Trip East to Matthew

Grandpa and Grandma took a pleasant trip east, finding route 80 around Chicago was good to us, traveling through without a stop. Our first stop was in the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York to see our brothers. We then traveled to Wexford, Pennsylvania to visit our new grandson (of son Philip and Michelle); a new boy, Matthew, added to Andrew, Joshua, and Titus. It was a great time to be with the family. On the Sabbath we worshiped together, Grandpa La May having the privilege to baptize Matthew. The Pastor of North Hills RP Church had a very appropriate message from the second epistle of Paul to the Corinth Church. Pastor Harry Metzger preached the Gospel of Triumph: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved” (2:14-15). It is a joy to know that our children are sitting under a Pastor and Elders who are faithful to the Word of God, to a congregation that gives needed fellowship one to another.
Baptism is defined by the Shorter Catechism as that which “signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.” Baptism tells us of the marvelous grace of our Lord, of how one is brought into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. Therefore we pray with the parents that as our children grow in this covenant relationship, that they will come to knowledge of Christ as their Savior and Lord.The pictures above are: 1. The Falls in Montour Falls, New York; 2. Grandma and Matthew; 3. Grandpa and boys

Covenant Blessing

This past week a baby boy has been born to Joshua and Cailan. “Elias Stephen Matthews” weighed in at seven pounds, as you can see by the picture at the right. Joshua proudly spoke of his wife, Cailan, “Mom did extraordinarily well. Her doctor said she was the ‘model first pregnancy.’ Though the doctor did not spend a painful 24 hours in the hospital . . . (the next morning) An hour or so later, out he came! It was the bravest act I’ve ever witnessed, a testimony to Cailan’s perseverance and desire. She’s amazing.”
We rejoice with Joshua and Cailan and Elias, whom we have known in the Church fellowship. Our prayers are with them with thanksgiving. God does marvelous things. One is that union we have with one another in Christ, enabling us to rejoice together!
There are two families that a Christian belongs to, that of a particular home, and that of the Church universal. The similarity between these two families is that they are generational. In other words both families can be characterized by both past and future generations. The past generations reveal from whence we come. The future generations are seen as important and active in that what we do today will be a blessing or curse to our children and children’s children. The Bible teaches us of the faith of those who have gone on before us, thus encouraging us in our faith: “Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).
Another similarity between the two families is the joy we share as new-born children enter into our households. Jesus teaches us, “I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents” (Luke 15:10). Jesus further teaches that this entrance into his Church is this, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). We also rejoice together as our Lord adds precious ‘newborn’ souls to his Church. We also rejoice as the Lord blesses our homes with the newborn baby who has been graciously nourished within the womb. The Church rejoices with this family, and the families rejoice with the Church. The blessings come from the present generation and will be felt by the next generations to come.
Grandpa always has many things to be thankful for.

Meditation For the Weekend

Meditate on this: Our obedience should reveal our knowledge of Christ [1 John 2:3-6]
The beloved Apostle confirms our faith in Christ, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him, He that sayeth he abideth in him ought himself to walk, even as he walked.” The word know means to perceive or understand, i.e. to know experientially.
Matthew Henry wrote, “Now light is to kindle love; and love must and will keep the word of God; it enquires wherein the beloved may be pleased and served, and, finding he will be so by observance of his declared will, there it employs and exerts itself; there love is demonstrated; there it has its perfect (or complete) exercise, operation, and delight; and hereby (by this dutiful attendance to the will of God, or Christ) we know that we are in him, we know that we belong to him, and that we are united to him by that Spirit which elevates and assists us to this obedience.”