DISCIPLESHIP
Church Membership
Discipleship begins with church membership. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to not forsake the gathering together but to stir on another up to love and good deeds. The gathering together is the worship of the local church. Not only is God working in us as we worship Him, but we are also discipling one another through the reading of the Word, singing of Psalms, and the times of fellowship we enjoy. We also have periods throughout the week where we encourage men and women to gather for deeper discipleship outside of worship. The men gather on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings to share what we have been reading in God’s Word, practice Scripture memory, discuss a theological book, and pray for one another. The women meet in a member’s home every other Friday afternoon for Bible study and fellowship.
Psalm Singing
We are a church that holds to the historic practice of singing Psalms without musical instruments. In Ephesians 5:19, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Since the words “psalms,” “hymns,” and “spiritual songs” are in the titles of the 150 psalms of the Book of Psalms, Paul is referring to the Book of Psalms when he writes this verse. Only the Psalms can truly be said to be the Word of Christ. According to Paul, as we sing the Psalms we are “teaching and admonishing one another.” As you meditate on the Psalm you sing, God is using His Word to challenge you, comfort you, uplift you, and to sanctify you. As we sing together in worship or Psalm sings we are taking part in God’s work in the life of one another. In this way, Psalm singing is a part of discipleship.
Bible Reading Plan 2025
We strive to be men and women of the Word. One of Jesus’ prayers for His people in John 17 is that we would be sanctified (made more like Him) through the Word. He says, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth” (John 17:17). Our goal in following a Bible reading plan is not to check a box off our list of things to do, but to grow in our affection for the One the Word speaks of, the One who has Redeemed us. God does not care how much of His Word you read in a day, He just wants you reading and meditating on it daily because it is His primary chosen means to make you more like Jesus. The YouVersion app is a good resource for finding a reading plan that is right for you. The plan linked here is a plan Pastor Hemphill put together to read the whole Bible in one year. The Old Testament books are arranged in the order they are found in the Hebrew Bible instead of the order found in the English translations. Feel free to use it as you like.
Baptism
Baptism by water in the Name of our triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is a sacrament ordained by our Lord Jesus Christ. It replaces circumcision of the sign and seal of the Covenant of Grace and signifies our union with Christ. Baptism also calls us to renounce sin and to walk humbly before God. We not only baptize new converts, but we believe the children of believers should be baptized as well; a practice called Paedo-baptism. The Covenant of Grace as revealed to Abraham was for him and his children (Genesis 17:7), a fact reaffirmed and applied to the New Testament church by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:39. The Bible teaches that baptism replaced circumcision as the sign the of Covenant of Grace (Colossians 2:11-12). Jesus welcomed children to Him saying, “Of such is the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14), and Scripture teaches us the children of believers are “holy” or “set apart” (1 Corinthians 7:14), meaning that by virtue of their birth in a Christian home they are blessed and a part of the covenant community.
The Lord’s Supper Observance
Our belief is the Bible teaches only those professing faith in Jesus Christ have the privilege of partaking in this sacrament and Christ gave the responsibility of overseeing the Lord’s Supper to the elders of the church. Since they are accountable to Christ for the spiritual well-being of His church, the elders have the responsibility of knowing the profession of faith of each person who partakes. In the RPCNA, in order to come to the Lord’s table, each member of our congregation has met with the elders and professed their faith in Jesus along with a commitment to His church.
We have the Lord’s Supper on the fourth Lord’s Day of the month. If your visit with us is on that week, and desire to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we ask you arrive early to meet with the pastor before the service. This way we can get to know you and hear your brief profession of faith. We love hearing how Jesus leads people to Himself!
If you are not sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ, and/or are not a member of another church, or under discipline of a church, we ask you to allow the elements pass by.
Please contact us through the Contact page if you have any questions, or want to set up a time to meet with Pastor Hemphill
Statement on Paedo-Communion
We do not allow the practice called Paedo-Communion; the practice of giving the Lord’s Supper to infants and children who have not made a profession of faith. On the surface this may seem inconsistent with our practice of baptizing children of believers. Those who include children in the Lord’s Supper argue that since Communion replaces Passover, like baptism replaces circumcision, then children are included in both. You might ask, “Why do you make a distinction?”
An overarching theme in Scripture is that we only do what God commands, especially in cases of His worship and the sacraments. In the case of baptism, God’s Word shows a clear correlation to the preceding sign of circumcision it replaced to such an extent that God would have needed to explicitly state children are not to be included. However, this is not the case with the Lord’s Super.
The Passover pointed to the work of Jesus. Since the Passover was fulfilled in Jesus, a new sacrament was introduced to remember the work Christ did. Therefore, new stipulations and warnings were given, explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-32. The stipulation that restricts this sacrament to only professing believers is the command “…let a man examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” This call to examine one’s self before eating was not given to the Israelites for the Passover. Such a command along with the warnings God gives about partaking improperly shows the requirement for someone to have the ability for self-examination and discernment for what Christ has done in order to partake. Infants do not have this ability, nor do very young children. For this reason we believe the practice of Paedo-communion is dangerous and unbiblical.
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We look forward to connecting with you and welcoming you at Lord’s Day Worship!