03 Nov

Reformed Witness Hour Newsletter - November 2021

Published in First PRC Grand Rapids, MI

Fri, Oct 22 at 10:15 AM

News from the
Reformed Witness Hour for November 2021

Upcoming Broadcasts for November

For November, Rev. Bruinsma continues his series on Faith from Hebrews 11. Rev. Bruinsma is the pastor of Pittsburgh Protestant Reformed Church in Pittsburgh, PA.

November 7
By Faith Abraham Obeys God's Call
Hebrews 11:8-10

November 14
By Faith Sarah Conceives
Hebrews 11:11, 12

November 21
Satisfied With Marrow and Fatness
Psalm 63:3-5

November 28
Desiring a Better Country
Hebrews 11:13-16

Listen to the current message here

Sermon Statistics

So far in 2021, there have been over 13,000 downloads. We continue to be encouraged by increased site traffic and sermon downloads when we feature a sermon on the Reformed Witness Hour Sermon Audio website. On average, over the past year, we have seen about 520 more overall downloads each month that we have a featured sermon. On average, each featured sermon receives about 350 downloads which tells us that in addition to a large number of people hearing this message, listeners are engaging further with our website and listening to additional messages. We are excited about this tool to help us spread the Good News.

In the chart above, Featured Sermons are indicated in orange.

Favorite Messages

The Favorite Message so far from 2021 is Certainty in Prayer by Rev Kleyn. Certainty in Prayer is the end of a series on prayer by Rev. Kleyn from 2010.

Listen to Certainty in Prayer here.
Listen to the full Prayer Series here.

To learn more about us or to make a donation
to our internet and radio ministry, click here.

09 Oct

Reformed Witness Hour Messages - October 2021

Published in First PRC Grand Rapids, MI

October 2021

October 3

Faith: A Confident Conviction

Hebrews 11: 1, 2

Rev. W. Bruinsma

October 10

The Voice of All Creation

Hebrews 11:3

Rev. W. Bruinsma

October 17

Abel’s More Excellent Sacrifice

Hebrews 11: 4

Rev. W. Bruinsma

October 24

Enoch’s Translation

Hebrews 11: 5, 6
Rev. W. Bruinsma

October 31

By Faith Noah Prepares an Ark

Hebrews 11: 7
Rev. W. Bruinsma

During October, Rev. Bruinsma will present a series on Faith from Hebrews 11.
Rev. Bruinsma is currently the pastor of Pittsburgh Protestant Reformed Church in Pittsburgh, PA.

Sign Up for Our Email Newsletter!

Visit our website or go to eepurl.com/gikNsL to sign up for our monthly email. You’ll receive one email each month with RWH news, statistics, interviews, message excerpts, and other great content.

PO Box 1230, Grand Rapids MI, 49501 | reformedwitnesshour.org | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

09 Sep

Reformed Witness Hour Newsletter - August/September 2021

Published in First PRC Grand Rapids, MI

News from the
Reformed Witness Hour for August 2021

Upcoming Broadcasts for September

For the September 2021 weekly radio broadcasts, we will be continuing the 2006 series on Nehemiah by Rev. Carl Haak. Rev. Haak is the pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan.

September 5
Worshipping God in the Light of His Goodness
Nehemiah 9:1-31

September 12
Let Not Our Trouble Seem Little to Thee
Nehemiah 9:32-38

September 19
Covenant Renewal
Nehemiah 10

September 26
Jerusalem Filled with Boys and Girls Playing
Nehemiah 11

Listen to the Current Message Here

Support for the Reformed Witness Hour

What Type of Support Does the RWH Need?

As the RWH becomes more internet-based, we are looking for both monetary support and individual's interaction with our content to market our online broadcasts and promote our content.

To cover the cost of broadcasting the Reformed Witness Hour on radio stations throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, we depend solely on the monetary support of churches, organizations, and individuals.

There are many places throughout the world that are "ripe for harvest" where our program is not currently broadcast.

How Can You Help?

Follow us on Social Media and share our posts! We have Facebook and Instagram pages. Interacting with our posts (sharing, 'liking,' and commenting) will help bring attention to our program and promote our messages across platforms.

Your church can sponsor a month of broadcasts on the radio station of your choice. This is the perfect way to expand your church's evangelical outreach to Reformed listeners in your area. During your sponsorship, we air a short promotion for your church before the week's message. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to sponsor our program.

Click here for more details on how to support us

July and August 2021 Traffic Sources

Did you know that about 150 million Americans (or thirty-two percent) are monthly podcast listeners?[1] And Christians are three times more likely to listen to podcasts on a daily basis than the rest of the population.[2] With the availability of smartphones and similar screens to people across the United States and throughout the world, it has never been easier to listen to digital audio.

In 2020, the Reformed Witness Hour committee began the work of making our weekly messages available on the major internet radio and podcasting sites. In addition to our own website and Sermon Audio, our weekly messages can be listened and subscribed to on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, PlayerFM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, the Podcast App, and Himalaya.

If you enjoy listening to podcasts, especially Christian podcasts such as sermons, consider subscribing to the RWH on one of the platforms listed above. Each RWH message is just 20–24 minutes, perfect to listen to as you go about your labors in the home, drive to and from work, or exercise. And while many evangelical churches and organizations are abandoning core truths of the Bible, RWH messages continue to boldly proclaim the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God’s grace, by which he saves his elect people through Jesus Christ without the dependence on the will or work of man.[3]

If you are blessed by the messages of the RWH, please consider sharing our podcast with friends or family, especially those who enjoy listening to digital audio.

We have seen great interest in our messages through podcasting. So far in 2021, 30% of our downloads have been through podcasts.

[1] “Podcast Statistics (2020) – Newest Available Data Infographic.” Music Oomph, January 3, 2020. https://musicoomph.com/podcast-statistics/.

[2] “13 Surprising Truths About Sermon Podcasts.” Pro Church Tools, September 7, 2018. https://prochurchtools.com/13-surprising-truths-about-sermon-podcasts-ep-184/.

[3] “An Analysis of Online Sermons in U.S. Churches.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, January 28, 2020. https://www.pewforum.org/2019/12/16/the-digital-pulpit-a-nationwide-analysis-of-online-sermons

Ministers, please forward this email to your congregation and encourage
them to sign up for our newsletters here: http://eepurl.com/gikNsL

01 Aug

Reformed Witness Hour News - August 2021

Published in First PRC Grand Rapids, MI

August 2021

August 1

Building with Sword and Trowel

Nehemiah 4

Rev. C. Haak

August 8

Ought Ye Not to Walk in the Fear of God

Nehemiah 5

Rev. C. Haak

August 15

O God, Strengthen My Hands

Nehemiah 6

Rev. C. Haak

August 22

Putting Things in Order

Nehemiah 7
Rev. C. Haak

August 29

The Power of the Pulpit

Nehemiah 8
Rev. C. Haak

haak small

This month, we continue revisiting Rev. Carl Haak’s Nehemiah series. Rev. Haak is the pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan.

Sign Up for Our Email Newsletter!

Visit our website or go to eepurl.com/gikNsL to sign up for our monthly email. You’ll receive one email each month with RWH news, statistics, interviews, message excerpts, and other great content.

PO Box 1230, Grand Rapids MI, 49501 | reformedwitnesshour.org | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

01 Jul

Reformed Witness Hour News - June/July 2021

Published in First PRC Grand Rapids, MI

News from the
Reformed Witness Hour for June 2021

July Message Series

For July we will revisit a 2006 series on Nehemiah by Rev. Carl Haak. Rev. Haak is the pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, MI.

July 4
When I Heard, I Wept and Prayed
Nehemiah 1

July 11
So I prayed and Said...
Nehemiah 2:1-10

July 18
Come Let Us Build
Nehemiah 2:11-20

July 25
The People Had a Mind to Build
Nehemiah 3

Listen to the Current Message Here

Support for the Reformed Witness Hour

What Type of Support Does the RWH Need?

As the RWH becomes more internet-based, we are looking for both monetary support and individual's interaction with our content to market our online broadcasts and promote our content.

To cover the cost of broadcasting the Reformed Witness Hour on radio stations throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, we depend solely on the monetary support of churches, organizations, and individuals.

There are many places throughout the world that are "ripe for harvest" where our program is not currently broadcast.

How Can You Help?

Follow us on Social Media and share our posts! We have Facebook and Instagram pages. Interacting with our posts (sharing, 'liking,' and commenting) will help bring attention to our program and promote our messages across platforms.

Your church can sponsor a month of broadcasts on the radio station of your choice. This is the perfect way to expand your church's evangelical outreach to Reformed listeners in your area. During your sponsorship, we air a short promotion for your church before the week's message. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to sponsor our program.

Click here for more details on how to support us

Message Download Statistics

In the first half of this year, we have had 6,926 message downloads reaching seventy-five countries and forty-eight states. The countries with the most downloads include the U.S. (5,113), United Kingdom (414), Cambodia (197), Philippines (197) and Australia (125).

We have seen great interest in our messages through podcasting. This year, thus far, 32% of our downloads have been through podcasts. Other platforms include Sermon Audio Radio (30%), the Sermon Audio website and the Reformed Witness Hour website (22%), and mobile apps including the Sermon Audio Mobile App (16%).

Most Popular Messages of 2021

Favorite Message

The most frequently downloaded message so far this year is The Praiseworthy Woman by Rev. R. Kleyn.

From the message: God gives us here a template or portrait of a believing woman. God made the woman in the beginning. And here you have God’s goal and God’s purpose for the woman. This is the kind of woman that God delights in. This is the kind of woman that God makes by the work of His Holy Spirit. And every woman who is a Christian should seek to emulate and follow the woman described here.

But this is also written for others. It is written for husbands and for children. They ought to thank God for the godly wives and mothers that He gives to them. This is written for believing parents who are raising daughters to be godly women. This is written for young people who are dating and who are looking for a future spouse.

In verse 10 we read: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” This implies, first, that believing young men need to look for a wife. And, second, that the kind of wife they should be looking for is going to be very rare and hard to find. Who can find one like this? Her price is far above rubies. She is rare! In Proverbs 19:14: “a prudent wife is from the Lord.” So this is something that must be done with all seriousness, with great care, and with much prayer.

What is it that makes the woman described in this chapter so special, so worthy of praise?

Click here to listen to The Praiseworthy Woman

05 May

In Memoriam: Prof. Robert D. Decker, 1940 - 2021

Published in PR Churches (North America)
By Terpstra, Charles J.
Be the first to comment!

DeckerRD Obituary Prof. Robert Dale Decker, age 80 of Jenison, while surrounded by his loving family, departed this life to behold his Lord and Savior face to face on May 5, 2021.

Robert attended Grand Rapids Christian High, Calvin College, the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and then received his Master of Theology degree from Calvin Theological Seminary. He spent his life serving the Protestant Reformed churches as a pastor in Doon, Iowa, and South Holland, Illinois, and 33 years as a professor in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Peter and Dorothy Decker. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 59 years, Marilyn Poelstra Decker, by his children Deborah Altena (Doug), Daniel Decker (Denise), Timothy Decker (Kathy), and Jonathan Decker (Sarah), and by his nine loving grandchildren, and three precious great-grandchildren. He also is survived by his sister Mary Potjer (Carl), his sister Doris Hoksbergen (Ken), and his brother James Decker (Nancy).

The funeral service will be held at 12:00 noon, Saturday, May 8, 2021, at Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church, 7146 48^th Avenue, Hudsonville MI 49426, with Rev. Carl Haak and Rev. Nathan Decker officiating. Visitation will be 4:00-7:30 pm, Friday also at Georgetown PRC, and again on Saturday 10:30-11:30am prior to the funeral service.

(Facial coverings and social distancing observed/required at visitation, all current church worship restrictions will be observed during the funeral service.) Private interment will be in Georgetown Twp. Cemetery.

Memorial contributions to the Protestant Reformed Seminary. You can watch livestream at www.georgetownprc.org

News

PR Churches (USA & Canada)

News from theReformed Witness Hour for November 2021

Upcoming Broadcasts for November

October 2021

Faith: A Confident Conviction

Hebrews 11: 1, 2

Rev. W. Bruinsma

The Voice of All Creation

Hebrews 11:3

Rev. W. Bruinsma

Abel’s More Excellent Sacrifice

Hebrews 11: 4

Rev. W. Bruinsma

Enoch’s Translation

Hebrews 11: 5, 6Rev. W. Bruinsma

By Faith Noah Prepares an Ark

Hebrews 11: 7Rev. W. Bruinsma

Upcoming Broadcasts for September

What Type of Support Does the RWH Need?

How Can You Help?

August 2021

Nehemiah 4

Rev. C. Haak

Nehemiah 5

Rev. C. Haak

Nehemiah 6

Rev. C. Haak

Nehemiah 7Rev. C. Haak

Nehemiah 8 Rev. C. Haak

Sign Up for Our Email Newsletter!

Visit our website or go to eepurl.com/gikNsL to sign up for our monthly email. You’ll receive one email each month with RWH news, statistics, interviews, message excerpts, and other great content.

July Message Series

What Type of Support Does the RWH Need?

How Can You Help?

Favorite Message

More...

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News from the
Reformed Witness Hour for November 2021

Hebrews 11: 5, 6
Rev. W. Bruinsma

Hebrews 11: 7
Rev. W. Bruinsma

Nehemiah 7
Rev. C. Haak

Nehemiah 8
Rev. C. Haak