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December 13, 2024
Dear Rockford Reformed Church family and friends,
I have two pork butts on the smoker for our staff and spouses Christmas dinner this evening. This is an extra busy stretch of Christmas parties and celebrations for many of us. I want to encourage you to participate and INVITE friends, co-workers, and neighbors to a few upcoming church family gatherings. Next week Wednesday evening (6pm), we will host a church-wide Christmas party with a great meal together—followed by an impromptu Christmas play where we can all be characters. On Christmas Eve (4pm), we will enjoy a service of worship, learning from the Word, and end with candlelight singing of carols.
On this Sunday, we will dig into Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25), and close with a celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Whenever we celebrate communion, we invite all those who are baptized and trusting Jesus as their Lord and Savior to participate with us. The invitation includes children as they join with a simple faith in Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-28, Paul instructed the church, as they ate at the Lord’s Supper, to “examine themselves” and “discern the body.” Put most simply for all of us, the meaning and significance of our participation should be understood and received with faith. The New City Catechism question/answer 46 provides a summary of its meaning: “Christ commanded all Christians to eat bread and to drink from the cup in thankful remembrance of him and his death. The Lord’s Supper is a celebration of the presence of God in our midst; bringing us into communion with God and with one another; feeding and nourishing our souls.” Parents are encouraged to nurture their children into understanding the meaning and trusting in Jesus. We would also want to guide them away from participating if it is not meaningful for them or their sharing in the Lord’s Supper is perhaps not unlike any other meal.
I am excited about preaching on this story about Joseph because of all that we can learn from it—especially as it relates to where we get our identity and how that impacts us throughout our lives. You will find seven books (for all ages) in the lending/purchase library that help us to understand the importance of developing a Christ-centered identity. Emily Cutter recommended one of the books, “Who Are You,” for reading to our young children (received the 2024 “Award of Distinction” from The Gospel Coalition).
And then, as I noted in the sermon of last week, an increasingly full and accurate view of God, his Word, the gospel, and ourselves is transformative. This is why we encourage study and reading the quality resources that we are providing in this library. We are mostly acquiring these books at a large discount (about half off) and then discounting them a bit further to encourage you to purchase, read, study, and share them with family and friends. Some of you are really taking advantage of it and that’s great!
You may remember from last Sunday that I recommended the children’s book, “The Royal In You,” the 2024 Gospel Coalition’s children’s book award winner, because of the way that it provides a biblical view of heaven that encourages us all to take up our post toward praying and working toward the new heaven and earth. Toward this same end, I want to leave you with two excellent articles that describe a biblical view of heaven and the glorious life to come. I think you will find that they will challenge and change some of your current views—all for the good!
As always, I look forward to worshiping and sharing God’s Word with you on Sunday. This is a grand and glorious time of year for the gospel to transform our hearts and lives. Who can you invite to join you and us in this transformation and joy?
Grace, peace, and love,
Pastor Tim
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