Bethel
Protestant Reformed Church; Roselle, Illinois
This is the Lord’s Day, August 24, 2008
“God
be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us; Selah.
That Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving
health among all nations." Psalm 67:1&2
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Morning |
Evening |
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Call to Worship: Psalm
66:1-4 Scripture Reading: 1st
Peter 4 Sermon Text: Matthew
5:10-12 Persecuted For
Righteousness’ Sake I. Certain Expectation II. Blessed
Inspiration III. Joyful Exultation
Psalter Numbers: 175, 102, 96, 121 |
Call to Worship: Psalm
115:1-3 Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 7 Sermon Text: LD 34 In Marriage, No Other “Gods” I. Recognizing the Sin
of Idolatry II. Avoiding Idolatry
in Marriage III. Putting Away all
Marital “Gods” Psalters Numbers: 308,
7, 359, 123 |
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Collection |
AM:
General, Benevolence |
PM:
General, South Holland PRC School |
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Next Wk |
AM:
General, Benevolence |
PM:
Building Fd, Genesis PR School Lacombe |
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Nursery |
AM:
Rose Iwema & David |
PM:
LaVonne Jansen & Lauren |
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Next Wk |
AM:
Esther Mahtani & Jonathan |
PM:
Jenny Meurer & Tyler |
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Pianist |
AM:
Erika Poortinga |
PM:
Sue Stein |
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Next Wk |
AM:
Christine Meurer |
PM:
Sue Stein |
A warm welcome
is extended to all who join with us in worship today!
The Order of our Worship
can be found on the back of each bulletin.
Cassettes and compact
discs of each sermon are available.
Reformed Witness
Hour: Tune in to WYLL, AM (1160) every
Sunday at 8:00 a.m.
Welcome Back: We welcome back our
Pastor who was in Hull, IA the last two Sundays providing pulpit supply for
Calvary PRC. In today's
“From the Pastor’s Desk” he tells us about his visit with the saints in
Catechism Season: Consistory has appointed
a committee (Elders Meurer and Poortinga)
to plan for the new catechism season – number of classes, schedule, material,
etc. If you have any concerns or
feedback, now is the time to approach the committee. Classes will begin, Lord willing, September
17.
Passing Away: Mrs. Agnus
Kuiper passed away suddenly this past week at the age
of 82. Her sudden death is greatly grieved by her husband, Gene, as well as her
children, grandchildren, and members at Cornerstone PRC in Dyer, IN. It was noted at the funeral services held
yesterday at Cornerstone that she will be fondly remembered by all her friends
as one who, by the grace of God, was ever filled with generosity towards God’s
people and His faithful servants. How
comforting it is to know that our Lord and Savior comes
at death to bring His sheep to Father’s house of many mansions. John 14:1-3.
Retirement
Program: The Theological School Committee of our
churches is hosting a program which will include a banquet in honor of
Professor and Mrs. Engelsma on August 29, 2008.
With heartfelt gratitude to God for 20 years of instruction in Dogmatics and Old Testament Studies, Prof. Engelsma’s family, his colleagues in the ministry, as well
as present seminary students, hope to join together at First PRC in Grand
Rapids this Friday evening to celebrate Professor Engelsma’s
retirement.
Seminary Convocation: Prof. R. Dykstra
will speak on the topic “Seminary and Saints: A Reciprocal Sine Qua Non.” on Wednesday, Sept 3, at 7:30 P.M at Trinity
PRC. Everyone is invited to
attend!
Classis
West: Classis West is scheduled
to meet next Wednesday, Sept 3, at 8:30 a.m. at Peace PRC
Acts of Synod: Acts of Synod 2008 are
available at the back of church. One per household, please.
New
DVD: The
summer class held at Hope PRC entitled: “The Sanctifying Power of Suffering” is
now available on DVD or CD's. To obtain your set, send your request to hoperwc@gmail.com
Missions
Conference: The DMC is sponsoring a Missions Conference the
evenings of Monday September 8 and Tuesday September 9. The meetings will be
held at SW PRC at 7:30 PM. The
conference will focus on the mission work of our own denomination and will
direct its attention to critiquing, evaluating and encouraging us in the work
of missions. Our Pastor, a former
missionary to eastern USA, and Eric Olsson, secretary of our Evangelism
Committee, plan to attend. Others who
are desirous of attending should contact one of them to make travel
arrangements.
FMC News: Rev. Smit
and his brother, Peter Smit from Redlands PRC, are
currently visiting the saints in the Philippines. They plan to be there
for three Sundays and have various mandates from Doon’s
Council and the FMC to accomplish while there including providing pulpit supply
for the Berean worship services. They plan to return
on September 1. Let us remember the saints there as they patiently await a
Pastor of their own; it has been 17 months since Rev. Spriensma
left the field.
DMC News: In recent months
the Domestic Mission Committee has been corresponding with a group of four
families in Tucson, AZ who are interested in our churches starting a work in
their city. These people, through personal study, have become very
familiar with the PRC and are also giving a good witness in
their community on a personal level and with the internet. The DMC
will be sending a delegation of Rev. Van Overloop,
Missionary Brummel and Dave Rau to visit with these
people in September (11-15) and to investigate this field of labor. Let us
pray for this group, for the delegation that will visit them, and for an open
door to labor with them.
Heritage PR Fellowship: With the approval of
Edgerton and DMC, the mission group in Sioux Falls is planning to begin a
year-long campaign of television advertisements on KSFY/abc/Channel
13. The package includes 42 thirty second commercials per month for a cost of
$1,300 per month. The money will come out of the funds budgeted for mission
field advertising for 2008/2009. All 42 commercials will run in one week of
each month for greater exposure. The general manager of KSFY is committed to
working with them to produce the most effective, creative commercials that
convey our message. We thank God for this exciting opportunity and pray that it
might be a good witness to the community.
For more information on the Fellowship please see Rev. Brummel’s latest newsletter at back of church.
Family
Conference: The First Protestant Reformed Church
in Edmonton, Alberta is hosting a family conference July 2-5, 2009, on the
topic of Calvin and the Christian Family Life. Plan now to attend! Check out
our website www.edmontonprc.org
and more details to follow.
Myanmar Update: Hope PRC continues to
administer cyclone relief to the PR churches in Myanmar at the rate of $5,000 per
month. The funds continue to be used for food and medical
expenses. To date, two houses have been rebuilt and one more is in the
process of being rebuilt. Continue to keep the needs of the saints there
in your prayers as they continue to face many difficulties.
RPFA: The annual meeting is
on Sept 25 at 7:30pm, SWPRC, Grand Rapids, MI. New board members will be chosen
and a review of the past year will be presented. Dr. David Torlach
will speak on the
origin and history of the EPCA. New members are encouraged
to join at this meeting.
Providence
PRC: Providence PRC
(new daughter church of Faith) has formed a new trio of Candidate H. Bleyenberg, Rev. J. Laning (Hope PRC Walker, MI), and Rev. M. Vander Wal (Hope PRC Redlands, CA). They plan to call August
26.
Calvary
PRC: Calvary PRC has formed a new trio of Candidate H. Bleyenberg,
Rev. R. Hanko (Lynden PRC) and Rev W. Langerak (Southeast PRC). They plan to send a call next
Sunday.
Grace PRC: Grace PRC has called
Rev. Slopsema to be her next Pastor. He plans to answer Aug 31.
From the
Pastor’s Desk:
August 24, 2008
Special
Edition of From the Pastor’s Desk…
Seeing
I have not written for some time, I am going to treat you to a small glimpse of
the recent Boundary Waters canoe trip as well as to a brief update on time
spent the last two Sundays in Hull, IA where I fulfilled my classical
appointment to provide pulpit supply for Calvary PRC.
All
thirty-six participants, including myself J, came back alive and well! Each time I go, I say to myself: “This is
it! Never again!” However, the fond memories of peace and
tranquility in the wilderness always seem to draw me back. If you have never been to that area, I would
encourage you to consider joining Bethel’s youth group that usually goes every
other year.
Following
our theme, “Fighting the Good Fight of Faith”, the four groups of nine were:
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. The
guys far outnumbered the gals this time, so we had to have one group of only
males – the Marines. David Mahtani was the captain of this team, and I placed myself in
his team, assuring him that he would make all the decisions! And he sure did! Everything I suggested was ignored, and whatever
he said was the rule of the day! This
meant canoeing six hours the first and last day, portaging
some long and steep hills and passing through some pretty heavily
mosquito-ridden areas! There were times
I thought I was going to die! L Tim Stein (member at Bethel) was on my team,
and I knew I had to press on to give him the inspiration he needed since this
was his first time there. And, by the
grace of God, we all pulled through! It
was a wonderful week of fellowship with each other as fellow soldiers of the
Cross. By the end of the week, however,
I was totally exhausted! Go again in
2010? We’ll see…
When
we returned back to the lodge, every group had stories to tell of their
wilderness experiences. There were those
who went cliff jumping, one or two returning with some rather sore bumps! Others could not stop talking about the
massages they received whilst sitting under beautiful and powerful
waterfalls. Yet others came back with
some fascinating fish stories (someone actually reeled in a rock – guess who?). The entire evening we sat around laughing,
sharing, presenting and receiving awards, singing the praises of God. This very uplifting time lifted up my soul in
thanksgiving to God for the wonderful young people and young adults that God
has given to us in our churches. The
participants came from some fifteen PR churches!
Peter
Mahtani and I got a ride back to Hull, IA whilst Esther drove
the younger children to join us there.
It was so good to see them, especially since they came with fresh clean
clothes and yummy goodies for us poor people who suffered an entire week! J Actually the
eating was pretty good – a scrumptious fish dinner one evening since our group
had a few good fishermen, and the customary steak dinner back at the lodge the
last night.
I
enjoyed preaching for Calvary PRC. The
congregation continues to wait on the Lord for the man of His choosing. It is made up of some forty families that
came out of Hull PRC which was getting so large. The congregation has purchased a nice
parsonage and worships at present at the Hull-Boyden school auditorium.
We enjoyed the opportunity to visit with several of the families
belonging not only to Calvary but also Hull and Doon. Rev. and Mrs. Key brought
us out for a splendid Chinese meal (yes, even in cow country!) and we were also
delighted to visit with seminarian Cory Griess and his wife, Lael. Cory is doing
his internship at Hull PRC, and Lael had just found out that she is expecting twins! So when we met for breakfast one morning, she
and Esther had lots to talk about whilst Cory and I discussed missions.
We
also visited with our missionary, Rev. A. Brummel and his family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota which is
about an hour’s drive from Hull. The
Lord is clearly blessing his labors there.
The group is using a room at the Holiday Inn downtown for Sunday
services. Good efforts are being made to
promote the Reformed Faith, including some television advertisements. Rev. A. Brummel was kind enough to give me a sneak preview, and I
thought it was very good. Our
missionary there labors with zeal for the holy Gospel and his family is a fine
example of godly hospitality; we were able to enjoy a delicious meal at their
home which included pickled pike and pecan pie (my favorite!) and afterwards
they took us for a quick tour of Sioux Falls.
The
experience with Rev. Lee and his family in Edgerton, MN was a little bit
different. Assuming
that their fellow Singaporeans would delight in some “comfort food”. Mrs. Foong Ling Lee expertly cooked up some fish-head
curry! The curry was excellent, but I
was not so sure about the fish head! I
guess we have become rather Americanized now!
It is a good thing she had a plate of chicken on the table for the children,
and I quickly grabbed a piece! Again,
this is no complaint, the thought was very kind, and the meal was delicious.
But Rev. Lee had gone fishing that morning, and he had caught a huge carp! So Foong Ling decided to cook up the carp’s head for her
honored guests! Don’t start getting
nervous about visiting what has become known as “Ling’s Kitchen” there in
Edgerton; we have heard raving reviews from our Dutch friends there who love
her cooking. Just next time, please, no
exotic fish head curry for these spoilt Singaporeans, ok, Foong Ling? “Pea
soup” or “Pig in the blanket” would be just fine!
Whilst
in Hull for the entire week, we were also able to make some new contacts. The family living right next door to
Calvary’s parsonage is a Chinese couple from Taiwan. We knocked on their door and introduced
ourselves one afternoon, and we were very welcome! We invited them to church and we were so glad
that they came with us the 2nd Sunday morning to join us in worship
at Calvary PRC. They brought along
their teenaged son as well as another family friend. They seem very willing to learn, but the
problem is that they do not speak very much English. We hope to write to them and perhaps send
them some Reformed material in Chinese.
Before
I conclude, I have to tell you about another family that joined with us in
worship at Calvary the 2nd Sunday evening. Dave and Liz Schenk have just moved to Sioux
Center which is about 10 miles from Hull.
We knew this family already in Pittsburgh. In fact, Dave Schenck was the soccer coach at Trinity Christian School
where our children attended whilst we lived in Pittsburgh. Dave and Liz had gone to Dordt College in Sioux Center years ago, and now Dave has
returned to Dordt College
as its new soccer coach. When they
heard that we were in town, they invited us over for a meal and had our children
for a sleepover. Their three adopted
children and our three younger kids had become good friends in Pittsburgh. Dave has a CRC background, Liz came from
RCUSA. In Pittsburgh they were members
at an OPC congregation, and now they were looking to join a URC. The old memories suddenly flashed back, for
when we were in Pittsburgh we had many discussions about common grace, free
will of the Gospel, etc. Sunday evening
the Schenks came to Calvary PRC and afterwards we invited some
families from Hull and Calvary to come over to the parsonage for a visit. We are glad that the Schenks had a chance to meet with Rev. and Mrs. Key and
several PR families. We actually had a house-full of over 40 people at the
parsonage that evening!!! Everyone
brought something to share, and we left the very next day, so the ladies at
Calvary could do the clean up! J
You
know that I could go on with more stories, but our space is up! It is good to be back
home again! May Jehovah’s face shine on
us as we continue to serve Him here in NW Chicago. May
Bethel PRC, together with all our sister congregations
and mission fields, continue to be a good and faithful witness to the glory and
grace of our God and Savior!
In His Love, Pastor