// Covenant Family Church

Text: Colossians 4:2-6
Guest Preacher: Conrad Cheatham

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Text: 1 Timothy 4:13-16

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The Bringe’s will host this meeting on Tuesday, June 16th (7-9 PM). We will eat, share, pray, and discuss life together as Christian men. Plus, Pastor Serven will share exciting stories about Wycliffe, Bucer, Hus, Tyndale, and Zwingli. All men & boys are welcome!

Mike & Carol Brabo have invited us to their farm in Clarkesville for our fellowship meal after the worship service on Sunday, June 21st. Bring the same food that you would bring to church, and we will enjoy an extended time of eating, singing, and visiting.

Trinity Hymnal #168 “I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art”. This hymn is attributed to John Calvin, and was found in the Strasbourg Psalter (1545) and the Genevan Psalter (1551). We will learn it in honor of the 500th Anniversary of Calvin’s birth (July 10, 1509).

Text: 1 Timothy 4:6-10

Having focused in two previous sermons on the rise of the Apostate Church (vs. 1-5), let us now consider Paul’s teaching on the characteristics of a True Church (vs. 6-16). On the basis of this passage, and many others, the Protestant Reformers came to recognize that a True Church of Jesus Christ is characterized by “three marks”. They are:

1. The true preaching of the Word of God (cf. John 8:31-32, 47, 14:23; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 John 4:1-3).

2. The right administration of the Sacraments (cf. Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30).

3. The faithful exercise of church discipline (cf. Matthew 16:19, 18:18; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 13, 14:33, 40; Galatians 6:1-2).

(cf. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 576-578)

Hence, we should strive to make sure that our own church is faithful to these characteristics—not for the sake of boasting, but for the purpose of pleasing our Lord. Moreover, let us give thanks to God that by grace we can be a part of God’s ongoing work—the growth and expansion of the True Church.

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