Moderator’s Challenge Be a Doer of the Word


from Canada will withdraw from the US-based synod and form their own Canadian synod.


ALAN BROYLES Moderator


* There are several issues that we cannot comment on at this point in


time, but I would humbly ask that you lift up these concerns in your prayers.


Church, I would like to review what has transpired so far within our de- nomination, and also mention several opportunities that we see on the im- mediate horizon:


W


* Second Presbytery has been dis- solved, with most of those churches


moving into Catawba Presbytery; this happened with a remarkable lack of drama or intrigue.


* A delegation from the ARP


Church attended a meeting with the Mexican ARP church brothers in No- vember; we are hopeful this will lead to closer ties with the Mexican church


* In early December, a group in- cluding Sam Cotten, Martha Marga-


ret Cotten, David Galetta, Kyle Sims, Justin Brickey, Lee Shelnutt, and Alan Broyles attended the first graduation ceremony of forty-six (46) students in the Global Diploma Program in Theol- ogy and Christian Leadership, which is a joint effort by World Witness and Erskine Theological Seminary.


* This Global Diploma Program is


currently being taught in the central African country of Rwanda. There is significant interest in expanding this innovative program to other coun- tries in Africa and beyond.


* At the end of our upcoming Synod meeting in June, our brothers


ith less than three months remaining in my term as Moderator of the ARP


To encourage you in your daily walk with the LORD, I want to share with you a brief devotional from Alistair Begg, who is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. In this article, Rev. Begg reminds us that we should not only hear the Word, but should also “do” the Word: As believers, our lives can and should be marked by minds that are trained in and subjected to the truth of God’s word, and we should surround our circum- stances with prayer (Philippians 4:6- 8). But still, if we are to know and enjoy God’s power at work within us, we must take what we hear in the Scriptures and put it into practice. We should be dili- gent in our attention to the Scriptures each day, and in our attendance when the word of God is being expounded, but we should never fall into the trap of thinking that attending, paying attention, and lis- tening carefully are enough. We must be “doers … and not hearers only.” In John 13, on the night before Jesus’ death and after He has been teaching the disciples for a while, He says to them re- garding His lessons, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). If you wonder why you’re not experiencing God’s blessing, it may be because you aren’t putting His words into practice. The Lord has given us rich instruction and He has given us the Spir- it to be our Helper. Now we are respon- sible for drilling our minds in the truth of God’s word and then doing what we have


learned, received, and heard. What a great sadness it is when


churches become like dusty old librar- ies, filled with so many lives that are like volumes of truth just sitting there, never used. The temptation as we become in- creasingly aware of the truth is just to sit and think about it without ever taking ac- tion. James puts that kind of life in stark terms: it is to deceive yourself. No—a church is to be a gallery of living experi- ences. There ought to be a vibrancy about believers so that when we face the world’s many problems—problems we ourselves are not immune to—we can see them for what they are and respond by holding out the truth of God’s word as we ourselves live it out.


Determine today not to be a hearer


only, and so deceive yourself into think- ing you are a growing Christian when in fact you are a shriveling one. Resolve to be a doer of the word. Look honestly over your life now and identify any areas about which you have heard how to live for Christ but have never actually obeyed. That will be the part of your life about which the Spirit is saying to you right now, Do not be a hearer only. Be a doer— for that way blessing lies. (Devotional material is taken from Truth For Life: 365 Daily Devotions by Alistair Begg.)


Thank you for your prayers and support during this year, and please continue to pray for our ARP Church and all those who labor tirelessly to advance the Kingdom.?


To the ends of the Earth...Together 4 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


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