Do you have a question of general interest? Submit it below and Pastor George will do his best to answer it. Questions along with their answers might be posted here for the benefit of others but your privacy will be respected.

Why two worship services

I am currently in discussion with a brother in my congregation regarding attendance at the second service. If time permits and hopefully you have some free, could you send on to me a brief summary as to why the Reformed Church has one.

Thanks!

Hi!

Historically, the 2nd service was a teaching service. Hence, the catechism. In the 1st service, the minister proclaimed the gospel, narrowly, from a specific text; in the 2nd service, he taught the whole counsel of God by way of the summary of doctrine. A good reason to attend the 2nd service as well as the 1st (besides the fact that the elders, in the Name of Christ, call the congregation together) is for the sake of receiving this good balance of both proclamation and instruction.

Pastor George

Pentecostal vs Reformed

Hey Pastor, long time no see.

It might seem kind of random that I am emailing you but I have a question for you.

A friend of mine goes to a Pentecostal church and keeps bugging me to come out and try it out. But I don’t know anything about that church, could you possibly enlighten me?

I am not thinking about changing churches but I would like to know how they compare to a Reformed Church. I read their faith statement online but couldn’t figure out where they were going with it all.

Thanks for your time. Cheers.

Hi,

Good to hear from you again.

Just like there are differences between various Reformed churches, so there are differences between various Pentecostal churches. Having said that, there are some main similarities.

1. They emphasize the continuing gifts of Pentecost (Acts 2), especially that of speaking in tongues. Whereas the Reformed churches believe those gifts have ceased with the death of the apostles and the closing of the canon of the New Testament, they believe they are still in force. If you were to go to such a church, it would not be unusual for someone to stand up and start speaking in a “language” that no one would understand. I put “language” in scare quotes, because it would not be any real language but, to put it bluntly, gibberish. The chapter of the NT to study is 1 Cor 14 (with a reliable commentary).

2. So far as I know, all Pentecostal churches reject the Reformed view of the covenant and infant baptism. They will hold to a believer baptism.

3. They will reject the Reformed teachings of salvation and embrace, rather, an Arminian doctrine.

I hope that helps. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Pastor George