pastor's blog

The Imperative of Catechesis

Dear Church Family, As I wrote last week, this past Sunday we began a new Sunday school lesson series in the Westminster Larger Catechism. In our first introductory lesson, we talked about the historical context in which the Westminster Standards were written in England in the 1640s. We also talked

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Sunday School: The Westminster Larger Catechism

Dear Church Family, This coming Sunday, September 18th (9:15-10:15 am), we will begin a new study of the Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC). If you have your own copy, you’re welcome to bring it; however, copies of the WLC will be distributed in the class. In our first class this Sunday,

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The Gospel According to Mark: Proclaiming the Victory of God

Dear Church Family, This past Sunday, we began a new sermon series in the Gospel according to Mark. If you weren’t present – or would like to review the sermon – the audio recording is available on the church website here: https://hillcountrypca.org/all-sermons/. As I mentioned on Sunday, we’re going to

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HCPCA 2022 Fall Schedule

Dear Church Family, It’s only the middle of August, but the summer seems to be coming to a close already as kids head back to school and people’s schedules start changing once again. In our family, three of our four children will be departing this week. Stephen and Lydia are

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HCPCA Officer Training Class

Dear Church Family, For the last couple of weeks, there has been an announcement in the bulletin regarding the officer training class that I will be teaching on Monday evenings at our home, beginning on September 12th. Herein, I wish to give an exhortation (and reasoning) for all the men

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Summary of the PCA’s 49th (2022) General Assembly

Dear Church Family, Before the General Assembly of the PCA met in Birmingham, AL, last week, I provided a brief summary of the business that was to be conducted, along with some recommendations for things to look for: https://hillcountrypca.org/pca-2022-49th-general-assembly/. I was not able to attend the General Assembly; however, I

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PCA (2022) 49th General Assembly

Dear Church Family, The 49th General Assembly of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, meets this week in Birmingham, AL. As the highest church court in our denomination, the purpose of the General Assembly is to conduct the business of the church which affects all of our presbyteries and

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Corporate Worship: Benediction

Dear Church Family, In our examination of the various elements of corporate worship, this week we come to the concluding element of our service, the benediction. Our English word derives from the Latin and refers to “speaking a good word” or “blessing.” Like many of the other Biblical parts of

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Corporate Worship: Final Hymn

Dear Church Family, We have discussed congregational singing previously in this series on the corporate worship of our church. We have discussed the importance of understanding the complementary relationship between words and musical setting in corporate singing. And, we have discussed the importance of thinking about corporate singing in terms

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