Reformed Theology Celebrates The Glory Of God
The heart and soul of Reformed theology is the glory of the triune God . For this reason, it is often called God-centered theology. B. B. Warfield said, The Calvinist, in a word, is the man who sees God. . . God in nature, God in history, God in grace. Everywhere he sees God in His mighty stepping, everywhere he feels the working of His mighty arm, the throbbing of His mighty heart. The magnificent obsession of Reformed Christianity, and indeed the very purpose for which mankind exists, is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says.
Christian Reformed Church Beliefs
The Christian Reformed Church professes the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed. They believe salvation is God’s work from beginning to end and that humans can do nothing to earn their way into heaven.
Baptism – Christ’s blood and spirit wash away sins in baptism. According to the Heidelberg Catechism, infants, as well as adults, may be baptized and received into the church.
Bible – The Bible, the central text of the Christian Reformed Church, is the “inspired and infallible Word of God.” While Scripture reflects the personalities and cultures of the individual writers, it infallibly conveys God’s revelation. Over the decades, the Christian Reformed Church has authorized several translations of the Bible to be used in worship services.
Clergy – Women may be ordained to all ecclesiastical offices in the Christian Reformed Church. Synods have debated this issue since 1970, and not all local churches agree with this position.
Communion – The Lord’s Supper is offered as a remembrance of Jesus Christ’s “once-for-all” sacrificial death for the forgiveness of sins.
Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit is the Comforter promised by Jesus before his ascension into heaven. The Holy Spirit is God with us in the here and now, empowering and guiding both the church and individuals.
Trinity – God is One, in three persons, as revealed by the Bible. God is a “perfect community of love” as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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On New Years Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. Pastors Husbands. At one point in time, all pastors were men. This is no longer the case as female pastors are filling a variety of ministry roles in the CRC. To assume that pastors husbands and pastors wives share identical experiences would be unfortunate, and inaccurate.
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Disciples Who Make Disciples
Faith Reformed Church is a community of believers in Jesus Christ committed to deeply loving God, authentically loving others, and boldly living Gods Word in our personal lives and in the world.
- We strive as a congregation to embody the core values of being: God-centered, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered, Bible-saturated, Church-edifying, mission-mobilizing, soul-winning, disciple-making, and justice-pursuing. We live this out with a spirit of grace and a humble dependence upon God through prayer.
- We strive to be a church family, not just a church of families.
- We are a multi-generational congregation where each generation is valued and respected. Our worship and ministry reflect our unity and diversity.
- We strive to be a warm, simple, straightforward, approachable church, centered on the Word of God. We are hungry for good, simple verse by verse exposition of the Bible.
What Is The Christian Reformed Church
Many years later, Rev. Albertus Van Raalte saw that the only way to avoid further persecution was to go to the United States. They settled in Holland, Michigan in 1848. To overcome the harsh conditions, they merged with the Dutch Reformed Church in New Jersey. By 1857, a group of four churches seceded and formed the Christian Reformed Church.
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waiting for their church to keep something of its promises. Synod 1999 affirmed its pastoral advice of 1973 and called the church to repentance and three years later, that same committee provided the church with a plethora of resources to improve pastoral care for persons who experience same-sex attraction. . leadership. when women were priests women s leadership in the early. the hidden history of women s ordination female clergy in. early women leaders from heads of house churches to. mothers of the reformation christian history. ordination of women and the catholic church. customer reviews when women were priests. episcopal church celebrates 40.
Logical Order Of God’s Decree
There are two schools of thought regarding the logical order of God’s decree to ordain the fall of man: supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism . The former view, sometimes called “high Calvinism”, argues that the Fall occurred partly to facilitate God’s purpose to choose some individuals for salvation and some for damnation. Infralapsarianism, sometimes called “low Calvinism”, is the position that, while the Fall was indeed planned, it was not planned with reference to who would be saved.
Supralapsarians believe that God chose which individuals to save logically prior to the decision to allow the race to fall and that the Fall serves as the means of realization of that prior decision to send some individuals to hell and others to heaven . In contrast, infralapsarians hold that God planned the race to fall logically prior to the decision to save or damn any individuals because, it is argued, in order to be “saved”, one must first need to be saved from something and therefore the decree of the Fall must precede predestination to salvation or damnation.
The Reformed tradition is largely represented by the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Anglican, Congregationalist, and Reformed Baptist denominational families.
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1956: The General Conference of the United Methodist Church approved full clergy rights for women. 10: 1956: Maud K. Jensen was the first woman to receive full clergy rights and conference membership in the Methodist Church. 7: 1958: Women ministers in the Church of the Brethren were given full ordination with the same status as men. Our pastors and prayer volunteers would love to lift you up before God in prayer. Email or text Pastor Bob Huisman with your prayer request or to request one of the pastors or prayer volunteers to contact you by phone. We have male and female prayer volunteers who are eager to call and pray with you. . Corinth Reformed Church is nestled in Hickory, NC, a small and vibrant town in the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range. It was founded in 1869 and has a long history of faithful witness in that Hickory community. The current senior pastor, Bob Thompson, who was raised and educated with an evangelical worldview, was called into the.
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Obviously the big political type of stuff we see in the American church has been the Trump aspect of evangelicalism. A lot of these figures involved in this aren’t new to the scene, as we have seen the Republican = Christian pull for decades with things like the fundamentalist and satanic panic movements, alongside many American Zionists.
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Theological Changes To The Church
In the 17th century, and John Calvin intensified the call for change in the Church. In particular, the Doctrine of Justification by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone was a central focus to this change.
From the Westminster Shorter Catechism: Justification is an act of Gods free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
These doctrinal changes split the Church into two factions: The Church of Rome and the Church of the Protestors, or the Protestant Church. This event is known as the Protestant Reformation.
This is the Reformed Churchs heritage.
The Essential Theology of Reformed Churches
The Protestant Reformation was a recovery of essential doctrines that had become hidden in decades of church corruption. It was a rediscovery of orthodox teachings and practices.
Different traditions within the Reformation defined their teaching and practices in their Confessional Statements. The most dominant is the Westminster Confession written by English Puritans in an attempt to reform the Church of England. It included the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
In Germany, a prince commissioned his court theologian and a theological professor to write a catechism for his subjects. The outcome was the Heidelberg Catechism.
These confessional statements defined what they believed as expressions of the Reformation.
Reformed Theology Presents A Comprehensive Worldviewmore Than Five Points
When people ask, What is Reformed theology? they often receive an answer couched in terms of the five points of Calvinism, the doctrines of total human depravity, unconditional divine election, Christs death for the elect, Gods sovereignty in saving them, and their final perseverance in grace to eternal life and glory. Or, they might hear the five sola principles: standing on Scripture alone, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
However, a survey of a Reformed catechism or systematic theology shows that there is much more to Reformed theology than the doctrine of salvation. Reformed theology also includes the biblical doctrines of Gods eternal being and works of creation, providence, and government of the origin of mankind, our nature, our fall into sin and its consequences of Christs glorious person, natures, offices, incarnation, sufferings, and death, and the glory that followed of the Spirit and his work in creation and redemption of the church, its constitution, mission, and ordinances of the Christians experience of grace, his life of thankful service in obedience to Gods law, and the ministry of prayer and finally, the glorious things that are yet to come as God accomplishes all his holy will. Reformed theology is a proclamation of the whole counsel of God insofar as God has revealed it for us to know .
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Sure. Absolutely. But there is a long history of studied scholars who fall on the egalitarian side and who have articulated careful, biblical justifications for their stance, and this isn’t some brand new cultural phenomenon. Heck, John Wesley licensed female preachers in the 1700’s, and the UMC, for example, has had female pastors for 100 years.
Why The Church Needed Reforming
Two thousand years ago, on Pentecost, God poured out the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Spirit, Jesus followers began to spread the good news about him worldwide. Where their preaching was heard, churches sprang up. These churches lived the gospel and, in turn, spread it to others as well. As these churches matured, they joined together into an organizational structure that helped them support each other, held them accountable, and kept them on the right track in their teaching. For a thousand years churches were more or less organized under one overarching structure.
During that time the organizational structure of the church hardened and its leaders became corrupt. By the dawn of the second millennium power struggles and doctrinal differences between church leaders split the church into two parts: the Eastern Orthodox Church, headed by the patriarch of the Church of Constantinople, and the Latin Western Church, led by the pope, the bishop of Rome. This church came to be known as the Roman Catholic Church.
So what needed reforming? Heres just a partial list:
A number of strands of Protestant churches began as a result of the Reformation: Lutheran and Anabaptist churches in Germany, Anglican churches in England, Reformed churches in Switzerland and France, and Presbyterian churches in Scotlandamong others.
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Reformed Theology Sustains Faithful Preaching And Evokes Continual Praise
The Reformers and Puritans theologized in their preaching and preached their theology. The Reformers and Puritans took their cue as preachers from the apostle Paul: I believed, and therefore have I spoken . This was not merely a method they embraced, but the fruit of their encounter with the living God through the truths of his Word. Like Paul, they preached Gods Word as in Gods presence . And like Paul, their theology overflowed in blazing doxology . Thus, Reformed theology is a grand assertion that of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever . Wilhelmus à Brakel said, God possesses within Himself all glory and worthiness to be served, and therefore, true godliness is to live unto God at all times and in all things with all that he is and is capable of performing, for He is God and by virtue of His nature this is His worthy due.
Joel R. Beeke has written over one hundred books. He is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan the editor of Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth the editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books the president of Inheritance Publishers and the vice president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society.
Reformed Theology Exalts Jesus Christ As Our Only Mediator
Christ is everything to believers . The Holy Scriptures teach us to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord . Earlier we noted that Reformed theology is God-centered here we clarify that it is centered on the triune God who comes to us through the only Mediator, Jesus Christ. The Puritans portrayed the gospel as the greatest love story ever toldthe Fathers heavenly match of his perfect Son with his fallen and sinful bride, the church. They traced in glowing detail his mediatorial office as the Prophet, Priest, and King of his people. The knowledge of Christ is a topic of immeasurable glory, the unsearchable riches of Christ . John Flavel said, The study of Jesus Christ is the most noble subject that ever a soul spent itself upon. . . Gods heart is opened to men in Christ.
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Reformed Theology Breathes A Spirit Of Practical Godliness
God-centered teaching calls us to God-centered living. The Word aims to inculcate the wisdom of Gods Word through faith in Christ , and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord . Though it is possible to do theology in a spiritually arid, merely intellectual manner, Reformed theology has historically aimed at the same Paul had in his teaching: love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith . Reformed divines often speak of piety as a synonym for true religion. John Calvin said, Indeed, we shall not say that, properly speaking, God is known where there is no religion or piety. . . I call piety that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces. Although Reformed theology can be taught on a high academic level, it aims to expound the knowledge of God in such terms that children can practice it at home and adults, in their trades . Gisbertus Voetius, a renowned professor of Reformed theology, regularly gave his time to catechizing orphans. The English Puritans encouraged people with no more than a basic education to have family devotions so that Gods Word permeates all of life . The men of Old Princeton held that truth is in order to goodness.
The Birth Of The Reformed Churches
The Reformed Churches formed one branch of the Protestant churches that broke from the Roman Catholic Church of that day. They began in the sixteenth century in Switzerland under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin. Calvins teachings became the dominant and leading force in these churches as they spread across Europe, particularly to France, the Netherlands, Scotland, and, by the eighteenth century, to North America, Africa, Hungary, Indonesia, and many other parts of the globe.
Because he was persecuted by the Roman Church, Calvin had to flee France. He was drafted by another Reformer, Guillaume Farel, to support the Protestant cause in Geneva, Switzerland. There Calvin became an active preacher, teacher, leader, and proponent of Reformation teachings. While in many ways a child of his age, Calvin made a tremendous contribution to helping us understand the Bible and the faith to which it calls us.
Reformed teaching was introduced to Scotland by John Knox, who was initially influenced by the Lutheran stream of the Reformation. His teacher, Patrick Hamilton, was burned to death for his faith, and Knox himself was captured by the French and forced into hard labor as a galley slave. Once freed, he studied with Calvin in Geneva, returning to Scotland in 1559. In spite of stiff opposition from both church and state, Knox succeeded in establishing what came to be known as the Presbyterian Church.
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Welcome to LaGrave Avenue ChristianReformedChurch. If you’re looking for a warm church that commits to an intensely pertinent Gospel in the Reformed tradition of the Christian faith, we invite you to worship with us. Our 1,800 members come from across West Michigan and gather weekly in our sanctuary for relevant Biblical preaching. Women in the Church | Reformed Theological Seminary Women in the Church The Lord’s Day Morning August 1, 2004 I Timothy 2:8-15 “Women in the Church” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to First Timothy, chapter two. Patrick Stefan is the pastor of Rochester Reformed Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY and an Army Reserve Chaplain for the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion. He is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology where he studies New Testament and Christian Origins.