Month: December 2022

The sermon is from 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4 – “Facing the Future, Then and Now”.  “Therefore we ourselves boast about you … for your steadfastness … in all your persecutions …” – 2 Thessalonians 1:4

The Thessalonian Christians suffered greatly for their Lord and for their faith in Him (See Acts 17:1-9). As 21st Century American Christians, we need this reminder. Most of us have never experienced the same sort of suffering for our faith. We should thank God for this environment in which we live. Paul urged 1st Century Christians to pray for such conditions as we enjoy (See 1 Timothy 2:1-2). However, Isaac Watts asks us and challenges us in his hymn, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” – “Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?” Would our faith in Christ endure if we were to experience the flames of persecution in 2023?

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Keyword: Hickory Withe PCA

The Christmas Day sermon is from Revelation 12:1-7 – “Heaven’s War and Bethlehem’s Baby”. “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron …” – Revelation 12:5

We prefer not to think about war during the Christmas season and especially on Christmas Day. After all, Christmas reminds us of that great promise to the Judean shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” But God told Satan in the Garden of Eden, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) That enmity continues today as Satan seeks to oppose God’s redemptive purposes and to destroy His church on earth. And, yet, Christ has “… disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them …” (Colossians 2:15) Christ delivered a mortal wound to Satan at Calvary and soon He will crush Satan under our feet. (Romans 16:20)

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Keyword: Hickory Withe PCA

This Sunday the sermon is from Luke 1:26-33 – “Christmas and the Catechism”. “Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul …” – Westminster Shorter Catechism #22

Many Christian denominations subscribe to certain creeds, confessions and catechisms. These tools aid Christians as they seek to understand the truths of Scripture. Presbyterians, for instance, subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Question #22 of the Shorter Catechism is particularly helpful during the Christmas season. It asks the question, “How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?” Then, it gives this answer, “Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.” Charles Wesley put this truth to song, “Veiled in flesh the God-head see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.” Let us worship the Christ of Scripture.

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Keyword: Hickory Withe PCA

This Sunday the sermon is from Luke 2:36-40 – “There Was a Prophetess, Anna…”. “She did not depart from the temple …” – Luke 2:37

In Luke 2:37, we read that the prophetess in Jerusalem, Anna, shortly after the birth of Christ, “… did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.” She announced the arrival of Jesus Christ upon the stage of human history. There were those in Jerusalem “… waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” In other words, there were some in Jerusalem who had read their Old Testaments or who had heard of the Old Testament promises and predictions regarding the 1st Advent of Christ. Are we, like them, waiting for and expecting the Christ to come again? (See 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Keyword: Hickory Withe PCA

This Sunday the sermon is from Luke 2:1-20 – “But Mary…”. “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy …” – Luke 2:10

One famous Christmas carol goes like this, “Good Christian men, rejoice, with heart and soul and voice; now ye need not fear the grave: Jesus Christ was born to save.” Little wonder that the angels’ announcement to the shepherds says, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” Little wonder that the famous Apostle Paul proclaimed, “… our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10) Now, because Christ has lived, died and was resurrected from the dead, we can join Paul in his taunt, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Keyword: Hickory Withe PCA