Jeremiah Mooney Returns To Preach On The Old Testament Gospel

We welcome Jeremiah Mooney back to our pulpit. He will preach from Genesis 3; his sermon title will be, “The Gospel According to Genesis 3.”

January 20: Sanctity Of Life Sunday–Celebrate Life Or Lament Evil?

Every Lord’s Day throughout the year, we worship together our Creator God for His wonderful gifts of creation and human life, particularly eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ by God’s grace. Yet every third Sunday in January gives us reason to pause in our celebration. On January 22, 1973, a great evil came upon our land. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand in all 50 states. This was 46 years ago, approaching half a century, with a cost of more than 60 million lives lost since the ruling.

Our land is a constitutional republic, governed by we the people within the rule of law. What does this great evil of legal abortion say about the citizens of our country? Are we making a mockery of our national slogan, “In God We Trust”? How long will God stay judgment on our land in the face of this mockery?

Surely, on January 20 we must worship God for the goodness of His creation, including man, created in His image, though now fallen and totally depraved. At the same time, we must deeply lament the disobedience and evil that has gripped our land, praying for a return of the moral law in our society and righteous leaders to make our laws in the face of a sovereign Lord. We must celebrate with the Psalmist in Ps. 139, yet also lament with him in Ps. 107.

 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
 13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
 15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139)

 33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants. (Psalm 107)

Proposed 2019 Church Budget To Be Presented January 27

The Session has called a Congregational Meeting following worship on January 27 for the purpose of reviewing and approving the 2019 budget. This proposed budget, which has been approved by the Session, is attached to this email. Copies will also be available on the entry table Sunday, January 20. 

Sunday Afternoon Discussion Group January 27

Our next discussion time will be next Sunday afternoon, January 27, at the Woodard’s residence, beginning at 4:00. The article that will be our focus is by John R. Muether and is titled “Paying Attention in Worship.” It is found on page 66 of the December Tabletalk.

If you do not have the Tabletalk, there are copies on the table at the back of the sanctuary.

‘Meeting People along the Backroads of Asia’ Continues

While Pastor Barron is recuperating from his knee replacement surgery, we have moved our Midweek Study to Thursday evenings. Our own Jim Moehlenbrock is presenting a four-part (maybe longer) series on his time in Southeast Asia, “Meeting People along the Backroads of Asia.” Let’s join our friends at The Woodlands for this interesting event. It will begin at 7:00 pm in the Camellia Room.

Dorcas Ministry Focuses On OPC Disaster Relief In January

The Dorcas Ministry focus for January will be assistance for our Christian brothers and sisters who have been afflicted by the autumn hurricanes. The Dorcas Ministry has selected the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) Hurricane Florence Fund to help churches and people in New Bern, NC and Wilmington, NC.  There are three churches in those locations whose congregants were affected by that storm.  Members of those churches are represented on the committee overseeing use of the funds. We will receive the donations on January 20. Make your checks out to North Greenville Church and include in the memo “Hurricane Florence Fund.”

The OPC is a confessional Presbyterian denomination, similar in its doctrine to the ARPC. For more information on the OPC, consult Brent or Anette Butterfield. We will have an additional OPC Hurricane Florence Fund emphasis month inserted in our alternating schedule between Piedmont Women’s Center and the North Greenville Crisis Ministry. Looking ahead, February will focus on the North Greenville Crisis Ministry and March our conclusion of the OPC Disaster Relief focus.

Church Nursery Volunteers Sought

The church now offers a nursery for children from infancy through age 3 during morning worship. It is the intention of the Session to provide nursery attendants from congregational volunteers on a rotating schedule. If you will agree to assist, please contact Pastor Barron.

Catechism Corner 

Q. 32. How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant? 
A. The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by him; and requiring faith as the condition to interest them in him, promiseth and giveth his Holy Spirit to all his elect, to work in them that faith, with all other saving graces; and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness to God, and as the way which he hath appointed them to salvation. 

(Westminster Larger Catechism)

Tabletalk Moment

Covenant Renewal On Ebal: Worship continues as a covenant renewal ceremony. Weekly, we gather with God’s people on the Lord’s Day to hear the blessings and curses of God’s Word–curses for those who fail to turn to Christ and blessings for those who believe. And we commit ourselves again to Christ as our Lord, trusting Him for eternal life. (Tabletalk Magazine, January 17, page 49).



Short Items

Sunday School: This Sunday at 9:30am in the Camellia Room, we will complete our study of 2 Timothy from the ARP Adult Quarterly, bidding farewell to the Apostle Paul as he passes on his ministry to Timothy, and to us. Our topic for Sunday will be from 2 Timothy 4, “Guard the Gospel Like Paul.” In this prison epistle, we will see how Paul describes a restless generation, eager to embrace false teaching, toward whom our duty is evangelism.

Piedmont Women’s Center Banquet For Life: One of our Dorcas Ministry partners is the Piedmont Women’s Center. The PWC will hold its annual Fundraising Banquet for Life on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Greenville Convention Center (formerly the TD Convention Center). This year’s speaker will be Pro-Life advocate Jordan Sekulow. We have an opportunity for various levels of involvement in this event, ranging from individual contributions to sponsorship at five different levels. For more information about this opportunity, ladies please contact Susan Williams.

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