My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: "O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!"

13 September 2006

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.


6 comments:

Alicia said...

Yay! That is great to hear. I'm so glad things were encouraging and as a result, God-glorifying. Thanks for the update.

Anonymous said...

It was an incredible night! How amazing to see God building His church. How incredible that He uses His children to do it! And, on a personal note, what a blessing that we got to see our son begin to shepherd a church as its pastor. God is so good! We will continue to uplift Immanuel RPCNA in our prayers - that it will be a beacon in West Lafayette and will be mightily used by God to reach the lost and disciple the found.

Anonymous said...

I was in prayer for Immanuel-God with us- as I was driving on Sunday to Pennsylvania...didn't quit til about 8:30 pm. Glad to hear your report.
CLH

Anonymous said...

Strange that you are meeting in a building owned by a cult that worships George Washington.

Jared said...

Well hi, anonymous. Is it so strange? Sort of like Paul preaching and worshipping in synagogues, perhaps?

Jared said...

Proverbs 31 finishes tonight! ...and then I'm planning on doing a couple more wrap-up/main-lessons-from-Proverbs sermons.