1989 issue 9 - a church blazing with vision: the rpcus - counsel of chalcedon
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/12/2019 1989 Issue 9 - A Church Blazing With Vision: The RPCUS - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/3
Many people inquire as to what
we
believe and what
our denomination is doing. Below is a
brief
statement
concerning our distinctives and our labors.
A Church Blazing with Vision
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States
Our Origin
lieve are the system
of
revealed truth tion Mandate of Genesis 1:28 and
to
the
taught in the Bible. We are called
of
Great Commission
of
Matthew 28:18-
The
Reformed Presbyterian Church God to defend, expound, and apply that 20. This mandate and commission
com
-
in the United States, (RPCUS), was system of truth, and the worldview prise a unity. They
must
not be set
born in
1983
out of the continuing based on it, with all of its distinctives, over against each other. The Great Com-
struggle to uphold the all-embracing, in an age
of
synthesis
and
apostasy. mission is Christ 's restatement of the
inerrant authority of the Bible, as the Creation Mandate taking into considera-
Word
of
God,
to
maintain the purity
of
We
emphasize
our
sincere commit- tion fallen man's
need
of
redemption.
the church, and
to
proclaJm the . t h Q.f.
ment
to
the Westminster.Standards? not
-
8/12/2019 1989 Issue 9 - A Church Blazing With Vision: The RPCUS - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/3
God's praises with psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs, which are expressions
of
biblical truth, with all the musiCal
instruments made available to us. We
place a high value on the singing
of
. he
150 Psalms and other portions
of
the
Bible in our worship serviCes.
We
also
fmnly believe in the Westminster Con
fession's regulative principle of worship
that only what God commands in the
Bible can done in our worship
of
him. Our clturches use such songbooks
as: THE TRINITY HYMNAL, the
Covenanter's TI:IE BOOK OF
PSALMS, and the Christian Reformed
Church's
i ffi
PSALTER-HYMNAL.
We also use music as a medium for the
spread
of
the gospel and the Reformed
Faith. We have several talented and pro
fessional singers and musicians whose
tapes are marketed nationally.
Our
Government
We
believe that Christ is the Head
of
the chrirch.and the state, and that he has
appointed a government in the hands
of
chutch officers, which .government and
jurisdiction are distinct from civil
government He
has called his church to
plant,. nourish, equip and reproduce
presbyterian ,churches, i.e., churches
shepherded by elders elected by the
congregation to represent Chri st and to
administer'His Word. When the elders
of
a local congregation meet oflicially,
they are cal led the Session. When elders
from each chtirch in a certain locality
meet
officially
to
shepherd the churches
committed to their charge, they are
called a Presbytery. And when the elders
from all the churches in a denomination
meet offichilly they are called the
.General Assembly. This connection
between
our churches manifests the
unity .
of
Christ's Body ,in the worid
With
our
common confession
of
faith
~ d
our c.ommon government, Acts
15
.
Our
Discipline .
Our
Book of
Church Order is our
e d i t e ~
versiop
of The Book
o
Church
Order p t
h
Presbyterian
Church
in
America
(Second Edition, 1978), and
our Directory ,
of
Worship
is
the un
edited version
of that same book, which
d i r ~ c t o r y is based.on the Westminster
Directory .
of
Worship. Our manual
of
h ~ h discipline is under review, along
with our present Book
of
Church Order,
in an effort to bring them into greater
conformity to the Word
of
God. We are
considering the manual of church dis
cipline
of
the Orthodox Presbyterian
Church as a guide in our practice of
chUICh
discipline.
Our
EcumeJiicity
We believe in the unity and catholi
city of Christ's Church. Therefore, we
seek to fellowship with all who love
the Lord Jesus Christ and his Bible. We
seek fraternal relations with all
ChUIChes
who sincerely hoid to the historic Re
formed and Presbyterian Confessions
and Catechisms, such as the Reformed
Presbyterian Church in North America,
Covenanter; the Reformed Church
in
the United States, Eureka Cla8sis; the
Presbyterian Church in America; the
Orthodoz Presbyterian Church, the Free
Presbyterian Church; etc.
We
welcome into
our
membership
any church
or
minister who shares our
distinctives and our strict subscription
to the Westminster Standards. We wel
come into our churches all who can
make a credible profession
of
faith in
Jesus Christ, with their children, Acts
16
:31. And we welcome
to
the Lord's
Table with us all who are baptized, who
are members in goOd standing of a
Bibte-beiieving church, who love Jesus
Christ, who discern the Lord's body in
the Supper, who examine themselves,
and who are able to remember the
Lord's death until he comes again.
One of our greatest joys is working
with churches, groups and individuals
who are "on the way"
or
in transition
between synthetic brands
of
Christian
ity and the authentic Christianity
of
the
Reformed Faith.
We
recognize that
there are churches
and
groups
of
fami
lies around the nation, and world, lean
ing, for the first time, in our direction,
.
who
are being attracted by th truth and
power of Reformed Christianity. We
long to be of any assistance possible to
them. Many
of our
strongest members
and churches came out
of
non-calvin
istic backgrounds.
The
Counsel of Chalceclon November 989 page
2
Our
Locations and Ministries
We
have churches, mission
work ;
and schools in Georgia, Virginia, New
Hampshire, Nebraska, Texas, Florida,
Washington, Nicaragua, Surinam, the
Caribbean Basin, and Germany. We are
in contact with interested groups in
Ohio, Louisiana and Canada. Our min
isters have been involved
in
evangel
i.stic endeavors throughout these United
States, and in world missions in
E1
Sal
vador, Chile, Paraquay, Argentina,
So,uth Africa, Germany and Scotland;
We are closely
i d e n ~ f i e d
with White
field Theological Seminary in Lakeland,
Florida. We have a monthly magazine
of
twenty-four
to
forty-eight pages
called
The Counsel of
.
d o n
which goes into homes, chi.Jrcbes,
schools, and businesses
of
thousands
of
people around the world. W.e have an
extensive pro-life ministry through
such projects as the North Georgia
Reformation C e n t ~ r which includes a
home for unwed mothers, and whic,h
offers loving care, discipleship and vo
cational training.
Our particular chqrches and mission
works are involved in a wide-range of
ministries in their efforts . o win the
world for Christ by serving . others,
Mark
10:45. In 1988 our small denom
ination reached over 25 million people
arqund the ~ i t h the Word
of
God
At present our influence far exceeds our
numbers. We praise God for that, while
at the same tiine working, praying, and
strategizing for extensive and intensive
church
growth
spiritually, numerical
ly,
ge
ogiaphically, and h e t e r o g e n e o u s ~
ly. .
Our Make up
Our people m ~ from a variety
of
races and backgrounds, from one end of
t q ~
economic. intellectual, social spec
trum to the other. We are a multiplicity
of
peoples, languages,,and races; woven
by the Holy Spirit into one united
b o
-
8/12/2019 1989 Issue 9 - A Church Blazing With Vision: The RPCUS - Counsel of Chalcedon
3/3
has promised his church a glorious fu
ture in Jesus Christ, Isaiah 2. We look
forward to
the future, knowing that it,
with all its struggles, afflictions, and
progressive victories, belongs, not to
the humanists, but to the faithful peo
ple of God, I Cor. 3:21-22. We are fu
ture-oriented
in
our present responsibili
ties. Our vision for life and the future
s
determined by the promises
of
God's
covenant and
of
Christ's kingdom. We
pray that God would use us to bring the
covenantal blessings of salvation to all
the families of all the nations
of
the
world, Psalm 22:27f; Galatians 3:7-29.
We believe that the kingdom of
Christ
and the preaching
of
that kingdom will
leaven the whole loaf
of
human life and
society,
as
it advances toward total vic
tory, Mark 4:21-32. We work, pray and
hope for the day when the earth will be
full
of
the knowledge
of
the Lord as the
waters cover the sea, Isaiah
11:9
Your Invitation
f you would like
to
talk to us about
joining with us, or if you have any fur
ther questions about who we are and
what we stand for, we would be more
than glad for you
to
call us at (404) 339-
1162 or (404) 396-0965.
.Q
Jeremiah
Continued from page 16
ashamed
of
the gospel, for
it
is the
power of
God
for salvation
to
everyone
who believes.... or in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from
faith to faith;
as it is
written: 'But the
righteous man shall live by faith. '
(Rom. 1:16-17). But now apart from
the Law the righteousness
of
God has
been manifested, being witnessed by the
Law and the Prophets, even the
righteousness
of
God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all those who be
lieve ... (Rom. 3:21f) He (Jehovah)
made him (Jesus) who knew
no
sin to
be sin on our behalf, that we might
become the righteousness of God in
him.
(II Cor. 5:21)
.Q
The Counsel
o
Chalcedon November, 1989 page 13