A Theological Workshop on Christian Liberty

Join us this year, on Saturday, April 20, as we host another theological worship at Grace Covenant Church. This year’s subject of study will be the doctrine of Christian Liberty. Pastor Rob Cosby from Tucson, AZ, will be presenting on this very important and ever-relevant topic.

What is a GCC theological workshop? It is a one-day class with a series of lectures on a specific area of Christian doctrine taught by someone well-studied in that theological area. The purpose of these workshops is to deepen our understanding of the truths of Scripture so that we might love God better with our minds, hearts, and souls.

Christ Prefers Public Worship Over Family Christmas

Christ Prefers Public Worship Over Family Christmas

Is it okay for a local church to cancel its worship service when Sunday falls on December 25? Do churches have to provide public worship services every Sunday of the year? What does the Word of God say to such questions?

The Book of Psalms sheds a lot of light on the importance of corporate worship. One text in particular that addresses God’s preference for public worship is found in Psalm 87:2, “the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob” (ESV).

On Sundays, corporate worship at church always takes priority over family celebrations at home—even on Christmas! What we do in Sunday worship is far more important to the Lord Jesus Christ than what we do at home in family worship, for Christ always prefers public worship over private.

Sunday Evening Worship in Confessional Churches

Sunday Evening Worship in Confessional Churches

Particular Baptists who subscribe the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (2LCF), or members of a church which fully holds to a reformed confession, should be familiar with the regulative principle of worship. It says, “the acceptable way of worshiping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will” (2LCF 22.1). It is the summation of the first table of the Law which provides for us the object of our worship, God, as well as the mode of our worship.

Likewise, the appointed day of worship is given in the fourth commandment as “one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto Him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day” (2LCF 22:7). This, then, is why our confession tells New Covenant saints, “The sabbath is then [to be] kept holy unto the Lord” (2LCF 22.8).

God sovereignly appoints the means of acceptable worship as well as the appointed day. Throughout most of the Twentieth Century, even many dispensational churches who denied covenant theology and the three-fold use of the law held Sunday to be the day of worship, avoided business transactions on that day, and had two services on Sundays. The Christian Sabbath has only been controversial in modern times where every other orthodox teaching of the historic faith has been attacked, modified, or jettisoned all together by mainline denominations, liberal scholars, and seeker-sensitive churches.

But even in confessional churches the question arises, “Why do we have two services—one in the morning and one in the evening?”

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Grace, Glory, and Gladness Forever

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Grace, Glory, and Gladness Forever

Because we are recipients of the grace of God, we are therefore able to endure these temporary pains and sufferings that we face until we die and enter into glory. The Apostle Paul helped his readers—real people like us with real problems like us—to set their minds on the things above and this everlasting life.

Consider first, Romans 8:18-25— “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…

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9 Ways We Are To Wait Upon the Lord

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9 Ways We Are To Wait Upon the Lord

Right now, most of the world is paralyzed as we all remain hunkered down in our homes waiting for this coronavirus plague to loosen its grip. Thus, waiting is a very relevant topic.

When the Bible speaks of waiting, it’s an entirely different thing than what we do after we take a number at the motor vehicle department. Biblical waiting is not a passive activity, but is demonstrated by active dependence upon and obedience to God. Thus, waiting upon God is a spiritual discipline that we should seek to practice in our lives. Here are nine ways we can practice biblical waiting.

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COVID, Corporate Worship, and Communion

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COVID, Corporate Worship, and Communion

No one would deny that these are strange days in which we’re currently living. We’ve all been forced to adapt our daily lives to this new reality. Sadly, this even includes changing the way the church conducts its ministry. I have been encouraged by those members of our church who have been struggling over the loss of corporate worship. Some have reached out to inform me that they find the loss of Sunday worship downright agonizing. This is a reflection of grace in their hearts. Pity the person who can have public worship taken away without ever missing it. I would rather go to bed without dinner than go a Sunday without church!

Truly our hearts resonate with words of the psalmist in Psalm 84—

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD . . . Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”

Grief and Hope in the Loss of Corporate Worship

Grief and Hope in the Loss of Corporate Worship

In 1970 Joni Mitchell released the song, “Big Yellow Taxi.” In that song she sang a familiar refrain that we can probably all agree with: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone?”

As God’s people, we find the current suspension of our church services to be extremely distressing. We’ve lost something, haven’t we? And we at Grace Covenant Church find ourselves in the same painful providence as many other faithful churches across the world. We are all feeling the excruciating thirst that results from the loss of corporate worship.

6 Encouraging Truths for Difficult Times

6 Encouraging Truths for Difficult Times

As I write this, over 1,000 people in the U.S. have now died from COVID-19, or the coronavirus. This is sobering news. We must not take this lightly, for this is indeed a very serious disaster that has already claimed the lives of thousands worldwide and authorities say the worst is still to come.

In light of this ominous and unseen threat that hangs over our world like a large, dark cloud, I want to offer you some encouragement from God’s Word. While we are wise to take this virus seriously, we as Christians must not give in to fear, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7).

Here are some important truths to keep in mind as we anticipate the impending trouble before us:

Particular Grace

Particular Grace

Welcome to the official blog of Grace Covenant Church. Here you will find many original articles written by GCC pastors, gifted brothers, members, and friends. The topics will largely focus on confessional Baptist theology and Christian living according to the Word of Christ, as well as specific encouragements for the people of our congregation.