Immanuel RPC

Church planting update: Sunday night was our first worship service in West Lafayette! (We remain under the oversight and auspices of the RPC of Lafayette until presbytery officially organizes us - hopefully early 2007).

It was a wonderfully exciting night of worship. At least for September and October, we're meeting in a banquet hall owned in West Lafayette by the Masons. Although it was a little toasty (at least for the preacher and song leader), the facility worked out great. We're worshipping in a dance hall so I was afraid the singing would be swallowed up; thankfully, the group sounded great. My parents came up from Indianapolis to serve in the nursery (held in the restaurant/bar area on the second floor) and to encourage us - which they certainly did.

I began a sermon series through the book of Colossians. Colossians is a great choice for two reasons: first, it's God's inspired directions for a young church, so it fits us perfectly. Secondly, it focuses on the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ, a perfect focus for a young church. The main points of application from the sermon were to (1) believe in Christ and trust the faith He's provided and (2) give thanks. [I love simple sermons.]

So we give thanks to God for allowing us to take part in His kingdom and for bringing us to the point of worshipping together. If you're inclined, here are some prayer requests on our hearts:

• That our worship would be pleasing to God and made acceptable to Him through the work of Christ.
• That God would make His Word powerful as we look to Colossians.
• That God would raise up a godly session to lead and shepherd us.
• That our relationships with neighbors, family, coworkers would bear fruit for Christ's kingdom.
• That we could effectively reach out to the grad student, faculty, and staff of Purdue University.
• That our website and other outreach materials would glorify God and be effective sources of information.
• That the doctrines of grace would find great growth in Tippecanoe County.
• That two Reformed Presbyterian churches in the Lafayette area would be better than one.
• That our two churches would have a deep, abiding, purposeful relationship.

Our next evening worship services are September 24, October 8, 22 and then every Sunday evening in November and December. If you're interested in visiting, please email me for more info.