Category: The Lord’s Day

False Witness

False Witness

Lying is pervasive in our world. It is often downplayed because it is said that everyone does it. Along with this, gossip and slander are largely considered to be acceptable in our world, and they can far too easily creep into the church as well.

But the ninth commandment forbids lying, gossip and slander while commending truth telling. The commandment says, “‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

When we rightly consider this commandment and all that it has to say, we are rebuked because we realize that we have fallen short. And yet, the Gospel hope is that the Son of God who is true, who never lied yet died in the place of liars, of gossips, of slanderers and revilers. There is hope to found in Him, even for those who have transgressed this, the ninth commandment.

Join us this Lord’s Day at 9 AM for worship at 9820 W Markham St. (the sanctuary of Faith United Methodist Church). For more information, click here, or contact us. You can also watch our service at 9 AM on YouTube with a link posted to our Facebook page.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness

This Lord’s Day at River City Reformed, we continue in our study of the Ten Commandments and come to the seventh commandment in Exodus 20:14: “You shall not commit adultery.” This commandment, much like the others has to do with far more than what we might first consider at a surface level.

This week we will consider the some of the scope of this command, the underlying principle of faithfulness, and the Gospel hope that our faithful Savior offers to those who have transgressed this commandment.

Join us at 9 AM at 9820 W Markham St in Little Rock (the sanctuary of Faith United Methodist Church) for worship. For more information, click here, or contact us. You can also watch our service on YouTube with a link posted to our Facebook page.

The Sanctity of Life

The Sanctity of Life

One of the truths of Scripture is that life is valuable. “Valuable” really isn’t a strong enough word. Many use the phrase “The Sanctity of Life,” to demonstrate just how significant it is that man is created in the image of God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism in question 10 asks, “How did God create man?” The answer given is, “God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.” Men, women, and children bear the image of God. Certainly the image was marred at the fall of man, but nonetheless, mankind is still created in the image of God and we exist as His image bearers.

That is what makes the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), of such importance. To murder another person is to assault and seek to destroy the image of God in man. But as our Savior tells us in Matthew 5:21-22, the command goes beyond the physical act of murder and gets down to the very intentions of the heart.

This Lord’s Day we will consider the sixth commandment and its application to our lives, and we will also consider what God has done to reconcile those guilty of breaking this commandment to Himself and to give life to His people in a world filled with death. Join us for worship this Lord’s Day at 9 AM at 9820 W Markham St (the sanctuary of Faith United Methodist Church). For more information, click here, or contact us. You can also watch the service on YouTube with a link posted to our Facebook page.

Honor Your Father and Your Mother

Honor Your Father and Your Mother

This week at River City Reformed, we turn to what we often refer to as the second table of the law. The first table, or the first four commandments had to do with our relationship to God, and commandments 5-10 have to do with our relationship to our neighbor. Exodus 20:12 says, “‘Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

This commandment, serving as the first of the second table calls us to honor those in authority over us. This has to do directly with our parents, our father and mother, but it also has to do with all manner of authority. This command also has something to say to those in positions of authority. This week, we will discuss the scope of this commandment and how it applies to our lives as Christians. We will also think through the promise attached to the command and the Gospel hope for us in the midst of our failures to keep this commandment. We hope that you can join us for worship at 9 AM at 9820 W Markham St. (the sanctuary of Faith United Methodist Church). For more information, click here, or contact us. You can also watch our service live on YouTube with a link posted to our Facebook page.

Call the Sabbath a Delight

Call the Sabbath a Delight

As we come to the fourth commandment in our study of Exodus 20:1-17, it is perhaps the command that is most often under acknowledged or misunderstood. Some see it as unnecesarily burdensome, and others see it as no longer binding on the people of God. That command is, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

This week at River City Reformed, we will consider the Sabbath and what is truly being said in the fourth commandment. We will see that the Sabbath is still binding, but also that is a great blessing to the people of God. Isaiah 58:13-14 says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

It is God who nourishes our souls on the Day of rest and worship which He has given to us. And the Sabbath Day itself points us to the hope of the Gospel–that the crucified Christ has risen on the first Day of the week and that we now joyfully await His return.

We meet together on the first Day of the week in the public worship of God in order to meet with God Himself and with His people. We are to devote the Day to the rest and worship of God, trusting that God Himself is at work in us. Would you join us this Lord’s Day at 9 AM as we consider the fourth commandment together? We meet for worship at 9820 W Markham St. in Little Rock (the sanctuary of Faith United Methodist Church). For more information, click here or contact us. You can also watch the service on YouTube with a link posted to our Facebook page.