From Incarnation to Second Coming

by Matthew Holst

While Christians are not obligated to remember Christ specifically at Christmas, it has become a helpful practice to meditate on his first coming at Christmastime. However, given the proliferation of the season’s entertainment and “Christmas spirit,” it can be difficult to combine a sacred meditation with secular Christmas. One way to do so is to reflect upon the first coming of our Lord in light of his second coming. In this manner, we hope to set the incarnation of our Lord free from cultural baggage and see it in its proper significance. The Times From the gospel testimony, we would have to conclude that the first coming of our Lord was at one of the low points of redemptive history, at least as far as the covenant people were concerned. Politically, Israel was subjugated by the Romans, and, spiritually, the covenant people were subjugated by the darkness of contemporary Judaism. They were, with few exceptions, spiritually bankrupt. The darkness of the time was profound: the spiritual leaders ... Read more

Let Love be Genuine

by Matthew E. Cotta

When considering how the church is built up in Christ, the starting point is and must always be the Word of God. It is by the Word proclaimed and sacramentally received by the praying community of faith that Christ continues to build, guide, sustain, protect, and nourish his church. It is the church as the family of God, as the community of the Spirit, particularly when it is gathered for public worship, that receives the Word of Christ. Edification is a corporate affair (1 Pet. 2:5). Indispensable Fellowship OPC church planters, including myself, are all given a little booklet to read: Planting an Orthodox Presbyterian Church . Among its many pearls of wisdom is this sage observation: In some church-planting circles, the concept of fellowship is identified as a separate ministry activity. However, it seems more appropriate to identify fellowship activities as one of the means to promote spiritual growth among the people of the mission work. The people whom God has drawn together to form a new ... Read more

One Church’s Ministry to College Students

by Josiah Hemp

Patrick Henry College student Kat Kidder ended up at Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) almost by accident. When she was a freshman in 2018, she missed her ride to her church one Sunday and headed to nearby Ketoctin instead. “That was the first time I’d ever gone to a church completely by myself,” she said. “I walked in and really almost immediately felt at home.” She remembers meeting Rick Weitz, an elder, who welcomed her and introduced her to two other Patrick Henry students who could give her rides to church. After the service, a family invited her and other students to a meal. After that Sunday, she stayed at Ketoctin—and is still a member six years later. “I have noticed throughout my time here that there is a real desire to get students involved in the church,” Kidder said. Statistically, Gen Z students are less religiously affiliated than previous generations. Ketoctin, however, has found abundant opportunities to disciple young Christian leaders. The church is just a ... Read more

Preaching and the Regulative Principle of Worship

by Aaron P. Mize

As Orthodox Presbyterians, there is no hesitation when it comes to defending the regulative principle of worship because Scripture is certainly not silent on the matter of how Scripture regulates the worship of God. Cain’s offering to the Lord was not acceptable to the Lord, while Abel’s was pleasing to the Lord. Why? Abel offered the choicest of his herd in faith according to what the Lord had revealed in the garden when he covered his parents with garments of animal skin in Genesis 3:21. Cain brought an offering from the earth—an offering devoid of the animal offering set before his parents in Genesis 3:21, which disregarded God’s revelation of the way of salvation and the way to approach him in worship. The books of Exodus and Leviticus supply detailed instruction on how God must be worshiped. The building of the tabernacle, all the furnishings inside and outside, and everything that pertains to the worship of God must proceed after the pattern that God shows to Moses the mediator (Ex. 25:40; ... Read more