2024 CHRISTMAS GATHERING
Photos from the 7th Annual Hope Reformed Church Christmas gathering at The Ivy, Aurora, NE, on Friday evening, December 20, 2024. A special thanks to all who helped make this a blessed time of celebrating the wondrous birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST’S COMING
IN MATTHEW 1:18-25, we learn that Jesus was NOT born of an earthly father. But notice Matthew is also clear to say that Mary is the mother of Jesus. This means that the humanity of Christ is derived from His mother Mary. Many false teachers down through the ages have tried to deny this fact. Some have even tried to say that Mary was just a surrogate mother, that Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary, but He was not of Mary. The idea is that the Holy Spirit produced a totally separate nature for Jesus that had nothing to do with Mary or the rest of humanity.
BUT THE SCRIPTURE says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…” (Hebrews 2:14). And again, “He had to be made like His brethren in all things that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). We also read in the Belgic Confession, Article 18, the following words, “Therefore we confess (in opposition to the heresy of the Anabaptists, who deny that Christ assumed human flesh of His mother) that Christ partook of the flesh and blood of the children; that He is a fruit of the loins of David after the flesh; born of the seed of David according to the flesh; a fruit of the womb of Mary; born of a woman; a branch of David; a shoot of the root of Jesse; sprung from the tribe of Judah; descended from the Jews according to the flesh; of the seed of Abraham, since he took on him the seed of Abraham, and was made like unto his brethren in all things, sin excepted; so that in truth He is our IMMANUEL, that is to say, God with us.”
MARY WAS NO surrogate mother. She was not an incubator that waited for the removal of the “foreign body” that had invaded the darkness of her womb. “She will bear a Son,” the angel declared, one who is of the same genetic material and substance as Mary with respect to His humanity, yet without sin. Truly Christ is a fruit of the womb of Mary (Luke 1:42), who descended from the Jews according to the flesh, as it is written in Romans 9:5, “…of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” And according to the historic Reformed Creed, the Belgic Confession, anyone who says that Christ did not assume human flesh and blood of His mother is teaching heresy. And as a word of caution to true believers, these heretics are still with us today. They claim to speak the truth, but they are really trying to lead the people of God astray. And they are easy to spot because they always attack the true church with their doctrines of demons. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:8-9, “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” As Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” Heretics always cause schism in the church, and they always try to scatter the sheep of Christ to devour them with their false doctrine. True believers must resist them steadfast in the faith. As James says, “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.” The Apostle Paul also tells us in Romans 16:17-18, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”
Friday Devotional: December 20, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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A MARK OF A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST
IN MATTHEW 16:24, JESUS said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” These words strike at the heart of the self-centeredness we see so often today in the Church of Jesus Christ. There are many people who profess to be Christians and are members of a church, but their only concern for the church is what they can get out of it. The words that come from their lips are, “What’s in it for me?” They’re what we call consumers. They take as much as they can for themselves, but they never contribute to the life and health of the church. They don’t understand what Jesus teaches about true discipleship and how He calls every believer to live a life of self-denial. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Self-denial is a mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ; it’s a principle Jesus taught many times to His disciples.
BUT WE MUST understand that Jesus is not saying to His disciples, ‘I will love you and save you if you deny yourselves.’ Rather, Jesus is saying, ‘Because I’ve set my love on you and saved you by my grace…therefore deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.’ Jesus is not talking about how to be saved, but rather, how those who are already saved demonstrate the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their heart by living a life of self-denial.
IN MATTHEW 16:21, JESUS said, "I have to go to Jerusalem to be killed and be raised the third day." But the disciples didn’t hear “be raised the third day.” All they heard was "be killed." Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" But Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan.” Jesus wasn’t saying that Peter was Satan. Peter was just the instrument of Satan’s attack. Satan had been trying to turn Christ away from the cross since the first temptation in the wilderness. Jesus knew where this attack was coming from. Jesus then says at the end of vs. 23, "You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Peter was thinking the way the world thinks. He was thinking about the crown without the cross, the glory without the suffering, the reward without the sacrifice!
AND SO, ONCE AGAIN, Jesus teaches His disciples the principle of self-denial. The word "deny" in our text means to disown or renounce one’s self. Jesus is teaching His disciples what it means to be in union with Him. In other words, to be a believer is to be spiritually united to Jesus Christ by true faith, and because of this union you now live a different life. You’re a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); you’re born from above by the Spirit of God (John 3); you’re a true branch engrafted into the vine (John 15). Simply put, you now belong to Christ. And as a result, you begin a life-long journey of forsaking your sinful passions and desires in order to follow after Jesus. As a true disciple of Christ, you recognize you’re not your own, but you belong to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all your sins (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 1). 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” Does your life demonstrate that you’re a true disciple of Jesus Christ? This is not practical perfection but practical direction. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”
Tuesday Encouragement: December 17, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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THE NOURISHING WORD OF GOD
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word."
—Psalm 119:114
The Word of God is the only reliable and trustworthy guide that can give us the strength we need to withstand the trials, tribulation, and temptations we face in life. That’s why the Psalmist wrote, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). And again, in Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” So often we are discontent with the things we have and when we obtain more to satisfy the longing in our soul, we quickly learn that the discontentment rages on. Why? Because the longing of man’s soul can only be satisfied by the Word of God. “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).
Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The Word of God is what the believer lives by. Scripture alone brings joy, comfort, peace, contentment, and satisfaction to our soul. The Word of God brings light to our pathway and illuminates the way before our feet in this dark world (Psalm 119:105). And Scripture alone “is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32) and “make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). Have you had your spiritual nourishment today? “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby…” (1 Peter 2:2).
—Pastor S. Henry
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