ARP News

Pre-Synod & more

General Synod 2018 is off to a great start.

World Witness hosted their annual Golf Tournament at Etowah Valley Country Club. The winners were Lee Winters, Trust Winters, Jeffrey Brown, and Harold Blackmond from Newberry ARP Church in Newberry, SC.

 

Outreach North America hosted Pre-Synod with Dr. Lon Allison from the Billy Graham Center on Evangelism. Dr. Allison encouraged everyone to remember, “Prayer, care, share,” according to Colossians 4:2-6 which reads, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

General Synod begins Tuesday with Opening Worship at 2pm.

 

 

Faith in Action & FBC Announcement

Faith In Action

Outreach North America introduces the Faith in Action Series. This series includes thoughts and devotions written by the younger generation of our denomination and their leaders. They are stories of growing in grace.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

To sign up to receive the devotions throughout June click here: https://outreachnorthamerica.org/june/

Family Bible Conference Announcement

Registration is well underway for the 2018 Family Bible Conference, July 23-26 at Bonclarken. While room remains for adults, small children and youth, we have reached capacity for our children’s programs for ages Kindergarten through 8th grade and regret that we cannot accept additional registration for those age groups. Please convey this as you are able to your congregations.

Room remains for children 4 years and younger, as well as youth 9th grade and older and adults of all ages. Those wishing to register are encouraged to go to the conference website: https://www.arpcem.org/fbc
Many thanks, and blessings,
Rev. Matt Miller, Director of the Family Bible Conference

 

News Bits

The numbers are in!

341 are registered for the Synod meeting beginning Tuesday, June 5. If you have not registered, you may do so at Bonclarken on Monday, June 4 beginning at 2pm.
World Focus numbers as of today:
148 Synod delegates
449 staff, families of delegates, missionaries, and guests
Total World Focus  = 597
It it not too late to join World Focus. You may register at the door on Thursday, June 7 beginning at 1pm. Visit www.worldfocus2018.com for more information.

Banner of Truth

The 2018 Banner of Truth Ministers Conference is being held this week at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. ARPs from the Carolinas, Canada, Lithuania, and Pakistan are in attendance. Rev. Jeff Kingswood is a Trustee for the Banner of Truth Trust. He is seated to the right in the photo.

Camp Joy Florida

Things are off to a great start for Camp Joy in Florida. Please pray for the 15 campers, 19 counselors, and 14 staff.

Clerk of Session Loses House to Fire

The Clerk of Session at Westminster ARP in Conway, SC was injured in a house fire Tuesday, May 22. Jack McKinnon was treated for burns and released. The house was a loss. Rev. Kyle Sims is serving as the interim moderator while the church is looking for a pastor. Please pray for Elder Jack McKinnon and his wife Barbara as they go through this difficult time.

Family Devotions

Synod & World Focus Online Registration Deadline

Reminder:  Thursday, May 24, is the deadline for online registration for Synod and World Focus.  After May 24, on site registration/sign-in will be held from 2-5pm on Monday, June 4  and 9-12 Tuesday morning, June 5.

 

Family Devotions in the Life of the Church

At the 2017 General Synod Meeting, Rev. Matt Miller gave his testimony regarding “Family Worship.” A motion was made following the talk that it be transcribed and distributed to ministers and churches. Accordingly, it has been made available to us in print and it is now being distributed to ministers and churches by email, ARP News Update and upon request from Central Services.

It’s my privilege this morning to give a quick testimony about family worship, about family devotions, in the life of the church. I’d like to thank Moderator Lee Shelnutt for this invitation and opportunity.

It’s been said that the goal of all theological thinking is to distinguish without separating, and to unite without confounding. You can think of how that played out in 451 A.D. in the Council of Chalcedon—to distinguish the human and divine natures of Christ without separating them; to see his two natures united in his one person without being confounded. You can think of how that has played out in the last 500 years in the relationship between justification and sanctification—to distinguish them without separating them, lest it be thought you could be justified without in any way being sanctified; but also to avoid the Roman error of uniting them to the point of confounding them, so that justification becomes sanctification, and sanctification becomes justification.

You can think of how this is at the root of all ancient heresies, and even of the heresies of modern Western thought—you can think of the separation of faith and science, not just distinct but now entirely separated. Or the modern way of uniting to the point of confounding—male and female, now seen by our culture as interchangeable. A goal in all theological thinking, though, is to distinguish without separating and to unite without confounding. Read more!

The ARP App

I am happy to introduce to you the new ARP app. It is free to download for iOS users only. Other versions will be available soon. Download the app to keep up-to-date with all ARP news and events throughout the denomination plus quick links to agency websites. Click here to take you directly to the app store. For step by step instructions in downloading the app, click this link to download a short video, The ARP app.

 

Prayer Request

Please pray for Rev. Jim Mitchell and his family. Their house house was hit by a flash flood/mud slide in Tryon, NC.

Crystal writes, “I never realized how fast it could happen. It was fine and then less than a minute later we were terrified. Jim was not home, but the kids and I were. We were able to escape through the woods and hiked to safety, but not without many difficulties and dangers. It was flooding everywhere but not like at our house. Emmy carried Paxton most of the way and I carried Lydia who has a broken foot as long as possible while Rhett carried her crutches. The kids were amazing. We had to crawl, jump, climb, and make very difficult decisions. There were times when I didn’t know what to do due to the flooding around us. We stopped and prayed about each time I couldn’t make a decision and then we would decide. Each time it was the right decision and at least one of those decisions made wrong would have killed us (knowing what we know now). The Lord protected us each step of the way and it was so wonderfully and blatantly obvious. Neighbors that we didn’t know but who were so kind and gracious took us in and sheltered us for the night. Today we saw our house. The basement is full of mud, along with one of the bedrooms. One daughter lost everything including a pet that she loved very much. “

Big News

With the 214th General Synod meeting almost two weeks away, we have exciting news coming Monday, May 21.

Be sure to register for Synod and reserve a room through Bonclarken. You can find out more details here.

 

World Focus 2018

Want to learn more about other cultures? Learn from our missionaries at World Focus 2018. Ever wonder what our ARP agencies are all about? All of them will be under one roof!  Find out more at: http://worldfocus2018.com

Home. Abroad. Engage.