.Haak

Speaking of excellent, edifying Reformed sermons, we were blessed in Faith PRC last evening to hear the above-titled sermon by Rev.C.Haak (pastor of Georgetown PRC, Hudsonville, MI), based on Romans 11:36. If you wish to learn what the Reformed faith is about at its core; if you wish to know why the doctrines of grace are so God-centered and man-abasing; if you wish to know what the Christian world and life view is; if you wish to be stirred in your soul to thank and praise God for the gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, – then listen to this sermon – “One Holy Passion”.

I have also been updating the sermon audio page on the PRCA website. Check it out for a fine selection of recent sermons preached through the PRC.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Investing in Our Children – R.C. Sproul Jr. & Conversion and the Covenant Child – R.Dykstra

Secure Investments by R.C. Sproul Jr. | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Yesterday morning during our worship service in Faith PRC we witnessed two infant baptisms. As is my custom, I took my issue of Tabletalk along to read some of the feature articles. Prior to the morning service I read the above article by R.C.Sproul, Jr., in which he writes under the rubric “Seek Ye First”, based on Jesus’ words at the end of the great Sermon on the Mount.

Belonging to those words of Jesus are his admonition in vss.25ff. about fear and worry, words that tie in well with the theme of this month’s TT – “The Seven Deadly Fears” (And, by the way, you  too may read the next article on this theme “Fear of Failure” by Dr.R.Pratt, Jr.). Toward the end of his article Sproul had some fine thoughts about our worries about finances in comparison with our concerns about our children’s destinies.

Needless to say, his words hit home – and fit well the occasion of baptism. I quote a portion here and encourage you to read the full article at the Ligonier link above. Caution: your conscience will be pricked. But that is a good thing.

Were I to poll the evangelical church and ask this question, “Which is more important, the eternal state of the souls of your children, or your financial position?” chances are we’d have a radically lopsided poll. If, however, I were to construct a worry meter, and attach it to the hearts of those evangelicals, what would it show us?

Again, the two, our money and our children, may be connected. We excuse our money worries by asserting our concern is for their inheritance. But why, then, are we so much less concerned about the spiritual inheritance we give them? Our treasure is where our fear is.

Which is why, of course, Jesus directs us to love, to cherish, to treasure that which can never be taken away. When we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, we are not merely pursuing the more valuable as opposed to the less valuable. Rather, we are also pursuing what we cannot lose, as opposed to what we cannot hope to keep. When we seek to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, when we teach them the way they should go when they are young so that they will not turn from it when they are old (Prov. 22:6), we are not just investing in eternity, but we are investing in that which cannot be lost. When we plant the seed of the Word, we know it will not—because it cannot—return to Him void.

There is a simple and wise trick to get us over our worries. We need only to ask ourselves, “In a thousand years, will this really matter?” With respect to our children, the answer is always “Yes. For thousands of thousands of thousands of years it will matter.” Invest in eternity. Invest in your children.

I might add here too that Prof.R.Dykstra, who has been preaching our Heidelberg Catechism sermons in the morning at Faith PRC since our pastoral vacancy, preached a fine baptism sermon on “Conversion and the Covenant Child” based on Romans 6 and LD 33 of the HC. I also encourage you to listen to this sermon by using this link.