PCA Pastors Josh Owen and Aaron Garriott answer the question “Why Catechize?”

Main Points:

1. Because the world catechizes

2. Because it is pedagogically profitable

3. Because it is a time-tested tool throughout church history

4. Because it helps with understanding the Bible

5. Because it provides theological guardrails

6. Because it encourages piety

Recommended Resources:

1. Westminster Shorter Catechism

2. Catechizing Our Children: The Whys and Hows of Teaching the Shorter Catechism Today by Terry Johnson

3. Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition, ed. Chad Van Dixhoorn

Produced by: RE Gabe Williams

Music by: RE James Powers

Logo design: Beth Cragg

The Three Presbyteers is a ministry of Spruce Creek PCA in Port Orange FL. If you're in the area, please join us for worship every Lord's Day morning at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM and in the evening at 6:00 PM. Sunday School is at 10:00 AM and we have a church planting prayer meeting every Lord's Day at 4:30 PM.

www.Sprucecreekpca.org

PCA Pastors Josh Owen, Aaron Garriott, and Ruling Elder Gabe Williams discuss the sermon series through the Gospel of John and the upcoming series through 2 Samuel.

Topics considered include:

· Gleanings from the Gospel of John

· Why interrupt with messages following the Church Calendar?

· Recalling the series in 1 Samuel. Saul’s tyranny.

· What’s next with 2 Samuel? God’s Kingdom through David’s dynasty.

· The Once and Future King

Resources:

Sermon Audio

https://www.sermonaudio.com/go/sprucecreekpca

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/live/yw8Gdfik52U?si=MfANJ78XWFgcM43L

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19LKDtDb8D/

PCA Pastors Josh Owen, Aaron Garriott, and Robert Rothwell discuss How to Study Scripture: The Forest and the Trees.

Topics considered include:

· Metanarrative/Mega-narrative: The Forest

o The Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Goldsworthy)

o Redemptive History (Vos)

o Longitudinal Themes (Greidanus)

o Typology

· Exegesis: The Trees

o Authorial Intent

§ What did the author intend?

§ Who was the original audience?

o Genre Analysis: Kind of Text (Proverb, Parable, Historical Narrative, Letter, Psalm…)

o Background Analysis: Historical and Cultural Context

o Intertextual Analysis: Quotations, Allusions, Echoes of Earlier Writings

o Semantics: Word Studies

o Grammar and Syntax: Sentence/Paragraph Studies

o Logical Analysis: Tracing the Flow of Argument in Didactic Passages

o Plot Analysis: Tracing the Flow of Story in Narrative Passages

· Interpretation: Meaning and Application

o What does the text mean?

o What part of the text is historically/culturally conditioned?

o What does the text teach about God? Christ?

o What does the text teach explicitly or by implication about our duty to God, neighbor, and our souls?

Resources and comments:

Louis Berkhof, Principles of Biblical Interpretation. https://www.cvbbs.com/products/principles-of-biblical-interpretation?keyword=Interpretation

Graeme Goldsworthy, Christ-centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles. https://www.cvbbs.com/products/christcentered-biblical-theology-hermeneutical-foundations-and-principles-goldsworthy-graeme?keyword=goldsworthy

Sydney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method. https://www.cvbbs.com/pages/rapid-search-results?q=greidanus

Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. https://www.cvbbs.com/products/biblical-theology-old-new-testaments-vos-geerhardus?keyword=Vos

Produced by: RE Gabe Williams

Music by: RE James Powers

Logo design: Beth Cragg

The Three Presbyteers is a ministry of Spruce Creek PCA in Port Orange FL. If you're in the area, please join us for worship every Lord's Day morning at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM and in the evening at 6:00 PM. Sunday School is at 10:00 AM and we have a church planting prayer meeting every Lord's Day at 4:30 PM.

www.Sprucecreekpca.org

PCA Pastors Josh Owen, Aaron Garriott, and Robert Rothwell discuss biblical patriarchy.

Topics considered include:

· Down with the Patriarchy! The Battle Cry of Feminism and Egalitarianism

· Patriarchy Is a Given: God’s Design

o 1 Timothy 2:11-15 Paul’s Argument from Creation & Fall

o 1 Corinthians 11:3

o Household Codes (Ephesians 5:22-6:9; Colossians 3:18-4:1; 1 Peter 2:18-3:7)

o Deborah & Barak (Judges 4-5)

· Biblical Patriarchy Not Roman Pater Famlias

o Stewardship Not Ownership

o Delegated Authority Not Absolute Authority

o Discipleship to Christ Not Subjection to Father’s Fancy

o Discipline Not Denigration or Demoralization

· Biblical Patriarchy & Sphere Sovereignty

o What is sphere sovereignty?

o The Family Sphere—Father

o The Civil Sphere—Magistrate (King, President, Governor, etc.)

o The Church Sphere—Elders

o Christ’s Dominion over All Spheres—The Conscience, Natural Law, and Biblical Law

o Respect of Boundaries—Undermining the authority in one sphere undermines authority in all spheres.

o Spheres Overlap—Authorities in overlapping spheres must cooperate for the good of those under authority.

o Every Square Inch—No Human Authority Should Usurp God’s Authority over Individuals (Violation of Conscience)

· Biblical Patriarchy & Complementarianism

o Defining complementarianism

o Thorough/Broad Complementarianism vs. Soft/Narrow Complementarianism

o God’s High/Primary Calling to women in the home and family (Prov. 31)

Resources and comments:

Abraham Kuyper, Common Grace

Michael Foster, It’s Good to Be a Man

Rick Philips, The Masculine Mandate

C. R. Wiley, Man of the House,

Produced by: RE Gabe Williams

Music by: RE James Powers

Logo design: Beth Cragg

The Three Presbyteers is a ministry of Spruce Creek PCA in Port Orange FL. If you're in the area, please join us for worship every Lord's Day morning at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM and in the evening at 6:00 PM. Sunday School is at 10:00 AM and we have a church planting prayer meeting every Lord's Day at 4:30 PM.

www.Sprucecreekpca.org

PCA Pastors Josh Owen, Aaron Garriott, and Robert Rothwell discuss Paedocommunion.

Show notes are included below after the credits.

Produced by: RE Gabe Williams
Music by: RE James Powers
Logo design: Beth Cragg

The Three Presbyteers is a ministry of Spruce Creek PCA in Port Orange FL.

If you're in the area, please join us for worship every Lord’s Day morning at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM and in the evening at 6:00 PM.
Education Hour is at 10:00 AM and we have a church planting prayer meeting every Lord's Day at 4:30 PM.

www.Sprucecreekpca.org

Paedocommunion:
Why address this topic at all? Isn’t it a matter settled in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition that covenant children receive baptism, they are reared in the Christian religion and catechized, and once they reach a point of discretion and profession, they are admitted by the shepherds of that church to the Table?
Well, this question rises at certain points at times in the church due to a good problem. Many wouldn’t see it as a good problem, but I do. Let me explain:
Many Christians in the Western church have been leaving a more baptistic and Dispensational reading of the Bible, and they have come to understand the covenantal structure of the Bible that is consistent with the Reformed and Presbyterian church. As a result, what happens is an over swing: Many of the Christians once believed that their children shouldn’t be baptized or communed (take the Supper). Once they come into the beautiful world of covenant theology, many now believe that their children should be baptized and communed. Whereas the sacraments were once naked symbols that did nothing more than remind us of something, now they believe that since the sacraments confer real grace, their children should get the sacraments as early as possible and as often as possible.
So, I say this is a good problem because we rejoice when Christians understand the glorious unity of the Bible and its application to the family and the church. We rejoice in the resurgence of interest in raising our children covenantally. We love the place that has been given to the sacraments in the life and piety of the church. These are all good things. This swing in the opposite direction, however, does betray a misunderstanding of a few things and a departure from Reformed orthodoxy, which we hope to address in this podcast by explaining the Reformed church’s understanding of the Bible’s teaching that the Lord’s Supper is to be administered to baptized persons who have been admitted to the table by the elders on account of a credible profession of faith.
In this episode, we’ll show why paedocommunion is erroneous from three angles:
(1) Biblical
(2) Theological
(3) Historical
First, it’s important to briefly define what we mean by paedocommunion, because there is a spectrum. Some paedocommunion advocates think that children should be served the Lord’s Supper as soon as they’re weaned. Others believe that children who can give some sort of acknowledgment of wanting to receive the elements, whether it is a raising of the hand or saying “Jesus” or something of the sort. The latter position is a bit closer to Reformed orthodoxy, but both seem to stem from the same misunderstandings of the biblical data, the nature of the sacraments, and the historical consensus of the church.