Covenant Kids meets con-currently from 6:30-7:30. Pastor Kevin and Miranda Brower are the Bible teach-ers, Pastor Kevin leads sing-ing, and Kathy Carr does games and learning activity.

These children and youth ministries meet each Wednesday school is in ses-sion and will continue through April, concluding with our annual Pinewood Derby.

On Wednesday, October 7, our children’s and youth ministries began for the school year. The Release Time program has enrolled about 11 children and meets during school hours at the church. FPC contracts with the HFES to transport them via bus. Lorraine Rimer, Wayne Golly, and Ginnie Rootkie faithfully host Bible lessons three times a month.

The evening activities be-

gins at 6 PM with Dinner-for-a-Dollar. Janet Sikkink and Gloria Finn are there each week to prepare din-ner. The

Youth Fellowship is under the direction of Ben and Deb Wiener this year. They are pictured above taking a break from foursquare be-fore they have Bible Study. Besides Wednesday evenings, Ben and Deb plan on arranging for several “extra curricular” ac-tivities through-out the year.

FPC CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEET ON WEDNESDAYS

THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE PLANNED

Our annual Thanksgiving Eve Service of Praise and Gratitude will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 25th, at 7 PM. The evening will include a number of musical selections, singing, testi-mony, and the ministry of the Word. During the eve-ning, as is our custom, a

special Thanksgiving love offering will be received. The purpose for which the offering is designated has not yet been determined, but will be announced in the forthcoming pastor’s Thanksgiving letter.

This evening of praise and

thanksgiving is a wonderful way for the whole family to celebrate with gratitude this special season of national Thanksgiving. It also marks the beginning of our Advent season. We do hope you can join us for this special event.

F IRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (PCA)

NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 11

F IRST PRESS

SPECIAL POINTS OF

INTEREST:

Pastor Kevin had the privilege of speaking at the HCS Chapel on Fri-day, Oct. 2nd.

We rejoice with our RUF Campus Pastor Brandon Haan and his wife Erin at the arrival of their first baby, Theodore Lee, weighing in at 9 lbs. 1 oz and 21 inches long. Brandon will be speaking here on Nov. 1.

Nov. 29th is our Fifth Sunday Pot Blessing Dinner after Church. Please remember to bring a dish to share and to stay and enjoy the fellow-ship.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

NOVEMBER CALEN-

DAR

2

MEET JOHN KNOX :

EXILE IN EUROPE

2

E IGHT ATTEND PRC

DINNER

3

NEW ROOF AP-

PROVED FOR FPC

3

MYSTERY OF GODLI-

NESS : PART V

4

FPC SUPPORTS LO-

CAL BENEVOLENCES

5

FPC HOSTS BIBLE

CAMP MEETING

5

driven from Frankfurt after only six months. The issues at hand included the mandated use of vestments, sign of the cross in baptism, and kneeling at the Lord’s Supper which had no Scriptural support. For Knox, it was an un-warranted binding of the conscience. Some have argued that the later rise of English Puri-tanism had its birth in Frankfurt in this con-troversy.

From 1555-1556, Knox made a clandestine preaching tour to his home land of Scotland. Visiting Edinburgh, he met with leading no-blemen casting for them vision of reform and stirring their resolve to that end. It has been said that this visit marked the beginning of the Scottish Reformation. He also traveled about Scotland preaching and celebrating the Lord’s Supper modeling its biblical simplicity. When he returned to Geneva, he did so with his new bride Marjorie and her mother Elizabeth Bowes. Shortly thereafter, he was condemned as a heretic in Scotland and burned in effigy.

After the fiasco in Frankfurt, under Calvin’s influence Knox assumed the pastorate of Eng-lish exiles in Geneva (1556-1557). This ap-pears to be the happiest season of his life. Miles Coverdale, the famed Bible translator, was among his congregation and from here came the famous Geneva Bible. For Knox, Cal-vin’s Geneva was “the most perfect school of Christ” to be found in the Reformation world. One of the major accomplishments of

When John Knox left England for France in 1554, he joined a group of 700-800 high profile Protestant leaders who fled the purges of “Bloody” Queen Mary. These Marion exiles settled in Reformation friendly cites on the continent like Frank-furt, Strasburg, Geneva, Basil, and Bern. Here many acquired a taste for a more com-plete reformation than the Church of Eng-land had afforded up to this time. Upon their return, they would vie for further ref-ormation and become known as Puritans.

Meanwhile, Knox, near penniless, found his way to Geneva where he joined the circle of the premier reformer John Calvin. Soon afterwards, Calvin arranged for Knox to enter a joint pastorate with William Whit-tingham to serve a congregation of English exiles in Frankfurt, Germany. He assumed his charge on Sept. 24, 1554.

However, things would not go well for him there. Almost immediately Knox found himself in sharp contention with many of the English Anglicans (one being the future archbishop Edmund Grindal under Elizabeth I) over the use of the Prayer Book which Knox could not endorse. Despite arriving at a compromise liturgy, the controversy was reignited by the arrival of Dr. Richard Cox, former Chancellor of Oxford. The so-called Cox-Knox controversy deteriorated into acrimony and the Knox team was virtually

his tenure in Geneva was the working out of his liturgical prac-tices which would eventually become known as The Book of Common Order to serve as a direc-tory of public worship. Reid says, “They sought to draw up a order of worship, a confession of faith and a system of discipline, by which the church would not have ‘the face of an English church’ but the marks of a Chris-tian church, transcending na-tional distinctions” (Trumpeter, 134).

Knox’s Geneva congregation has been regarded by some as the first Puritan congregation. Most certainly the close affinity be-tween the future English Puritan movement and Scottish Presbyte-rianism became apparent in Ge-neva at this time.

MEET JOHN KNOX—EXILE IN EUROPE

PAGE 2 F IRST PRESS

SCHEDULE OF

EVENTS

1—Guest Speaker, Brandon Haan, RUF

3—Connect Women, 6:30 PM; Choir Practice, 7 PM

4,11, 18—Wednesday Youth Min-istries: Release Time, Dinner-for-a-Dollar, Covenant Kids, Youth Fel-lowship, 6 PM

8—Communion Sunday; Trustee Meeting, 11:15 AM

9—Session Meeting, 7 PM

10—Choir Practice, 7 PM

17—Choir Practice, 7 PM

24—Choir Practice, 7 PM

25—Thanksgiving Eve Service, 7 PM

29—First Sunday of Advent; Fifth Sunday Pot Blessing Dinner after Church

NOVEMBER 2015

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 1 2 3 4 5

On Tuesday evening, Octo-ber 13, eight members of FPC joined another 200 at-tendees at the annual Preg-nancy Resource Center’s fund raising banquet at the Light-

house (EV Free Church) in Pine City. The PRC is a Christian ministry of the larger Pine County area which provides life alter-natives and support to both women and men facing

pregnancy issues. The center offers testing, support, coun-seling, mentoring, and baby resources in a safe, suppor-tive, and Christian environ-ment. The evening included a

delicious dinner, music, client testimonials, guest speaker, as well as the annual offering. The banquet is a vital re-source which provides for as much as one half the annual operating cost for the center.

Picture to the left are FPC’s attendees Pastor Kevin, Miranda Brower, Wayne Golly, Marlys Golly, Don Sikkink, Marge Hawkinson, Theresa Aaby, and Gloria Finn.

line architectural shingle roof with a 20 year material and labor warranty at the price of $50,000.” Chairman Richard-son reported that bids have been received but the deci-sion has not yet been made regarding who would do the work. They are currently desiring the project to be completed before winter sets in. After questions and discus-

The congregation of FPC met after morning worship on October 18 at a called con-gregational and corporation meeting to consider funding for a new roof on the church building. After prayer and Scripture, Trustee Chairman Ron Richardson presented the motion from the Board of Trustees which proposed “to install a 50 year HD Timber-

sion, it was further proposed that an additional $5000 be added to the total to address potential unseen roof damage. The total of $50,000 for the roof, and an additional $5000 to address possible roof dam-age, was approved unani-mously. The meeting was closed with prayer and thank-fulness for the Lord’s provi-sion.

FPC REPRESENTED AT PRC D INNER

CONGREGATION APPROVES NEW ROOF

FPC GETS SOME FALL CLEANING

Kendall (Connect Presi-dent), and Kathy Carr were detained for a picture on Thursday morning, October 22nd as they gathered to clean the library, foyer, and church of-

fices. They were joined by others as the morning pro-gressed.

The Trustees also sponsored

an outdoor work day on Saturday morning, Oct. 17 to trim and cut back our front, side, and back garden areas for the upcoming winter. A group of ten showed up and had the job done in a couple of hours. The fellowship of working together is a blessing in many ways to a church family. Be sure to express your appreciation to these volunteers.

Thanks to the Connect Women’s ministry of FPC(formerly WIC), the church facility gets a periodic clean-ing. Bonnie Pearson, Kathy

THE F IFTH SUNDAY

POT BLESSING DINNER

WILL BE ON BE ON

SUNDAY , NOVEMBER

29.

PLEASE PLAN ON

BRINGING A DISH TO

SHARE AND STAYING

TO ENJOY THE

FELLOWSHIP .

PAGE 3 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 11

The Christmas Mu-

sical is scheduled for

Sunday, Dec. 20, at

7 PM. Director

Monte Dybvig is

announcing that

practices for the

concert will meet

each Tuesday eve-

ning starting on Nov.

3 at 7 PM. There

will probably be a

couple Saturday

mornings just prior to

the performance if

needed.

If you would like to

sing in this year’s

Christmas musical,

just show up and

enjoy the fellowship.

The Carrs are most

appreciative to the

group of men who

helped paint their

house during the

month of October.

Mystery of Godliness —Proclaimed among the Nations

As we think about these six affirmations pertaining to the mystery of Godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16, it becomes clear that they are not haphazard and unrelated expres-sions of the Christian faith. Each one fol-lows logically upon the one before. The fundamental confession of the Christian faith is that Jesus the Son of God “was manifested in the flesh” (cf. 1 John 4:1-3) and subsequently, through his death and particularly his resurrection, “vindicated by the Spirit.” It also follows that if this be true, then his intelligent creation must not be silent. Thus he who was “seen by an-gels” was also “proclaimed among the na-tions” and, as a result, “believed on in the world.” Indeed, genuine faith is ordinarily preceded by preaching because “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:27).

We consider in this segment the affirma-tion that Christ “was proclaimed among the nations.” It is not sufficient that we, the people of God, merely delight among ourselves in the knowledge that there is a Redeemer. He must be proclaimed and that to the whole world. Sibbes says, “It is not sufficient that there is a treasure; but there must be a digging of it out….It is not sufficient that there be a box of oint-ment, but the box must be opened, that the whole house may be filled with the smell” (Sibbes, Works, 5:505). This is in essence what we call the Great Commis-sion. Matthew records Jesus as saying in his parting words: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to ob-serve all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). Mark is more pointed: “Go into all the world and pro-claim the gospel to the whole crea-tion” (Mark 16:15). Luke puts it this way: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In other words, the good news of Jesus must be published!

But, just what is it that the church is to proclaim? In short, we must proclaim Christ! Paul told the Corinthians, “I de-cided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Indeed, Jesus Christ is the subject of the Scripture. Jesus chided the Pharisees for not knowing them rightly because, as he said, “It is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). Again, he took the two disciples on the road to Emmaus through a Bible survey course when “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted [opened] to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). He said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that eve-rything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Even Pe-ter recognized the centrality of Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures when he said concerning our great salvation, “The prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicated when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Pet. 1:10-11).

Of course, to proclaim Christ among the nations is more than merely publically waving his name around like a banner or slogan. It is rather to teach and preach the whole of Christ’s mediation—and that in itself is a huge undertaking. Peter inti-mates that preaching Christ concerns opening up both our Lord’s person and work—his divine nature and redeeming grace. Accordingly, preaching centers on Jesus’ humiliation—“the sufferings of Christ”—and exaltation—“the subsequent glories.” Paul would summarize these estates in this way, “Who, though he was in the form of God…made himself noth-ing...being born in human the likeness of men...becoming obedience to the point of death….Therefore God has highly exalted him” (Phil. 2:6-9). If we may think on Christ through his estates of humiliation and exaltation, we may also proclaim him as prophet, priest, and king. As prophet,

he is the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14) revealing to us the will of God for our salvation. As priest, he is all the priest we need, not merely offering a sacrifice, but offering himself as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. John 1:29; Heb. 9:13-14). And then in his heavenly glory, he intercedes for his own (cf. Luke 22:31-32; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2). As king, he is King of all kings, ex-tending his rule and commanding our obe-dience. He will restrain and conquer all his and our enemies.

To mine this message of Christ out of the pages of Scripture is no small task. But it is the task of proclaiming Christ among the nations. It is the mission of the Church. But let us be clear. Such proclamation is more than mere setting forth ideas about Christ. It is also setting him forth as one who calls for a response (Rom 10:13-14): “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved….And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Sibbes insists, “It is not sufficient to preach Christ...[for] there must be an application” as well that people “may see their interest” in him. He says, “For to preach is to woo” (Sibbes, Work, 5:505). The world, or the nations, must see their need for the a savior. They must see their sin through the preaching of the Law; they must see their hope through the preaching of the gospel. The Bible is primarily concerned with Christ and not merely Christian mo-rality. And though there is a life that is glorifying to God, it is solely upon the merits of our Lord’s active (perfect life) and passive (atoning death) obedience to the Father that our hope and future is built. Our God is an inviting God and invi-tations are scattered throughout the pages of Scripture wooing sinners to truth Christ. “Come to me,” Jesus said, “and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We the church are Christ’s ambassadors. God makes his appeal through us. Our Lord is proclaimed among the nations when we implore people on his behalf, “Be recon-ciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

PAGE 4 F IRST PRESS

When the church in Acts found itself becoming con-sumed with the distribution of benevolences, the deacon-ate was born. The Apostles directed the church, “Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3-4).

In this spirit, FPC is involved in several ministries in the Pine County area which serve people facing hard times. Pastor Kevin reports that there has been a significant increase this past summer of people requesting help for gasoline, food, and lodging. FPC currently does not have a transient fund to respond to such requests. However, we are committed in other ways. Having mentioned on page 3 our involvement in the Preg-nancy Resource Center, we also note that during the sum-mer of 2015 FPC has contrib-

uted over a half ton of fresh produce to the Family Path-ways’ Hinckley food shelf. Along with this, FPC sup-ports MN Food Share month in March and receives regu-lars offerings to support this local service.

Furthermore, we have been involved from the start with the relatively new transitional shelter in Pine City called A Place for You. Besides financial support, we are committed to providing one supper-type meal per month for the resi-dents who never fail to ex-press their appreciation. There is a sign up sheet in the foyer and we encourage you to become involved. You may also talk with Connect presi-dent Kathy Kendall if you have questions. In a recent letter from the shelter’s co-chairs thanking us for a $250 gift, it was reported, “Last week, every resident had a job, 1 had found housing and several more will be moving out soon!” This is good news!

The letter continues, “Please know that your support for our transitional homeless shelter is truly appreciated. Together we are helping to better the lives of our resi-dents and helping them to become productive members of our communities.”

Every other month during the communion service, we re-ceive a benevolence offering. This provides a working fund, managed by the Trustees with oversight by the Elders, to respond to needs primarily within the Christian commu-nity and sometimes beyond. The Scriptures teach, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and espe-cially to those who are in the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). We seek to take this admonition seriously as the Lord enables. Helps that are offered through this benevo-lence fund are done anony-mously, but carefully and respectfully.

stone Lake Bible Camp. The vot-ing delegation from FPC in-cluded Robert Sikkink and Ben Wiener who cur-rently serves on the board of di-

rectors. Pastor Kevin was unable to attend as he was on vacation. The Semi-annual

On Tuesday evening, Oct. 27, FPC hosted the Semi-annual meeting of the Grind-

meeting focuses primarily on reports from the previous camping season and the elec-tion of officers. Board Chair-man Loren Nelson chaired the meeting. The Connect women from FPC provided a dessert and coffee fellowship after the meeting. Pictured above is a scene from the 2015 camping season with the new chapel in the background.

FPC SUPPORTS LOCAL DEACONAL M INISTRIES

FPC HOSTS GLBC SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING

“IT IS NOT RIGHT

THAT WE SHOULD

GIVE UP PREACHING

THE WORD OF

GOD TO SERVE

TABLES” (ACTS 6:2).

“[JESUS SAID , ] I

WAS HUNGRY AND

YOU GAVE ME

FOOD , I WAS

THIRSTY AND YOU

GAVE ME DRINK , I

WAS A STRANGER

AND YOU

WELCOMED ME , I

WAS NAKED AND

YOU CLOTHED

ME….THEN THE

RIGHTEOUS WILL

ANSWER….LORD

WHEN DID WE SEE

YOU HUNGRY AND

FEED YOU , [ETC . ]

….TRULY , I SAY TO

YOU , AS YOU DID

IT TO ONE OF THE

LEAST OF THESE MY

BROTHERS , YOU

DID IT TO

ME” (MATT . 25:35-

40).

“IF A BROTHER OR

SISTER IS POORLY

CLOTHED AND

LACKING IN DAILY

FOOD , AND ONE

OF YOU SAYS TO

THEM , ‘GO IN

PEACE , BE WARMED

AND FILLED , ’

WITHOUT GIVING

THEM THE THINGS

NEEDED FOR THE

BODY , WHAT GOOD

IS IT? SO ALSO

FAITH BY ITSELF , IF

IT DOES NOT HAVE

WORKS , IS

DEAD” (JAMES 2:15-

17).

PAGE 5 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 11

NON-PROFIT ORG.

PERMIT #30

HINCKLEY, MN 55037 P. O. Box 157

Hinckley, MN 55037

ADDRESS SERVICES REQUESTED

Phone: 320-384-6440 Pastor’s Email: kevincarr157@gmail.com

Church Email: firstpreshinckley@gmail.com November 2015

F IRST PRESBYTERIAN

CHURCH (PCA)

“TRUE TO THE SCRIPTURES, THE

REFORMED FAITH, AND THE GREAT

COMMISSION”

First Presbyterian Church is a member congregation of the Presbyterian

Church in America

W E ’RE ON THE WEB :

WWW . FIRSTPRESH INCKLEY . ORG