Members of Hope Reformed Church:
The Good Lord willing, this Sunday, June 7, 2026, we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. In order to prepare our hearts to receive this Holy Supper in a God-glorifying manner and for our spiritual benefit, please take time to read the instruction below and meditate upon the Scripture references listed, and examine your heart regarding this matter as to whether you truly believe God’s precious promise of forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus Christ.
A true examination of ourselves consists in these three parts:
1. Let everyone consider by himself his sins and accursedness apart from Jesus Christ, so that he may be displeased with himself and humble himself in the presence of God.
2. Let everyone examine his heart as to whether he truly believes this certain promise of God that all his sins are forgiven only for the sake of Jesus Christ.
3. Let everyone search his conscience whether he is determined to show his gratitude to God the Lord all the days of his life by walking uprightly before Him.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor S.
THE LORD'S SUPPER
The Heidelberg Catechism
Q75: How is it signified and sealed to you in the Holy Supper that you partake of the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross and all His benefits?
A: Thus: that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of Him, and has joined therewith these promises:1 first, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me and His blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me; and further, that with His crucified body and shed blood He Himself feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, as certainly as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, which are given me as certain tokens of the body and blood of Christ.
([1] Matt. 26:26–28; Mk. 14:22–24; Lk. 22:19–20; 1 Cor. 10:16–17; 11:23–25; 12:13)
Q76: What does it mean to eat the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Christ?
A: It means not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the forgiveness of sins and life eternal;1 but moreover, also, to be so united more and more to His sacred body by the Holy Spirit,2 who dwells both in Christ and in us, that, although He is in heaven3 and we on earth, we are nevertheless flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone,4 and live and are governed forever by one Spirit, as members of the same body are governed by one soul.5
([1] Jn. 6:35, 40, 47–48, 50–54. [2] Jn. 6:55–56. [3] Acts 3:21; 1 Cor. 11:26. [4] Eph. 3:16–19; 5:29–30, 32; 1 Cor. 6:15, 17, 19; 1 Jn. 4:13. [5] Jn.14:23; Jn. 6:56–58; Jn. 15:1–6; Eph. 4:15–16; Jn. 6:63)
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TRUST, DWELL, FEED
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
—Psalm 37:3
The measure of our trust in the Lord is determined by how well we know the Lord through His Word. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:12, “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Paul knew Christ was trustworthy and he willingly entrusted everything to Him. Do you trust Him with your whole life?
The goal of every believer is to know Christ in a greater measure, to let the word of Christ dwell in him richly, and to think Christ’s thoughts after Him. This is the only way we will ever trust in the Lord. To “Trust in the Lord” is a call to know the Lord, and to know the Lord means to be in saving relationship with Him. To know Him is to be in union with Him. The idea of “knowing” in Scripture is not just “knowing about someone” but being joined and united to that person. Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore a son. And so the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8-10, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” And the only way we can know the Lord in this way is by true faith. By true faith we are united to Christ as members of His body (1 Corinthians 12). By true faith we know that God is the eternal Lord who is faithful to thousands of generations, to those who love Him and keep His commandments. By faith we know God is the great I AM, Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, the One who is and who was and who is to come. By faith we know God created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them dwells, with a spoken word, and by faith we know that God maintains all things by the word of His power.
So, how well do you know Him? How much time do you spend growing in the knowledge of Christ? When we meet someone, we like we enjoy spending time getting to know them. Well, how much time do you spend getting to know God through His Word? If you don’t spend time in His Word then you don’t know God, for to know Him is to love Him, and your love is expressed by spending time with Him. Do you know Him? Take time today to read the Scriptures and get to know, in a greater measure, the sovereign and almighty God in whom we live and move and have our being.
Tuesday Encouragement: June 2, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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A CHRISTIAN'S SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER
My Father and My God,
As one whom You have regenerated and redeemed, I believe, through the teaching of Scripture, that You: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the sovereign Creator, Ruler, Sustainer, and Governor of all things that You have created in heaven and on earth. It's in You that I, and all creatures, live and move and have our being. It's You, O Lord, who gives life, breath, health, sickness, riches, poverty, and everything else in this world for Your glory and the good of Your church. As one whom You have redeemed, I, and all believers, are your purchased possessions; we belong to You. You alone are God. I am finite and ignorant of so many things; You alone are infinite wisdom and You know ALL things.
Help me, Father, to trust You in times of adversity, confusion, temptation, and depression. I know that nothing happens by chance but all things come by Your Fatherly hand. Therefore, by the help of the Holy Spirit, I can be patient in adversity, even though I struggle to be calm; I can be thankful in prosperity as You richly bless me, even though I often fail to give You thanks as I ought; and for the things that are future, I can have comfort, confidence, and courage that nothing will or can separate me from Your love, since all things are so in Your hand that without Your will they cannot even move. But even in this, I get fearful, anxious, discouraged, angry, confused, and depressed.
So, Lord Jesus, I cry out to You! Help me, dear Lord! Help all your redeemed; help us trust your hand of Providence; help us have great confidence in Your wisdom in all things, especially the things we don't understand. Help us remain steadfast in the faith through difficult days. Strengthen us to faithfully walk in the way of Your Word. Fill us, Holy Spirit, with Your holy presence and Your inspired, infallible, inerrant Word. Rule and control our minds to serve You with joy, gladness, and godly resolve.
Forgive me and all Your people when we sin in our thoughts, words, and deeds, which is daily! Redirect and recalibrate our minds continually to the ethic of Scripture. Cause us to keep short accounts with You and confess our sins moment by moment. I fall so utterly short of glorifying You. Lord, I hate my sin! I hate the daily struggle against sin! I hate what sin has done to humanity! I hate that sin, my sin, eclipses Your glory and exalts man! I hate that sin, my sin, distorts Your glorious image! I hate that my sin caused You, Lord Jesus, to suffer God's wrath for my sin! O Lord, forgive me! O Lord, forgive all Your sheep in our daily struggle. Forgive me for not rightly, diligently, and daily reflecting Your glory! As the Apostle Paul declared in Romans 7:24-25, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
Thank You, dear Father, for sending Your Son, Jesus, to redeem me and a multitude of sinners from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and making us saints in Christ. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for fulfilling all the demands of the Law of God in my place, in the place of all that were given to You by the Father. Thank You for absorbing the wrath of God against all my sins, and against all the sins of all Your sheep; thank You for satisfying the justice of God on my behalf and on behalf of all Your people by Your inexpressible anguish, pains, and terrors on the cross. Thank You that Your perfect passive and active obedience merited my salvation and forgiveness! Lord Jesus, Your perfect work merited my entrance into the holy of holies, so that I come boldly into the throne of grace covered in Your righteous robes! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for applying all the benefits of Christ to my account; thank you for regenerating my soul and creating faith in my heart; thank You for breaking the power of sin in my life; thank You for Your intercession and assurance as You speak to me in and through Your Word. Thank You for illuminating my mind to Your Word of Truth! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for engrafting me into Jesus' spiritual body, the church! Thank You for the blessed virtue of forgiveness and the comforting assurance that I am and forever will remain a child of God!
O my God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, O how I love You! I want to serve You well! I want to live for You! I want to be with You! Help me, O GOD; help me persevere; keep me on the straight and narrow path; never let me go; forgive me when I sin, comfort me in trials, strengthen me in temptation, uphold me in tribulation, encourage me when discouraged for You are my Good Shepherd Who cares eternally for Your sheep. I am one of Your sheep! Tend me and "Guide me, O my great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but You are mighty; hold me with Your powerful hand. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore, feed me now and evermore."
I ask all this in Jesus' Name, Righteousness, and Authority!
Amen!
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